The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other top global lenders warned Friday of  “extensive” economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and expressed horror at the  “devastating human catastrophe”.

Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) is seeking $22.4 million from its insurer for a cargo ship hit by a missile in March, government officials with knowledge of the talks said, in the first major marine insurance claim from the conflict in Ukraine, reported Reuters.

Britain said Wednesday it will hold a series of talks with the United States, as it seeks to pin down a long-awaited trade deal with the world’s biggest economy after Brexit.

The war in Ukraine and the fallout from soaring energy prices and sanctions against Russia will force Germany to take on more debt than expected this year, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Wednesday.

The government in Kyiv continues to function, the banking system is stable and debt payments are viable in the short term, but the Russian invasion could plunge Ukraine into a devastating recession, the IMF said Monday.

The European Union formally approved on Tuesday a new barrage of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, which include bans on investments in the Russian energy sector, luxury goods exports and imports of steel products from Russia.

Oil prices tumbled to their lowest levels in almost three weeks on Tuesday as supply disruption fears eased and as surging Covid-19 cases in China spurred demand concerns.

The dollar slipped as European markets opened on Monday, but was still near a five-year high versus Japan’s yen as investors braced for a busy week of major central bank meetings.

Deutsche Bank reversed course and said it would pull out of Russia completely while the London Stock Exchange suspended all its services in the country as Western governments impose sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

A visiting European Union (EU) delegation yesterday wanted to know the causes for delays in the implementation of a few action plans for retaining the GSP to the EU markets under the trade bloc’s Everything but Arms (EBA) initiative.

Russia is gradually resuming wheat exports from its Black Sea ports while navigation in the Azov Sea remains restricted, analysts said on Monday. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling its actions a  “special military operation”.

German Ambassador to Bangladesh Achim Troster has advised Bangladeshi companies to prepare for challenges that may arise from 2023 when a German law comes into effect for enhanced human rights protection in supply chains.

France is to introduce a rebate of 0.15 euros ($0.16) per litre of transport fuel to help drivers cope with soaring pump prices, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in an interview with daily newspaper Le Parisien. The measure, to apply for four months from April 1, is expected to cost the government just over 2 billion euros, he said.

Oil prices settled higher on Friday but posted their steepest weekly decline since November, as traders assessed potential improvements to the supply outlook that has been disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Credit rater Fitch Saturday downgraded 28 Russian natural resources companies including state gas giant Gazprom, warning they risk defaulting on payments under sanctions imposed for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will become a lot clearer next week, with a previously unthinkable sovereign default looming, more emergency central bank measures likely and a stock market crash guaranteed if it reopens.

The Group of Seven industrialised nations on Friday urged countries not to limit their food exports over the war in Ukraine after a meeting of their agriculture ministers to discuss the crisis.

Venezuela’s oil output could rise by at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) if the United States authorizes requests by state-run PDVSA’s partners to trade Venezuelan crude, the country’s petroleum chamber said on Friday.

Russia urged India to deepen its investments in the sanction-hit country’s oil and gas sector, and is keen on expanding the sales networks of Russian companies in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Oil prices bounced on Thursday from a sharp drop in the previous session after the United Arab Emirates backtracked on statements saying that OPEC and its allies might increase output to help to plug the gap in exports from Russia.