U.S. and European stocks mostly rose Monday, bucking Asian losses as investors mulled the U.S. interest rate outlook, while bitcoin sank on news of a Chinese crackdown.

France's Europe minister on Wednesday warned Britain against abandoning an EU agreement on post-Brexit trade with Northern Ireland, warning it would create a "huge problem" and France was "ready" to respond.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil on Wednesday said the Strong Lebanon bloc supports “the quick formation of a government led by PM-designate Saad Hariri.”

British inflation has soared to the highest level since before the coronavirus pandemic, with clothing, fuel and oil prices rebounding as the economy reopens, official data showed Wednesday.

Dubai-based Emirates airline on Tuesday posted a $5.5 billion annual loss, its first in more than three decades, after the coronavirus pandemic badly hit the aviation industry.

Americans Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor go on trial in Tokyo on Monday on charges they helped Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, skip bail and flee to Lebanon in December 2019.

HOW DID THE TAYLORS END UP IN JAPAN?

Carlos Ghosn's 2019 escape from Japan, where he was awaiting trial, was virtually made for Hollywood, complete with private jets, a former special forces operative and a giant case to hide inside.

Stock markets climbed Monday with investors looking ahead to a meeting of the Federal Reserve this week hoping for fresh clues about prospects for higher interest rates as inflation soars.

Lebanon's currency hit a new low against the dollar on the black market Monday, continuing its freefall in a country gripped by political deadlock, an economic crisis and increasing shortages.

Lebanon's local currency hit a new record low on Sunday, with the country's economic and political crisis worsening with no apparent solutions in the near future.

The currency has lost more than 90% of its value since October 2019, when anti-government protests erupted. Inflation and prices of basic goods have skyrocketed in the country, which imports more than 80% of its basic goods.