Another Chinese property developer said Monday it had defaulted on a major bond repayment, citing liquidity problems amid a government crackdown on the debt-laden sector.

European equities advanced Monday on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant might not be as damaging as initially feared, traders said.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration will announce an anti-corruption strategy Monday meant to tackle two major vehicles for money laundering in the United States -- real estate transactions and shell companies.

"We'll be releasing the first ever U.S. government strategy on countering corruption," a senior administration official said on a conference call ahead of the announcement.

EU ministers on Monday agreed measures to better protect wage levels in Europe and give workers more power to oppose low pay.

At 28, Thurayya left behind the Beirut neighborhood where she was born and moved to the family farm, not because of environmental concerns but forced there by Lebanon's bruising crises.

The plummeting Lebanese pound on Friday regained some of its value against the dollar after dropping to a record low last week, after Information Minister George Kordahi announced his resignation, in a move that could defuse a major diplomatic crisis with Gulf countries.

The pound, also known as lira, was trading at about 22,000 to the greenback, up from more than 25,000 just days earlier.

A Lebanese DJ was days away from moving to Riyadh to play for a month in one of the newest entertainment centers in Saudi Arabia's capital when a brief, polite WhatsApp message informed her that the contract won't go through.

The head of a Beirut-based communications agency had been negotiating to revive a two-year-old contract derailed by the pandemic for hundreds of thousands of dollars. After two days of silence her Saudi client, in an apologetic call, said now is not the time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed a new treasury and finance minister early Thursday after Lutfi Elvan stepped down from the post as the currency has been tumbling to record lows.

Erdogan named Nureddin Nebati, who was deputy minister, to the post, according to an announcement published in the Official Gazette. It said Elvan asked to be "pardoned from the job" and that his request was accepted.

Global stock markets rebounded Wednesday and oil prices surged following Omicron-driven losses and on the eve of a key output meeting of OPEC and its allies.

European stocks and oil prices rebounded and Wall Street was poised to open higher Monday even as Asian markets fell further, with investors weighing the new coronavirus variant, omicron, that is being found in more countries and prompting some governments to reimpose travel controls.

Benchmarks in London, Frankfurt and Paris had gained by midday. Indexes in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower, though losses were smaller than Friday's fall, sparked by reports that the variant first spotted in South Africa appeared to spread around the globe.