MP Paula Yacoubian on Monday filed an appeal before the Constitutional Council against the 2022 state budget law.

The appeal carried the signatures of more than ten lawmakers.

Europe should be able to cope with the natural gas supply crunch in the coming months thanks to considerable reserves although the continent could face a bigger energy crisis next winter, the head of the International Energy Agency said.

Fatih Birol said that, barring unforeseen events, "Europe will go through this winter with some economic and social headaches, bruises here and there" as a result of efforts to wean itself off Russian gas and the wider increase in energy costs resulting from the war in Ukraine.

Germany's economy saw stronger growth in the third quarter than expected as consumer spending picked up following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

Officials figures released Friday show gross domestic product in Europe's biggest economy grew by 0.4% from July to September, 0.1 percentage points higher than previously forecast.

Travel at this World Cup was supposed to be easy in the tiny host nation of Qatar, after fans had to take long flights between cities at the last three tournaments.

The eight stadiums in Qatar are in or near the capital, so fans don't have to go too far to get to matches — in theory. The country billed its World Cup as environmentally sustainable in part because of how compact it is, but the reality is quite different.

The French are studying with the Americans the possibility of speeding up the importation of gas and electricity from Egypt and Jordan to Lebanon, a media report said on Friday.

Paris, Washington and “Arab capitals, including Cairo and Amman, are mulling to settle the debate within a few weeks and eliminate the obstacles that are preventing the implementation of the plan,” al-Akhbar newspaper quoted informed sources as saying.

Global shares gained Thursday, although optimism about the Federal Reserve holding back on aggressive interest rate raises was countered by some uncertainty about coronavirus restrictions in China.

France's CAC 40 edged up 0.1% in early trading to 6,685.49, while Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 14,474.23. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.1% to 7,475.55. The future for the Dow industrials edged 0.2% higher. The future for the S&P 500 added 0.3%.

Most schools in Scotland were closed Thursday as thousands of teachers walked off the job, joining scores of postal workers and university lecturers in industrial action to demand better pay and working conditions to cope with the country's cost-of-living crisis.

The teachers' strike in Scotland, which shuttered every school on the Scottish mainland, was the first such one in the region in 40 years. Union members want a 10% pay rise, but Scottish authorities say they couldn't afford that.

On winter's doorstep, European Union nations have not been able to surmount bitter disagreements as they struggle to effectively shield 450 million citizens from massive increases in their natural gas bills as cold weather sets in.

An emergency meeting of energy ministers Thursday only shows how the energy crisis tied to Russia's war in Ukraine has divided the 27-nation bloc in almost irreconcilable blocs.

Turkey's central bank delivered another outsized interest rate cut Thursday despite inflation running at more than 85% and other countries moving the opposite way to ease the pain of soaring prices.

The central bank said its Monetary Policy Committee decided to lower the benchmark policy rate by 1.5 percentage points to 9%, following a series of similar jumbo cuts.

"This is not an electoral process, it's a process of waiting for compromise that is to the detriment of the country, the people, the economy and the constitution," said MP and Kataeb party chief Sami Gemayel.

Gemayel decried the results of a seventh parliamentary session that failed again Thursday to elect a successor to former president Michel Aoun, even though the vacancy is hampering efforts to rescue the stricken economy.