Financial markets kicked off the week with fresh volatility on Monday, as Asian stocks tumbled, bitcoin soared and the dollar retreated.

Abu Dhabi will slash the cost of establishing new businesses by "more than 90 percent" from Tuesday to increase the "competitiveness regionally and internationally" of the emirate, already a magnet for commerce.

In recent weeks authorities have ramped up efforts to woo new business to Abu Dhabi, one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. 

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Monday visited the disputed Kuril Islands and said authorities wanted to establish a free economic zone there, sparking a protest from Japan.

Caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme on Monday called on importers and businesses to lower the prices of commodities following the Lebanese lira’s major improvement against the U.S. dollar over the past hours.

Coffee prices surged this week to multi-year peaks, extending stellar gains this year after frost damaged crops in the world's biggest producer Brazil.

Israeli carrier Israir launched the first direct commercial flight between the Jewish state and Morocco on Sunday since the two states normalized diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal last year.

About 100 passengers were on the flight that departed from Tel Aviv to Marrakesh, Israir spokeswoman Tali Leibovitz told AFP, adding that two to three flights per week were planned on the route.

Iraq will provide Lebanon with one million tons of fuel oil for its power plants in exchange for medical services, under a deal signed on Saturday in Baghdad.

European stocks rose Friday at the end of a volatile week for markets, helped by the Eurozone's economic recovery and ECB assurances over its support package.

Asian equity markets closed out Friday with losses as the Delta variant continued to cast a shadow across trading floors.

As food systems around the world continue to recover from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. in Lebanon has hosted a virtual Food Systems Dialogue to inform the first-ever U.N. Food Systems Summit, which will take place in New York in September, about the future of food in Lebanon.

Families in Lebanon are now spending five times the minimum wage on food alone, a report found, as inflation caused by the country's worst-ever economic crisis continues to soar.

The small country is battling what the World Bank has described as one of the planet's worst financial crises since the 1850s, which has left more than half the population living below the poverty line.