China admits economy is worse now than it was during the pandemic

GGood Morning.

As the rest of the world grapples with a deepening food crisis, Russia has been quietly benefiting.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed global wheat prices by 50 percent to near record highs this year, raising fears of widespread famine and starvation.

But the Kremlin has continued to ship its wheat, raking in $1.9bn (£1.5bn) in wheat export tax revenue so far this season, according to SovEcon data.

Russia has blocked Ukrainian ports and trapped around 22 million tons of grain while also plundering the country’s reserves. Hot weather and droughts have affected harvests elsewhere, exacerbating the crisis.

5 things to start the day off right

1) George Soros warns that the Ukraine conflict could trigger World War III: George Soros has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a third world war that would destroy Western civilization.

2) Russia on the brink of its first default since the Bolshevik revolution: Russia is on the cusp of its first external default in a century after the US prevented the Kremlin from paying its bondholders.

3) Electricity costs more in the south under the local price plan: Households in London have to pay higher electricity prices than in Scotland at certain times of the day as part of far-reaching reforms to make the UK energy market greener.

4) The Bank of England said to ditch green obsession if prices rise: The Bank of England has been urged to “focus on the fundamentals of the monetary economy” rather than climate change after warning the city could lose more than £340 billion from global warming.

5) TikTok hustlers lure with get-rich-quick scams when the economic storm hits: Growing user base means more TikTok scammers are set to conquer huge audiences as the cost-of-living crisis hits.

what happened overnight

Asian stock markets rose overnight after Wall Street fell on weak US home sales and a profit warning from social media company Snap.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8 percent, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost less than 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent.

Comes today

Company: HICL Infrastructure, Marks & Spencer, Mediclinic International, Home Pets, Severn Trent, SSE (Annual result); Intertek (commercial declaration)

Business: World Economic Forum, Financial Stability Review (EU); Fed minutes, commodities (US)

About Nina Snider

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