The Financial Times claimed, citing members of the US nuclear industry, that a restriction on imports of Russian enriched uranium into the US might be implemented as soon as this year. The US Congress's lower house approved the bill in December 2023. The measure permits lifting of the moratorium in the event that US nuclear reactors cannot be powered by any other feasible source of uranium. The...

Consumer prices (CPI) in China fell in January 2024 by the largest annualized 0.8% in over 14 years, according to a study from the People's Republic of China's State Statistical Office (SSO). Analysts' consensus forecast gathered by Trading Economics indicated a 0.5% decrease in them. The state’s economy saw deflation at the end of its fourth straight month, the longest stretch since October...

The fourth quarter saw a 1.2% (or $212 billion) growth in US household debt over the preceding three months, culminating in a record $17.503 trillion, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The debt climbed by $604 billion in comparison to October–December 2022. Americans' indebtedness on credit cards rose by $50 billion to $1.13 trillion, on mortgage loans - by $112 billion, and...

A record-breaking one millionth electric vehicle has been sold in the UK's, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Sales of electric vehicles grew by 21% year over year to 20,935 in January. Locals bought 1.001 million of electric cars since the indicator's computation began in 2002. "It has taken just over 20 years to reach the 1 million mark, but with the right...

Preliminary figures from research firm IDC show that global sales of tablets in 2023 dropped 20.5% to 128.5 million devices, marking the lowest level since 2011. Shipments decreased 17.4% to 36.8 million tablets in the fourth quarter. This is a record decline for a fourth quarter since 2016. "Given the lack of major improvements in the economy, people prefer to spend money on something other...

According to MarketWatch, cocoa bean prices increased for the sixth straight session on Friday and are expected to reach their highest point in over 46 years. Jack Scoville, vice president of The Price Futures Group says that "cocoa bean supply from West Africa remains tight and expectations that production will fall below demand are increasing." On the US ICE floor, March cocoa bean futures...

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that passenger traffic on global carriers grew by 36.9% in 2023. Consequently, it bounced back to 94.1% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Last year, European airlines saw a 22% rise in passenger volume on overseas flights. The percentage of occupied cabins increased to 83.8% in 2022 from 80.7% in 2022. Overseas flights increased by 28.3% in...

The Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Ken Saito, announced at a press conference in Tokyo that Japan has chosen to "assist" a cooperative initiative based on the Japanese telecoms corporation NTT’s developments in the area of optoelectronic semiconductor technology. "It was decided today to assist a joint project centered on NTT with the participation of key Japanese enterprises...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated at the Italy-Africa summit that although foreign investors are not making significant investments in clean energy in Africa, the region has abundant conditions for accessing such energy resources. "It is undoubtedly thought-provoking, considering Africa's enormous potential for clean energy circumstances. Africa offers enough of sunshine,...