Sales volumes at UK supermarkets fell 4.1 per cent year-on-year in the four weeks to July 16, with nine out of ten Britons saying they are increasingly watching what they are spending as they battle a cost of living crunch, industry data showed on Tuesday.

A looming energy crisis has rekindled debate in Germany about the wisdom of shutting down the country’s last three nuclear power plants, with even members of the ruling coalition saying an extension is no longer taboo.

Surging inflation and severe slowdowns in the United States and China prompted the IMF to downgrade its outlook for the global economy this year and next, while warning Tuesday that the situation could get much worse.

Russia said it will cut gas supplies to Europe from Wednesday in a blow to countries that have backed Ukraine, while missile attacks in Black Sea coastal regions raised doubts about whether Russia will stick to a deal to let Ukraine export grain.

The first shipments of Ukrainian grain could leave Black Sea ports within days under a UN-brokered deal to tackle a global food crisis that has worsened since Russia invaded its neighbor, the United Nations and Ukraine said on Monday.

President Joe Biden said Monday he does not expect the United States suffer an economic downturn, although GDP figures due later this week may show the economy shrinking for a second consecutive quarter.

Oil prices rose on Monday in seesaw trading as the market balanced supply fears with expectations that rise in US interest rates would weaken fuel demand.

German business morale fell more than expected in July, the Ifo business sentiment survey showed on Monday, as the institute that compiles it said high energy prices and looming gas shortages had left Europe’s largest economy on the cusp of recession.

The Russian rouble weakened in jittery Moscow trade on Monday, adjusting to the central bank’s decision to slash interest rates on Friday, and as a rouble-supportive tax-payment period reaches its peak.

Wheat prices rose sharply on Monday as a missile strike on the Ukrainian port of Odesa over the weekend raised doubts about whether it will be possible to implement last week’s agreement to open a corridor for grain exports from the war-torn country.

China will launch a real estate fund to help property developers resolve a crippling debt crisis, aiming for a warchest of up to 300 billion yuan ($44 billion) in a bid to restore confidence in the industry, according to a state bank official with direct knowledge of the matter.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that US economic growth is slowing and she acknowledged the risk of a recession, but she said a downturn was not inevitable.

Miner Newmont Corp on Monday reported a drop of about 41 per cent in second-quarter adjusted profit hurt by lower gold prices.

German charter airline Condor has ordered 41 A320 Airbus jets as it renews its fleet with aircraft using less fuel and emitting less carbon dioxide, the two companies said yesterday.

France is against setting uniform targets for the reduction of gas consumption in Europe amid a looming energy crisis, said French energy ministry officials.

The central bank today depreciated the value of the taka by Tk 0.25 as the demand for the US dollar shows no sign of slowing down, said an official of the Bangladesh Bank.

Construction sites, factory assembly lines and warehouses across central Europe are scrambling to fill vacancies after tens of thousands of Ukrainian men left their blue-collar jobs to return home after Russia invaded their country.

Wheat prices rose sharply on Monday as a missile strike on the Ukrainian port of Odesa over the weekend raised doubts about whether it will be possible to implement last week's agreement to open a corridor for grain exports from the war-torn country.

China plans to sort US-listed Chinese companies based on the sensitivity of the data they hold in an attempt to stop US regulators from delisting hundreds of firms, the Financial Times said on Saturday.

Unions, port officials and the French authorities blamed Brexit on Saturday as thousands of holidaymakers faced long delays trying to reach Europe via the English Channel port of Dover.