The United States said Sunday that the G7 group of nations will ban imports of Russian gold with the aim of tightening sanctions screws on Moscow and crippling its war effort in Ukraine.

Global stock markets and oil prices rose Friday following recent heavy losses on fears that interest rate hikes aimed at cooling decades-high inflation will spark a global recession.

A day after endorsing Ukraine's candidacy to join the European Union, the bloc's leaders turned their attention Friday to the severe economic turbulence looming over the coming months as the full impact of Russia's war sinks in and the threat of recession rises.

The EU's 27 leaders gathered in Brussels to grapple with surging inflation, energy shocks, dwindling business and consumer confidence, and growing budget pressures.

Al-Mawared Bank announced Friday the suspension of its membership in the Association of Banks as it accused the association of failing to protect the banks and the depositors.

The Bank in a statement accused the Association of taking decisions "that are not necessarily in the interest of its members and of the depositors," since the beginning of the crisis in October 2019, and of "failing to protect the banking sector."

Lebanon and Sri Lanka may be a world apart, but they share a history of political turmoil and violence that led to the collapse of once-prosperous economies bedeviled by corruption, patronage, nepotism and incompetence.

The toxic combinations led to disaster for both: Currency collapse, shortages, triple-digit inflation and growing hunger. Snaking queues for gas. A decimated middle class. An exodus of professionals who might have helped rebuild.

With Ukraine's seaports blockaded or captured by Russian forces, neighboring Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta has emerged as a main conduit for the war-torn country's grain exports amid a growing world food crisis.

It's Romania's biggest port, home to Europe's fastest-loading grain terminal, and has processed nearly a million tons of grain from Ukraine — one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat and corn — since the Feb. 24 invasion.

A sleek $156 million superyacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch and parliamentarian is now docked in Dubai, the latest reminder of how the skyscraper-studded sheikhdom has become a haven for Russian money amid Moscow's war on Ukraine.

The 98-meter (324-foot) Madame Gu, which has a helicopter pad, gym, beach club and elevator, remained moored off Dubai's Port Rashid on Thursday in what has become a test for the close partnership between the United States and United Arab Emirates.

High gas prices have Wallace Reid looking for a new career.

Reid, who drives for Uber and Lyft in New York, fills up his Lexus at least three times a week. He pays around $95 each time, about double what he was paying last year. To make up for that, he's driving more often, but he's also applying for other jobs that wouldn't require his car.

Germany activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies Thursday, saying Europe's biggest economy faces a "crisis" and warning that storage targets for the winter are at risk due to dwindling deliveries from Russia.

The government said the decision to raise the level to "alarm" follows the cuts to Russian gas flows made since June 14 and surging energy prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The third and highest stage is the "emergency" level.

Sri Lanka's prime minister says the island nation's debt-laden economy has "collapsed" as it runs out of money to pay for food and fuel. Short of cash to pay for imports of such necessities and already defaulting on its debt, it is seeking help from neighboring India and China and from the International Monetary Fund.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office in May, was emphasizing the monumental task he faces in turning around an economy he said is heading for "rock bottom."