Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Shami said that "we need the approval of the Cabinet to start with the IMF's plan."

"If Cabinet doesn't convene, there would be difficulties to negotiate with the IMF," Shami said.

The central bank on Thursday hiked the dollar exchange rate for bank withdrawals from LBP 3,900 to LBP 8,000 while setting a $3,000 monthly cap per account.

In a statement, the bank said its measure comes ahead of “devising an integrated and comprehensive governmental pan that is based on the economic and reformist principles and the requirements of the International Monetary Fund.”

Chinese squid vessels were documented using wide nets to illegally catch already overfished tuna as part of a surge in unregulated activity in the Indian Ocean, according to a new report by Norway-based watchdog group that highlights growing concerns about the lack of international cooperation to protect marine species on the high seas.

The report, published Wednesday by Trygg Mat Tracking, found that the number of squid vessels in the high seas of the Indian Ocean — where fishing of the species is not regulated — has exploded six-fold since 2016.

The United Arab Emirates' move to a Western-style Saturday-Sunday weekend is an attempt to maintain its edge over rising regional competitors, particularly Saudi Arabia, experts said.

Stocks advanced Wednesday in Asia after another broad rally on Wall Street as investors wagered that the new variant of the COVID-19 virus won't pose a big threat to the economy.

Shares rose in Paris, London, Tokyo and Shanghai but fell in Frankfurt as Germany's parliament elected Olaf Scholz as the country's ninth post-World War II chancellor, opening a new era for the European Union's largest economy after Angela Merkel's 16-year tenure.

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad affirmed, after meeting President Michel Aoun Wednesday, that he will visit France to discuss issues related to electricity and gas exploration.

“I am invited to an official visit to France to discuss gas exploration with (French multinational oil and gas company) Total (Energies) and other firms,” Fayyad said in a press conference.

The bustling, cosmopolitan business hub of Hong Kong may be losing its shine among foreign companies and expatriates with its stringent anti-pandemic rules requiring up to 21 days of quarantine for new arrivals.

The restrictions are discouraging both visitors and business travelers and add to other challenges the semi-autonomous Chinese territory faces as Beijing exerts ever more control over the former British colony.

A major outage in Amazon's cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of U.S. companies for more than five hours, the latest sign of just how concentrated the business of keeping the internet running has become.

The incident at Amazon Web Services mostly affected the eastern U.S., but still impacted everything from airline reservations and auto dealerships to payment apps and video streaming services to Amazon's own massive e-commerce operation. That included The Associated Press, whose publishing system was inoperable for much of the day, greatly limiting its ability to publish its news report..

The share of global wealth of the world's richest people soared at a record pace during the Covid pandemic, a report on inequality showed Tuesday.

Global stock markets rallied Tuesday on fading fears over dangers arising from the new Omicron Covid variant.