Brazil’s worst drought in almost a century is threatening electricity supply and critical crops, pushing up energy and food prices at a time the country was hoping to start recovering from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The dollar took a dive and stocks slumped after disappointing US jobs data, while Tokyo rose on stimulus hopes after Japan’s prime minister signalled his exit.

Spending less on food. Drawing down on retirement savings. Dropping out of the workforce altogether.Last year, the United States massively expanded unemployment aid as Covid-19 broke out.

In a sprawling oil palm plantation in the Malaysian state of Perak, watermelon seedlings are sprouting from freshly ploughed earth between palm saplings while rented cows graze in overgrown areas of the estate. 

The Federated States of Micronesia will tap a US funding facility to construct a Pacific undersea communications cable, two sources told Reuters, after rejecting a Chinese company-led proposal that was deemed a security threat by US officials. 

India’s dominant services industry returned to growth in August, expanding at its fastest pace since the pandemic began, as businesses reopened amid improved vaccination rates, a survey showed on Friday, although firms continued to cut jobs. 

The United States added far fewer jobs than expected in August as businesses grappled with the Delta wave of Covid-19, a major disappointment and yet another complication for President Joe Biden’s plans to remake the world’s largest economy.

Philippine Airlines said Saturday it was filing for bankruptcy in the United States to slash $2 billion in debt as it tries to survive an industry gutted by the coronavirus pandemic.

China’s Alibaba Group will invest 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) by 2025 in support of ‘common prosperity’, it said, becoming the latest corporate giant to pledge support for the initiative driven by Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

The massive US service sector continued expanding in August but businesses remained worried about high prices and shortages of materials and labor, although there were signs that situation could be improving, an industry survey released Friday said.

For 10 years Fahad made a good living selling wedding gowns at his bridal shop in the Afghan capital, but since the Taliban rolled into town on August 15 he hasn’t sold a single dress.

The Italian government of Mario Draghi has opened an inquiry into the sale of a company making high-tech drones for the armed forces to Chinese state-owned investors three years ago, a source close to the matter said.

Oil prices fell on Friday after a weaker than expected US jobs report indicated a patchy economic recovery that could mean slower fuel demand during a resurgent pandemic. 

The engine of the US offshore energy production struggled to recover from Hurricane Ida on Friday as a lack of crews, power and fuel left most Gulf Coast oil and gas output offline five days after the storm passed. 

Activity in China’s services sector slumped into sharp contraction in August, a private survey showed on Friday, as restrictions to curb the Covid-19 Delta variant threatened to derail the recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy.

Beijing-based ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, said on Wednesday that it would shrink its financial services unit and that it planned to sell its stock broking operations amid China’s tightening grip on the financial technology (fintech) sector.

The US trade deficit narrowed more than expected in July as imports declined likely because of shortages and a shift in domestic spending from goods to services.

Brazil’s economy performed worse than expected in the second quarter of 2021, contracting 0.1 per cent in the latest sign the Latin American giant’s pandemic recovery has lost steam.

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, supported by a sharp decline in US crude stocks and a weaker dollar, though gains were capped by an OPEC+ decision to stick to its policy of gradually increasing output.

Spain posted Thursday a record drop in jobless figures in August as the labour market was buoyed by recovery of the tourism sector thanks to a relaxation of pandemic restrictions.