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BEIRUT — Dozens of demonstrators angered by a deepening economic crisis rallied for a third consecutive day on Saturday after a night of violent riots sparked condemnation from the political elite.

Rallying against the surging cost of living and the government's apparent impotence in the face of the worst economic turmoil since the 1975-1990 civil war, protesters gathered in central Beirut, brandishing flags and chanting slogans.

In the northern city of Tripoli, young men scuffled with security forces who fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

The stand-off began after young men blocked a highway to prevent a number of trucks carrying produce destined for Syria from passing through, according to the official National News Agency.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it treated nine people wounded in Tripoli.

The rallies came ahead of a speech by Prime Minister Hassan Diab at 15:00 GMT.

"We are here to demand the formation of a new transitional government" and early parliamentary elections, Nehmat Badreddine, an activist and demonstrator told AFP in central Beirut.

Lebanon is caught in a spiralling economic crisis, including a rapid devaluation of the Lebanese pound, which has triggered a fresh wave of demonstrations since Thursday.

Lebanese media reported that the exchange rate had tumbled to 6,000 per dollar on the black market early on Friday, compared to the official peg of 1,507 in place since 1997.

After a crisis meeting on Friday, President Michel Aoun announced that the central bank would implement measures from Monday including "feeding dollars into the market", in a bid to support the Lebanese pound. 

Despite the government's pledges, roughly 200 young men gathered on mopeds in central Beirut on Friday night. Some of them defaced shop fronts and set fire to stores, causing serious damage.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse them and some of the young men threw stones and fire crackers back. Tension petered out after midnight. 

In Tripoli, demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails towards soldiers late on Friday and damaged the facades of several banks and shops. Soldiers responded with tear gas.

The next day, Diab called on officials to assess damage in central Beirut.

Former premier Saad Hariri toured the area, condemning vandalism and riots.

Interior minister Mohammed Fahmi said security forces would find those responsible for damaging property in the capital.

Lebanon — one of the most indebted countries in the world with a sovereign debt of more than 170 per cent of gross domestic product — went into default in March.

It started talks with the International Monetary Fund last month in a bid to unlock billions of dollars in financial aid. Dialogue is ongoing.

Unemployment has soared to 35 per cent nationwide.

The country enforced a lockdown in mid-March to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, dealing a further blow to businesses.

LONDON — Global stock markets struggled on Wednesday ahead of a US Federal Reserve (Fed) policy decision as investors lost their appetite for risk that had fuelled a recent rally as coronavirus lockdowns eased.

Europe jumped out of the blocks at the open, but swiftly fell back as caution prevailed before the conclusion of the Fed's latest monetary policy gathering.

Earlier, Asia had already turned in a subdued performance.

Wall Street was also on tip toes as nervous punters tried to guess the US central bank's next moves.

'Pivotal' 

The meeting "could well be pivotal in deciding whether markets continue to rally", said Scope Markets analyst James Hughes.

"The Fed has thrown an unprecedented amount of stimulus at the US economy over the last three months, and what Chairman Jerome Powell says will impact the direction of global markets."

Most observers did not expect any rate easing after the Fed pledged vast sums of cash as a backstop to financial markets, but some action was likely.

"The Fed orchestrated this market recovery, and [is] now set to offer its latest thoughts, estimates and, hopefully for market sentiment, an actionable go-forward plan," said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.

While many expect the Fed to add ammunition to its anti-virus efforts, some believe the central bank could take a step back as some signs are pointing towards a rapid recovery, including a blockbuster US jobs report last week.

'Sell-off' 

"There is a risk we may see a pronounced sell-off in risk assets if the Fed turns out to be not as dovish as expected," cautioned Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at ThinkMarkets.

Any Fed decision to phase out its quantitative easing stimulus programme could be the trigger for stock market weakness, but also for dollar strength, he said.

In recent weeks, global markets had fizzed higher on the back of economic recovery hopes.

SEOUL — A South Korean court on Tuesday declined to issue an arrest warrant for the heir to the country's Samsung empire over a controversial merger of two business units seen as a key step to his succession. 

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is already being retried on charges of bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with a corruption scandal that brought down former South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

The merger case is separate from his ongoing retrial, but adds to the difficulties for the Samsung group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in the world's 12th-largest economy.

Prosecutors had sought the arrest warrant for Lee on suspicion he was involved in price manipulation and illegal trading during the 2015 merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T.

But the Seoul central district court turned down the prosecution's request, ruling there was not sufficient probable cause for his arrest or those of two former Samsung executives.

"There was insufficient explanation on the need to arrest the defendants against the principle of trial without detention," Judge Won Jung-sook said in a court statement.

"Prosecutors seem to have already secured a considerable amount of evidence through their investigation," she said.

