Riot police fired tear gas Friday at farmers attempting to block the main access road to the international airport in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, as protests escalated over delays in the payment of European Union-backed agricultural subsidies.

Germany's parliament on Friday approved a pension reform package that had prompted a rebellion in the ranks of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's party, the latest instalment of a bumpy first seven months in office.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted 319-225 in favor of the package, including a measure that would hold the level of state pensions at 48% of average wages until 2031. There were 53 abstentions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he would continue "uninterrupted shipments" of fuel to India, as New Delhi faces heavy US pressure to stop buying oil from Moscow.

"Russia is a reliable supplier of oil, gas, coal, and everything that is required for the development of India's energy," Putin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a visit to New Delhi.

President Donald Trump has long praised tariffs as key to increasing wealth in the United States, idealizing Gilded Age policies that preceded the implementation of a modern federal income tax.

Among the potential benefits, Trump claims, is the ability to replace revenue from federal income taxes with money the U.S. is taking in from tariffs — a concept he has touted since his 2024 presidential campaign, most recently at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Turkey's energy minister issued a call for the supply of oil and gas in the Black Sea to be protected after three Russian tankers were targeted off the Turkish coast.

Alparslan Bayraktar said Turkey was concerned not just by the threat to shipping but also to two undersea pipelines, Blue Stream and Turk Stream, that carry natural gas from Russia to Turkey.

When it comes to financial security for Iran's jittery public after the 12-day war with Israel, all that glitters is gold — and for many, it remains the most trusted hedge against inflation, sanctions and a weakening rial currency.

Traders in Tehran's Grand Bazaar say every new headline about United Nations "snapback" sanctions, the rial's fall or renewed regional tensions have sent waves of people into buying so-called "value-preserving assets." Those include dollars, gold, silver, diamonds, cryptocurrencies and, to a lesser extent, equities.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a reset of Joe Biden's fuel-economy standards, arguing it will lower U.S. car prices -- but critics warned it would worsen climate change and leave drivers paying more at the pump.

Trump was flanked in the Oval Office by the CEOs of Ford and Stellantis and a senior General Motors official, a show of buy-in from Detroit's "Big Three."

China and France pledged deeper cooperation on global issues like the war in Ukraine and trade, as France prepares to take on the presidency of the Group of Seven next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with China's Xi Jinping on Thursday morning as part of a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomacy.

Iran's rial currency fell Wednesday to a new low of 1.2 million to the U.S. dollar as nuclear sanctions squeeze Tehran's ailing economy.

Traders offered the new exchange rate as attempts so far to restart negotiations between America and Iran over its nuclear program appear stalled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in India this week for a summit aimed at deepening economic, defense and energy ties, a visit that will also test New Delhi's efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

Putin is scheduled to arrive on the state visit Thursday and hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. They are expected to review progress on bilateral ties, discuss issues of mutual interest and sign interdepartmental and business agreements, both governments said.