Lax laws and sweetheart deals are becoming a thing of the past for big tech firms, particularly in Europe where a series of rulings is posing a major threat to one of Google’s flagship products.

Orders for big-ticket manufactured goods fell for the first time in five months in February amid a slump in business for civilian aircraft manufacturers, US government data said Thursday.

Russia warned the West on Friday that billing in roubles for billions of dollars of natural gas exports to Europe could be just days away, Moscow’s toughest response yet to crippling sanctions imposed by the West for the invasion of Ukraine.

One of Sri Lanka’s biggest fuel suppliers hiked the price of gasoline by nearly 20 per cent on Saturday, the second increase in as many weeks, as the country struggles to import oil without dollars.

Asian importers of Russian gas were scrambling on Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said “unfriendly” countries must pay for Russian gas in roubles, in the latest jolt to global energy markets after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

European countries have to shoulder the burden of the economic response to the war in Ukraine.

Shell will invest up to 25 billion pounds ($33 billion) into the energy system in Britain over the next decade, a senior executive at the oil major said, and over 75 per cent of which will be funnelled into zero-carbon products and services.

The US Trade Representative’s office said on Wednesday it has reinstated 352 expired product exclusions from US “Section 301” tariffs on Chinese imports, well short of the 549 exclusions that it was previously considering.

Business activity in the eurozone slowed in March, according to a closely watched survey, as high prices and a gloomy outlook raised fears the Ukraine war could snuff out economic recovery.

The United States on Tuesday announced an agreement with Britain to end tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed by former president Donald Trump in 2018 on national security grounds.

Hundreds of companies have said they are withdrawing or suspending operations in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, from energy producer Shell Plc to carmaker Hyundai Motor Co to PwC, a global professional services firm.

The consequences for the global financial system if Russia cannot pay its foreign debts are likely to be “limited,” a senior official at the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

Russian gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline across the Baltic Sea dipped slightly on Wednesday, while gas continued to flow eastwards from Germany into Poland along the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

British inflation shot up faster than expected last month to hit a new 30-year high, worsening a historic squeeze on household finances that finance minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure to ease in a budget update later on Wednesday.

Indian lenders are set to initiate debt recovery proceedings against Future Retail this week to safeguard their interests after rival Reliance unexpectedly took over some of the retailer’s stores, two bankers told Reuters.

China aims to increase renewable power, maintain crude oil output and boost natural gas production, as it seeks to balance energy security and achieve its climate change goals.

Oil slipped below $114 a barrel on Tuesday, giving up some of the previous day’s 7 per cent surge, as European Union members disagreed on a potential oil embargo on Russia, although persistent supply risks limited the decline.

The deadly crash of a China Eastern Airlines 737-800 could set back Boeing’s efforts to regain ground in the world’s biggest aircraft market and deliver more than 140 737 MAX jets already constructed for Chinese customers.

Sri Lanka ordered troops to petrol stations Tuesday as sporadic protests erupted among the thousands of motorists queueing up daily for scarce fuel.

Cotton prices rose to their highest level in more than a decade on Monday, due to a prolonged drought in parts of the central United States.