Whether Lee committed illegal acts should be established at trial, she added.

Lee attended the hearing, which Yonhap news agency said lasted for about nine hours, and then awaited the court's decision at a detention centre. He emerged at about 2:40am on Tuesday and briefly greeted reporters but did not answer when asked how he felt about the decision. 

Lee then left in a black sedan.

The merger transaction was seen as helping ensure a smooth third-generational power transfer to Lee, a scion of Samsung's founding family.

Chaebol families often have only a small ownership stake in their empires, but maintain control through complex webs of cross-shareholdings between units.

Apology

Lee was the largest shareholder in Cheil Industries, and critics say Samsung sought to artificially lower the price of C&T to give him a bigger stake in the merged entity — a key part of the Samsung structure — consolidating his grip on the conglomerate.

Last week, the Samsung group rejected media reports of price manipulation as "groundless", saying in a statement Lee did not take part in "any illegal acts".

The prosecutors' request came weeks after Lee issued a wide-ranging apology for company misconduct and promised to end the line of family succession.

Lee, 51, has effectively been at the helm of Samsung — South Korea's biggest business group — since his father and Samsung group boss Lee Kun-hee suffered a heart attack in 2014.

HONG KONG — A blockbuster US jobs report that fanned optimism about the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis helped push Asian stock markets even higher on Monday, while a decision to extend production cuts provided fresh support to oil prices.

As countries continue to ease lockdown measures and with trillions of dollars in stimulus and central bank support pledged, equities across the planet have surged since hitting a trough in March.

The release of data on Friday showing a staggering 2.5 million US jobs were created in May  —  compared with an expected loss of more than eight million  —  added to the optimism, pushing the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 on Wall Street to within spitting distance of record highs.

Canada also reported a surprise increase in employment, confounding forecasts of a big drop.

"While there are still significant uncertainties over the COVID-19 impact on corporate earnings, investors are encouraged by the reopening of economies that is likely to lead to a rebound in profitability later this year," said Iyad Abu Hweij of Allied Investment Partners PJSC.

Tokyo rose more than one per cent, while Wellington surged more than three per cent after New Zealand officials reported no active cases of coronavirus for the first time since the pandemic began, and said the country was free of the disease  —  adding that restrictions would be lifted.

Hong Kong inched up for a sixth straight gain, Seoul added 0.1 per cent, Shanghai closed up 0.2 per cent, while Mumbai, Taipei and Singapore jumped more than 1 per cent, with Jakarta 3 per cent higher.

Bangkok and Manila were also higher.

In early trade, London, Paris and Frankfurt dropped on profit-taking after surging on Friday. Sydney was closed for a holiday.

"In the space of four weeks we've seen history made as the US economy posted a record number of job losses in one month, only to be followed by a record number of jobs gains in the following month," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.

But he added: "Despite all of the enthusiasm over last month's jobs report it doesn't change the fact that US unemployment is still well above post financial crisis levels, and is likely to remain so for quite some time."

'Increased confidence' 

Jason Wong at BNZ markets added: "The data are consistent with activity indicators that show a recovery in activity as US lockdowns eased, following the big hole in the economy in April, and give increased confidence that activity is on a clear path upward from here as restrictions have eased further."

As Latin America experiences a spike in infections and deaths, Europe continues to reopen to some semblance of normality, providing a much-needed boost to the shattered tourism industry.

Adding to the positive sentiment was news that major oil producers had agreed to extend output cuts of almost 10 million barrels a day for another month through to the end of July.

The deal, which had been expected, provided further support to crude prices, which have surged over the past two months thanks to the cuts and the easing of lockdowns that has boosted demand.

The agreement "is hugely positive for sentiment as the presumption is this clampdown will accelerate the rebalancing of supply and demand", said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.

"The recognition that the deep cuts need to continue for a month or perhaps longer shows that despite the recent surge in oil prices, the large producers remain worried about the fragile state of the oil markets."

TRIPOLI — The Libyan National Oil Company said on Sunday production had resumed at Al Sharara oil field, the country’s largest, which had been shut months ago by the forces of strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Al Sharara, about 900 kilometres south of Tripoli, produces 315,000 barrels per day — nearly one third of Libya’s crude output — but is frequently attacked and blocked by militias.

In January, valves at a pumping station were closed forcing a halt in production at Al Sharara and costing the treasury more than $5.2 billion, the National Oil Company (NOC) said.

It came as forces of Haftar, who is based in the east of Libya, was pushing an offensive he had launched in April last year to seize the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised government.

A statement from NOC said the company “confirms the return of production at the Sharara oil field in south of the country, after lengthy negotiations by the NOC to reopen the Hamada valve, which had been illegally closed last January”.

