Road-blocking protests continued Saturday in Lebanon and several shops closed in the northern city of Tripoli as the Lebanese lira plummeted to unprecedented lows.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday he has reached a deal with a bipartisan group of senators to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, likely unlocking the most funding for roads, bridges and ports in decades.

The head of the Association of Generator Owners in Lebanon, Abdo Saade, warned Wednesday that “the country’s situation has become dangerous with the disappearance of the diesel substance from the market, which has started to cause generator shutdowns.”

European stocks rose slightly at the open on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell eased market concerns over the timing of higher interest rates.

More than 140 gas stations have refused to receive gasoline from distributors because their workers are facing “troubles, blackmail and physical assault and are not being able to protect themselves,” the representative of distributors, Fadi Abu Shaqra, said on Tuesday.

Bitcoin fell underneath $30,000 on Tuesday for the first time in five months, hit by concerns over China's ongoing crackdown on the world's most popular cryptocurrency.

Lebanon’s economy ministry announced on Tuesday a bread price hike, the fourth in almost a year, a move the government blames on end of subsidies on sugar as declared by the Central Bank of Lebanon, amid a plunge in the value of the local currency.

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida pleaded for patience from disgruntled shareholders Tuesday and promised a turnaround at the Japanese automaker, which is projecting a third year of losses as it struggles to distance itself from a scandal over its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn.

"What we have worked on during years of hardship will bear fruit," Uchida said at the annual regular shareholders' meeting.

Demonstrators blocked a highway connecting Lebanon and Syria on Monday with burned tires and metal bars, protesting a decision by Lebanese authorities aimed at curbing smuggling into Syria, Lebanon's official news agency reported.

The outcry was particularly striking because it comes amid a worsening fuel shortage in Lebanon that many blame on increased smuggling into Syria from the tiny country.

U.S. and European stocks mostly rose Monday, bucking Asian losses as investors mulled the U.S. interest rate outlook, while bitcoin sank on news of a Chinese crackdown.