The German government’s economic advisers slashed their growth forecast for 2022 on Wednesday, warning that the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices would take a toll on Europe’s biggest economy.

Russia reiterated Tuesday that it will only be accepting payment for gas deliveries to the EU in roubles after G7 ministers called this arrangement  “unacceptable”.

The Russian rouble strengthened to a more than one-month high in Moscow trade on Tuesday, firming past 88 to the dollar, while stocks regained some ground in the fourth session since trading resumed after a near month-long suspension.

In an endless field in southwest Ukraine, farmers began to plant sunflower seeds at the start of the sowing season, but a fuel shortage threatens production in the war-torn country, whose land feeds millions around the world.

The United States and its allies plan new sanctions on more sectors of Russia’s economy that are critical to sustaining its invasion of Ukraine, including supply chains, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Tuesday.

As a bleak first quarter draws to a close, crypto seems to have the wind in its sails. It has pushed through the $2 trillion barrier and is proving surprisingly resilient amid global chaos.

Traders have exported the first supplies of Ukrainian corn to Europe by train as the country’s sea ports remain blocked due to the Russian invasion, APK-Inform agriculture consultancy said on Sunday.

British foreign minister Liz Truss says sanctions imposed on Russian individuals and companies could be lifted if Russia withdraws from Ukraine and commits to end aggression, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday.

Globalisation, which has both fans and detractors alike, is being tested like never before after the one-two punch of Covid and war.

The business climate in Europe’s top economy worsened in March, German survey data showed Friday, amid fears over soaring energy prices and deepening supply chain woes due to the Ukraine invasion.

Bitcoin on Friday rose above $45,000, boosted by talk that the Kremlin could accept the world’s biggest cryptocurrency in exchange for Russian gas.

UK consumer confidence  “continues to nosedive” as surging inflation causes a cost-of-living crisis, a survey revealed Friday, as the government faces pressure to better ease the financial pain.

Lax laws and sweetheart deals are becoming a thing of the past for big tech firms, particularly in Europe where a series of rulings is posing a major threat to one of Google’s flagship products.

Russia warned the West on Friday that billing in roubles for billions of dollars of natural gas exports to Europe could be just days away, Moscow’s toughest response yet to crippling sanctions imposed by the West for the invasion of Ukraine.

European countries have to shoulder the burden of the economic response to the war in Ukraine.

Russian gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline across the Baltic Sea dipped slightly on Wednesday, while gas continued to flow eastwards from Germany into Poland along the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

British inflation shot up faster than expected last month to hit a new 30-year high, worsening a historic squeeze on household finances that finance minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure to ease in a budget update later on Wednesday.

Oil slipped below $114 a barrel on Tuesday, giving up some of the previous day’s 7 per cent surge, as European Union members disagreed on a potential oil embargo on Russia, although persistent supply risks limited the decline.

Poland will take steps to sever economic ties with Moscow, the prime minister said on Friday, in a process of  “de-Russification” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian rouble fell in light trading in Moscow on Friday, with trading on separate exchanges stabilising beyond 100 to the dollar, after the central bank opted to hold rates at 20 per cent and said it would start purchasing OFZ government bonds.