Powered by strong consumer spending, the U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in two years from July through September, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its first estimate.

America's gross domestic product — the nation's output of goods and services — rose at a 4.4% annual pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, up from 3.8% in the April-June quarter and from the 4.3% growth the department initially estimated. The economy hasn't grown faster since third-quarter 2023.

The International Monetary Fund has asked the Lebanese government to amend a banking draft law that would allow depositors to recover their funds and said it can't endorse the draft "as presented".

The law, a key demand from the international community to unblock economic aid to Lebanon, was approved last month by the Lebanese government. It stipulates that each of the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors will share the losses accrued as a result of the financial crisis.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday proclaimed his country was the world's "economic engine," and slammed Europe as "not heading in the right direction," as Washington's allies push back against its bid to seize Greenland.

"The USA is the economic engine on the planet. And when America booms, the entire world booms. It's been the history," he said during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the Greenland crisis has dominated talks.

European Union lawmakers on Wednesday voted to hold up ratification of a major free trade agreement with the Mercosur group of South American countries over concerns about the legality of the deal.

In a vote in Strasbourg, France, lawmakers narrowly approved sending the EU-Mercosur agreement to Europe's top court to rule on whether it is in line with the bloc's treaties. The result was 334 votes in favor to 324 against, with 11 abstentions.

The Suliman S. Olayan School of Business (OSB) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), through its Business Practice and Policy Initiative (BPPI), hosted an expert roundtable titled “Restructuring Lebanon’s Banking Sector: Global Standards, Local Realities.” The event gathered economists, bankers, and academics to explore viable pathways for restructuring Lebanon’s paralyzed banking system amid one of the country’s most severe financial crises.

The BPPI, a newly established initiative within OSB, bridges academic knowledge with policymaking to advance evidence-based reform, turning research into actionable insights that support Lebanon’s recovery and strengthen governance.

A meeting comprising Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian and Jordanian officials will be held in February with the aim of facilitating the exportation of electricity and gas from Jordan and Egypt to Lebanon via Syria, a Lebanese ministerial source told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

The meeting will review previous agreements signed during the era of the Bashar al-Assad regime, as part of the Lebanese authorities' steps to improve electricity supply in Lebanon.

India and the UAE finalised a series of agreements on Monday, hoping to double bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032.

The United Arab Emirates president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, met with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital as part of a visit aimed at bolstering bilateral and strategic partnership.

Iranians have been struggling for nearly two weeks with the longest, most comprehensive internet shutdown in the history of the Islamic Republic — one that has not only restricted their access to information and the outside world, but is also throttling many businesses that rely on online advertising.

Authorities shut down internet access on Jan. 8 as nationwide protests led to a brutal crackdown that activists say has killed over 4,000 people, with more feared dead. Since then, there has been minimal access to the outside world, with connectivity in recent days restored only for some domestic websites. Google also began partially functioning as a search engine, with most search results inaccessible.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday vowed Europe's response to U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated threats on Greenland and tariffs will be "unflinching".

"Plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape. So our response will be unflinching, united and proportional," von der Leyen said in a keynote speech at a gathering of the global elites in Davos.

U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat against Europe over Greenland has hit its top economy Germany just as hopes are growing for a modest recovery after years of stagnation.

Germany's government and its export-reliant businesses were blindsided when Trump again wielded the tariffs axe at the weekend -- this time sparked by his anger over a geopolitical rather than an economic dispute.