Israel is preparing to activate an offshore gas field partly disputed by Lebanon, aiming to boost energy exports to Europe but risking further tensions with its northern neighbor.
Israel and Lebanon, still technically at war, have engaged in on-off U.S. mediated talks since 2020 to delineate their Mediterranean border, which could allow both parties to boost offshore natural gas exploration.

Warning that the world is in "great peril," the head of the United Nations says leaders meeting in person for the first time in three years must tackle conflicts and climate catastrophes, increasing poverty and inequality — and address divisions among major powers that have gotten worse since Russia invaded Ukraine.
In speeches and remarks leading up to the start of the leaders' meeting Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited the "immense" task not only of saving the planet, "which is literally on fire," but of dealing with the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. He also pointed to "a lack of access to finance for developing countries to recover -- a crisis not seen in a generation" that has seen ground lost for education, health and women's rights.

Stock markets dropped again Monday, extending last week's rout as investors brace for another big rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve that they fear could drag down the global economy.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Saudi Arabia and meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a Gulf trip, his spokesman said Monday, as Germany rushes to secure energy supplies.

The Lebanese pound has hit a new low against the US dollar on the black market, a drop that coincides with bank closures this week due to heists by angry depositors.

At least five banks were stormed by depositors on Friday, prompting the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) to declare a three-day strike and caretaker Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi to call for an emergency meeting of the Central Internal Security Council.
The incidents started in the morning, when a depositor carrying a gun and a jerrican of fuel withdrew his frozen savings at gunpoint from Byblos Bank in Ghazieh.

A Lebanese activist group has vowed to organize more bank heists to help people retrieve their locked savings as the country's years-long economic crisis continues to worsen.
Activists from Depositors' Outcry group accompanied Sali Hafez into a Beirut bank branch on Wednesday, and she was able to retrieve some $13,000 in her savings to fund her sister's cancer treatment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday his war-scarred country wants to join the European single market ahead of a decision on whether to grant Kyiv full EU membership.
"For us, a pressing issue is the question of Ukraine joining the EU single market while we're on the way to EU membership status. I'm sure it will happen and it will be one of our country's most important victories," he told a news conference with visiting EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Parliament on Thursday began discussing the draft 2022 state budget, a day after lack of quorum forced the postponement of a scheduled first session.
Outside the legislature, sit-ins by retired servicemen, bank depositors and several associations and unions got underway in protest at the proposed state budget.

Shell on Thursday announced the exit of chief executive Ben van Beurden as the British oil and gas giant looks to reinvent itself under group renewables boss Wael Sawan.
