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A massive container ship, owned by the same company whose vessel last year blocked the Suez Canal, has run aground near the U.S. port of Baltimore, U.S. officials said Monday.

The Ever Forward, a 1,096-foot (334-meter) vessel ran aground in the Chesapeake Bay shortly after leaving a Baltimore port Sunday night, William Doyle, the executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, said in a statement.

“There have been no injuries or spills,” Doyle clarified.

“The ship’s grounding is not preventing other ships from transiting to the Port of Baltimore,” he added, noting that efforts had been underway since Sunday night to free the stranded vessel.

The accident came almost exactly a year after the 200,000-ton container ship MV Ever Given became wedged in the Suez Canal during a sandstorm, blocking the key waterway for six days.

The Suez Canal is a vital artery from Asia to Europe that carries 10% of global maritime trade and provides Egypt with vital revenues.

Both vessels are owned by the Evergreen Marine Corp., which is based out of Taiwan.

The Ever Forward was bound for Norfolk, Virginia, when the accident happened, U.S. media reported. 
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Russian officials have said that they will move to nationalize the assets of Western companies that pull out of their country over its invasion of Ukraine, a decision that will cause significant economic harm to hundreds of businesses while, at least temporarily, preserving the jobs of the tens of thousands of Russians employed by them. 

As of Monday, at least 375 companies had announced some sort of pullback from Russia, according to a list maintained by the School of Management at Yale University. The list includes companies that have cut ties with Russia completely, as well as those that have suspended operations there while attempting to preserve the option to return. 

According to multiple media reports, dozens of Western companies have been contacted by prosecutors in Russia with warnings that their assets, including production facilities, offices, and intellectual property, such as trademarks, may be seized by the government if they withdraw from the country. 

Endorsed by Putin 

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week endorsed the proposed seizure of Western assets, a plan that was originally aired by a senior member of United Russia, the country’s dominant political party. 

United Russia’s proposal went beyond asset seizures, advocating a policy of arresting executives of foreign business who criticize the actions of the Russian government. According to Reuters, another proposal under consideration would target public companies if more than 25% of their shares are held by individuals from “unfriendly states.” A bill put forward by United Russia legislators would allow the government to force such firms into “external administration,” leading to the elimination of existing shareholder rights and the auctioning of new shares recognized by the Russian government. 

On Twitter last week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki warned that Russia could face further sanctions or legal action if it goes forward with the nationalization plan. “Any lawless decision by Russia to seize the assets of these companies will ultimately result in even more economic pain for Russia,” she wrote. 

New sort of expropriation 

There is a long history of governments expropriating the assets of foreign firms, but experts said that what Russia is threatening falls outside the typical pattern. In the past, governments have nationalized foreign businesses in the name of ideology, as Cuba did in the wake of the Communist revolution there, or because they want to capture the revenue going to private enterprise, as with Iran in the nationalization of its oil industry in 1951. 

Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA that is not what is happening in Russia. 

“It’s not about Russia saying, ‘Well, we think we can run these companies better on our own,'” she said. “It’s really about punishing those companies, which makes it so different from various revolutionary governments that have seized Western companies’ assets in the past.” 

In other cases of nationalization, Braw said, the government seizing assets typically did so strategically. They chose business sectors, at least in part, based on the assumption that they had, or could quickly develop, the capacity to operate them independently. 

But Russia’s threat of blanket nationalization of foreign companies that leave the country would effectively put the Kremlin into the role of operating everything from McDonald’s fast-food franchises to Gillette razor factories to Mercedes-Benz car manufacturing plants. 

Success unlikely 

Experts said that Russia is likely to have a difficult time finding people with the expertise to run many of the foreign firms that might be subject to nationalization. The management ranks of most non-Russian firms have historically been heavily weighted with expatriates, many of whom have been rushing to get out of the country. 

“Some businesses, some manufacturing operations, might well fit the Russian model,” James O’Rourke, a professor of Management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, told VOA. 

Certain kinds of companies, he said, “might be run by an oligarch or a friend of the regime, and it might work out. But I don’t think most of them will.” 

O’Rourke said that even if Russia were able to find the managers needed to keep foreign businesses running, supply chain problems may prove insurmountable. McDonald’s, for example, sources its produce and baked goods from multiple different countries, most of which are actively engaged in the international effort to cut off trade with Russia. Gillette’s manufacturing facilities in Russia use machines made in the U.S. and Germany, which will be unwilling to supply spare parts. 

Political benefits 

The Russian government might be able to score a short-term public relations victory with its own people if it can portray the nationalization of Western businesses as an effort to retain jobs that might otherwise have been lost, said Braw, of the American Enterprise Institute. 

However, she said, unless the Kremlin can find a way to successfully perpetuate the companies’ operations without Western expertise or supplies, the PR benefits of nationalization are likely to be short-lived. 

