Huawei announced Wednesday it is working to help Lebanon lift its economy through technology.

"Lebanon stands at the precipice of change – it needs to move forward and prioritize the implementation of a resilient ICT strategy in order to secure its bright future," the CEO of Huawei in Lebanon, Aiden Li, said in a statement.

The euro on Tuesday fell to parity with the dollar for the first time in nearly 20 years. Here are the concrete consequences of the decline in the value of the single European currency. 

France's central bank said Tuesday it will push ahead with the second phase of its experiment with a digital euro with the aim of rolling out the cryptocurrency next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday acknowledged holding discussions with Uber executives when he was economy minister from 2014-2016, saying he was "proud" of it and would do the same again.

The euro struck parity with the dollar Tuesday for the first time in nearly 20 years as a cut in Russian gas supplies to Europe heightened fears of a recession in the eurozone. 

Turkey said it will host Russian and Ukrainian delegations together with UN diplomats on Wednesday to discuss the resumption of stalled grain deliveries across the Black Sea.

A major gas pipeline from Russia to western Europe shut down for annual maintenance on Monday amid concern in Germany that Russia may not resume the flow of gas as scheduled.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and is the latter's main source of Russian gas. Gas is usually sent onward to other countries as well. It is scheduled to be out of action until July 21 for routine work that the operator says includes "testing of mechanical elements and automation systems." The operator's data showed the gas flow dropping as planned on Monday morning.

Iraq's oil minister has said the government will take steps to enforce a recent court decision to annul oil contracts the semiautonomous northern Iraqi Kurdish region made with international companies.

The minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, told The Associated Press the deals, which circumvent the government in Baghdad, are illegal and amount to oil smuggling.

Wall Street pointed higher Thursday ahead of two days of U.S. employment data that could offer hints as to how employers are managing spiraling costs and rising interest rates with the Federal Reserve pursuing an aggressive push to reign in inflation.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.5% and futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.4%. Lower oil prices have eased inflation anxiety somewhat.

The euro fell below $1.02 this week to its lowest level in 20 years. Here are the concrete consequences of the decline in the value of the single European currency. 

- On inflation, purchasing power -Nearly half of all goods imported into the Eurozone are invoiced in dollars, compared to less than 40 percent in euros, according to the European statistics authority, Eurostat.