U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opened an investigation Monday into allegations that the chairman of the governing Conservative Party settled a multimillion-dollar unpaid tax bill while he was in charge of the country's Treasury.

It's one of multiple stories about secret loans and unpaid taxes causing discomfort for Sunak, who has faced scrutiny of his own personal wealth and family tax arrangements.

The French government is presenting a bill on Monday that foresees broad changes to the pension system that will notably push back the legal retirement age from 62 to 64.

Unions aren't happy, and more than 1 million people took to the streets last week to reject the measure. More strikes and protest action are planned Jan. 31, and probably beyond.

Much of Pakistan was left without power for several hours on Monday morning as an energy-saving measure by the government backfired. The outage spread panic and raised questions about the cash-strapped government's handling of the country's economic crisis.

Electricity was turned off across Pakistan during low usage hours overnight to conserve fuel across the country, officials said, leaving technicians unable to boot up the system all at once after daybreak.

Iraq's prime minister on Monday replaced the governor of the country's Central Bank following a weekslong plunge of the Iraqi dinar, the state news agency reported.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani made the move after the governor, Mustafa Ghaleb Mukheef, told him he no longer wishes to stay in the job, the Iraqi News Agency said. Mukheef, who was in the post since 2020, was replaced by Muhsen al-Allaq, a former central bank governor, the agency added.

European investigators will question Lebanon's central bank chief Riad Salameh next month as part of a probe into his and his brother's affairs, a judicial official told AFP.

A European legal team has wrapped up the first round of questioning of Lebanese bankers and current and former Central Bank officials in Beirut. The questioning is part of a probe on money laundering linked to Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.

The European judicial delegation -- with representatives from France, Germany, and Luxembourg -- questioned nine people this week, including current and former central bank officials as well as the heads of several commercial banks, several Lebanese judicial officials told The Associated Press.

Lebanese bankers are giving testimonies that have started nearing the extent of “confessions” in the investigations that are being carried out in Lebanon by three European delegations as part of a probe into Riad Salameh’s wealth, a media report said.

Shares were higher in Europe and Asia on Friday after Wall Street declined on worries that the U.S. economy is headed for recession.

U.S. futures were little changed while oil prices advanced.

India's foreign minister said Friday his country has given financial assurances to the International Monetary Fund to facilitate a bailout plan to help neighboring Sri Lanka emerge from its worst economic crisis, in a first formal announcement from one of the island nation's creditors.

India's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar announced the support while on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, where he met with President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other Cabinet ministers.

Google is laying off 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, becoming the latest tech company to trim staff as the economic boom that the industry rode during the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the parent company of Google, informed staff Friday at the Silicon Valley giant about the cuts in an email that was also posted on the company's news blog.