 
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The United States has banned Russian energy imports and wants Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to mitigate a dramatic spike in gas prices. But just how willing Gulf states are to help bring oil prices down remains to be seen. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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A shrinking number of well-known companies are still doing business in Russia, even as hundreds have announced plans to curtail ties. 

Burger King restaurants are open, Eli Lilly is supplying drugs, and PepsiCo is selling milk and baby food, but no more soda. 

The pace of businesses exiting Russia accelerated over the past week as the deadly violence and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine worsened, and as Western governments ratcheted up economic sanctions to punish Russia for its two-week-old invasion. Major oil companies BP and Shell walked away from multibillion-dollar investments. McDonald’s and Starbucks stopped serving customers. 

The companies that still have a presence in Russia say they have franchise owners or employees to consider; they don’t want to punish Russians by taking away food or medicine; or they provide software or financial services for Western businesses that aren’t easy to replace. 

“It’s a business calculation. On the stay side: How much revenue do they earn in Russia? Do they provide an essential service?” said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “Each day that passes, though, calculations change. Sanctions against Russia are likely to last a long time, along with rising revulsion.” 

Some companies in lower-profile industries like agriculture have been able to fly under the radar and avoid the type of social media pressure that had been directed at brands such as McDonald’s, Uniqlo and Starbucks, before they decided to cut ties this week, if only temporarily. 

But in this era of hyper-awareness that some customers and even employees have about the positions companies take on social and moral issues, those still doing business with — or in — Russia are putting their reputations on the line. 

Take Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo, which drew negative attention after the CEO of its parent company told the Nikkei newspaper in a story published Tuesday that the reason to keep nearly 50 Russian stores open was that: “clothing is a necessity of life.” By Thursday, Uniqlo said it would close the stores. 

“There’s potentially a big downside of companies to be on the wrong side of this,” Lovely said. 

Many large multinationals didn’t flee Russia at the start of the war. But that changed as the invasion led to increasing violence — and more than 2 million refugees fleeing Ukraine. 

There are now more than 300 companies that have curtailed operations in Russia, according to a list maintained by a team at Yale. Apple stopped shipments. Google paused ad sales. Automakers halted production. Hollywood studios ceased releasing films, and Netflix stopped streaming. 

Some of these decisions were driven by the need to comply with the sanctions Western governments leveled at Russia; others came because of supply chain issues or the fear of a hit to their reputations. Sanctions have already taken a toll on Russia’s economy and global trade. 

Some companies that plan to sever ties with Russia say it isn’t so simple. 

Citigroup said Wednesday that selling its 11 Russian bank branches will be difficult because the country’s economy has been cut off from the global financial system. Until then, Citi said it is “operating the business on a more limited basis” and is helping its U.S. and other corporate clients suspend their businesses in Russia. 

Likewise, Amazon says its biggest cloud-computing customers in Russia are headquartered elsewhere. The company said Tuesday it has stopped accepting new cloud-computing customers in Russia and that it plans to suspend e-commerce shipments to Russia. 

Fast-food companies often have franchising agreements that complicate an exit, because they don’t own those locations. 

That helps explain why Restaurant Brands International, owner of Burger King, is keeping its 800 restaurants open in Russia. And why Yum Brands, parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, announced the closure of 70 company-owned KFCs across Russia, but not the nearly 1,000 franchisee-owned KFCs, or its 50 Pizza Hut locations. 

This sometimes applies to hotels as well: Marriott says its Russian hotels are owned by third parties, and it’s evaluating their ability to remain open. 

“I think a lot of these companies are expecting a backlash if they’re staying,” said Susanne Wengle, a political science professor and Russia expert at Notre Dame. 

McDonald’s action in Russia was easier: it owns most of the 850 restaurants in Russia it will temporarily close. 

But there are companies that remain in Russia — whether in whole or in part — and say that it’s because they view their products as essential. 

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is one of them. “We continue to distribute medicines in Russia as patients with cancer, diabetes and auto-immune diseases everywhere count on us to support them,” said spokesperson Tarsis Lopez, noting that EU and U.S. sanctions do not apply to medicine. 

PepsiCo said it will stop selling soda but will continue to supply milk, baby formula and baby food in Russia. And Unilever said it will keep selling “everyday essential” Russian-made food and hygiene products to Russians, but that it will stop exporting and advertising these products. 

Tech companies have their own balancing act. Providers of internet-based services like Google, Twitter and Facebook have been mostly reluctant to take actions that could deprive Russian citizens access to information other than what they get from state media. (Russia blocked Facebook and Twitter, however, and then TikTok largely suspended its service in the country.) 

The response from industrial food producers has been complicated by Russia’s role as a major exporter of wheat and other commodities. 

Bunge, which has assets of $121 million in Russia, said Thursday that its Russian oilseed plant will operate and serve the domestic market, but that it has suspended “any new export business.” Farm equipment maker John Deere said it has stopped machine shipments to Russia; it is monitoring a Russian plant that makes seeding equipment and its dealer network in the country “day-by-day.” Cargill and ADM, other agriculture companies, have not responded to questions. 

