The Omicron coronavirus variant will slow the recovery in global demand for oil but the market will be “more comfortable” in 2022, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.

The Bank of  Canada was to renew its monetary policy framework on Monday,  leaving its inflation target unchanged at 2% as concern about the cost  of living rises and the COVID-19 outlook remains uncertain.

Canada on Friday threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on American goods and suspend parts of a landmark North American trade deal if Washington rewards electric cars made in US union shops, to the detriment of Canada’s auto sector.

A regional office of the Global Institute for Food Security, a research organisation of University of Saskatchewan in Canada, was opened in Dhaka yesterday to help the country’s agricultural researchers gain advanced knowledge and skills.

Shrouded by acrid smoke, a young Afghan crouches sorting waste he has pulled from the trash bins of Istanbul, anxious that Turkey will soon strip him of even this subsistence.

Much like the coronavirus pandemic, and the economic disruption that it has caused, a global shipping crisis looks set to go on delaying goods traffic and fuelling inflation well into 2023.

Shell shareholders on Friday overwhelmingly backed plans to switch the oil giant’s headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain after a century and drop Royal Dutch from the name.

Europe’s automotive sector has become too reliant on Asia and other regions for vital components such as semiconductors and battery cells, Bosch’s outgoing chairman told a German newspaper.

The Spanish government adopted Friday measures to attract so-called digital nomads -- remote tech workers who can do their job from anywhere with a good internet connection.

Italian regulators hit Amazon with a 1.1-billion-euro ($1.3-billion) antitrust fine Thursday for allegedly abusing its dominance in the market, the latest action against US Big Tech in the EU.

China has an important part to play in the global economy as it recovers from Covid-19, but its growth is slowing, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Monday.

Oil climbed by $2 a barrel towards $72 on Monday on hopes the Omicron coronavirus variant would have a less damaging economic impact if its symptoms proved mostly mild and as the prospect of an imminent rise in Iranian oil exports receded.

Weaker demand from abroad drove a much bigger than expected drop in German industrial orders, including cars, in October, data showed on Monday, further clouding the growth outlook for manufacturers in Europe’s largest economy.

Facebook could be sued by consumer groups for privacy violations, an adviser to Europe’s top court said on Thursday, in a German online gaming case that could pave the way for similar action across the EU.

Climbing oil prices on Thursday erased the previous day’s losses, with investors adjusting positions ahead of an Opec+ decision on supply policy, though gains were capped by fears that the Omicron coronavirus variant could hit fuel demand.

Some European Union countries including France and Spain stepped up calls to reform the bloc’s energy market rules to cope with high prices, a stance challenged by a rival group of states including Germany, as EU energy ministers met on Thursday.

Soaring energy prices took eurozone inflation to its highest rate on record in November, official data showed Tuesday, challenging the European Central Bank’s resistance to tightening monetary policy earlier than planned.

Mortgage approvals in Britain dropped last month to their lowest since June 2020, according to central bank data on Monday that underlined recent signs of slowing housing market activity after the end of a tax break on home purchases.

Spanish inflation accelerated in November to its highest level in nearly three decades on the back of rising food and gas prices, official data showed Monday.

Turkey is determined to continue a policy of interest rate cuts, and  “manipulative attacks” on the lira, which has plunged to all-time lows this week, will not leave any lasting damage, Deputy Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said late on Thursday.