A Lebanese judge on Thursday fined and issued a six-month travel ban to a woman who stormed her bank with a fake pistol and took her trapped savings to cover her sister's cancer treatment.

Lebanon's cash-strapped banks have imposed strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency since 2019, tying up the savings of millions of people. About three-quarters of the population has slipped into poverty as the tiny country's economy continues to spiral. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value against the dollar.

Lebanon is grappling to strike a deal with Israel over contested maritime gas fields, but even with an agreement the cash-strapped country faces multiple hurdles before tapping potential hydrocarbon riches, analysts say.

"A deal would mark one step forward but it does not mean that Lebanon has become a gas- or oil-producing country," said Marc Ayoub, an associate fellow at the American University of Beirut's Issam Fares Institute.

Qatar's emir paid his first visit to the Czech Republic on Wednesday for business talks expected to include a potential deal for deliveries of Qatari liquefied natural gas.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is accompanied by a large delegation, was formally greeted by Czech President Milos Zeman at the Prague Castle.

Moscow said Wednesday it was ready to quickly supply gas to Europe through an undamaged section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany, after recent leaks heightened geopolitical tensions.

OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on a major cut in oil production to boost crude prices on Wednesday, irking the United States which warned that it would hurt countries struggling with soaring energy prices.

A Lebanese lawmaker entered a bank branch unarmed on Wednesday with two of her lawyers to free trapped dollar deposits she needs to pay for surgery, her lawyer said.

Cynthia Zarazir, who was elected to parliament in May polls, is the latest in a growing number of angry depositors who are forcing Lebanese lenders to unlock savings trapped under informal capital controls imposed amid an unprecedented financial crisis.

The EU parliament on Tuesday passed a new law requiring USB-C to be the single charger standard for all new smartphones, tablets and cameras from late 2024.

Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss insisted Tuesday she felt "no shame" and vowed to press on with unpopular economic reforms despite lurching into a self-inflicted crisis just a month into her term.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Tuesday blamed the state and the central bank for the country’s “extended systemic crisis,” while calling on depositors to engage with it in dialogue, after five banks were stormed in less than 48 hours in a new wave of bank heists.

Saudi Arabia was chosen on Tuesday to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a $500 billion futuristic megacity in the desert that planners say will feature a year-round winter sports complex.