Natural gas prices rose Friday after Russian state-owned exporter Gazprom said it would no longer send supplies to Europe via a pipeline in Poland, citing new sanctions that Moscow imposed on European energy companies. The move doesn't immediately block large amounts of natural gas to Europe but intensifies fears that the war in Ukraine will lead to wide-ranging cutoffs.

Gazprom said Thursday that it would ban the use of the Yamal pipeline that reaches Germany through Poland. While that cuts off a supply route to Europe, the pipeline's entry point to Germany has not been used in recent months. Plus, Gazprom has already cut off gas to Poland for refusing to meet Moscow's demand to make payments in rubles.

Iranian authorities have arrested at least 22 demonstrators who had been protesting sudden price hikes of subsidized staple foods in two southern cities, state media reported early Friday.

The arrests follow Iran's announcement this week that the cost of cooking oil, chicken, eggs and milk would rise by as much as 300%, as food prices surge across the Middle East due to global supply chain snarls and Russia's invasion of major food exporter Ukraine.

President Joe Biden has stepped up his administration's response to a nationwide baby formula shortage that has forced frenzied parents into online groups to swap and sell to each other to keep their babies fed.

The president discussed with executives from Gerber and Reckitt how they could increase production and how his administration could help, and talked with leaders from Walmart and Target about how to restock shelves and address regional disparities in access to formula, the White House said.

One of the world's biggest airlines and the Mideast's top carrier, Emirates Air, said Friday it lost $1.1 billion over the past fiscal year, but that figure still marks an 80% improvement from the year before. The airline said revenue was up 91%, reaching $16.1 billion.

As Emirates Air claws it way out of the worst of the pandemic, its main hub of Dubai International Airport remains the busiest in international travel.

The euro sank to a five-year low of $1.0389 on Thursday as the dollar was lifted by its haven status and U.S. interest rate hikes.

Wall Street pointed toward another down day when markets open Thursday following the release of more evidence of stubborn inflation that has already led to sell-offs in Asia and Europe.

Futures for the S&P 500 were 0.5% lower and the Dow industrials lost 0.3% a day after a U.S. government report showed inflation remains close to a four-decade high.

China's leaders are struggling to reverse an economic slump without giving up anti-virus tactics that shut down Shanghai and other cities, adding to challenges for President Xi Jinping as he tries to extend his time in power.

The ruling Communist Party has declared its "zero-COVID" goal of preventing all infections takes priority over the economy. It is a decision with global implications and comes despite warnings by experts including the head of the World Health Organization that the goal might be unattainable.

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, reported on Thursday it handled over 13.6 million passengers in the first three months of 2022 — more than double last year's number in a clear sign that a long-awaited travel revival has reached the global aviation hub.

This quarter's passenger count represents the airport's busiest since the virus struck in 2020 and compares to just 5.7 million passengers logged in the same period last year.

The official unemployment rate in crisis-hit Lebanon jumped almost three-fold to reach 29.6 percent at the start of the year, a joint survey by the U.N. and the government said Thursday.

Iraq has agreed to pay $1.6 billion in debt to Iran by June 1 to secure a steady gas supply for power generation through the summer, its electricity minister said.

Chronic underinvestment through decades of war and sanctions has left Iraq dependent on imports from its eastern neighbor for a third of its gas needs.