Economics Brent crude held steady above $117 per barrel on Tuesday after settling down for the third straight session the previous day, with traders looking ahead to Italy's upcoming elections. More from Reuters Gold rose for a second straight session on Tuesday, buoyed by strong physical buying in Asia after traders in China returned from a week-long break. More from Reuters Lebanese public workers and school teachers will proceed with their open-ended strike Tuesday after the Cabinet failed to convene Monday to approve the long-awaited wage hike and send it to Parliament for endorsement. More from The Daily Star Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh downplayed Lebanon’s anemic 2 percent growth in 2012, saying that considering the regional situation, “one could not expect to have better than this.” More from Bloomberg The United Arab Emirates will grant Bahrain $2.5bn for development projects in the Gulf Arab state,
