Ukraine has asked its creditors for a two-year payment freeze on its international bonds in a bid to focus its dwindling financial resources on repelling Russia.

Stock markets eased on Thursday as a resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe lifted the euro ahead of the European Central Bank’s anticipated first interest rate hike in over a decade to quell inflation.

Surging petrol and food prices last month pushed British inflation to its highest rate in 40 years, according to official figures that bolstered the chances of a rare half percentage-point Bank of England interest rate hike next month.

Russia held its spot as China’s top oil supplier for a second month in June as Chinese buyers cashed in on lower-priced supplies, slashing more costly shipments from Saudi Arabia, data showed on Wednesday.

The British pound rose against a broadly struggling dollar but fell against a stronger euro on Tuesday as latest economic data suggested the cost-of-living squeeze had not yet hit demand for staff in the UK.

France’s government is offering to pay 9.7 billion euros ($9.85 billion) to take full control of EDF, in a buyout deal that gives it a free hand to run Europe’s biggest nuclear power operator as it grapples with a continent-wide energy crisis.

Europe’s efforts to diversify suppliers will not be enough to get it through winter without Russian gas, the head of the International Energy Agency warned Monday, urging immediate efforts to cut demand.

France secured promises of new energy supplies from the United Arab Emirates on Monday after talks between President Emmanuel Macron and UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Paris.

European Central Bank policymakers will discuss whether to raise interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points at their meeting on Thursday to tame record-high inflation, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussion told Reuters.

Amazon, seeking an edge amid a deteriorating cost of living crisis, will match UK grocery market leader Tesco’s prices on hundreds of products, it said on Monday.

World equity markets got off to a solid start on Monday and the euro pulled away from parity as market participants scaled back bets on the Federal Reserve interest rate hike next week and on optimism spurred by central bank pledges to support China’s economy.

H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Monday it had decided to wind down its business in Russia, joining a growing list of companies fully exiting the country and sending its shares down 1 per cent.

The European Central Bank will raise its interest rates on Thursday for the first time in over a decade, but the bank is already under pressure to do more amid record inflation.

Oil prices extended gains on Monday, propped up by a weaker dollar and tight supplies that offset concerns about recession and the prospect of widespread Covid-19 lockdowns in China again reducing fuel demand.

Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports threatens grain supplies to tens of thousands of people vulnerable to starvation and must end, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Monday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will offer millions of public sector workers pay rises averaging 5 per cent next week, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed government ministers.

The British government launched an “Aviation Passenger Charter” on Sunday to help passengers know their rights if they are faced with problems at airports after the widespread disruption seen this year.

The  Bank of Canada expects inflation to go “a little over” 8 per cent, as soon as next week when June’s data is released, and stay in that range for a few more months, Governor Tiff Macklem told a business group in a webcast transcript released late Friday.

Boeing expects to see a pick-up in new orders for its 787 Dreamliner model once it restarts deliveries of the plane, Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said on Sunday.

The euro’s plunge against the dollar, triggered by the Ukraine war and mounting risks to the EU economy, has driven the two currencies to parity for the first time in two decades.