Lebanon hiked fuel prices by more than 30 percent Tuesday as it reduced subsidies that have eaten away at the central bank's foreign currency reserves amid a painful economic crisis.

Wall Street stocks were mixed early Monday ahead of key economic data this week updating the state of the U.S. economic recovery from the coronavirus downturn. 

A Russian business delegation met Lebanese officials on Monday to discuss plans to rebuild the grain silos destroyed last year in a massive explosion at Beirut's port, a Lebanese Cabinet minister said.

The visit by the Russian team -- including officials from Russia's Hydro Engineering and Construction company -- comes as Lebanon is going through the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

President Michel Aoun has been following up since early morning on “the developments of the fuel crisis in the country” and the “suffering of citizens at gas stations,” the Presidency said on Monday.

To that end, Aoun held a series of calls with caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar and the relevant administrations at the Ministry, calling for “swift and firm measures to contribute to alleviating the fabricated crisis and ending the exploitation of citizens,” the Presidency added in a statement.

Odile Renaud-Basso, the first female president at Europe's development bank, hopes to restore the EBRD's green investment targets while addressing workplace equality as Covid-hit economies recover.

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Saturday lashed out at U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea over remarks related to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's call for buying fuel from Iran.

Road-blocking protests continued Saturday in Lebanon and several shops closed in the northern city of Tripoli as the Lebanese lira plummeted to unprecedented lows.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday he has reached a deal with a bipartisan group of senators to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, likely unlocking the most funding for roads, bridges and ports in decades.

The head of the Association of Generator Owners in Lebanon, Abdo Saade, warned Wednesday that “the country’s situation has become dangerous with the disappearance of the diesel substance from the market, which has started to cause generator shutdowns.”

European stocks rose slightly at the open on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell eased market concerns over the timing of higher interest rates.