These companies don’t want the Russian government to seize their assets should they close up shop, said Vincent Smith, an economics professor at Montana State University. 

Other companies point to their employees’ livelihoods in rationalizing decisions to stay, or not completely sever ties. 

Starbucks initially expressed concern for its 2,000 Russian employees before reversing course Tuesday. The Kuwaiti company that franchises its 130 Russian stores is closing them but continuing to pay employees. 

British American Tobacco on Wednesday said it would keep making and selling cigarettes in Russia, where it has 2,500 employees, citing a “duty of care” for employees. 

 
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Sudan’s military rulers this week announced an emergency committee to address the country’s collapsing economy and pointed to its gold mining as a possible boost. Sudan’s ambassador to Russia has denied reports that Moscow has been smuggling gold from Sudan in preparation for sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. But Sudanese analysts say gold smuggling is rampant, including to Russia.

State media on Thursday said the ruling Sovereign Council’s second in command, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti, met with gold miners who vowed to supply the central bank with gold.

The report came after Hemeti gave a rare press statement this week on efforts to prevent the country’s economic collapse.

Sudan’s exports dropped 85% in January and prices for everything are quickly rising — one of the main sparks for the 2019 uprising that led the military to oust former president Omar al-Bashir.

In remarks to media Monday, Hemeti announced an economic emergency committee to address the issues. Among other measures, he pointed to Sudan’s gold mining, which amounts to at least 50 tons per year, as a potential solution.

Hemeti says one of the most important resources that can help boost Sudan’s economy is the gold. He says security forces have arrested a lot of people smuggling gold, 40 buyers in all. He says the buyers are not the problem and asks, from whom are they buying this gold? That’s the question, he says, adding, “We will find out.”

Hemeti gave no details on the nationalities of those arrested, the timing, or who was suspected of buying how much smuggled gold.

His comments came just days after a report in the British Telegraph newspaper said Russia prepared for sanctions over its Ukraine invasion by buying smuggled Sudanese gold.

Hemeti didn’t comment on the allegation in his remarks.

Late last month, Hemeti began a week-long visit to Moscow as much of the world was criticizing Russia for preparing to invade its neighbor.

The Kremlin’s invasion began as Hemeti met with Russian officials to discuss expanding and strengthening cooperation with Sudan.

After the general’s trip to Moscow, he reaffirmed a Bashir-era deal for Russia to open a navy base in Port Sudan, which for Russia to open a navy base in Port Sudan, which — if carried out — would be Russia’s first in Africa.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the allegations of Russian gold smuggling.

But in a written response to VOA through a messaging application, Sudan’s acting ambassador to Russia Onor Ahmed Onor dismissed the claims.

“I have nothing to say other than it is fake news and a story created from the imagination of the Telegraph reporter,” read the text.

Hemeti commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which grew out of the Janjaweed militias that human rights groups say committed crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Analysts say the RSF is itself involved in gold smuggling.

Salah AlDoma is dean of political science at Khartoum’s Omdurman Islamic University.

“Russia surely obtained gold from several sources, not only Sudan,” he said. “But, yes, Sudan is one of the countries that the Russian companies managed to benefit from with secret agreements with the RSF and other entities like the former ruling National Congress Party. Russia, like many countries, benefited from smuggling Sudanese gold.”

The RSF office refused to take a call from VOA seeking comment on the allegations.

A spokesman at Sudan’s Ministry of Minerals confirmed to VOA that two Russian gold mining companies are operating in the country — Elianze and Meroe Gold, a subsidiary of M-Invest.

But the ministry’s spokesman would not comment on allegations of gold smuggling.

A 2019 report by CNN says M-Invest, a Russian company linked to the Kremlin and Russian mercenaries, was heavily involved in smuggling gold out of Sudan.

CNN reported in 2019 that M-Invest, a mining company the U.S. says is owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, also advised Sudanese authorities how to quash public protests.

Authorities say Prigozhin is behind the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries that U.N. experts have accused of human rights abuses from Syria to Libya to the Central African Republic.

While it’s not clear to what extent the Russian companies are still involved in Sudan’s gold mining, analysts say most of it has been off the books.

Sanhori Eissa, the former head of economics at Sudan’s largest newspaper Al-Rayaam, says exporting Sudan’s gold to Russia remains a smuggling operation, as is the case with nine other neighboring countries of Sudan.

“The export is probably done through the United Arab Emirates [UAE], through Khartoum international airport. The only outlet is the UAE, where Sudan’s [smuggled] gold gets refined and stamped as an emirate product then [re-]exported,” he said.

It was not possible to independently verify Eissa’s claims.

Sudan was headed for international relief from lenders but was cut off from foreign assistance after an October military coup overthrew the transitional government formed after Bashir’s ouster.

