Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Tuesday chaired a Grand Serail meeting dedicated to studying the mechanism of distributing fuel in the crisis-hit country.

Lebanon's government agreed Monday to pay tens of thousands of poor families cash assistance in U.S. dollars from a World Bank loan as the country's economic crisis deepens.

The decision comes as Lebanon is expected to end subsidies for fuel by the end of next month, a move that is expected to lead to sharp increases in prices of almost all products.

A strike on German passenger rail began early Monday, creating headaches for thousands of travelers and commuters, after the train drivers' union rejected a new offer to keep services going.

In a statement on Sunday, rail operator Deutsche Bahn offered to negotiate a coronavirus-related bonus for drivers this year.

Bitcoin rose back above $50,000 on Monday for the first time in three months after supportive news from payments giant PayPal and cryptocurrency platform Coinbase.

The world's most popular virtual unit jumped to $50,440 during Asian trade, before easing to $50,350 in early morning London deals.

Losing income is never easy, but it's become increasingly common over the last year and a half: According to the Pew Research Center, 44 percent of U.S. adults say their household has experienced either job loss (including temporarily) or a pay cut since the beginning of the pandemic, with Hispanic and Asian adults most likely to say so.

That creates an incredible strain as people scramble to cover basic expenses like food and housing as well as monthly bills and everyday expenses, even if the reduction in income is temporary. Having a sense of your budget and avoiding procrastination is the key to doing well post-pay cut, says certified financial planner Manisha Thakor, founder of MoneyZen, a financial educational consultancy in Portland, Oregon.

Stocks and oil rallied Monday on bargain-buying after last week's blow-out, with traders tracking a healthy Wall Street performance fuelled by comments from a top Federal Reserve official that the spread of the Delta variant could cause him to reconsider plans to taper monetary policy.

Fears about the Covid mutation have rattled world markets as it forces some governments to re-impose containment measures, while sentiment was jolted further last week by minutes from the Fed's July meeting indicating it could start withdrawing its vast financial support by year's end.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called on Tokyo to release the Islamic republic's funds that have been frozen in Japan because of U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program.

"Delaying the release of Iran's assets in Japanese banks is unjustifiable," Raisi told visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, the government website reported.

Few tourists are gazing at the Mona Lisa or wandering the streets of Paris this summer, dashing hopes that the top tourist destination would see brighter days after last year's pandemic-linked desertion.

Lebanon’s Directorate General of Oil on Sunday announced a hike in the prices of gasoline, diesel and cooking gas based on a deal that was reached at Saturday’s meeting in Baabda.

Lebanese officials have agreed to a short-term compromise to maintain fuel subsidies, in a move set to trigger more price hikes.