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.

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