The Bank of England looks set to become the first major central bank to sell some of the government bonds it purchased during more than a decade of quantitative easing, with a 40 billion pound ($49 billion) sales programme likely to start next month.

A European Union plan to cut gas use and help Germany wean itself off dependency on Russia will come into effect early next week, the bloc’s presidency said Friday.

Portugal has reformed its immigration laws to attract foreign workers as it faces a labour shortage in tourism and construction.

The Bank of England is trying to maintain flexibility on its options for changing interest rates and investors should not assume it is set to do more big rate hikes, BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill said on Friday.

People in Germany have to save at least 20 per cent of their energy consumption to avoid a gas shortage by December due to falling Russian gas flows, Germany’s network regulator head Klaus Mueller said.

EU sanctions against Russia do nothing to prevent the delivery of pipeline turbine, an EU spokesman said Friday, accusing Moscow of fabricating an excuse to cut off gas supplies.

Three bulk carriers loaded with grain set sail from Ukraine on Friday under a landmark deal to free up shipments brokered by Turkey, as its leader met his Russian counterpart for talks on Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour.

Oil prices were broadly steady on Thursday as the market weighed tight supply against fears of a demand slowdown, after a build in US crude and gasoline stocks sent prices to multi-month lows in the previous session.

The West’s energy giants are set to return a record $30 billion to investors after reporting bumper profits in the second quarter of the year following a surge in energy prices.

As the world’s biggest soft drinks makers cut their Russian ties, local producer Chernogolovka is aiming for a 50 per cent share of the country’s near $9 billion market, its boss told Reuters.

Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris’ darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights.

Maersk raised its 2022 profit guidance for a second time on Tuesday after beating quarterly revenue expectations as congested global supply chains that have boosted freight rates persist longer than expected.

Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates for a fourth month running, but tempered guidance on further hikes as it forecast faster inflation but also a slowdown in the economy.

The Opec+ group of major oil-producing nations holds a key output meeting on Wednesday.

France, Italy and Spain are stepping up pressure on the European Commission to come up with legislation that ensures Big Tech firms partly finance telecoms infrastructure in the bloc, a document showed on Monday.

German retailers ended the first half of 2022 with the sharpest year-on-year sales drop in nearly three decades, as inflation, the Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic take their toll, data showed on Monday.

Manufacturing activity across the euro zone contracted last month with factories forced to stockpile unsold goods due to weak demand, a survey showed on Monday, adding to concerns the bloc could fall into a recession.

The Opec+ group of oil exporters are set to hammer out a new strategy at their meeting Wednesday, with all eyes on how they will react to soaring crude prices.

British businesses are cutting ties with China due to concerns about political tensions, a shift that is likely to stoke inflationary pressures, the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said in an interview published on Saturday.

Europe’s economy is proving surprisingly resilient against soaring energy and food prices, data showed Friday, as tourism boosted France and Spain but export powerhouse Germany stalled, keeping recession fears alive.