Since the coup, ongoing street protests against military rule have left at least 85 people dead.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, consumer inflation in the U.S. jumped 7.9% over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982 and likely only a harbinger of even higher prices to come.

The increase reported Thursday by the Labor Department reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Since then, average gas prices nationally have jumped about 62 cents a gallon to $4.32, according to AAA.

Even before the war further accelerated price increases, robust consumer spending, solid pay raises and persistent supply shortages had sent U.S. consumer inflation to its highest level in four decades. What’s more, housing costs, which make up about a third of the government’s consumer price index, have risen sharply, a trend that’s unlikely to reverse anytime soon.

The government’s report Thursday also showed that inflation rose 0.8% from January to February, up from the 0.6% increase from December to January.

For most Americans, inflation is running far ahead of the pay raises that many have received in the past year, making it harder for them to afford necessities like food, gas and rent. As a consequence, inflation has become the top political threat to President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats as the midterm elections draw closer. Small business people say in surveys that it’s their primary economic concern, too.

Seeking to stem the inflation surge, the Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates several times this year beginning with a modest hike next week. The Fed faces a delicate challenge, though: If it tightens credit too aggressively this year, it risks undercutting the economy and possibly triggering a recession.

Energy prices, which soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, jumped again this week after Biden said the United States would bar oil imports from Russia. Oil prices did retreat Wednesday on reports that the United Arab Emirates will urge fellow OPEC members to boost production. U.S. oil was down 12% to $108.70 a barrel, though still up sharply from about $90 before Russia’s invasion.

Yet energy markets have been so volatile that it’s impossible to know if the decline will stick. If Europe were to join the U.S. and the United Kingdom and bar Russian oil imports, analysts estimate that prices could soar as high as $160 a barrel.

The economic consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine have upended a broad assumption among many economists and at the Fed: That inflation would begin to ease this spring because prices rose so much in March and April of 2021 that comparisons to a year ago would show declines.

Should gas prices remain near their current levels, Eric Winograd, senior economist at asset manager AllianceBernstein, estimates that inflation could reach as high as 9% in March or April.

The cost of wheat, corn, cooking oils and such metals as aluminum and nickel have also soared since the invasion. Ukraine and Russia are leading exporters of those commodities.

Even before Russia’s invasion, inflation was not only rising sharply but also broadening into additional sectors of the economy. Many prices have jumped over the past year because heavy demand has run into short supplies of items like autos, building materials and household goods.

But even for some services unaffected by the pandemic, like rents, costs are also surging at their fastest pace in decades. Steady job growth and high home prices are encouraging more people to move into apartments, elevating rental costs by the most in two decades. Apartment vacancy rates have reached their lowest level since 1984.

In the final three months of last year, wages and salaries jumped 4.5%, the sharpest such increase in at least 20 years. Those pay raises have, in turn, led many companies to raise prices to offset their higher labor costs.

Soaring energy costs pose a particularly difficult challenge for the Fed. Higher gas prices tend to both accelerate inflation and weaken economic growth. That’s because as their paychecks are eroded at the gas pump, consumers typically spend less in other ways.

That pattern is akin to the “stagflation” dynamic that made the economy of the 1970s miserable for many Americans. Most economists, though, say they think the U.S. economy is growing strongly enough that another recession is unlikely, even with higher inflation.
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While soaring oil prices hit consumers worldwide, their misfortune means a fortune for others.

There will certainly be a “significant boost in government revenue” for some oil-producing African countries as oil prices hit their highest levels since 2008 after the U.S bans imports of Russian oil, the African Energy Chamber tells VOA.

“Nigeria, Angola, Libya, South Sudan, Gabon, the Congo and Ghana are going to see a significant boost in government revenue,” said Verner Ayukegba, senior vice president at Johannesburg-based African Energy Chamber.

However, he said, despite the economic breather for these African economies, most of the countries on the continent are heavily dependent on imports of refined products and will see their expenditures balloon.

“Countries like South Africa who are not producers but major economies who import crude oil to be able to refine for their industries, countries are going to see an increase in their import bills,” he said.

Skyrocketing crude oil prices and the rising cost of living on the continent also threaten to increase inflation, says Bala Zakka, a petroleum engineer based in Lagos, Nigeria.

“In Nigeria today, diesel has been deregulated. A liter of diesel goes for 450 Nigerian Naira ($1.08), and this is where you will appreciate the pains that Nigerians are going through,” Zakka said.

The oil analyst was unhappy that Africa’s most populous nation of 200 million people relies on imported refined products despite having the capacity to locally refine oil for domestic use like gas, diesel and kerosene.

Nigeria is the main oil producer in Africa and the largest crude oil exporter on the continent.

According to data from Statista, in 2020, Nigeria led the exports of crude oil from Africa. Overall, those exports amounted to about 5.4 million barrels per day in that year.

