US national debt has continued to mount, jumping by $2.6 trillion in the six months through December to reach $33.8 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. The Treasury indicated that factors such as tax cuts, stimulus programs, increased government spending, and decreased tax revenues have been driving up debt.

Soaring interest rates and the end of Covid subsidies have had a big impact on businesses, the outlet reports The world’s corporate sector has been hit by a wave of bankruptcies occurring at a double-digit pace unseen in decades, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing data from national statistics offices.

Russia will bypass EU restrictions on the export of the country’s diamonds, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday. Responding to questions related to the latest package of the bloc’s sanctions against Moscow, Peskov insisted that the ban will not work.