Category: Articles of the week

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday downgraded the outlook for the world economy this year and next, blaming Russia’s war in Ukraine for disrupting global commerce, pushing up oil prices, threatening food supplies and increasing uncertainty already heightened by the coronavirus and its variants.

The 190-country lender cut its forecast for global growth to 3.6% this year, a steep falloff from 6.1% last year and from the 4.4% growth it had expected for 2022 back in January. It also said it expects the world economy to grow 3.6% again next year, slightly slower than the 3.8% it forecast in January. Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By DAN PARKS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy

Last Mile Food Rescue in Cincinnati started shopping in November for a refrigerated box truck to move perishable donations from food retailers to distribution sites. The purchase would take some of the pressure off overstretched volunteers, who would have to make three or more runs in their cars to haul as much food as a single truckload.

But Last Mile is experiencing sticker shock. Prices for the kind of truck its leaders have in mind have soared thousands of dollars in recent months, to as much as $80,000. For an organization with an annual budget of $650,000, that’s too big a hit to absorb.

Frustrated, the charity started looking for used trucks, but the prices of used vehicles have shot up as well.

“We look every day,” says Julie Shifman, Last Mile’s executive director. “We hope that we will be able to afford it, or a major donor might be able to come in to help us.” Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By COLLIN BINKLEY and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration plans to freeze federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, extending a moratorium that has allowed millions of Americans to postpone payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an administration official familiar with the White House’s decision-making.

Student loan payments were scheduled to resume May 1 after being halted since early in the pandemic. But following calls from Democrats in Congress, the White House plans to give borrowers additional time to prepare for payments. Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By TOM KRISHER and KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writers

DETROIT (AP) — BMW has halted production at two German factories. Mercedes is slowing work at its assembly plants. Volkswagen, warning of production stoppages, is looking for alternative sources for parts.

For more than a year, the global auto industry has struggled with a disastrous shortage of computer chips and other vital parts that has shrunk production, slowed deliveries and sent prices for new and used cars soaring beyond reach for millions of consumers.

Now, a new factor — Russia’s war against Ukraine — has thrown up yet another obstacle. Critically important electrical wiring, made in Ukraine, is suddenly out of reach. With buyer demand high, materials scarce and the war causing new disruptions, vehicle prices are expected to head even higher well into next year. Continue reading

Read time : 5 mins

Level : Intermediate

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — As millions of people in Shanghai line up for coronavirus tests, authorities are promising tax refunds for shopkeepers in the closed-down metropolis and to keep the world’s busiest port functioning to limit disruption to industry and trade.

This week’s shutdown of most activity in China’s most populous city to contain virus outbreaks jolted global financial markets that already were on edge about Russia’s war on Ukraine, higher U.S. interest rates and a Chinese economic slowdown.

On Wednesday, the government reported 8,825 new infections nationwide, including 7,196 in people with no symptoms. That included 5,987 cases in Shanghai, only 329 of which had symptoms. Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Draghi hosted leaders from three fellow Mediterranean countries Friday to push for an urgent, common European response to the energy crisis, which has been worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is threatening the economic recovery of small businesses and ordinary citizens.

The prime ministers of Spain and Portugal participated in person in the meeting in Rome, while Greece’s leader, who has tested positive for COVID-19, joined by a video hookup from Athens. Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By TALI ARBEL AP Business Writer

As the war in Ukraine drags on, international companies still in Russia are coming under increasing pressure to leave.

Some seem to be determined to stay, some say they are reconsidering or trying to figure out an exit and some aren’t speaking at all — a testament to the fraught nature of the situation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is stepping up the country’s pleas to pressure companies to exit Russia. In an address to Congress Wednesday, he asked lawmakers to press U.S. businesses still operating in Russia to leave, saying the Russian market is “flooded with our blood.” Continue reading