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.

The Lebanese parliament voted in on Sunday will have to tackle overdue reforms required for international assistance the cash-strapped country desperately needs. 

After Lebanon struck a conditional deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion aid package, AFP looks at the challenges that await incoming lawmakers in a country where there is little consensus on a roadmap for financial recovery.

Ukraine stopped the flow of Russian natural gas through one hub that feeds European homes and industry on Wednesday, while a pro-Kremlin official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said it would ask Moscow to annex it.

The remarks could be another sign of Russia's broader plan for Ukraine as it tries to salvage an invasion that has so far gone awry — amid concerns that the country may remain a source of continental and global instability for months, or even years, to come.

Inflation slowed in April after seven months of relentless gains, a tentative sign that price increases may be peaking while still imposing a financial strain on American households.

Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from 12 months earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was below the 8.5% year-over-year surge in March, which was the highest rate since 1981. On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.3% from March to April, a still-elevated rate but the smallest increase in eight months.

The "destructive actions" of Lebanon’s political and financial leaders are responsible for forcing most of the country’s population into poverty, in violation of international human rights law, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, said in a report published Wednesday.

Urging the country to "change course," De Schutter accused the central bank of an "accounting sleight of hand regarding its losses... that covertly created a massive public debt... which will condemn the Lebanese for generations."