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First on the programme, Dr Carole Nakhle, The Chief Executive of Crystol Energy, discussed with us how the price of the main oil benchmark - Brent crude - surged on Monday, hitting $139 a barrel at one point. It has since pulled back to about $123. It’s not just oil - European natural gas prices rose 60% today to a fresh record. Russia is a major exporter of energy – oil and gas revenues make up about half of the Kremlin's budget. European countries currently need to import it. The European Union imports about 40% of its natural gas from Russia and 25% of its oil.

Next, Velta's deputy chief executive is Olena Lesnyak and she tells us about the situation in Dnipro. In Ukraine, the eastern city of Dnipro has been shelled by Russian forces, but not on the same devastating scale as other towns and cities that have been heavily bombed. Despite the encroaching war, companies in Dnipro are trying to continue as best they can. Velta runs a titanium mine and processing complex in Ukraine and employs 650 people. Titanium is metal important for the aerospace, marine and car industries. Russia and Ukraine both produce the metal.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting sanctions on Moscow, is causing turmoil on financial markets. In the US, the technology-heavy Nasdaq index has now fallen 20 per cent from its peak, entering what's called a bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 10 per cent from its high point. Peter Jankowskis from Oakbrook Investments in Chicago in the US tells us why.

We then looked at what impact the invasion of Ukraine and western sanctions could have on the price of food. Russia is a producer of many of the raw materials needed for fertilizer - potash and phosphate, for example. According to the boss of one of the world's biggest fertilizer companies - Yara International - half the world's population gets food because of fertilizers. We here from Yara's boss - Svein Tore Holsether and The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Tamasin Ford in an extended report.

Finally, we spoke to Halyna who's a mum with three children - her husband is in the military - and she's now based over in the west of Ukraine. Her Etsy website page is full of pictures of crafted beaded jewellery, and hand sewn shawls - but since the invasion when she's not been able to work, she's produced a digital download of art, so that her customers can still support her.

Peter Morici in Washington and Rachel Cartland in Hong Kong join us for this edition.

(picture: an oil rig, picture credit: Getty Images)

Producers: Gabriele Shaw and Benjie Guy
Presenter: Rob Young