"If the bulk of Russian energy exports is off the market for the remainder of 2022, a global economic downturn seems unavoidable. This slowdown could be more protracted than that in 1991," the bank said in a report written by staff economists Lutz Kilian and Michael Plante.
Global Finance Watchdog Warns of Risks Posed by Migrant Smuggling
Countries must do more to understand the money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks posed by the clandestine business of migrant smuggling, a global finance watchdog said Tuesday.
Over the past decade, political instability, poverty and the effects of climate change have led to more migrants and refugees, fueling the growth of an illegal industry with annual profits exceeding $10 billion, according to a new report by the Financial Action Task Force.
Gas Prices Shoot Up at Fastest Rate on Record
As summer driving season approaches, average prices for regular gasoline have been at record highs the past two weeks after going up for 11 straight weeks. Prices reached $4.32 a gallon on March 14, according to weekly figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. They were $4.24 this past week, according to figures released Monday.
Those prices at the pump don't factor in inflation, though, which reached its highest rate in four decades last month. Inflation-adjusted gas prices are at their highest levels since 2014 and similar to what U.S. drivers saw in the early 1980s.
Flattening Yield Curve Stirs Recession Debate
Yields on shorter-term and longer-term U.S. government bonds have been converging rapidly, stirring fears-along with skepticism-that the bond market is close to signaling a looming recession.
Yields, which fall when bond prices rise, have been climbing all year based on expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates. They got another big boost Monday, after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized that the central bank was prepared to raise rates in half-percentage steps to fight inflation.
Ukrainians Flee Mariupol as Russian Forces Push to Take Port City
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine-The battle for the southern port city of Mariupol intensified Tuesday with fleeing civilians describing Russian and Ukrainian forces locked in street-by-street warfare through the city's downtown as Moscow's airstrikes gutted entire neighborhoods.
Nearly a month after Russia invaded Ukraine, it is on the verge of taking Mariupol in what would be the first major city to fall under its control. But Mariupol is a shattered prize.
Elon Musk Opens Tesla's First European Factory
BERLIN-Elon Musk formally kicked off customer deliveries at Tesla Inc.'s first European factory outside Berlin, marking a milestone in the electric-car maker's international expansion.
Speaking Tuesday as he handed the first Tesla Model Y vehicles built at the plant to their new owners, the chief executive said the factory would create a foundation for both electric vehicles and the batteries that would store energy from wind and the sun. Mr. Musk called that a big step in the fight against global warming.
Oligarch Companies Want to Pay Their Debts. But Sanctions Stand in the Way.
Russian companies owned by sanctioned oligarchs say they are having trouble making payments to their foreign creditors, potentially setting them up for default even though they have the funds to pay.
The first major default since Russia invaded Ukraine and the West unleashed punishing sanctions could come as soon as Wednesday. Steel giant Severstal PAO owed a coupon payment due on a dollar bond on March 16 with a five business-day grace period, which expires Wednesday.
Suspected Terrorist Attack in Israel Leaves Four Dead
TEL AVIV, Israel-An assailant killed four people and seriously injured two others in southern Israel Tuesday, stabbing several people and ramming his car into a cyclist in one of the deadliest suspected terrorist attacks against Israelis in recent years.
The assailant, who was identified as an Arab Bedouin in his 30s from a town in southern Israel, was known to security services, Israeli police said. A security official said the assailant had been imprisoned in 2015 for supporting Islamic State, and was arrested before trying to join the Islamist militant group in Syria.
Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Sentenced to Nine More Years in Prison
Russia's leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, was sentenced to nine more years in prison on charges of fraud and contempt of court, in a case his supporters say was brought against him on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.
The fresh sentence comes as Russian authorities seek to put down any dissent against Mr. Putin's war against Ukraine, which has stalled in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance. Russian authorities have detained more than 15,000 people in antiwar rallies since the invasion began on Feb. 24, according to OVD-Info, an independent organization which monitors detentions at protests. They also passed a law earlier this month that imposes a penalty of up to 15 years in prison on anyone who criticizes the Russian army or refers to its offensive as an invasion or a war.
