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5 Things You Need To Know, Today, on Wednesday 16th March 2022
5. The owner of KFC and Pizza Hut said sales in China have plunged by 20% in the first two weeks of March as a surge of new Covid cases spread.
Yum China said "the situation has rapidly deteriorated" as regional lockdowns have been put in place to stem the outbreak meaning more than 1,100 of KFC's stores are temporarily closed.
4. Lithuania's president has said his country is willing to stop importing Russian oil and gas in the latest sign of how some EU countries plan to tighten penalties on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the UK said it will phase them out by the end of this year, and the EU aims to make Europe independent of Russian fossil fuels by 2030.
3. The UK's largest airport has dropped mandatory face masks for passengers.
Heathrow Airport no longer requires people to wear them at its terminals, railway stations or office buildings but will continue to recommend they do.
2. The invasion of Ukraine has led many Western brands to shun Russia, but some still have outlets open in the country and say they are not able to shut them.
Marks and Spencer, Burger King, and hotel groups Marriott and Accor are restricted by complex franchise deals preventing them from withdrawing.
1. Britain's lowest-paid workers have seen the biggest squeeze on their pay over the past 12 months, which suggest the cost of living crisis is likely to prove even more painful than headline figures imply.
British consumer price inflation hit a nearly 30-year high of 5.5% in January and is forecast by economists to reach 8% in April, boosted by a 50% rise in household regulated energy tariffs on top of the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.