Meanwhile, the African Energy Chamber’s Ayukegba said that because of the uptick in oil prices globally, most African nations are likely to see more exploration for new oil and gas sources.

“Exploration spend is going to lead to much more oil and gas activities off the coast of Africa. The Gulf of Guinea for instance, and also in onshore locations,” he told VOA.

”There’s drilling going on in places like Namibia at the moment, where Total and Shell have come up with significant discoveries,” he added.
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A Ukrainian man charged last year with conducting one of the most severe ransomware attacks against U.S. targets has been extradited to the United States and made a court appearance Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said.

According to an August 2021 indictment, Yaroslav Vasinskyi accessed the internal computer networks of several victim companies and deployed Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware to encrypt the data on their computers, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Vasinskyi was allegedly responsible for the July 2021 ransomware attack against Florida software provider Kaseya, the department said.

Reuters could not reach a representative of Vasinskyi. Kaseya did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The Ukrainian national was accused in the indictment of breaking into Kaseya over the July 4 weekend last year and simultaneously distributing with accomplices REvil ransomware to as many as 1,500 Kaseya customers, encrypting their data and forcing some to shut down for days, the Justice Department said.

While most of the 1,500 businesses paralyzed as a result around the globe faced limited concerns, the disruption was felt keenly in places such as Sweden, where hundreds of supermarkets had to close because their cash registers were inoperative, and New Zealand, where schools and kindergartens were knocked offline.

Vasinskyi was charged in the indictment with breaking into the victim companies and installing encryption software developed by the core REvil ransomware hacking group. REvil directly handled the ransom negotiations and split the profits with Vasinskyi and other affiliates. This model allowed the notorious ransomware gang to extort numerous companies for cryptocurrency.

Vasinskyi was arrested in Poland in October. The Justice Department charged him and a Russian late last year.

U.S. law enforcement authorities transported Vasinskyi to Dallas, Texas, where he arrived March 3, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

REvil was involved in an attack last year against top global meat processor JBS S.A.
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President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency that urges the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should create its own digital currency.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the effort would “promote a fairer, more inclusive, and more efficient financial system” while countering illicit finance and preventing risks to financial stability and national security.

The Biden administration views the explosive popularity of cryptocurrency as an opportunity to examine the risks and benefits of digital assets, said a senior administration official who previewed the order Tuesday on the condition of anonymity, terms set by the White House.

Under the executive order, Biden also directed the Treasury Department and other federal agencies to study the impact of cryptocurrency on financial stability and national security.

Brian Deese and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s top economic and national security advisers, respectively, said the order establishes the first comprehensive federal digital assets strategy for the United States.

“That will help position the U.S. to keep playing a leading role in the innovation and governance of the digital assets ecosystem at home and abroad, in a way that protects consumers, is consistent with our democratic values and advances U.S. global competitiveness,” Deese and Sullivan said Wednesday in a joint statement.

The action comes as lawmakers and administration officials are increasingly voicing concern that Russia may be using cryptocurrency to avoid the impact of sanctions imposed on its banks, oligarchs and oil industry because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner, and Jack Reed asked the Treasury Department to provide information on how it intends to inhibit cryptocurrency use for sanctions evasion.

The Biden administration has argued that Russia won’t be able to make up for the loss of U.S. and European business by turning to cryptocurrency. Officials said the Democratic president’s order had been in the works for months before Russia’s Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last month.

Daleep Singh, a deputy national security and economic adviser to Biden, told CNN on Wednesday that “crypto’s really not a workaround for our sanctions.”

The executive order had been widely anticipated by the finance industry, crypto traders, speculators and lawmakers who have compared the cryptocurrency market to the Wild West.

Despite the risks, the government said, surveys show that roughly 16% of adult Americans — or 40 million people — have invested in cryptocurrencies. And 43% of men ages 18-29 have put their money into cryptocurrency.

Coinbase Global Inc., the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, said the company had not seen a recent surge in sanctions evasion activity.

Yellen said last week that “many participants in the cryptocurrency networks are subjected to anti-money laundering sanctions” and that the industry is not “completely one where things can be evaded.”

As for the Federal Reserve getting involved with digital assets, the central bank issued a paper in January that said a digital currency “would best serve the needs” of the country through a model in which banks or payment firms create accounts or digital wallets.

Some participants in digital currency welcome the idea of more government involvement with crypto.

Adam Zarazinski, CEO of Inca Digital, a crypto data company that does work for several federal agencies, said the order presents the opportunity to provide “new approaches to finance.”

“The U.S. has an interest in growing financial innovation,” Zarazinski said. He added that China and Russia were looking at crypto and building their own currency. More than 100 countries have begun or are piloting their own digital sovereign currency, according to the White House.

Katherine Dowling, general counsel for Bitwise Asset Management, a cryptocurrency asset management firm, said an executive order that provides more legal clarity on government oversight would be “a long term positive for crypto.”

