Inflation eased swiftly and sharply in the eurozone last month, as skyrocketing energy costs declined amid a broad European conservation effort, but prices for many goods continued to climb and policymakers are expected to raise interest rates this week, the New York Times reported. Consumer prices in countries that use the euro rose at an 8.5 percent annual rate in January, down from 9.2 percent in December and well below double-digit increases in autumn, according to a European Commission estimate released Wednesday.

The UK government hopes to embrace the technological innovations emanating from the blockchain industry with a new set of plans to regulate digital assets, protect consumers, and make Britain "a global hub for crypto-asset technology," YahooFinance.com reported. The Treasury has released proposals for regulating crypto-exchanges, lending activities, and how digital assets are stored, describing crypto assets as having "a range of potential benefits, as well as posing risks to the consumer".

Britain was hit by the largest strikes in a decade on Wednesday as workers from train drivers to teachers to civil servants walked off the job for the day, forcing millions of children to miss school and commuters to stay home, the Wall Street Journal reported. The strikes reflect a growing challenge to the U.K. and some European countries of how to address falling real wages for many public-sector workers without further stoking inflation or damaging public finances after years of high spending.

Spain and Morocco are ready to overcome years of strained diplomatic relations with new business and energy deals, while ties between France and the North African nation remain frosty, Bloomberg News reported. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is planning to announce Thursday an €800 million ($869 million) credit line for Spanish investments in Morocco and 20 agreements that range from developing renewable energy to building water desalinization plants.

More companies suffered insolvency last year in England and Wales than any time since 2009, government figures showed on Tuesday, reflecting the end of coronavirus pandemic support that helped many smaller businesses stay afloat, Reuters reported. Total insolvencies rose to 22,109 in 2022, their highest since the global financial crisis and up by 57% from a year earlier, according to data released by the British government's Insolvency Service agency. Part of the increase in the number of companies falling into difficulty reflects the higher number of companies overall.

Paperchase, the high street stationery retailer, is close to collapsing into administration as hopes of a solvent rescue deal fade. Sky News understands the chain's parent company could appoint insolvency practitioners from Begbies Traynor as soon as Tuesday. Paperchase's shareholders remain in discussions with more than one potential buyer, although insiders said that a sale of the business was now focused on a pre-pack deal, which involves a company's assets being sold immediately after it has fallen into administration.

Europe’s economy is showing signs it may avoid a recession this winter, even as it continues to cope with persistent inflation, rising interest rates and a war in Ukraine that shows no signs of abating, the New York Times reported. On Tuesday, the region’s statistics agency said the eurozone economy grew 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2022, compared with the previous quarter. The data came hours after the International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for economic growth in the countries that use the euro to 0.7 percent in 2023, from a prediction of 0.5 percent made in October.

Three years after its departure from the European Union, Britain is yet to benefit from the Brexit dividend that was promised for its economy as it lags its peers on multiple fronts, including trade and investment, Reuters reported. Britain exited the EU on Jan. 31, 2020, though remained in the bloc's single market and customs union for 11 more months. On that day, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country could finally fulfil its potential and that he hoped it would grow in confidence with each passing month.

French workers are taking to the streets for the second time in two weeks, piling more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron‘s plans to raise France’s retirement age and threatening further walkouts that could grind much of the country to a halt, the Wall Street Journal reported. Striking teachers and railway, health and oil workers are staging marches in dozens of cities as a part of a nationwide day of action called by unions to force the government to back down from its pension overhaul.

Norway's wealth fund, one of the world's largest investors, posted a record loss of 1.64 trillion crowns ($164.4 billion) for 2022, bringing to an end a three-year run of soaring profits as stocks and bonds were hit by the Ukraine war and inflation, Reuters reported. The previous largest loss was 633 billion crowns in 2008. It ends a record-breaking streak for the fund, where annual returns exceeded one trillion crowns in each of the three years from 2019 to 2021, amounting to more than four trillion crowns combined. "We are invested in 9,000 companies in 70 countries.