Frustrated with growing economic hardships, Nigerians are planning nationwide protests this week against the country's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

And with momentum soaring on social media, authorities fear a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality in this West African nation — or a wave of violence similar to last month's protests in Kenya, where a tax hike led to chaos in the capital, Nairobi.

China's powerful Politburo has endorsed the ruling Communist Party's long-term strategy for growing the economy by encouraging more consumer spending and weeding out unproductive companies to promote "survival of the fittest."

A statement issued after the meeting of the 24 highest leaders of the party warned that coming months would be tough, perhaps alluding to mounting global uncertainties ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.

Europe's economy saw modest growth in the April-June quarter even as the U.S. outperformed expectations, highlighting a persistent transatlantic growth gap. Germany, the leading European economy, remained in the dumps while hesitant consumers saved more rather than spending on new houses or cars.

Gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, rose 0.3% in the second quarter in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, according to official figures released Tuesday by European Union statistics agency Eurostat. Germany slid back into contraction, recording a 0.1% fall in output.

The eurozone economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, official data showed on Tuesday, confirming the single currency area's rebound since January.

The EU's official data agency said the 20-country single currency zone recorded growth of 0.3 percent over the April-June period, higher than the 0.2 percent expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet and Bloomberg.

Addressing crowds of struggling farmers in flat caps and home-knit sweaters who helped vault him to power but have grown increasingly impatient with his progress, President Javier Milei vowed to scrap export taxes and rescue Argentina's key agricultural industry.

The country's powerful agricultural producers say they're willing to give the libertarian more time to deliver on his free-market promises. But many farmers are disillusioned that seven months into Milei's presidency, they remain hobbled by labyrinth currency controls, crushing export taxes and an uncompetitive exchange rate.

McDonald's posted weak sales in the second quarter as increasingly value-conscious consumers in the U.S., China and paid fewer visits to restaurants.

Sales at locations open at least a year fell 1% worldwide across every company segment in the April-June period, the first decline since the final quarter of 2020 when the pandemic shuttered stores and millions stayed home.

Britain's new Treasury chief is alleging that the previous government covered up the dire state of the nation's finances, as she prepares to deliver a major speech to Parliament on Monday that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.

In extracts of her speech released late Sunday, Rachel Reeves professed shock at the scale of the problems she discovered following a department-by-department review of public spending commissioned shortly after she took office three weeks ago. In a post on the social media platform X on Monday, the Labour Party confirmed that the Treasury review has identified a 20 billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in the public finances.

Protests over skyrocketing power bills shut down a major road into Pakistan's capital on Monday as some 3,000 supporters of a major Islamist party continued a sit-in despite pouring monsoon rains.

In Pakistan's southwest, meanwhile, thousands protested against police violence, an internet shutdown and highway closures. At least one person was reportedly killed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for further cooperation with Italy on Monday at a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying the two countries were the ends of the historical Silk Road trade route.

Meloni pulled Italy out of China's Belt and Road Initiative — whose name refers to the ancient overland trade route — in December, but signed an agreement Sunday that provides a new path for the two countries to cooperate on trade and other issues.

On a typical summer day, tourists flock to the historic Marais district of Paris, wandering its charming medieval streets dotted with ultra-chic boutiques, gazing at stunning private mansions, strolling through the elegant 17th-century square Place des Vosges, and filling humming restaurants and bars.

But this summer has hardly been typical, and those streets, shops and cafes have been markedly emptier in the days leading up to the Paris Olympics — leaving businesses like Stolly's Stone Bar, a pub popular with English speakers, pining for summers past.