Stocks are holding relatively steady Monday as Wall Street's worries about higher interest rates and the bond market relax a little.

The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher early Monday after coming off its first winning week in the last four. The Dow and the Nasdaq also rose. Treasury yields eased lower.

Roads blocked, oil refineries disrupted, planes grounded and trains halted — unions are threatening to shut down France's economy this week in what they hope is their toughest riposte yet to President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the retirement age.

The first actions are expected Monday, as truckers are being urged to block major highway arteries and interchanges in go-slow actions dubbed ''escargot'' operations. Unions plan an open-ended strike on the national rail service starting Monday evening.

Saudi Arabia said Monday it deposited $5 billion into the Turkish central bank, likely helping Ankara firm up its long-weakening currency, the lira, after last month's massive earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and northern Syria.

The deposit provides a capstone for just how far relations have improved between the kingdom and Turkey after years of tensions the nations, particularly after the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also backed Qatar in a yearslong boycott by the kingdom, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

First Investigative Judge of Beirut Charbel Abou Samra on Monday scheduled a March 15 session for the interrogation of Central Bank chief Riad Salameh, his brother Raja and his assistant Marianne Hoayek, the National News Agency said.

Contract teachers rallied Monday in front of the Education Ministry and blocked roads, demanding a further salary increase and higher transport allowances.

Other public teachers returned to class, partially ending a two-month strike.

Valerie Torres' mother has tried to shield her from the worst of Venezuela's protracted crisis — the deadly protests, the sick people begging for help, the malnourished children with protruding ribs. At school, her teachers don't even broach the subject.

But just shy of her 10th birthday this month, the girl is perceptive beyond her years. She knows her fourth-grade classmate lied to their teacher saying he forgot a book at home when in fact he was still saving up to buy it; that neighbors, friends and even her grandmother have all fled the country in search of a better life; that her mother is bringing home fewer groceries.

When Moheidein Bazazo opened his Beirut mini-market in 1986, during some of the fiercest fighting in Lebanon's civil war, he didn't expect it to thrive. But several years later, he had shelves full of food and needed 12 employees to help him manage a bustling business.

Those days are over. Bazazo now mostly works alone, often in the dark to reduce his electric bill. Regular customers are struggling to make ends meet, and as they buy less so does he, leaving some shelves and refrigerators bare.

The World Bank has said that Syria sustained an estimated $5.1 billion in damages in last month's massive earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and northern parts of the war-torn country.

The quake killed at least 50,000 people, including about 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. Tens of thousands are still missing and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.

China accused Washington on Friday of improperly attacking Chinese companies after genetics analysis giant BGI Group and 17 others were hit with curbs on access to U.S. technology on security or human rights grounds.

The Commerce Department said it saw a danger that two BGI units might contribute to the government's surveillance apparatus, which human rights groups say is trying to create a database of genetic samples that Muslims and other minorities were compelled to provide.

The installation of new leaders and the need to shore up a flagging economy will dominate the annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament that kicks off Sunday.

The nearly 3,000 delegates attending the meeting of the largely powerless National People's Congress will hear reports on the work of government that lay out the ruling Communist Party's priorities.