Amos Hochstein, President Joe Biden's point man for global energy problems, says he knows that transitioning away from the climate-wrecking pollution of fossil fuels is the only way to go. He advocates urgently for renewable energy, for energy-smart thermostats and heat pumps.

But when it comes to tackling the pressing energy challenges presented by Russia's war on Ukraine, Hochstein also can sound like nothing as much as the West's oilfield roustabout, taking a giant pipe wrench to the world's near-crisis-level energy shortfalls.

Chamila Nilanthi is tired of all the waiting. The 47-year-old mother of two spent three days lining up to get kerosene in the Sri Lankan town of Gampaha, northeast of the capital Colombo. Two weeks earlier, she spent three days in a queue for cooking gas -- but came home with none.

"I am totally fed up, exhausted,'' she said. "I don't know how long we have to do this.''

New York's recreational marijuana market is beginning to sprout, literally, with thin-leafed plants stretching toward the sun in farms around the state.

In a novel move, New York gave 203 hemp growers first shot at cultivating marijuana destined for legal sales, which could start by the end of the year. Big indoor growers are expected to join later.

The world's top wheat importer Egypt said Wednesday it is to receive $500 million from the World Bank to alleviate the impact of war between its main suppliers Russia and Ukraine.

"The World Bank financing will support the government's efforts to meet food needs and enhance resilience to future shocks," International Cooperation Minister Rania al-Mashat said in a statement.

Washington announced steps Tuesday to implement the new sanctions on Russia as agreed by G7 leaders, targeting Moscow's defense industry and banning gold imports from the country.

G7 leaders said on Tuesday that they planned an international conference to rally funds for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil stressed Monday that the forensic audit into the central bank’s accounts “will not die.”

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.