China’s economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of the year to 4.8 per cent, official data showed Monday, but the government warned of  “significant challenges” ahead while massive Covid-19 lockdowns started to bite.

Some big US banks have again started stockpiling cash to cushion potential loan losses due to growing worries over the war in Ukraine and the impact of inflation on the US economy, although trading continues to be bright spot for Wall Street.

The European Union’s forthcoming sanctions on Russia will target banks, in particular Sberbank, as well as oil, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told a German newspaper.

Some big US banks have again started stockpiling cash to cushion potential loan losses due to growing worries over the war in Ukraine and the impact of inflation on the US economy, although trading continues to be bright spot for Wall Street.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to travel to India next week to discuss trade and security with his counterpart Narendra Modi, who has taken a neutral stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation announced Sunday the closure of production at a major oil field in the country’s south, declaring a “force majeure”.

Sri Lanka on Saturday announced a five-day share trading halt after the crisis-hit country hiked interest rates and declared a default on its external debt during the traditional New Year holiday, as trade unions and top cricket stars joined protests demanding the president’s resignation.

Alternatives for Russian thermal coal are difficult to find as the market is getting tighter, the head of a group representing Japanese utilities said on Friday.

The United States has linked North Korean hackers to the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency tied to the popular online game Axie Infinity, the US Treasury Department said on Thursday.

The mounting cost of China’s zero-Covid policy threatens to derail Beijing’s ambitious GDP target, analysts say, as supply chains snarl, ports face delays and Shanghai remains mired in lockdown.

Russian state-owned gas producer Gazprom continued to supply natural gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday at the pace of 74.6 million cubic metres per day, in accordance with requests from European consumers, the company said.

Even for the richest person on the planet, buying Twitter was always going to be a challenge –- a highly complex financial transaction now made even trickier by a defensive “poison pill” move from the platform’s board.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka imposed fuel rationing on Friday in another worsening of the economic crisis that has sparked widespread demonstrations calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation.

The EU is working on broadening sanctions on Russia to include oil and gas embargoes but such measures would take  “several months”,European officials told AFP on Friday.

The International Monetary Fund hopes to mobilise around $45 billion for a new trust to help a broader range of countries,

China’s race to stop the spread of Covid-19 is clogging highways and ports, stranding workers and shutting countless factories - disruptions that are rippling through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones.

China’s overall trade with Russia rose over 12 per cent in March from a year earlier, slowing from February but still outpacing the growth in China’s total imports and exports, as Beijing slammed Western sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Americans paid more for gasoline, food and other essentials last month amid an ongoing wave of record inflation made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to government data released Tuesday.

Optimism among fund managers over global economic growth has hit an all-time low while concerns of possible stagflation have risen to the highest since August 2008, a monthly survey by investment bank BoFA Securities showed on Tuesday.

Telecoms equipment maker Nokia is pulling out of the Russian market, its CEO told Reuters, going a step further than rival Ericsson , which said on Monday it was indefinitely suspending its business in the country.