The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, a measure of household confidence in the U.S. economy, dropped to 70.3 points in August from 81.2 points in July, according to its website. Analysts polled by DailyFX expected the index to fall to 70.7 points for the month. The first estimate showed the index falling to 70.2 points. The index of current economic conditions in the United...

Iraq increased the average daily volume of oil exports in July by 0.9% compared to the previous month, to 2.918 million barrels per day, according to data from the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). As of June, the average daily oil supply from Iraq was 2.892 million barrels per day. As a result, Iraq exported a total of 90.468 million barrels of oil in July and 86.766 million...

New Zealand has imposed a repeated nationwide lockdown because of the threat of spread of the delta strain COVID-19. These are the toughest measures since last year's quarantine. The restrictions are due to the fact that the country has detected intra-border transmission of the virus for the first time since February. New Zealand has imposed a second lockdown because of new cases of the...

The World Health Organization (WHO) asked the global community to allocate $7.7 billion to fight the spread of dangerous variants of the coronavirus, including the delta strain. A statement to this effect has been published on the organization's website. It is planned to allocate the funds for financing the international ACT-Accelerator program operating since April 2020. The funds are needed to...

Japan's GDP grew by 1.3% in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. This was higher than analysts' forecasts, who expected growth of only 0.7%. The country’s GDP increased by 0.3% compared with the first quarter. Thus, the Japanese economy returned to growth after declining in the first quarter, when annualized GDP fell by 3.7% and quarterly GDP decreased by 0.9%. However,...

China's industrial production and retail sales growth slowed sharply and fell short of expectations in July. The economy and business were hampered by new COVID-19 outbreaks and floods. Industrial production in China rose 6.4 percent year on year in July and retail sales rose 8.5 percent. This was reported by China's National Bureau of Statistics. Both figures were less than expected and June's...

A one-time emergency tax on billionaires would raise $5.4 trillion and provide vaccinations for the entire world and a $20,000 benefit for all the unemployed, Oxfam, the Alliance Against Inequality, the Institute for Policy Studies and Patriotic Millionaires calculated. A one-time 99 percent tax on billionaire income gains during a pandemic could provide vaccinations for the entire world and a...

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is discussing eliminating the use of fossil fuels in aviation by 2050 as part of an effort to combat climate change. In a joint statement with the European Union in March this year, the U.S. reaffirmed its intention to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and called on other countries to take steps to keep temperature rise within 1.5 degrees...

The Dominican Republic could lose its source of food - about half its livestock. More than half a million pigs will have to be slaughtered because of an outbreak of African swine fever, writes Bloomberg. Hundreds of thousands of Dominicans depend on pig farming, according to Francisco Brito, president of the Dominican Pig Federation. The Republic has one of the highest pork consumption rates in...