US inflation at 40-year high with 9.1%

Marcus Gram, Joyner Vending Founder, joins 'Last Call' for Make It Monday to explain how he turned a vending machine business into a $300 thousand per year enterprise.

The latest El Nino climate phenomenon has arrived, threatening floods in some areas of the world and droughts in others. Previous disruptive weather patterns cost the global economy trillions and stoked inflation.

Beijing is portraying Chinese Premier Li Qiang's business-oriented visit to Germany as a diplomatic success, but experts say its impact on reducing long-running tensions will be limited.

The World Economic Forum's summer meeting is bringing together decision-makers in Tianjin, China. Alongside topics like AI and biotech, the conversation has focused on whether business can ignore political tensions.

Annual inflation dropped to 5.5% in the 20 eurozone countries. However, the European Central Bank is still expected to raise interest rates in July.

African currencies have lost ground against the US dollar this year, further driving inflation in the import-reliant region. Depleting dollar reserves have left policymakers with limited options to arrest the decline.

India on Friday sent its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on a mission to land on the moon, hoping to join the three other countries that have managed the feat.

Germans are losing interest in starting their own business or becoming self-employed. The German Chambers of Industry and Commerce see the trend as a threat to the country's economic development.

Dutch harbors are gearing up to import, store and distribute the clean fuels set to drive Europe’s decarbonization. Businesses see big money on the horizon as the EU moves away from fossil fuels.

The health and cost-of-living crises has disproportionately affected the poor and women in developing Asia, hurting their chances of long-term improvement.

The annual meeting (24-26 August) hosted by the US Federal Reserve will be closely watched, especially Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Friday. While the policy of raising interest rates to lower inflation is no longer in doubt, observers will be watching out for clues as to when the US central bank might consider lowering rates again. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly stressed the importance of reaching the 2 percent inflation target.

On 17 August 2023, popular protests over the high inflation rate and deteriorating economic situation in Syria erupted in the Druze majority city of Al-Suwayda, with hundreds of participants. These grew, and by 20 August, thousands of protesters chanted slogans demanding the downfall of Assad regime.