Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday noted that the electricity crisis of the past two days proves that the management of the electricity sector has been a “total failure” for the past 15 years.

“There is not a single indication that this management will change, and accordingly only one solution remains: involving the private sector immediately in the process of producing electricity and distributing it across Lebanon,” Geagea said.

The state-run Zahrani Oil Installations overnight started pumping five million liters of fuel oil on loan to the Zahrani power plant through the supply line that connects them, a day after Lebanon’s state utility Electricité du Liban announced that its power plants had exhausted their supply of fuel oil and would stop producing electricity.

In a statement, the Installations director general said the process started after “completing all the administrative, technical and legal files,” adding that EDL’s board of directors would meet Sunday and issue a statement announcing when the power plant would become functional.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is promoting a broad set of economic proposals that would offer new tax breaks and lower the cost of living for Americans, aiming to address the financial concerns that are at the top of the mind for voters and that Republican Donald Trump is trying to lay at her doorstep.

Harris will be in the battleground state of North Carolina on Friday to lay out her plans, including a proposal for a federal ban on price gouging on groceries. She also is proposing $25,000 in down payment help for certain first-time homebuyers and tax incentives for builders of starter homes, among other things.

Global shares traded mostly higher Tuesday, as the Tokyo benchmark bounced back and calmed after last week's plunge.

France's CAC 40 edged up nearly 0.2% in early trading to 7,263.55, while Germany's DAX rose 0.3% to 17,778.44. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 8,201.62. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures rising 0.3% to 39,593.00. S&P 500 futures added 0.4% to 5,391.75.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris agree on one thing, at least: Both say they want to eliminate federal taxes on workers' tips.

But experts say there's a reason Congress hasn't made such a change already. It would be complicated, not to mention enormously costly to the federal government, to enact. It would encourage many higher-paid workers to restructure their compensation to classify some of it as "tips" and thereby avoid taxes. And, in the end, it likely wouldn't help millions of low-income workers.

One of the three major credit rating firms has downgraded Israel amid the monthslong Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, signaling the economic strain the country is under as it awaits a possible retaliatory strike from Iran.

Fitch Ratings in its advisory note downgraded Israel from an “A+” rating to an “A” rating, something that can affect Israel’s borrowing rate and its ability to seek cash from international lenders.

The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it.

Some of America's largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers are increasingly seeking cheaper alternative products and services, searching for bargains or just avoiding items they deem too expensive. Consumers aren't cutting back enough to cause an economic downturn. Rather, economists say, they appear to be returning to pre-pandemic norms, when most companies felt they couldn't raise prices very much without losing business.

U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady at the tail end of a wild, whipsaw week for Wall Street. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% in early trading Friday, coming off its best day since 2022. After yo-yoing through several sharp swings, it's on track to close a fourth straight losing week. That would be its longest such streak in almost a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 93 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher. The mixed trading came after more big companies reported better profit for the spring than analysts. Expedia Group jumped 8.7%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

The Walt Disney Co. returned to a profitable third quarter as its combined streaming business started making money for the first time and the movie Inside Out 2 did well in theaters.

For the period ended June 29, Disney earned $2.62 billion, or $1.43 per share. A year earlier it lost $460 million, or 25 cents per share.

Dubai International Airport saw a record 44.9 million travelers pass through its terminals in the first half of this year, putting the world's busiest airport for international travel back on track to beat its all-time record, as aviation booms after the coronavirus pandemic.

The results released on Wednesday follow a record-breaking annual profit for the long-haul carrier Emirates that calls the airport — known as DXB — its home. The results come as Dubai plans to move operations to a nearly $35 billion new airfield in the next decade.