South Africa's economy shrank in the second quarter, as floods and an energy crisis put a halt to months of growth, official data showed Tuesday.. The dip in output after two consecutive quarters of modest growth dragged Africa's most industrialised economy back below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
Finland and Switzerland offered financial backing to utility companies on Tuesday, the latest energy firms in Europe to receive state support as gas prices have spiked since Russia invaded Ukraine.. Gas prices have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Asian investors struggled Tuesday to recover from the previous day's losses on growing fears over Europe's worsening energy crisis, China's economic slowdown and central bank efforts to contain surging inflation.. However, while central banks are lifting borrowing costs to fight surging prices, they have little power over the cost of oil, a key driver of the rises.
Germany said Monday it would keep two nuclear plants on standby beyond the end of the year in a policy U-turn, as the shut-off of Russian gas supplies sends Europe scrambling for energy sources.. The Green minister also underlined that Germany was not wavering from its plan to move on from nuclear energy, with all plants being unplugged from the grid at the end of the year.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission on Monday said it had fined Instagram a record 405 million euros ($402 million) for breaching regulations on the handling of children's data.. Last year, it fined WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, a then-record 225 million euros for breaking data protection rules.
European stocks tumbled Monday and the euro hit a new 20-year dollar low on energy crisis fears, after Russia said it would not restart gas flows to Germany and effectively most of the continent.. The gas crisis also hit the pound, which hit a post-pandemic low of $1.1444.
Floods blamed on shoddy infrastructure crippled Indian IT hub Bangalore on Monday, with employees in the huge tech sector told to work from home and dozens of areas reportedly left without drinking water.. The umbrella group for the IT sector, the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), advised employees to work from home while many schools and colleges were shut.
New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss inherits an economy set to enter recession before the end of the year, with double-digit inflation forecast to soar further.. An emergency budget is expected within weeks, as the Bank of England (BoE) predicts that the UK will enter a year-long recession by the end of 2022.
The UN's humanitarian chief warned on Monday that drought-ravaged Somalia was on the brink of famine and time was running out to save lives.. "Famine is at the door and we are receiving a final warning," Martin Griffiths, head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a press conference in Mogadishu.
Beijing on Monday accused the United States of launching "tens of thousands" of cyberattacks on China and pilfering troves of sensitive data, including from a public research university.. But a report released Monday by its National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) accused the US National Security Agency (NSA) of carrying out "tens of thousands of malicious attacks on network targets in China in recent years".
