A French Cabinet minister criticized Lebanese leaders on Tuesday, warning them of upcoming sanctions from Paris that will target Lebanese officials blocking the formation of a new government.

The remarks by France's Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester came during a visit to Beirut's port, devastated in a massive explosion in August last year.

For the seventh time in a year, Lebanon's economy ministry has announced new prices for bread, slowly removing subsidies as the country sinks deeper into a dire economic and political crisis.

The ministry said raising the price was necessary as the national currency continues to slide against the dollar, making imports of basic supplies including fuel and wheat more expensive. The currency, pegged to the dollar for nearly 30 years at 1,500 to the dollar, has lost over 90% of its value. It is now trading at nearly 20,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar.

The French and U.S. ambassadors to Beirut held talks Thursday with Saudi officials in Riyadh, a rare joint visit aimed at finding a unified strategy to help Lebanon out of its unprecedented economic and political crises.

Their embassies tweeted that the "important trilateral consultations" aimed to find ways how they can together "support the Lebanese people and stabilize the economy."

A container ship anchored at Dubai's huge port caught fire late Wednesday, the emirate's media office reported, causing an explosion that sent tremors across the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates.

The Twitter post from Dubai's state-run media office said that a fire was reported to have erupted on a ship at the Jebel Ali port and that a team of firefighters was working to control the blaze.

Qatar's Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani visited Lebanon on Tuesday and met with officials including President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, caretaker PM Hassan Diab and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.

As part of its effort to mitigate the political crisis in Lebanon, Qatar announced it is donating 70 tons of food monthly for a year to the Lebanese Army, the Qatari news agency reported.

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told a Japanese court on Wednesday that the company's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, had held too much power, failed to listen to others, and stayed on for too long.

Uchida said Wednesday that those were factors that led to financial misconduct charges for Ghosn. He was testifying as a witness for Nissan Motor Co., which as a corporate entity is standing trial on charges of having falsified securities reports in under-reporting Ghosn's compensation. It does not contest the charges.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters and American troops foiled an attack with drones Wednesday on a base housing members of the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces said. In neighboring Iraq rockets hit a base housing U.S. troops, inflicting three minor injuries.

The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition Col. Wayne Marotto said that at around 12:30 p.m. Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq was attacked by 14 rockets that landed on the base and perimeter. He said that Force Protection defensive measures were activated, adding that "at this time initial reports indicate 3 minor injuries. Damage is being assessed."

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab appealed on Tuesday on the international community to save Lebanon from "death and demise" as multiple crises push it dangerously close to total collapse.

Diab's plea came as he spoke to diplomats in Lebanon, where politicians have failed to agree on forming a new government, nearly a year after Diab's Cabinet resigned. His government has been acting in caretaker capacity since August 2020, when he stepped down following a massive explosion at the Beirut Port that only compounded the country's crises.

Israel's parliament is set to vote Monday on whether to renew a temporary law first enacted in 2003 that bars Arab citizens of Israel from extending citizenship or even residency to spouses from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Critics, including many left-wing and Arab lawmakers, say it's a racist measure aimed at restricting the growth of Israel's Arab minority, while supporters say it's needed for security purposes and to preserve Israel's Jewish character.

Iran has announced it is reimposing coronavirus restrictions on major cities, as the spread of the highly contagious delta variant spurs fears of another devastating surge in the nation.

After over a year battling the worst virus outbreak in the Middle East, Iran ordered the closures of non-essential businesses in 275 cities, including the capital of Tehran.