The president of the Asian Development Bank on Thursday backed French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to take over as head of the IMF global lender.

"Personally I think she is a perfect candidate," said the ADB's president, Haruhiko Kuroda of Japan, hailing "her capacity and talent" which he said had impressed Asian ministers and bank governors at an ADB meeting in May.

The union of bank employees syndicates urged the new government on Thursday to speed up the renewal of Central Bank governor Riyad Salameh’s mandate.

The executive council of the union said in a statement that Najib Miqati’s cabinet should endorse Salameh for a fourth term after “proving his competence and wisdom in managing banking affairs.”

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said he would seek a confidence vote Thursday after thousands of protesters besieged parliament to protest the latest wave of austerity cuts in the Eurozone member.

As fears grew of a catastrophic debt default, Papandreou said he would reshuffle his cabinet, after reports that the opposition conservatives had spurned an offer to join a government of national unity.

Offices were closed and public transport on land and sea across Greece was seriously disrupted early Wednesday as a mass general strike got under way against government austerity plans.

Hundreds of demonstrators belonging to the popular protest group calling itself "The indignants", modeled on a similar mobilization in Spain, flooded into the central Syntagma Square in Athens in front of parliament where members are debating a new austerity package.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said on Wednesday that Lebanon will enjoy an “excellent” summer season.

In remarks to al-Manar TV, Abboud said: “We are ready for this tourism season because it is going to be the best for Lebanon.”

Oil prices rose slightly on Tuesday as the market digested news of an inflation spike in China, the world's biggest consumer of energy.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July edged up six cents $119.16 in early London trade.

German auto company Volkswagen said on Tuesday it has sold more than two million vehicles between January and May, a twelve percent boost in sales from the same period last year.

The Volkswagen marque sold 2.09 million vehicles in five months against 1.86 million units in 2010, the company said in a statement.

Oil prices fell to below $99 a barrel Monday in Asia, extending a big loss from Friday after a report said Saudi Arabia plans to boost its crude production.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 57 cents to $98.72 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $2.64 to settle at $99.29 on Friday.

OGERO Telecom General Manager Abdul Monhem Youssef denied on Friday reports that he had halted granting DSL and HDSL licenses to the Telecommunications Ministry and private companies.

He told the Central News Agency that OGERO is waiting to accept new requests to install DSL internet connection because of a shortage of modems caused by the Telecom Ministry’s decision to stop funding the company.

Drivers of Nissan 350Z sports car and Titan pickup, as well as the humble Chevrolet Aveo run the most risk of dying in a crash, while Audi's luxury A6 cruised in relative safety, according to an insurance report Thursday.

Meanwhile sports utility vehicles (SUVs), formerly known as rollover death-traps, now have some of the best safety records in the industry, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.