Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on his nation's plan to buy nuclear-powered submarines from the United States to modernize its fleet, saying "it must be the worst deal in all history."

Speaking at a National Press Club event, Keating said the submarines wouldn't serve a useful military purpose.

Two Saudi Arabian airlines have said they will order 78 jetliners from Boeing and take options to buy 43 more in a major boost for the American aircraft manufacturer.

The order for Boeing 787s will be divided between Saudi Arabia's flag carrier, Saudia, and a planned new airline called Riyadh Air, which Saudi officials introduced over the weekend.

Two large banks that cater to the tech industry have collapsed after a bank run, government agencies are taking emergency measures to backstop the financial system, and President Joe Biden is reassuring Americans that the money they have in banks is safe.

It's all eerily reminiscent of the financial meltdown that began with the bursting of the housing bubble 15 years ago. Yet the initial pace this time around seems even faster.

A regulatory takeover of a New York-based bank was intended to send a message to U.S. banks to stay away from the cryptocurrency business, a former member of Congress who was on the bank's board says.

Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that he believes the state officials behind the action were trying to make an example of Signature Bank in takeover that he said was the wrong move. Despite a wave of withdrawals, the bank's situation was under control before regulators swooped in, he said.

Facebook parent Meta is slashing another 10,000 jobs and will not fill 5,000 open positions as the social media pioneer cuts costs.

The company said Tuesday it will reduce the size of its recruiting team and make further cuts in its tech groups in late April, and then its business groups in late May.

Silicon Valley Bank's collapse rattled the technology industry that had been the bank's backbone, leaving shell-shocked entrepreneurs thankful for the government reprieve that saved their money while they mourned the loss of a place that served as a chummy club of innovation.

"They were the gold standard, it almost seemed weird if you were in tech and didn't have a Silicon Valley Bank account," Stefan Kalb, CEO of Seattle startup Shelf Engine, said during a Monday interview as he started the process of transferring millions of dollars to other banks.

Embattled Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh will attend Wednesday’s interrogation session at the Justice Palace but will not be detained, a senior judicial source said.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon is inclined to suspend its strike at the end of this week and operations will resume on Monday, al-Jadeed TV reported on Tuesday.

In 2016, Vice President Joe Biden warned against efforts to unravel banking regulations that Democrats had fought to implement following the nation's financial crisis, just as the emerging Trump administration was determined to loosen those strict banking rules.

Biden argued that without the far-reaching 2010 banking overhaul known as Dodd-Frank, financial institutions would continue to gamble with consumers' cash and ultimately hurt the middle class.

The Lebanese pound sank to a historic low against the dollar on the parallel market Tuesday, foreign exchange dealers said, as banks in the crisis-hit country resumed an open-ended strike.

The Lebanese pound, officially pegged at 15,000 to the dollar, was trading at 100,000 against the greenback, dealers said -- a dizzying plunge from 1,507 before the economic crisis hit in 2019.