The International Monetary Fund says it is allowing Egypt to draw on about $2.3 billion from an earlier approved loan, noting that the country has made progress in restoring economic stability and reducing inflation as part of a reform program.

The IMF said in a statement Wednesday that the decision to release the funding followed reviews of the government reforms, which it credited with bringing about "a broad-based economic recovery" in the world's most populous Arab country. It noted that the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 4.4% from 2024 to 2025.

Every day, Iranians go to stores and find prices rising. Some post photos on social media of the shrinking contents of their shopping carts as they struggle to buy enough basic staples for their families. The mounting cost of living is an extra weight bearing down as Iranians prepare for a possible war with the U.S. and wrestle with the aftermath of protests that swept the country last month.

"Everybody is under pressure: merchants, civil servants, laborers," said Ebrahim Momeni, a 52-year-old retired civil servant. "The weaker class of people is being crushed."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meeting China's top leaders Wednesday at the start of a whirlwind two-day visit to press for a fair economic playing field for German companies, and China's assistance in bringing about an end to Russia's four-year-old war in Ukraine.

The German leader's plane touched down in the late morning on an overcast day in the Chinese capital. Before his departure, he emphasized the importance of placing Germany's China policy in a European context, saying it was no coincidence that he is visiting not long after French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — and ahead of a planned trip by U.S. President Donald Trump in early April.

Al Habtoor Group said Monday that it has appointed one of the world’s leading international law firms specializing in sovereign disputes and treaty-based investment arbitration, to take legal action against Lebanese authorities over claims of investment losses of $1.7 billion.

Al Habtoor said it has entered the final stages of preparation for the commencement of international arbitration proceedings in Washington, D.C.

European Union diplomats scrambled Monday to overcome Hungary's veto threats as they seek to finalize new sanctions on Russia and a massive new loan for Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc's 27 foreign ministers gathering in Brussels would likely not agree on the 20th package of sanctions targeting Russia's shadow fleet and energy revenues, which it hoped to pass ahead of the fourth anniversary Tuesday of Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine — a war that has left perhaps 1.8 million dead, wounded or missing.

The Supreme Court's ruling against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs has countries like China and South Korea watching for Washington's next steps, while financial markets took the news in stride.

The decision announced Friday could potentially disrupt arrangements worked out in trade negotiations since Trump announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries in April 2025.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that telling people the truth is not a choice but a must, as he defended new taxes approved earlier this week by his government.

"The financial situation we inherited is very difficult and the trust between the state and the people was damaged in the past," he said, vowing that "this won't happen again."

A key inflation gauge accelerated in December to the fastest pace in nearly a year, showing how prices are still rising more quickly than most Americans would prefer — and faster than the Federal Reserve's target of 2% a year.

Prices rose 0.4% in December from the previous month, up from 0.2% in November, the Commerce Department said Friday in a report that was delayed by the six-week government shutdown last fall. The monthly increase was the highest since last February. Compared with a year ago, inflation rose 2.9% in December, up from 2.8% in November. That is the largest yearly increase since March 2024.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make his first visit to China next week since taking the helm of Europe's biggest economy, as he tries to position the country to a world in which assertive great powers play an increasingly dominant role.

Merz will be received in Beijing on Wednesday by Premier Li Qiang and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, government spokesperson Sebastian Hille said Friday. He will also visit Hangzhou in southeastern China.

Saudi Arabia could have some form of uranium enrichment within the kingdom under a proposed nuclear deal with the United States, congressional documents and an arms control group suggest, raising proliferation concerns as an atomic standoff between Iran and America continues.

U.S. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden both tried to reach a nuclear deal with the kingdom to share American technology. Nonproliferation experts warn any spinning centrifuges within Saudi Arabia could open the door to a possible weapons program for the kingdom, something its assertive crown prince has suggested he could pursue if Tehran obtains an atomic bomb.