Given the climate emergency, the UN chief says that investing now in fossil fuels is  “moral and economic madness”. But given the energy shock from the war in Ukraine, Britain is set to do just that.

The Russian rouble’s recent sharp rebound reflects economic weakness, not resilience. After shedding 45 per cent of its value against the dollar in the two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, the currency has bounced back and is now trading just below its pre-war level.

Russian gas deliveries to Europe via the Yamal-Europe pipeline reversed direction to flow from Germany to Poland on Thursday morning and supplies via Ukraine also eased, all in line with requests from customers.

Oil prices rose on Thursday from a three-week low touched in the previous session after consuming nations announced a huge release of oil from emergency reserves, as worries over tight supplies still clouded the market outlook.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday Moscow would carefully  “monitor” food exports to  “hostile” nations as the West pummels the country with sanctions over its military action in Ukraine.

They have weathered the storm of Brexit and Covid, and are fighting the tide of rising inflation. But thousands of Britain’s fish and chip shops could be sunk by the war in Ukraine.

HSBC said on Wednesday it had increased its stake in its China securities brokerage, through a deal to buy equity from its state-owned partner Qianhai Financial Holdings.

Egypt, often the world’s top wheat buyer, saw a rise in imports of the grain from Russia in March despite supply and payment disruptions following its invasion of Ukraine that also drove traders to seek shipments from other suppliers.

India’s foreign minister said on Wednesday the government is working to stabilise economic transactions with Russia, a day after India condemned killings of civilians in Ukraine and called for an independent probe.

The dominant US services sector saw growth accelerate in March as worker shortages and Covid-19 cases eased, but firms continue to face supply challenges, according to an industry survey released Tuesday.

SVAM, a US-based global information technology services provider, wants to set up a software delivery centre in Bangladesh.

EU leaders on Wednesday said the bloc will soon have to sanction all of Russia’s hydrocarbon exports as they blamed Moscow for  “war crimes” discovered in Ukraine, especially in the town of Bucha.

German industrial orders fell more than expected in February, official data showed Wednesday, as the economy ministry warned that  “high uncertainty” over the war in Ukraine was likely to dampen the outlook for manufacturers.

The Asian Development Bank trimmed its 2022 growth forecast for developing Asia Wednesday as  “increasing” price pressures after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threaten a recovery from Omicron surges.

Iran’s oil production capacity has returned to the same level as prior to the reimposition of sanctions in 2018, when the US unilaterally withdrew from a nuclear deal, a top official said.

Home rental company Airbnb Inc said late on Monday it had suspended operations in Russia and Belarus.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as the United States and Europe planned new sanctions to punish Russia over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, raising concerns of tighter global supply, while Iran’s nuclear talks with world powers stalled.

Russia has managed to avoid defaulting on its international debt so far despite unprecedented Western sanctions. But the task is getting harder and Moscow’s threats to cut Europe’s gas supply seems to be upping the ante further.

The European economy is set to suffer a sharp slowdown due to the war in Ukraine, but should avoid stumbling into recession, top EU officials said on Monday.

Twitter’s shares soared after Tesla CEO Elon Musk disclosed on Monday a large stake in the social media company, which he has criticized for its approach to speech rights.