Almost half of the 4,800 banks in the US are nearly insolvent, as they have burned through their capital buffers, The Telegraph reported earlier this week, citing a group of banking experts. According to Professor Amit Seru, a banking expert at Stanford University, around half of US lenders are underwater.

The price of pasta in Italy has been soaring over the past two months, forcing the government to hold an emergency meeting this week to decide whether a price cap or other state intervention is necessary.

Kim Jong-un has celebrated the successful launch of a spy satellite, calling it a self-defense breakthrough for Pyongyang North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has heralded the military breakthrough achieved with the country’s first successful launch of a spy satellite, saying it would help protect Pyongyang from the “dangerous and aggressive moves” of its adversaries.