BEIRUT: Students in Lebanon will return to the classroom starting next month, the education minister said yesterday, amid fears an accelerating economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic would prevent schools from reopening. 

FRANKFURT: Germany’s passenger train network faces a second round of strikes yesterday and disruption to freight services this weekend, adding more pain to the tourist season and already strained supply chains. 

LONDON: Bitcoin rose back above $50,000 yesterday for the first time in three months after supportive news from payments giant PayPal and cryptocurrency platform Coinbase. 

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s pharmaceutical regulator yesterday granted emergency use approval for an artificial antibody drug known as ‘Ronapreve’ to treat COVID-19, the health ministry said. 

SAN FRANCISCO: A California voter-approved referendum that lets many “gig workers” be treated as independent contractors was ruled unconstitutional on Friday, setting up more legal fights over the controversial measure. 

BEIRUT: Lebanese fuel prices soared by up to 70 percent yesterday after yet another subsidy cut, official figures showed, heaping more pressure on people struggling to make ends meet in the cash-strapped country. 

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s new prime minister called on his colleagues yesterday to end a months-long political crisis and come together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, in his first speech as the country’s fourth premier in as many years. 

LONDON: British supermarket group Morrisons has accepted an improved £7.0-billion counter-bid from US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and withdrawn support for a lower offer from Softbank-owned Fortress. 

FRANKFURT: Germany’s passenger train network faces a second round of strikes tomorrow and disruption to freight services this weekend, adding more pain to the tourist season and already strained supply chains.