Germany plans to ease citizenship rules under legislation approved Wednesday by the Cabinet, a project that the government contends will bolster the integration of immigrants and help an economy that is struggling with a shortage of skilled workers.

The legislation passed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ministers still requires approval from the lower house of parliament, where the socially liberal three-party coalition has a comfortable majority. It could take effect in January, depending on how quickly that happens.

Four years into its historic economic meltdown, Lebanon's political elites, masters at survival, are pushing for a recovery that would sidestep tough reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.

Economic experts and former officials involved in designing Lebanon's original IMF-approved recovery plan in 2020 say the political leadership and associates in the banking sector are deliberately implementing a "shadow plan" to torpedo the deal and place the burden of bailing out the financial system on ordinary Lebanese who are already impoverished by the crisis.

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, announced Tuesday it served 41.6 million passengers in the first half of this year — exceeding figures for the same period in 2019 as travelers return to the air after the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic.

The airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates in skyscraper-studded Dubai, long has served as a barometer for the aviation industry worldwide. The new figures at the airport known as DXB reflect figures offered by the International Air Transport Association that traffic worldwide is at 94% of pre-COVID levels.

Russia and China will look to gain more political and economic ground in the developing world at a summit in South Africa this week, when an expected joint dose of anti-West grumbling from them may take on a sharper edge with a formal move to bring Saudi Arabia closer.

Leaders from the BRICS economic bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold three days of meetings in Johannesburg's financial district of Sandton, with Chinese premier Xi Jinping's attendance underlining the diplomatic capital his country has invested in the bloc over the last decade-and-a-bit as an avenue for its ambitions.

The U.S. government said it is formally requesting a dispute settlement panel in its ongoing row with Mexico over its limits on genetically modified corn.

Mexico's Economy Department said it had received the notification and would defend its position. It claimed in a statement that "the measures under debate had no effect on trade," and thus do not violate the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, known as the USMCA.

Asian shares mostly slipped Friday as rising yields in the bond market on Wall Street set off expectations that high interest rates would continue in the U.S.

Japan's inflation data showed consumer prices rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, down from 3.3% in June. But that was still higher than the 2.5% forecast by some analysts, and above the Bank of Japan target at 2%.

Global shares mostly slipped Friday as rising yields in the bond market on Wall Street set off expectations that high interest rates would continue in the U.S.

France's CAC 40 declined 0.9% in early trading to 7,126.02. Germany's DAX dipped 0.8% to 15,553.22. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.8% to 7,255.18. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1% at 34,503.00. S&P 500 futures fell nearly 0.1% to 4,381.75.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend next week's summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg, to be followed by a state visit to South Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his Aug. 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Israel's Defense Ministry said Thursday it has secured its largest-ever defense deal selling a sophisticated missile defense system to Germany for $3.5 billion after the United States approved the deal.

Although Israel has long had close economic and military links with western European countries, the deal with Germany could draw the attention of Russia, which Israel has maintained working relations with throughout the war on Ukraine. Israel has repeatedly rebuffed requests to sell arms to Ukraine for fear of antagonizing Russia.

Japan suffered a trade deficit last month as exports sank for the first time in more than two years, dragged down by a slowdown overseas.

Japan's trade deficit totaled 78.7 billion yen ($539 million), the Finance Ministry said Thursday, the first trade deficit for the world's third largest economy in two months.