Europe's economy has grown modestly after months of stagnation, but higher interest rates designed to fight inflation are casting a shadow as they make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend.
The 20 countries that use the euro currency and their 346 million people saw 0.3% growth in the April-to-June period, compared with the first three months of the year, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Monday.

An escalating dispute over a gas field in the Gulf poses an early challenge to a Chinese-brokered agreement to reconcile regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi Arabia and neighboring Kuwait jointly claim the offshore Al-Durra gas field. Iran says it has rights to the field, which it refers to as Arash. The two sides held talks in Iran in March but were unable to agree on a border demarcation.
The central bank chief of crisis-torn Lebanon, Riad Salameh, who is wanted for alleged financial crimes in several European countries, handed over his post Monday with no designated successor in place.
First vice-governor Wassim Mansouri, who will temporarily take over, warned that "we are at a crossroad" and urged politicians to implement reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund in return for a bail-out loan.

Power was cut off in large swaths of southern and central Iraq for much of Saturday during scorching summer heat and observances of the Shiite holy day of Ashoura after a fire broke out at a power station in the southern city of Basra.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has courted leaders from Africa at a summit, hailing the continent's growing role in global affairs and offering to expand political and business ties.
Addressing the Russia-Africa summit for a second day, Putin said Moscow would closely analyze a peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have sought to pursue.

Wall Street is back to climbing following more encouraging profit reports and the latest signal that inflation is loosening its chokehold on the economy. The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in early trading Friday. The Dow was up 207, or 0.6%, after breaking a 13-day winning streak a day before. The Nasdaq composite was up 1.1%. Stocks have been rallying recently on hopes high inflation is cooling enough to get the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates. A report on Friday said the inflation measure the Fed prefers to use slowed by a touch more than expected last month.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

Three of the Central Bank vice-governors will not resign, while the first vice-governor Wassim Mansouri is being pressured to resign, informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper.
The sources added, in remarks published Friday, that a legislative session might be held to provide a legal cover for the vice-governors to spend from the obligatory reserves for a three-month period.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the ninth straight time in its yearlong campaign to stamp out painfully high inflation, coming as worries about recession fuel speculation that Thursday's hike could be its last.
ECB President Christine Lagarde had all but promised the quarter-percentage point increase and left the door open to future hikes, saying data would determine one decision to the next.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that he has not yet succeeded in convincing the Central Bank vice-governors not to resign.
"We are discussing the opportunity to give the vice-governors a temporary funding to maintain financial stability," he added.

Dozens of people protested in front of the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad and bank owners called for official action to stem a sharp increase in the dollar exchange rate Wednesday, after the United States blacklisted 14 Iraqi banks.
Over the past two days, the market rate of the dollar jumped from 1,470 dinar per dollar to 1,570 dinar per dollar. The jump came after the U.S. listed 14 private Iraqi banks among banks that are banned from dealing with U.S. dollars due to suspicions of money laundering and funneling funds to Iran.
