British retail sales unexpectedly rebounded in April, data showed Friday, but remain on a long-term downward trend amid a cost-of-living crisis that saw inflation rocket to a 40-year high.

China has lifted a ban on Canadian canola imports, a Canadian official said Thursday, calling it  “very good news” for producers that Ottawa argued had been caught up in a diplomatic row.

China is quietly ramping up purchases of oil from Russia at bargain prices, according to shipping data and oil traders who spoke to Reuters, filling the vacuum left by Western buyers backing away from business with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Japan’s core consumer prices posted their biggest jump in seven years in April, official data showed Friday, as global commodity prices soared and the yen slumped against the dollar.

Germany and Italy told companies they could open rouble accounts to keep buying Russian gas without breaching sanctions against Moscow following discussions with the European Union, sources said.

India today supplied another 40,000 tonnes of diesel to the economic-crisis plagued Sri Lanka under the credit line facility to the island nation.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday that about half of the 54 companies that have natural gas contracts with energy giant Gazprom opened accounts in rubles.

Pakistan has banned the import of all non-essential luxury goods in a bid to stabilise the economy, the information minister said on Thursday, describing the situation as an economic emergency.

Oil prices fell on Thursday, following earlier gains, on concerns that high fuel prices could hurt economic growth, but planned easing of restrictions in Shanghai and a tight supply outlook capped loss.

A sharp slowdown in China’s economy caused by its strict zero-Covid rules and Beijing’s shift away from a traditional reliance on external demand have cast doubts over how much the country will contribute to future global trade and investment.

The United States is unlikely to fall into a recession as interest rates rise to fight soaring inflation, the US treasury secretary said Wednesday, while warning of the risks for Europe following the invasion of Ukraine.

Austria on Wednesday presented an emergency plan to reduce its reliance on Russian gas over potential supply cuts from Moscow as tensions soar over the war in Ukraine.

India has called out western countries and cautioned that food grains should not go the way of Covid-19 vaccines, as it voiced concern over hoarding, discrimination and the “unjustified increase” in food prices which threaten food security of vulnerable countries amidst the war in Ukraine.

British inflation surged last month to its highest annual rate since 1982, pressuring finance minister Rishi Sunak to offer more help for households and the Bank of England to keep raising interest rates despite a risk of recession.

Indian air conditioner manufacturers are expecting record sales this year as a heatwave scorches most of the country, an industry body told Reuters, but delayed arrivals of components from Covid-hit China may cause shortages of premium products.

Sri Lanka was expected to be placed into default by rating agencies on Wednesday after the non-payment of coupons on two of its sovereign bonds, while the energy minister said the country had run out of money to pay for fuel.

Ukraine and Russia, known as “the breadbasket of Europe”, are the major exporters of the world’s basic foods. Both countries export approximately one-quarter of wheat, more than three-quarters of sunflower oil and one-sixth of corn.

China’s slowing economy will struggle to stage the kind of stunning recovery it achieved from the early depths of the pandemic two years ago, as its formidable export machine teeters and options to revive investment and consumption dwindle.

Britain’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest since 1974 in the first three months of this year, but soaring inflation led to the biggest annual fall in real earnings for most workers since 2013, official figures showed on Tuesday.

Like for millions of people in developing and emerging market countries around the world, shopping for staple foods has turned from a necessity into a luxury for Selcuk Gemici.