Germany could end Russian oil imports this year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, signalling the urgency driving Europe’s biggest economy to wean itself off energy from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The dollar hovered near two-year highs against a basket of major currencies on Thursday after meeting minutes showed the Federal Reserve preparing to move aggressively to fight inflation, while commodity currencies fell further from recent peaks.

European Union envoys are set to approve on Thursday a ban on Russian coal that would take full effect from mid-August, a month later than initially proposed, an EU source told Reuters, following pressure from Germany to delay the measure.

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.

Sri Lanka’s beleaguered president has appointed an expert panel to organise a debt restructure to claw the country out of a crippling economic crisis that has sparked huge protests demanding his resignation.

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.