Bulgarian shoppers are crossing Turkey's western border in packed cars and buses, taking advantage of a declining Turkish lira to fuel their own shopping sprees.

Their first stop is the currency exchange and then it's off to the markets and grocery stores in the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne.

The World Bank said it has agreed with its partners to repurpose $37 million in funds to help Lebanon's public school teachers survive a crushing economic crisis.

Nations around the world are lurching into lockdown, steeling themselves for a brutal surge as the omicron variant spreads like wildfire.

But in Dubai, Donna Sese is bracing for a very different surge: countless restaurant bookings and meter-long drink bills.

The Tokyo Olympics cost $1.8 billion less than anticipated, local organizers said Wednesday, 4 1/2 months after the Games ended.

Organizers said the estimated official costs were $13.6 billion. Officials said part of the reduction was because there were no fans — forced by the pandemic — and therefore vastly reduced labor costs. They also said other outlays were lower than expected.

The pipeline is built and being filled with natural gas. But Russia's Nord Stream 2 faces a rocky road before any gas flows to Germany, with its new leaders adopting a more skeptical tone toward the project and tensions ratcheting up over Russia's troop buildup at the Ukrainian border.

The pipeline opposed by Ukraine, Poland and the U.S. awaits approval from Germany and the European Union to bypass other countries and start bringing natural gas directly to Europe. The continent is struggling with a shortage that has sent prices surging, fueling inflation and raising fears about what would come next if gas supplies become critically low.

Tradition dictates that Venezuelans, children and adults alike, wear brand new clothes on Christmas and New Year's. Shirts, pants, dresses, stilettos and sneakers — all with that new smell and perfect, first-time fit. No wrinkles, stains or scratches allowed.

But the dollar bills circulating all across the country might as well show the Grinch instead of Washington this year. The government's loosening of controls on dollars may have made them easier to get, but it has also made them less valuable in Venezuelan shops, with dollar prices overall about 40% above those last year.

Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after a worldwide slump for financial markets spurred by worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the world economy.

Tokyo gained nearly 2% and other benchmarks in Asia also were higher.

Qatar Airways is taking Airbus to court charging the manufacturer of failing to correct what it says is accelerated surface degradation impacting the Airbus A350 aircraft.

The airline said Monday that it's seeking a rapid resolution in the High Court in London. The airline has now grounded 21 A350 aircraft citing the conditions of the plane.

The Turkish lira was making significant gains Tuesday after the country's president announced new measures to safeguard deposits in the national currency against currency fluctuations.

The lira hit an all-time low of 18.36 against the U.S. dollar Monday but rebounded to a high of 11.09 Tuesday morning. It was trading at 13.75 at 0820 GMT Tuesday.

Lebanon needs to receive $12-15 billion from its partners to kickstart its economic recovery and shore up fast-diminishing foreign currency reserves, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said Tuesday.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst since the mid-19th century.