Sanofi fell about 13% on Thursday, taking its two-day decline to 20%, the steepest drop ever over that timeframe. GSK slid 6.9% in London, while its recent spinoff Haleon slumped 12%, taking its drop since Tuesday to 19%.

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug 10 (Reuters) - An inverted U.S. Treasury yield curve almost always heralds recession, but the yawning gap between high short-term funding costs and falling long-term borrowing rates may accelerate the economic downturn it presages.

From a banking sector perspective, the inverted curve, combined with near-9% inflation and post-2008 regulation - the deepest, highest, and toughest in decades, respectively - offers cause for concern.

Although banks are in pretty good shape, the downward-sloping curve will erode net interest margins and curb lending, while this year's rout in stocks and bonds will require them to divert more cash towards repairing torpedoed capital buffers.

For decades, US households bailed out the global economy when it needed a consumer of last resort. America’s latest spending spree has come with a sting in the tail.

Stuck at home in the pandemic, people all over the world bought more goods—TV sets, laptops, and exercise bikes, to name a few—at the expense of services such as hotel rooms and gym memberships. The shift was significantly bigger in the US than in other rich countries.

“Today's event marks an important milestone. It's an opportunity to take stock of our achievements, and also to look ahead at the next quarter-century of work,” said DG Okonjo-Iweala in her opening remarks.

The DG stressed that the Committee on Agriculture was set up to allow WTO members to exchange views about compliance with rules in the Agreement on Agriculture. It also provides a forum to address disagreements about members' agri-food trade measures and to help “nip trade irritants in the bud”, she added.

The Committee has also proved it can adapt to changing times, the DG said, pointing to its active role in implementing the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on eliminating agricultural export subsidies and in addressing export restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DG Okonjo-Iweala said she is confident that the Committee will help members address new challenges in the future and work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She...

MAAN, Syria, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Returning to their orchards after years of war, Syrian pistachio farmers hoping to revive their valuable crop have had their hopes dashed by scorched trees and the ravages of climate change.

Laden with maroon-coloured bunches of nuts that are harvested in summer, the pistachio tree is known in Syria as "a golden tree in a poor land", reflecting the value of a fruit long exported across the Middle East and Europe.

But farmers near the northwestern village of Maan are harvesting just a quarter of the crop they gathered before the war, farmer Nayef Ibrahim said.

The pace of price increases slowed in July as energy costs dropped, pulling annual U.S. inflation down slightly from a four-decade high. The Labor Department on Wednesday said the consumer-price index, a measure of what consumers pay for goods and services, rose 8.5% in July from the same month a year ago, down from 9.1% in June. June marked the fastest pace of inflation since November 1981. On a monthly basis, the CPI was flat in July after rising for 25 consecutive months, the result of falling energy prices such as gasoline, Gwynn Guilford reports.

UTRECHT, Netherlands/PALERMO, Italy, Aug 11 (Reuters) - As Europe braces for another heatwave, one group of workers has little choice but to sweat it out: the couriers shuttling around town getting lunches and dinners to customers.

"It's hot, sometimes really hot. But what can we do? God is in charge of the weather," says Gennaro Guarracino, 47, who delivers food by scooter around the Italian city of Naples for the company Glovo.

Temperatures were expected to reach 34-38 degrees (93-100 degrees Fahrenheit) across Western Europe on Thursday.

FREETOWN, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Six police officers were killed in anti-government protests in northern and western Sierra Leone on Wednesday, the head of police said on Thursday.

Two officers were killed in the capital, Freetown, three in the northern town of Kamakwie and one in the northern city of Makeni, police inspector general William Fayia Sellu told Reuters.

Protests were concentrated in the north and west - opposition heartlands - of the West African country. At least two civilians also died in coastal Freetown.

Sierra Leone's government previously said that there had been deaths, but not how many, as hundreds of protesters threw rocks and burned tyres in the streets out of frustration at worsening economic hardship and other issues. read more

The internet was shut down on Wednesday and the government imposed a 3 p.m. curfew in a bid to stem the violence.

