President Michel Aoun on Monday called, from Rome, for setting up a Vatican-sponsored Lebanon support fund and for boosting aid programs for Lebanon, the Presidency said.

The head of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Qu Dongyu, and the head of the U.N.’s World Food Program, David Beasley, both said that Aoun’s suggestion will be taken into consideration, the Presidency added.

The world's top-selling automaker Toyota said Friday it will halt operations on the majority of its Japanese production lines for three days as parts supply is hit by a recent powerful earthquake.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on European leaders Monday to cease all trade with Russia in an effort to pressure Moscow to halt its nearly month-long military assault on his country.

Shanghai Disneyland closed Monday as China's most populous city tried to contain its biggest coronavirus flareup in two years, while the southern business center of Shenzhen allowed shops and offices to reopen after a weeklong closure.

Meanwhile, the cities of Changchun and Jilin in the northeast began another round of citywide virus testing following a surge in infections. Jilin tightened anti-disease curbs, ordering its 2 million residents to stay home.

Russia’s central bank has cautiously reopened bond trading on the Moscow exchange for the first time since the country invaded Ukraine.

The price of Russia’s ruble-denominated government debt fell Monday, sending borrowing costs higher. Stock trading has remained closed, with no word on when it might reopen.

Egypt's Central Bank raised its key interest rate Monday for the first time since 2017, citing inflationary pressures triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine, which hiked oil prices to new records.

The move saw the Egyptian pound slip, trading at over 18 to the dollar by midday — from an average of 15.6 pounds for $1 — after the bank's decision. That is likely to have a heavy toll on poor and middle-class Egyptians.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it "won't bear any responsibility" for a shortage in global oil supplies after a fierce barrage of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels affected production in the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter.

The unusually stark warning marked a departure from the giant oil producer's typically cautious statements, as Saudi officials remain aware that even their smallest comments can swing the price of oil and rattle global markets.

Yemen's Houthi rebels unleashed a barrage of drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia that targeted key facilities including natural gas and desalination plants early Sunday, Saudi state-run media reported, temporarily reducing oil production at one site in the latest escalation as peace talks stall and the war in Yemen rages into its eighth year.

The attacks did not cause casualties, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said, but damaged civilian vehicles and homes in the area. A Saudi energy official later acknowledged that a drone strike targeting the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company on the Red Sea coast caused "a temporary reduction in the refinery's production."

President Michel Aoun on Friday denied any role for the Presidency in the judicial measures that have been taken against a number of banks in recent days.

“The media campaigns that escalated over the past two days, which tried to allege a role for the Presidency in the judicial measures that have been taken against several banks, are the epitome of falsification, unjust accusations and disinformation,” Aoun said.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held a meeting Friday at the Grand Serail with Justice Minister Henri Khoury, amid unprecedented measures by some judges against a number of commercial banks.