A major gas pipeline from Russia to western Europe shut down for annual maintenance on Monday amid concern in Germany that Russia may not resume the flow of gas as scheduled.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and is the latter's main source of Russian gas. Gas is usually sent onward to other countries as well. It is scheduled to be out of action until July 21 for routine work that the operator says includes "testing of mechanical elements and automation systems." The operator's data showed the gas flow dropping as planned on Monday morning.

Iraq's oil minister has said the government will take steps to enforce a recent court decision to annul oil contracts the semiautonomous northern Iraqi Kurdish region made with international companies.

The minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, told The Associated Press the deals, which circumvent the government in Baghdad, are illegal and amount to oil smuggling.

Wall Street pointed higher Thursday ahead of two days of U.S. employment data that could offer hints as to how employers are managing spiraling costs and rising interest rates with the Federal Reserve pursuing an aggressive push to reign in inflation.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.5% and futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.4%. Lower oil prices have eased inflation anxiety somewhat.

The euro fell below $1.02 this week to its lowest level in 20 years. Here are the concrete consequences of the decline in the value of the single European currency. 

- On inflation, purchasing power -Nearly half of all goods imported into the Eurozone are invoiced in dollars, compared to less than 40 percent in euros, according to the European statistics authority, Eurostat. 

Sri Lanka's Central Bank has raised its key interest rates to 14.50% and 15.50% to try to contain inflation that has added to the country's economic woes.

Recent price hikes have been a severe blow, especially for the South Asian country's poor and vulnerable groups as they endure their country's worst economic crisis in memory, struggling with acute shortages of essentials such as food, fuel, cooking gas and medicines.

German lawmakers on Thursday approved a major package of reforms aimed at boosting the production of renewable power, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the country has for too long relied on energy supplies from Russia.

The government unveiled its 600-page "Easter package" in April, less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine escalated the simmering energy crisis between Moscow and western European neighbors, many of which were buyers of Russian fossil fuels.

A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program said in a report Thursday.

The UNDP estimates that 51.6 million more people fell into poverty in the first three months after the war, living off $1.90 a day or less. This pushed the total number globally at this threshold to 9% of the world's population. An additional 20 million people slipped to the poverty line of $3.20 a day.

Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations are gathering in Indonesia's resort island of Bali for talks bound to be dominated by the conflict in Ukraine despite an agenda focused on global cooperation and food and energy security.

The one-day gathering will take place on Friday on the mostly Hindu "island of the gods" in the majority Muslim archipelago nation.

With support from the Lebanon Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF) activity, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Toters -- the leading Lebanese marketplace, e-grocery, and delivery app -- raised $18 million in equity investment from international and local investors.

The TIF activity supported the investment readiness of Toters by providing valuation analysis, facilitating investor outreach, and conducting deep-dive market analysis. This USAID-supported transaction sets the stage for Toters’ growth plans and enables the company to scale operations and expand in local and regional markets, a statement issued by TIF said.

In the wake of Hezbollah’s launching of three drones towards the Karish offshore gas field, the United States warned Lebanon that it might face “deterring punitive measures” that might involve “slapping oil sanctions” on the country, media reports said on Tuesday.

“U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein openly cautioned Lebanese officials that such a step would torpedo the U.S. efforts and could subject the Lebanese investments in the oil and gas resources to the threat of sanctions, especially that it targeted a maritime area that is outside of Lebanon’s internationally-recognized border under the U.N. records,” diplomatic sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper.