Boeing stock slid roughly 5% following the news that a Boeing 737 crashed in Southern China with 132 people on board.  The plane is operated by Eastern China Airlines, whose stocks fell as much as 18% during early Monday trading. Earlier in January, Boeing reported $5.5 billion in costs due to manufacturing flaws that prevented the company from delivering its 787 Dreamliner for over a year.

Russia Hits Back on Sanctions

In a bid to buoy its failing currency and hit back at the ever-increasing number of sanctions imposed by the west, Putin has announced that Russia plans to make “unfriendly nations” buy its oil and natural gas with the Russian ruble. The list of “unfriendly” countries includes all EU member countries, Australia, and the US. Much of the EU is highly dependent on Russian energy, with Germany relying on the country for more than half of its gas imports. More recently on Thursday, the Kremlin announced its intentions to begin accepting the fiat currency of “friendly” purchasing countries like China, or Bitcoin as payment for its energy exports.

Shell Pledges £25 Billion Investment in UK Energy

As countries increasingly shun Russian energy exports, Shell has pledged a £25 billion (US$33.04 billion) investment into UK energy systems over the next 10 years. A majority of this investment will go towards green products and services including renewable energy sources including hydrogen power and offshore wind. The lack of Russian energy has had a major effect on global energy prices, with the price of crude skyrocketing ever since the start of the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Elsewhere, Shell has also partnered with Chinese manufacturing giant BYD to expand the number of its electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across China and Europe.

Big Tech in The Spotlight

The EU and US have agreed on the outline for a new data sharing pact between the two regions. This will replace the Privacy Shield, a data-sharing arrangement that was invalidated in July 2020 and impacting big tech companies like Facebook that relied on Privacy Shield to manage their flow of data between the two continents. The new agreement will provide relief for a host of tech companies that have had to grapple with regulatory uncertainty. This news comes in tandem with the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, which targets tech giants – particulaly those from the US – and prevents them from abusing their position and risking up to a hefty 10% fine on global revenue.