Sri Lanka's Catholic bishops on Thursday called for unity among the country's politicians, warning that the South Asian island nation is fast becoming a failed state amid its most severe economic crisis in memory.

A foreign exchange crunch in Sri Lanka has led to a shortage of essential goods such as fuel and cooking gas, and power cuts now last up to 13 hours a day.

The worldwide seafood industry is steeling itself for price hikes, supply disruptions and potential job losses as new rounds of economic sanctions on Russia make key species such as cod and crab harder to come by.

The latest round of U.S. attempts to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine includes bans on imports of seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The U.S. is also stripping "most favored nation status" from Russia. Nations around the world are taking similar steps.

Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour on Thursday ordered the release of Raja Salameh on a bail of LBP 500 billion, but Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun appealed against the decision and demanded that he be kept in custody.

Salameh for his part filed an appeal demanding that the bail amount be slashed.

OPEC and allied oil producers including Russia are deciding how much crude to pump to the world Thursday, with expectations for only a modest increase despite pleas for more. High oil prices are fueling inflation in the U.S. and other countries and cushioning the blow of Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Analysts expect the group, known as OPEC+, to stay on its schedule of gradual increases to restore production cuts made during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Judge Nicolas Mansour adjourned on Thursday the interrogation session of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh's to June.

Salameh's lawyer filed in a session today, that was held in Salameh's absence, preliminary defenses before Mansour.

Iran on Thursday criticized a decision by the United States to impose new sanctions on the Islamic republic, saying it shows the Americans have bad intentions towards its people.

The U.S. Treasury announced on Wednesday the newly imposed sanctions targeting several entities it accused of involvement in procuring supplies for Iran's ballistic missile program.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation kicked off talks in Beirut Wednesday as part of a two-week mission aimed at securing progress towards funding for crisis-hit Lebanon.

The German government's panel of independent economic advisers on Wednesday slashed its 2022 growth forecast for Europe's biggest economy in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and concern over energy supplies and prices.

The group forecast that Germany's gross domestic product will expand by only 1.8% this year, compared with the 4.6% it predicted in November. It said the economy won't return to its pre-pandemic level until the third quarter.

As millions of people in Shanghai line up for coronavirus tests, authorities are promising tax refunds for shopkeepers in the closed-down metropolis and to keep the world's busiest port functioning to limit disruption to industry and trade.

This week's shutdown of most activity in China's most populous city to contain virus outbreaks jolted global financial markets that already were on edge about Russia's war on Ukraine, higher U.S. interest rates and a Chinese economic slowdown.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Ian Collard has visited Baalbek ‘the City of the Sun’ and joined students at the American University of Science and Technology in Zahle.

"The Ambassador’s visit to Baalbek (on Tuesday) was an opportunity to hear from Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bachir Khodr, local officials, dignitaries and NGOs about the important work they are doing to support their communities during very difficult times," the British Embassy in Beirut said.