European Union countries agreed Wednesday to make it harder for Russian citizens to enter the 27-nation bloc, but they failed to find a consensus on imposing an outright tourist ban in response to Russia's war on Ukraine.

At talks in the Czech Republic, EU foreign ministers were desperate to put on a show of unity and punish President Vladimir Putin for launching the war over six months ago. Still, they couldn't bridge differences over whether Russian citizens, some of them possibly opposed to the invasion, should also pay a price.

Inflation in the European countries using the euro currency hit another record in August, fueled by soaring energy prices mainly driven by Russia's war in Ukraine.

Annual inflation in the eurozone's 19 countries rose to 9.1%, up from 8.9% in July, according to the latest figures released Wednesday by the European Union statistics agency Eurostat.

Internet shutdowns rippled through cash-strapped Lebanon on Tuesday after employees of the country's state-owned telecom company went on strike, demanding higher wages.

It was the latest reflection of one of the world's worst economic disasters, which has pulled three quarters of Lebanon's 6 million people into poverty. The Lebanese pound in three years has lost over 90 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar.

As winter nears, European nations, desperate to replace the natural gas they once bought from Russia, have embraced a short-term fix: A series of roughly 20 floating terminals that would receive liquefied natural gas from other countries and convert it into heating fuel.

Yet the plan, with the first floating terminals set to deliver natural gas by year's end, has raised alarms among scientists who fear the long-term consequences for the environment. They warn that these terminals would perpetuate Europe's reliance on natural gas, which releases climate-warming methane and carbon dioxide when it's produced, transported and burned.

Russia's Gazprom stopped the flow of natural gas through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe early Wednesday, a temporary move to it announced in advance.

The Russian state-controlled energy giant said earlier this month that it would the cut the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline until Saturday for what it says is a three-day pause for routine maintenance at a compressor station.

The Joint Parliamentary Committees on Tuesday agreed on finding a capital control solution that would both preserve the rights of depositors and the “existence” of banks, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said.

TV networks meanwhile said that the Committees will ask the government to send the economic recovery plan in order to discuss it along with the capital control law.

Almost the entire Dutch railway network was shut down Tuesday as workers affected by soaring inflation and staff shortages went on strike to demand better pay and working conditions.

Staff at the railway company NS stopped work for the day in the central Netherlands region that acts as a hub for almost all train lines, halting trains across the country. An exception was the line linking Amsterdam with the busy Schiphol Airport that returned to service after a strike shut it down on Monday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that his country is well-prepared to tackle a possible energy shortage because of Russia's squeeze on European gas supplies, even as fears grow about the juggernaut of rising prices that will likely hit consumers across the continent this winter.

Scholz spoke at the start of a two-day government retreat, attended also by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which will focus on the impacts of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the energy supply in Europe.

Sri Lanka's new government plans Tuesday to present an amended budget for the year that slashes expenses and aims to provide relief to people hit hard by the country's economic meltdown.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, will present the budget in Parliament, which will voted on it after a debate.

French energy firm Engie said Tuesday that Russian energy giant Gazprom was slashing its natural gas deliveries "due to a disagreement between both sides over the execution of contracts".

Engie added in a statement that Russian gas supplies had already been reduced drastically after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.