Ukraine War's Spillover Swamps Poor Countries Still Reeling From Covid-19
Over the past 120 years, a Beirut bakery has survived civil war, Lebanon's financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Fighting in Ukraine, disrupting food and energy supplies world-wide, may soon put it out of business.
Zouhair Khafiyeh's storefront is empty of the pastries and meat-stuffed pies he has sold for years, which helped put his children through college. The cost of a bag of flour on the black market has gone up more than 1000% since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion. Mr. Khafiyeh has raised his prices by 50%, he said, and now bakes only when customers order and pay up front.
Flood of Refugees From Ukraine War Tests Europe's Capacity to Welcome Them
PARIS-Olga Nychyporenko and her two children lived for five days in a basement in Bucha, a town on the front lines of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as bombs and tanks destroyed the streets above her.
A week later, the 48-year-old schoolteacher and her family were at a refugee center in Paris, exhausted but safe, and awaiting temporary housing. They escaped during a lull in the fighting, traveled for days to Poland and then caught a free flight to the French capital. She is now eligible to live and work in France for at least a year, with free medical care and schooling for her children.
Lip Gloss, Potato Chips, Air Fresheners Are Among the 'Essentials' Still Sold in Russia
The world's biggest makers of household staples have vowed to stop selling all but the bare essentials in Russia.
What counts as essential is open to interpretation.
Disney Workers Walk Out to Protest Company's Response to Florida Bill
Small groups of Walt Disney Co. employees across the U.S. took Tuesday off from work and gathered to protest what they described as the company's continued failure to support LGBT employees.
The walkouts mark the beginning of a third week of turmoil inside the entertainment giant as its leadership struggles to contain fallout from its bungled response to a Republican-led education bill in Florida, which many employees said targeted the LGBT community.
GameStop's Stock Rises After Chairman Buys More Shares
Shares of GameStop Corp. rose 16% in after-hours trading after the videogame retailer's chairman disclosed his firm bought 100,000 shares of the company's stock on Tuesday.
Ryan Cohen's RC Ventures LLC said it paid between $96.81 and $108.82 for the shares it purchased Tuesday. Mr. Cohen owns an 11.9% stake in the retailer, or 9.1 million shares.
Starbucks Workers Vote to Unionize in Seattle Store
A Starbucks Corp. store in Seattle voted to unionize Tuesday, the first in the coffee chain's hometown to seek representation from a growing union of chain baristas.
Chain workers at a single Seattle location voted 9-0 to be represented by the Starbucks Workers United union. Starbucks had petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to review that vote's structure ahead of Tuesday's tally. The federal labor agency denied the appeal, as it has done in response to other review requests by the company so far.
Quantum Startup Sandbox Emerges From Alphabet
Sandbox AQ, a software startup developing quantum-computing and artificial-intelligence tools for commercial use, on Tuesday officially spun off from Alphabet Inc.'s Google to become a stand-alone company.
The move was fueled by a "nine-figure" funding round that included Breyer Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. and Guggenheim Partners LLC, among other investors, the company said. The amount and terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Nvidia Targets Auto Growth Amid Chip Shortage
Chip maker Nvidia Corp. predicts an inflection point in its automotive sales later this year, suggesting booming demand for greater automation in cars will outpace near-term challenges posed by a global chip shortage and supply-chain disruptions.
The biggest U.S. chip company by market value says its pipeline of deals with auto customers has jumped by more than a third within a year to $11 billion, covering business that should be booked over the next six years, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said during an investor conference Tuesday. Its automotive division reported sales of $125 million in its most recent fiscal quarter.
Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
05:30/NED: Mar Consumer confidence survey
05:30/NED: Jan Consumer Spending
07:00/DEN: Mar Consumer expectations
07:00/UK: Feb UK producer prices
07:00/UK: Feb UK monthly inflation figures
09:00/POL: Feb Unemployment
09:00/GER: Ifo Economic Forecast
09:30/UK: Jan UK House Price Index
10:00/MLT: Feb RPI
15:00/EU: Mar FCCI Flash Consumer Confidence Indicator
15:59/GRE: Jan Balance of Payments
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
03-23-22 0127ET