Aug 11 (Reuters) - The average price of U.S. retail gasoline fell below $4 per gallon on Thursday for the first time in months, giving some relief to drivers in the world's largest consumer of the fuel.

The national average price for regular unleaded gas fell to $3.990 a gallon on Aug. 11, according to the American Automobile Association.

Gasoline prices peaked at a record $5.02 in June. That high cost curbed spending, and prices have also dropped as market fears of severe restrictions on supply have ebbed since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February.

Crude oil futures moved higher Thursday, finding support after the International Energy Agency raised its forecast for global oil-demand growth as summer heatwaves in Europe and tight natural-gas supplies prompt more oil use for power generation.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was set to release its monthly report later Thursday morning.

Imagine for a second life before smartphones. Simple tasks—ordering takeout, staying in touch—become frustratingly difficult, never mind dealing with emergencies. In China that’s sort of what it’s like to live without

By Tobias Adrian and Fabio Natalucci

During the pandemic, central banks in both advanced and emerging market economies took unprecedented measures to ease financial conditions and support the economic recovery, including interest-rate cuts and asset purchases.

With inflation at multi-decade highs in many countries and pressures broadening beyond food and energy prices, policymakers have pivoted toward tighter policy. As our Chart of the Week shows, central banks in many emerging markets proactively started to hike rates earlier last year, followed by their counterparts in advanced economies in the final months of 2021.

The monetary policy cycle is now increasingly synchronized around the world. Importantly, the pace of tightening is accelerating in several countries, particularly in advanced economies, in terms of both frequency and magnitude of rate hikes. Some central banks have begun to reduce the size of their balance sheets, moving further...

LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - M&G (MNG.L) recorded net inflows into its asset management business in the first half, the British insurer and asset manager said on Thursday, helping its operating profit to come in above forecast and sending its shares higher.

M&G, which split off from Prudential (PRU.L) in 2019, has suffered from net outflows and failed to boost its share price since listing.

A reduction in fees, improved risk analysis and rationalisation of some funds enabled M&G to post inflows from retail and institutional investors totalling 1.2 billion pounds ($1.47 billion) versus 2.0 billion in outflows a year ago.

BEIJING, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that he had no information to offer at the moment when asked to comment on a media report that President Xi Jinping will visit Saudi Arabia next week.

The Guardian reported on Thursday that plans are underway in Saudi Arabia for a gala reception for Xi, without saying where it got the information from.

Xi has not made any official visit to a foreign country since January 2020.

“The Philippines’ economy held up its strong growth momentum with 2Q22 GDP growing 7.4% y/y (1Q22: revised down to +8.2% from +8.3% previously). The reading exceeded our estimate (+6.3%) but came in below Bloomberg consensus (+8.4%). It was largely credited to the easing of COVID19 restrictions on mobility, election-related spending, and continued government policy support during the quarter.”

“We raise our 2022 full-year GDP growth forecast to 7.0% (from 6.5% previously, official est: 6.5%7.5%), purely reflecting the robust economic growth of 7.8% in 1H22. For 2H22, we continue to expect the growth momentum to be considerably held back to around 6.4% as headwinds to growth have intensified. To counter lingering downside risks, a safe full reopening of the economy with higher national vaccination rates against COVID-19, broad policy continuity post presidential elections, and resilient overseas cash remittances are key to sustain the growth momentum in the near...

VILNIUS, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Latvia's parliament on Thursday designated Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism" over the war in Ukraine and called on Western allies to impose more comprehensive sanctions on Moscow in order to bring an end to the conflict.

"Latvia recognises Russia's actions in Ukraine as targeted genocide against the Ukrainian people," the Baltic nation's parliament said in a resolution.

Western nations should increase their military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic backing for Ukraine and support initiatives condemning Russia's actions, it added.