From 24 to 30 June, Beirut Design Week 2013 will be held across Beirut City, featuring exhibitions, conferences, workshops and open studios showcasing the work of local and international designers operating within Lebanon. This year’s event will focus on creative economies, intercultural exchange, design education and design entrepreneurship.

Beirut Design Week is organized by the MENA Design Research Center, an organization cofounded by Maya Karanouh and Doreen Toutikan and incubated by TAGbrands, a regional branding and design agency. The Center is focused on promoting a diverse understanding of design through the implementation of design research and collaborative multidisciplinary projects in the region.

The escalation in the clashes between Turkey's government and protesters could hurt one of the world's recent economic success stories, spelling uncertainty for a country that has become a source of growth and stability in a region hit by recession and unrest.

At first, the 12-day protests, which were sparked by plans to bulldoze and redevelop a park in central Istanbul but have widened to incorporate concerns over the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, were largely peaceful and limited in size and scope. They weren't very different from the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.

A last-minute Russian pullout from a major gas privatization has blown a huge hole in Greece's yearly revenue goals during an audit by EU-IMF creditors, raising questions over deficit management in the next six months.

Russian giant Gazprom declined on Monday to table an offer for Greek state gas distributor DEPA, citing concerns about the company's financial viability.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded its outlook Monday for the U.S. government's long-term debt. S&P cited the government's strengthened finances, a recovering U.S. economy and some easing of Washington's political gridlock.

The credit rating service raised its outlook to "Stable" from "Negative," which means it's less likely to downgrade U.S. debt in the near future.

Spaniards are buying fewer cars, fewer clothes and even cutting back on smoking as a grinding recession and rising unemployment force them to slash spending, dealing a severe blow to manufacturers and shops.

Last week, the headlines surrounding big brands such as Spanish fashion retailer Blanco and tobacco group Altadis highlighted the fallout of the consumer slump in Spain.

French police on Monday detained Stephane Richard, who heads telecom company Orange, in a case linked to IMF chief Christine Lagarde and a state payout to a disgraced tycoon, a source close to the investigation said.

Richard, who was chief of staff to Lagarde when the 2008 payout to controversial businessman Bernard Tapie was made, was taken in for questioning along with Jean-Francois Rocchi, who headed a financial institution created to hold the non-performing assets owned by the Credit Lyonnais bank, the source said.

Growth is showing signs of edging up in most big economies, but appears to be firming markedly only in the United States and Japan, the OECD said on Monday.

Meanwhile among the major emerging nations China and Brazil are ticking along at trend rates, while growth in Russia is "losing momentum" and in India it remains below par.

The Italian economy did worse than thought in the first quarter of this year, shrinking by 0.6 percent instead of by 0.5 percent estimated previously, official data showed on Monday.

The figures paint a grim picture for the state of the Italian economy, the third-biggest in the eurozone, marking the seventh quarterly contraction in a row.

British water supplier Severn Trent rejected on Monday the latest takeover attempt by a consortium including Canadian and Kuwaiti investment companies, which in turn said it would make no further offers.

"The board of directors of Severn Trent announces that it has given careful consideration to the pre-conditional possible offer," the group said in a statement.

Chinese banks scaled back lending in May from April, the central bank said, prompting analysts to warn Monday of threats to growth in the world's second largest economy.

Banks extended 667.4 billion yuan ($108 billion) in new loans last month, less than the 792.9 billion yuan in April, the People's Bank of China said Sunday.