But Hilary Allen, a financial regulation professor at American University, cautioned against moving too fast to embrace cryptocurrencies.

“I think crypto is a place where we should be putting the brakes on this innovation until it’s better understood,” she said. “As crypto becomes more integrated into our financial system it creates vulnerabilities not just to those who are investing in crypto but for everybody who participates in our economy.”

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department said its financial literacy arm would work to develop consumer-friendly materials to help people “make informed choices about digital assets.”

“History has shown that, without adequate safeguards, forms of private money have the potential to pose risks to consumers and the financial system,” said Nellie Liang, undersecretary for domestic finance.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency related stocks got a boost Wednesday following Biden’s executive order.

The price of Bitcoin was up 9.8% at $42,211, according to Coindesk. Shares in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global surged 9.3% in midday trading, while online brokerage Robinhood Markets rose 4.5%.

Riot Blockchain, which focuses on cryptocurrency mining, jumped 11.5%. Digital payments platforms also rose. PayPal added 4.9% and Block climbed 10.55%.
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Protests erupted Wednesday in Iraq’s impoverished south over a rise in food prices that officials attributed to the conflict in Ukraine.   

For about a week, the price of cooking oils and flour have skyrocketed in local markets as government officials have sought to address growing anger with various statements and measures.   

More than 500 protesters gathered in a central square in the southern city of Nasiriyah — a flashpoint of anti-corruption protests that gripped the country in 2019.   

“The rise in prices is strangling us, whether it is bread or other food products,” retired teacher Hassan Kazem said. “We can barely make ends meet.”   

On Tuesday, the Iraqi government announced measures to confront the increase in international prices.   

These included a monthly allowance of about $70 for pensioners whose income does not exceed one million dinars (almost $700), as well as civil servants earning less than 500,000 dinars.   

The authorities also announced the suspension of customs duties on food products, basic consumer goods and construction materials for two months.   

Trade Ministry spokesman Mohamed Hanoun attributed the rise in cooking oil prices to the conflict in Ukraine.   

“There’s a major global crisis because Ukraine has a large share of [the world market in cooking] oils,” he said. 

On Tuesday, a protester was seriously injured in a demonstration in the central province of Babil that was marred by violence, a security source said.   

The Interior Ministry announced it had arrested 31 people accused of “raising the prices of food commodities and abusing citizens.”

A protester in Nasiriyah on Wednesday denounced the “greed of traders who manipulate prices.”

Both Russia and Ukraine are major producers of foodstuffs, including sunflower oil and wheat, and the Middle East is particularly dependent on imports from the two countries.   

Iraq was rocked by nationwide protests in 2019 against rampant corruption, a lack of job opportunities and poor living conditions.   

More than 600 people were killed and tens of thousands injured during the demonstrations. 
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The European Union has agreed to expand its third round of sanctions being imposed on Russia to target a larger number of oligarchs and officials close to President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The French Presidency of the European Council said in a series of tweets on March 9 that the new sanctions added would apply to “Russian leaders and oligarchs and their family members implicated in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

The third round of sanctions being imposed on Russia, the largest EU package agreed since the invasion began on February 24, includes a freeze on the Russian central bank’s assets in the bloc and a ban on Kremlin media in the European Union.

The French Presidency said the new sanctions approved on March 9 also include targeting the maritime sector and measures aim at excluding three Belarusian banks from the SWIFT financial payment messaging system, while also clarifying the issue of cryptocurrencies and giving a complete list of technologies and goods that cannot be sold between Russia and the bloc.

It did not detail which banks in Belarus, which has assisted Moscow in the invasion, are affected or which technologies and goods are included in the sanctions.

“These sanctions will be formally adopted by the Council by written procedure with a view to their rapid publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,” it said.

The EU has now sanctioned 680 people and 53 entities since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, recognized the independence of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, and invaded the country in February.
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Global oil prices soared Tuesday as President Joe Biden announced that the United States will ban imports of Russian energy — a move that could have a dramatic impact in punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime for its invasion of Ukraine. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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The U.S. is banning all imports of Russian oil and gas, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday — a move that he said “will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine” as the Russian army continues its assault on Ukraine.

This step, outlined in an executive order, is the latest move by Washington to squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, accused by critics of filling his pockets with ill-gotten gains from his energy-exporting nation. Under the executive order, the U.S. is also banning all imports of crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, coal and coal products and banning any American from investing in Russia’s energy sector.

Last year, the U.S. imported nearly 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia — a far cry from the some 4.5 million barrels of Russian oil that Europe imports each day.

“We’re moving forward on this ban understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us,” Biden said. “The United States produces far more oil domestically than all the European countries combined. In fact, we’re a net exporter of energy. So we can take this step when others cannot.”

Meanwhile, Britain on Tuesday said it would phase out imports of Russian oil and oil products by the end of this year.