The NOC said that production will resume at a capacity of 30,000 barrels of oil per day until it reaches full capacity within 90 days, due to damage sustained from the shutdown.

“We hope that the restart of production at the Sharara oil field will be a first step to reviving the Libyan oil and gas sector and preventing an economic collapse in Libya in these difficult times,” NOC Chairman Mutafa Sanalla was quoted as saying in the statement.

Oil exports are the source of almost all state revenue in Libya, which has the biggest proven reserves of crude in Africa.

Al Sharara is run by the Akakus company, a joint venture between NOC, Spanish oil giant Repsol, France’s Total, Austria’s OMV and Norway’s Stateoil.

Sunday’s announcement came as fighters loyal to the UN-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord kept up a counteroffensive against Haftar’s forces around the strategic coastal city of Sirte.

The central city and home of former Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi is key for access to Libya’s crucial “oil crescent” in the east, where many oil fields are located.

The US embassy welcomed the resumption of production at Al Sharara, hailing it as “a significant step forward” and urging all sides “to reject attempts to militarise the energy sector”.

Libya plunged into chaos after the ouster and killing of Qadhafi in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, with rival administrations and militias vying for control of the country and its oil wealth.

The situation has been exacerbated by the intervention of foreign powers, with Turkey backing the UN-recognised government and Russia and the United Arab Emirates supporting Haftar.

VIENNA — The cartel of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members decided on Saturday to extend deep output cuts through July, but a final deal depends on the agreement of other producers, as oil prices tentatively recover as coronavirus lockdowns ease. 

The 13-member cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to extend by a month historic May and June cuts agreed in April to boost prices, Algerian Oil Minister Mohamed Arkab, who currently holds OPEC's rotating presidency, told AFP.

Other oil producing countries, such as Russia and Mexico, joined the cartel members in a second meeting and have yet to agree to the decision.

Prices have plummeted over falling demand as countries around the world have imposed strict lockdowns to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Under the terms of the April agreement, OPEC and the so-called OPEC+ pledged to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from May 1 until the end of June.

The cuts were then to be gradually eased from July, to 7.7 million bpd until December.

The April deal was signed after days of wrangling between major players, whose revenues have been ravaged by the collapsing oil market this year.

Analysts have expected the May-June cuts to be extended by at least another month, if not until the end of the summer or even until the end of the year. 

Although more countries around the world are gradually moving out of lockdown, crude consumption has not returned to pre-confinement levels, which had already been comparatively low.

As in previous negotiations, discussions could prove particularly tense between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the deal's two heavyweights who became involved in a short but bitter price war when previous talks broke down in March.

Mexico, which held up the April deal before it was eventually finalised, has also already ruled out any further drop in oil production with its president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, saying on Friday his country "could not adjust our production further".

Another bone of contention ahead of the meeting had been the willingness of each country to abide by the agreed production quotas. 

According to data intelligence company Kpler, OPEC+ reduced output by around 8.6 million bpd in May, a smaller cut than planned, with Iraq and Nigeria seen as the main culprits.

Nigeria's Ministry of Petroleum Resources said in a tweet on Saturday that it backed discussions to allow countries which failed to conform fully to the agreed cuts in May and June to make up for it in July, August and September.

Despite the difficulties, the output cuts have helped support oil prices, which rose to around $40 per barrel at the start of June for both the US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), and Europe's Brent North Sea contracts. 

Around April 20, both had slumped to historic lows, with Brent falling as low as $15 and WTI even entering negative territory. 

Saturday's meeting had been originally scheduled for next week, but was brought forward at the suggestion of Algeria's Arkab.

LONDON — Growing optimism about a swift global economic recovery pushed equity markets higher on Wednesday, as investors took heart from further easing of lockdowns while looking past China-US tensions and civil unrest across America.

The upbeat mood  —  and hopes for an extension to a massive oil output cut agreement  —  resulted in Brent crude futures breaking the $40-mark for the first time in nearly three months, before profit-taking kicked in.

Governments in Europe and Asia have become confident enough to lift containment measures that have likely pushed the world economy into recession and destroyed tens of millions of jobs.

“The lifting of lockdown restrictions combined with enormous central bank support means investors are shrugging off little things like collapsing GDP and worsening US-China tension,” said Neil Wilson at trading site Markets.com. 

In Europe, the main London, Frankfurt and Paris indices were solidly higher in early afternoon trading.

On Wall Street, the DJIA added more than 200 points at the opening bell.

Earlier, Tokyo and Hong Kong stock markets closed up more than 1 per cent, while Sydney put on 1.8 per cent after data showed the Australian economy contracted at a slower rate than feared in the first quarter  —  though it remains on course for its first recession in nearly 30 years.

More fuel for oil rally 

“For now the good virus news... [is] more than outweighing the bad,” National Australia Bank said in a client note.

