Germany will face a steep recession if there is a stop to imports or delivery of Russian gas and oil, a top German bank lobby warned on Monday.

Russia maintained gas flows through key pipeline routes into Europe on Monday, despite uncertainty over payment terms and as European leaders called for more sanctions against Moscow after war crimes allegations in Ukraine.

The economy minister of Slovakia, which relies on Russian gas for around 85 per cent of its demand, said the country could not be cut off from Russian gas flows and if it had to pay in roubles it would, although it backed taking a common European Union stance.

Oil slipped on Monday in volatile trading as the release of strategic reserves by consuming nations eased concerns over tight supply amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lack of an Iranian nuclear deal.

Turkey’s inflation hit a new record in March, official data showed Monday, driven up by the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and soaring energy prices.

Canada on Monday will announce its support for General Motors Co’s multi-billion-dollar investment in two plants, including one that will produce electric commercial vehicles (EVs), a government source said.

German exports bounded higher in February, the official statistics agency said Monday, cautioning that the Ukraine conflict and sanctions against Russia were likely to cloud the picture in the months ahead.

The European Union on Monday extended for another 10 years its ban on mobile phone roaming surcharges for people using their European handsets while travelling in the 27-nation bloc.

Asian markets were mixed Monday as another strong jobs report provided some reassurance that the recovery in the US economy remained on track but also solidified expectations for more aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

Investor morale in the euro zone fell to its lowest level in nearly two years in April, a survey showed on Monday, pointing to the beginning of a recession in the second quarter of 2022.

Hungry cows at Westons Farm jostle for position at the feeding trough, blissfully unaware that Ukraine’s war has sowed more turmoil for UK farms ploughing through Covid and Brexit fallout.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sudharshan Seneviratne has sought investment from Bangladesh in tourism and agriculture sectors of the nation, which is now going through an economic turmoil.

Bangladesh has an attractive economic sector for investment, US Ambassador Peter Haas said yesterday.

China on Saturday proposed revising confidentiality rules involving offshore listings, removing a legal hurdle to Sino-US cooperation on audit oversight while putting the onus on Chinese companies to protect state secretes.

The head of Latvia’s natural gas storage operator said Saturday the Baltic states were no longer importing Russian natural gas.

The US labour market has almost recovered from the mass joblessness caused by the pandemic, adding hundreds of thousands of positions last month and sending the unemployment rate nearly to where it was before Covid-19 broke out nationwide.

India and Australia signed an interim free trade deal on Saturday that cuts tariffs on billions of dollars of commerce as the two Quad partners bolster their economic ties.

Citing the need to counteract the  “Putin price hike” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has announced a sweeping plan to make unprecedented use of US emergency oil stockpiles.

Indian traders have started loading 40,000 tonnes of rice for prompt shipment to Sri Lanka in the first major food aid since Colombo secured a credit line from New Delhi, two officials told Reuters on Saturday.

Europe and Russia will both lose heavily if President Vladimir Putin follows through on his threat to cut gas supplies to countries he judges “unfriendly” unless they pay in roubles.