Russia’s annual inflation jumped to a two-decade high of 17.8 per cent in April, fuelled by Western sanctions over Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, the statistics agency said on Friday.

The European Union’s hopes to quickly impose a ban on Russian oil imports could be dashed after Hungary demanded expensive guarantees for its own fuel supplies, diplomats say.

Britain’s economy grew at a slower pace in the first quarter compared with the final three months of last year as the country battled soaring inflation, official data showed Thursday.

Germany is seeking to ban Russian oil by the end of this year over the war in Ukraine, but workers at the PCK oil refinery outside Berlin are less than happy about the plans.

From superyachts and mansions to private jets and works of art, mega-rich Russians are being deprived of their expensive playthings, under swingeing sanctions that implicate them in Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

German officials are quietly preparing for any sudden halt in Russian gas supplies with an emergency package that could include taking control of critical firms, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Canada will help Ukraine work out options on how to export stored grain to uphold global food security that has been shaken by Russia’s invasion of the country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said late on Sunday.

The European Union, the United States and more than two dozen other countries vowed Friday to shore up global food security in a joint statement to the World Trade Organization.

Uber shares skidded last week after the company said it was hit with a big loss in the first three months of this year despite a rebound in its ride-share business.

As urban traffic gets more miserable, entrepreneurs are looking to a future in which commuters hop into  “air taxis” that whisk them over clogged roads.

Poland and the Baltic states Thursday inaugurated a new gas pipeline that links the north-eastern EU with the rest of the bloc, a crucial step towards reducing dependence on Russian gas.

Apple Inc on Thursday forecast bigger problems as COVID-19 lockdowns snarl production and demand in China, the war in Ukraine dents sales and growth slows in services, which the iPhone maker sees as its engine for expansion.

Russia made what appeared to be a late u-turn to avoid a default on Friday, as it made a number of already-overdue international debt payments in dollars despite previously vowing they would only be paid in roubles.

The German economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, official figures published Friday showed, swerving a technical recession after ending 2021 on a downwards note.

The French economy flatlined in the first quarter as households reduced their consumption due to rising inflation and the war in Ukraine, the national statistics agency said Friday.

Elon Musk told banks that agreed to help fund his acquisition of Twitter that he would crack down on executive and board pay to slash costs while monetising tweets, according to people familiar with the matter.

Lawmakers in Panama’s National Assembly on Thursday approved a bill to regulate the use and commercialisation of crypto assets in the Central American country renowned as a hub of offshore financial services.

Since going public in 2013, Twitter has only occasionally turned a profit, even if it has a commanding role in politics and culture worldwide.

Climate change could see 4 per cent of global annual economic output lost by 2050 and hit many poorer parts of the world disproportionately hard, a new study of 135 countries has estimated.

World oil prices sank more than five percent Monday on fears that China’s worsening Covid outbreak could slam demand from the major energy consumer.