Biden also announced Tuesday that International Energy Agency members agreed to a collective release of 60 million barrels of crude oil from strategic petroleum reserves, with the United States committing half of that amount.

Biden said he has received support from his political allies and critics, with Republican U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, saying “this action is a necessary step for the world. Vladimir Putin’s war chest is dependent on revenue [that] comes from selling energy — some of it to Americans when we have more than enough oil and gas for ourselves and most of the rest of the world.”

He added “Because of this, oil is a weapon for Putin. It’s about time the Biden administration recognized this weaponization of energy. This import ban is designed to further cripple Putin’s financial stream to wage war on the freedom-loving people of Ukraine and a host of other mischief.”

Biden has repeatedly said he has no intention to send U.S. troops to Ukraine, and that these economic moves are a strong deterrent for Putin.

“Yesterday I spoke with my counterparts in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom about how Russia is escalating violence against Ukraine and the steps that we’re going to take together with our allies and partners around the world to respond to this aggression,” Biden said.

“We are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history and it’s causing significant damage to Russia’s economy.”

This report contains information from Reuters.
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A growing number of Western businesses are either halting operations in Russia or exiting altogether over that country’s military incursion of neighboring Ukraine.

The major hit to Russia’s economy will likely come from the crucial oil and gas industry. British-based BP announced Sunday that it is divesting its $14 billion stake in Russian state-owned oil and gas company Rosneft.  

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden of Britain-based Shell Oil Company issued an apology Tuesday for buying Russian crude oil last week, and said it would end all of its operations in Russia, including pipeline gas and liquid natural gas. Shell previously announced it was abandoning its joint venture with state-owned Gazprom and the now-suspended Nord Stream 2 pipeline, built to carry natural gas from Russia to western Europe. 

Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan have announced plans to suspend production at their plants in the western port city of St. Petersburg and end all vehicle exports to Russia. A third Japanese automaker, Honda, has also halted all exports to Russia, including motorcycles and engines.  

Another major manufacturing firm cutting ties with Russia is U.S.-based aviation giant Boeing, which has suspended buying titanium for use in building airplanes. 

In the clothing sector, legendary U.S.-blue jeans maker Levi Strauss announced Monday that it is suspending sales of its products and ending any new investments in Russia, saying that any business considerations “are clearly secondary to the human suffering experienced by so many.” Levi Strauss said it would donate $300,000 to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine launched by the International Rescue Committee and CARE.  

Financial services companies are also cutting ties. Credit card companies Visa and Mastercard, along with payments company PayPal, all announced last week they were suspending operations in Russia, with high end rival American Express announcing on March 1 that it is halting relationships with Russian banking partners. U.S.-based Vanguard, the world’s top mutual fund investment firm, says it has ended purchases of Russian securities from its actively managed funds and is working to exit its holdings across all of its index funds.  

Tech and entertainment companies are also turning their backs on Russia over Ukraine. U.S.-based streaming video service Netflix has suspended all services in Russia and is ending all future projects and acquisitions there, while Hollywood giants Warner Brothers, Disney and Sony Pictures are all delaying the release of new films in Russia. Apple has blocked Russia-based RT News and Sputnik News from its app store outside of Russia, while Google and TikTok have blocked Russian state media channels from their platforms.

Meanwhile, Apple has stopped selling iPhones and other devices inside Russia, while U.S.-based computer maker Dell Technologies has suspended sales of its products in both Russia and Ukraine.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Like in much of Africa, women in Kenya own only a small fraction of property, and less than 14% of Kenya’s real estate brokers are women. For VOA, Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi on the challenges women face in the real estate industry.
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Chocolate makers are expected to raise prices this year due to higher costs of cocoa from exporters like Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer.

Hershey, the largest producer of chocolate products in the United States, said last month it will raise prices on its products across the board due to the rising cost of ingredients.   

Meanwhile, chocolate makers like Dana Mroueh said they are seeing cocoa prices rise in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer.  

“We’ve noticed the price of cocoa is going up these few years, especially organic cocoa. So, from the beginning to today, those five years, we can say the price has risen 20 percent,” Mroueh said.  

Demand for chocolate in America increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and cocoa producers in Ivory Coast are struggling to keep up with that demand.   

Experts say one reason is the impact of climate change.  

Harvard University says that by 2030, parts of West Africa will be too hot and dry to adequately produce cocoa. The West African countries of Ghana and Ivory Coast alone produce 70 percent of global supply.  

Cocoa farmer Raphael Konan Kouassi took VOA to his plantation, a shady orchard where fat green and yellow cocoa pods hung from tree trunks. He said trees are yielding less due to rising temperatures and poor rains.  

“Almost all of the young plants die in the high season. If you have not been able to get water to them, you have no cocoa,” he said.  

Kouassi receives government assistance in the form of cocoa trees, which are more resilient to the fluctuations of climate change, but he said government distributions happen at the wrong time of year for the saplings to survive.  