However, it warned that there remained a lot of risk that could spark a massive sell-off.

World Bank head David Malpass was also concerned about the outlook, saying estimates that anti-virus measures would wipe out $5 trillion are likely to fall far short of the actual damage.

Oil prices rose in Asian trading on hopes that major producers will meet to extend their output cuts by one month to August, while investors were also cheered by signs of a further drop in US stockpiles indicating demand is improving.

“The most bullish outcome for oil from the meeting is no sign of squabbling between Russia and Saudi Arabia,” whose price war earlier this year helped send prices crashing, said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp.

“Headlines suggest they are on the same page on supply, and that’s bullish for oil in the context of an improving demand backdrop.”

Crude futures cooled in later European deals.

PARIS — France on Tuesday denounced as “blackmail” an ultimatum from low-cost carrier Ryanair for its French employees to choose between a five-year pay cut or a number of redundancies in an escalating labour dispute.

The offer from the Dublin-based no-frills carrier, long accused by critics of abrasive labour tactics, comes as the aviation industry grapples with an unprecedented crisis after the collapse in global demand for air travel due to the coronavirus.

“Blackmail is never an option”, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio. “Jobs will be protected by imaginative solutions, but definitely not through blackmail,” he said.

The aviation industry is facing drastic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has closed borders across the world and paralysed air transport.

Ryanair has already announced plans to axe 3,000 pilot and cabin crew jobs, or 15 per cent of staff across its European network.

In France, Ryanair operates from hubs including the Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux airports.

The Irish company has told French unions to accept plans to cut wages by 20 per cent for pilots and 10 per cent for stewards and air hostesses from July 2020, or face the redundancy of 23 pilots and 27 cabin crew staff.

Under current plans, staffers who are earning minimum wage would see their work time cut by 20 per cent. Employees would progressively regain their salary up until 2025.

Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud said she was “shocked” by Ryanair’s proposal and said the company must go back to the drawing board and “really talk [with employees], but not blackmail”.

Since 2017 companies can open up talks with its employees on contract hours and salaries in exchange of a company’s commitment to suspend dismissals, Penicaud said on TV station BFM Business.

But the spirit of this possibility is “not at all the one being used by Ryanair”, she said.

Ryanair benefited from the state scheme to help companies through the two-month lockdown period by placing staffers on partial unemployment, Penicaud said.

“We helped them and they’re not playing the game,” she added.

The head of France’s biggest trade union CFDT, Laurent Berger, said Ryanair wasn’t showing respect to “its employees, nor workers, nor anyone.”

Berger called for a boycott of the airline. “Let’s stop taking Ryanair to travel,” he said, accusing the company of “pressuring its employees for years.”

DUBAI — It could take up to four years for Emirates airline’s operations to return “to some degree of normality”, its president said on Monday, a day after it announced job cuts over the coronavirus crisis.

The Middle East’s largest carrier, which has a 100,000-strong staff and a fleet of 270 wide-bodied aircraft, halted operations in late March as part of shutdowns to combat the spread of the pandemic.

Two weeks later, the airline resumed limited passenger operations but focused on repatriation flights as large numbers of the United Arab Emirates’ foreign residents returned to their home countries.

Dubai-based Emirates said on Sunday it was cutting its giant workforce but did not specify the extent of the layoffs.

“This is an action we have to take. We just can’t keep our employees doing nothing for so long. So, we have to let some go, unfortunately,” Emirates President Tim Clark told the Arabian Travel Market virtual conference.

“I think probably by the year 22-23, 23-24, we will see things coming back to some degree of normality and Emirates will be operating its network as it was,” he said.

Clark said that Emirates, which reported a bumper 21 per cent rise in annual profits in March, had hoped to resume operations in the second half of May, but conditions did not ease enough to allow it, making it difficult to meet costs.

The long-serving executive, whose retirement flagged for June has been delayed due to the crisis, said that some airlines may disappear in the chaos that has hit the aviation industry.

“I am not optimistic that some of the carriers that are here today, that already have been significantly bailed out, will get through the next few months,” he said, adding that the next six to nine months will be “tough”.

“We have never been in this horrendous situation ... It is a huge structural change to our industry.”

Last week, the International Air Transport Association estimated that global airlines will lose $314 billion in 2020 revenues, a 55 per cent dive from last year.

Clark said that contractual obligations mean that airlines cannot continue to keep their fleets grounded.

“We must get this business back on its feet as quickly as possible,” said the Emirates boss whose own fleet includes 115 Airbus A-380 superjumbos.

But he warned the airline industry is in “a very critical and fragile state”, and that the wearing of masks and gloves and sterilisation programs in the post-pandemic era will signal “a paradigm change”.