BERLIN (AP) — Europe’s already high gas prices have gyrated since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to have importers pay for Russian natural gas in rubles instead of dollars and euros. Here’s a look at the implications of such a move, and why many are baffled by Putin’s demand: WHAT IS PUTIN PROPOSING? Europe…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy ended 2021 by expanding at a healthy 6.9% annual pace from October through December, the government reported Wednesday, a slight downgrade from its previous estimates. For all of 2021, the nation’s gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — jumped by 5.7%, the fastest calendar-year…
BERLIN (Reuters) -The German government’s council of economic advisers more than halved its growth forecast for Europe’s largest economy on Wednesday and flagged a “substantial” recession risk as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The advisers, whose forecasts guide the German government in setting fiscal policy, cut their 2022 economic growth forecast to 1.8%…
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union warned consumers to stop using their clothes like disposable facial tissues and said Wednesday that it plans to counter the polluting use of trendy fast fashion. New rules proposed by the EU’s executive arm call for a mandatory minimum use of recycled fibers by 2030 and would ban the…
By Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla and Chen Aizhu LONDON (Reuters) – China’s biggest offshore producer CNOOC Ltd is preparing to exit the North Sea’s largest field in a strategic shift of focus to newer oil and gas developments and away from Western assets, banking and industry sources said. CNOOC has hired Bank of America to…
By Kirstin Ridley, Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Danielle Kaye LONDON/ZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Yevgeny Chichvarkin, a telecoms tycoon who fled Russia in 2008 and became a high-profile London restaurateur, has long been a vocal supporter of Ukraine. Together with wife Tatiana Fokina, the multimillionaire says he has sent four truckloads of medical and protective equipment…
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Members of Portugal’s center-left Socialist Party are set to be sworn into office Wednesday for the party’s third straight term in government as the country prepares to start spending some 45 billion euros ($50 billion) in European Union aid to help fire up one of the bloc’s weakest economies. The Socialists…
By Andy Bruce and William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) -Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said on Wednesday that policymakers should be clear about how they plan to react to changes in the economy, but he warned against types of guidance that risked being viewed as promises about the future. The BoE wrong-footed many investors…
By Chris Prentice WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday will unveil a proposal to tighten its rules on special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) after a frenzy of deals in 2020 and early 2021 sparked concerns some investors are getting a raw deal. Wall Street’s biggest gold rush of recent years, SPACs are…
LONDON (Reuters) – Home furnishings retailer IKEA said on Wednesday it planned to close its store in Tottenham, north London, impacting 450 workers. IKEA said it was committed to retaining as many affected workers as possible, noting it would create over 600 other jobs across the capital this year. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by…