Christian Bunn of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, a global scientific organization, said information about how the climate is changing can inform farmers on how to better nurture their crops.  

“What we’re seeing is that the onset of both dry and wet season can change. It’s less reliable. During the season, there may be breaks in terms of rain during the dry season, or there’s a dry spell during the wet season, and the overall distribution or amounts of rainfall they’re receiving may change,” Bunn said.  

The data shows it may be better for farmers to stop producing cocoa and diversify into other crops, he said.   

However, Olga Yenou, the CEO of an Ivorian company that supplies The Hershey Company, said higher prices for cocoa could be welcomed by farmers.  

“My opinion is that these farmers should have better prices, should earn more, because they work hard. Most are poor,” Yenou said.  

Her wish appears to be coming true. As climate change continues to bite, prices continue to surge.  

 
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Wall Street had its biggest drop in more than a year Monday as another leap for oil prices threatened to squeeze inflation’s grip on the global economy. 

The S&P 500 fell 3%, its biggest decline in 16 months, after a barrel of U.S. oil surged to $130 overnight on the possibility the U.S. could bar imports from Russia. Stocks around the world also fell earlier in the day, taking their cue from oil’s movements. 

The benchmark S&P 500 fell 122.78 points to 4,201.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 797.42 points, or 2.4%, to 32,817.38. 

The Nasdaq composite slid 482.48 points, or 3.6%, to 12,830.96. The tech-heavy index is now 20.1% below its record set in November. Such a decline means the index is now in what Wall Street calls a bear market. The S&P 500 is down a more modest 12.4% from the peak it set in early January. 

Gold and a measure of nervousness on Wall Street also rose, though not by quite as much as when oil prices hit their peak. The price of gold briefly rose above $2,000 an ounce before settling at $1,995.90, up 1.5%. 

“This could be something that drags on for a while as the tensions in Ukraine persist, as oil prices remain elevated,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “The higher and longer oil prices stay elevated, the greater the eroding impact that they will have on economic growth.” 

Oil prices have soared recently on worries that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will upend already tight supplies. Russia is one of the world’s largest energy producers, and oil prices were already high before the attack because the global economy is demanding more fuel following its coronavirus-caused shutdown. 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her colleagues on Sunday that “the House is currently exploring strong legislation” to further isolate Russia because of its attack on Ukraine. That could include a ban on imports of Russian oil and energy products, she said. 

It’s a major step that the U.S. government has not yet taken, despite a long list of moves to punish Russia, as the White House has said it hopes to limit disruptions to oil markets. It wants to limit price jumps at the gasoline pump. 

Reports also said U.S. officials may be considering easing sanctions against Venezuela. That potentially could free up more crude oil and ease concerns about reduced supplies from Russia. 

A gallon of regular already costs an average of $4.065 across the country after breaching the $4 barrier on Sunday for the first time since 2008. A month ago, a gallon averaged $3.441, according to AAA. 

A barrel of U.S. crude oil settled at $119.40 per barrel, up 3.2%, after earlier touching $130.50. Brent crude, the international standard, settled at $123.21 per barrel, up 4.3%, after earlier topping $139. 

Meanwhile, smaller company stocks also fell sharply. The Russell 2000 index fell 49.57 points, or 2.5%, to 1,951.33. 

Markets worldwide have swung wildly recently on worries about how high prices for oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region will go because of Russia’s invasion, inflaming the world’s already high inflation. In the United States, prices for consumers jumped last month from their year-ago level at the fastest rate in four decades. 

The conflict in Ukraine also threatens the food supply in some regions, including Europe, Africa and Asia, which rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region, known as the “breadbasket of the world.” 

The war puts extra pressure on central banks around the world, with the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates later this month for the first time since 2018. Higher rates slow the economy, which hopefully will help rein in high inflation. But if the Fed raises rates too high, it risks forcing the economy into a recession. 

“Their reaction to geopolitics can’t really be measured, so there’s uncertainty around that,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. 

Some investors have seen the war in Ukraine as potentially pushing the Fed to go easier on rate increases. Investors love low rates because they tend to boost prices for stocks and all kinds of markets. 

But that may not necessarily be the case this time, Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a report. With prices for oil, wheat and other commodities potentially rising even more, the threat is higher for sustained, high inflation to settle on the economy. That could flip the Fed’s traditional playbook. 

“After several decades in which economic, financial, or political shocks invariably caused interest rates to fall, markets may have to relearn that the opposite can also be true,” Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius wrote. 

Beyond sanctions brought on Russia by governments because of its invasion of Ukraine, companies are also levying their own punishments. The list of companies exiting Russia has grown to include Mastercard, Visa and American Express, as well as Netflix. 

The value of the Russian ruble continued to slide amid all the financial pressure, falling 12% to 0.7 cents. 

Treasury yields climbed. The 10-year yield rose to 1.78% from 1.72%. 

 
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