Natural gas and electricity prices in Europe have plunged from summer peaks thanks to mild weather and a monthslong scramble to fill gas storage ahead of winter and replace Russian supplies during the war in Ukraine. It's a welcome respite after Russia slashed natural gas flows, triggering an energy crisis that has fueled record inflation and a looming recession.

Yet experts warn it's too soon to exhale, even as European governments roll out relief packages for people struggling with high utility bills and work on longer-term ways to contain volatile gas and electricity prices that have shrunk household budgets and forced some businesses to shut down.

The leader of the coalition of gas-exporting countries said Tuesday the group expects demand for the fuel to far outstrip supply until 2025 amid a global energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine.

Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Mohamed Hamel, of Algeria, said at the group's meeting in Cairo that although investment was increasing in natural gas production the countries didn't expect to have new sources of supply online for another three years.

Israel has given London-listed Energean permission to begin producing gas from Karish, an offshore field at the heart of a maritime border agreement about to be signed with Lebanon.

A statement from the energy ministry said they "gave Energean the approval to begin producing natural gas from Karish".

Zara owner Inditex has reached an agreement to sell its Russian business to a Lebanese retail and real estate conglomerate, the Spanish fashion giant said Tuesday in a statement to the country's competition authorities.

The buyer is Daher Group and the potential purchase is pending approval from Russian authorities, Inditex said, without disclosing financial details.

Germany's government is eyeing a compromise that would allow a Chinese firm to take a smaller-than-planned stake in a Hamburg container terminal, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected banning the sale outright.

Global bank giant HSBC on Tuesday announced tumbling profits for the third quarter on impairment charges linked to a weak economic outlook and its upcoming sale of French retail operations.

The pound rose more than one percent against the dollar on Tuesday after Rishi Sunak took office as Britain's prime minister.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati held talks Tuesday at the Grand Serail with a World Bank delegation comprising the bank’s Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj and Jean-Christophe Carret, the bank’s Country Director for the Middle East Department (Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria).

Speaking after the meeting, Belhaj said the meeting was constructive and positive and that the World Bank is ready to offer Lebanon funding worth 300 to 500 million dollars for social aid and projects related to sustainable food and agriculture.

European Union energy ministers on Tuesday started seeking some common ground to flesh out the barest of tentative agreements that their leaders could find last week to soften the blow of an energy crisis for their citizens while maintaining a united front during Russia's war in Ukraine.

With winter approaching, home energy bills piling up and some businesses teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, there is a popular outcry for the 27-nation bloc to move much faster. But the fluctuating global energy markets and different energy mixes among member states — ranging from nuclear to natural gas and other fossil fuels — make smart, lightning-quick decisions nearly impossible.

Where to sleep? It's among the biggest questions facing fans traveling to tiny Qatar for the World Cup amid a feverish rush for rooms in Doha. Some will sleep on cruise ships. Others will camp in the desert. Others will fly in from Dubai and elsewhere.

But in the run-up to the world's biggest sporting event in the world's smallest host country, the struggle for housing is hardly limited to tourists. Qatar's real estate frenzy has sent rents skyrocketing and priced long-term residents out of their own homes, leaving many in the lurch.