Israel on Sunday imposed a ban on Palestinian agricultural exports, in a move the Palestinians blasted as a "dangerous" escalation in a five-month trade war. 

Lebanon’s SGBL bank on Friday lamented that it is facing “an organized campaign aimed at stripping it of the confidence of its clients and the public.”

“In this regard, al-Akhbar newspaper has accustomed us to such campaigns, and this systematic campaign has been followed by TV campaigns championed by a so-called economic expert who has given TV interviews that are only aimed at insulting Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L. and its owners,” SGBL said in a statement.

The American economy saw an explosion of new hiring in January, possibly helped by mild weather but getting the year off to an impressive start, according to key government data released Friday.

Some of the world's rarest and most expensive whiskies went on sale on Friday in an online auction of a private collection amassed by a late U.S. soft drink bottling tycoon.

An al-Akhbar newspaper article titled "the French are withdrawing from Société Générale" contains "totally inaccurate and misleading information thus exposing the newspaper, the author of the article and the editor-in-chief to criminal legal actions," SGBL said in a press release.

"The accounting procedure applied by 'Société Générale (France)' towards constituting a provision regarding its equity participation in the share capital of 'Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L.' consists of a standard procedure which is undertaken in case of a credit rating downgrade of the country where the local bank conducts its business, in accordance with the IFRS international accounting standards. Therefore, and contrary to the false information contained in this article, the aforesaid accounting procedure does not in any way mean that 'Société Générale (France)' is divesting its interest in 'Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L.' and is absolutely not related to the latter’s financial situation," the press release said.

The head of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, said Friday he would step down next week, as a ballooning spying scandal rocks Switzerland's second largest bank.

Fiat Chrysler could halt production at a European factory because of supply problems from China due to the coronavirus outbreak there, its boss told Thursday's Financial Times.

Finnish telecom equipment provider Nokia beat expectations in a "challenging" 2019 as a strong fourth quarter enabled it to post its first full-year net profit since 2015, of 7.0  million euros.

U.S.-Italian automaker Fiat Chrysler said Thursday its net earnings fell by nearly a fifth last year as sales slowed, although both rose in the final quarter.

China on Thursday said it would halve tariffs on $75 billion-worth of US imports as part of its trade truce with Washington and as officials look to calm markets unnerved by the deadly virus outbreak.