Author: LoveWorld UK

Scores of councils in England say they cannot guarantee primaries will reopen on 1 June, throwing government plans to get pupils back to school into chaos. Only 20 of 99 councils to respond to a BBC Breakfast survey said they were advising schools to open more widely on Boris Johnson’s target date. Of the 99 who responded, two thirds (68), could not guarantee schools would reopen to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. It comes as the government prepares to publish scientific advice on its plan. On Thursday the governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland announced plans for a phased return to school for…

The United Kingdom will later on Friday spell out details of its plans for a COVID-19 quarantine for travellers arriving from overseas, a measure that airlines have warned will devastate their industry. The government is expected to announce that all international arrivals, including returning Britons, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days and provide details of where they will be staying to the authorities. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that those who breached the quarantine would be fined 1,000 pounds with health and border officials carrying out spot checks. “I can’t say just yet how long this quarantine will…

Renault (RENA.PA) could disappear if it does not get help very soon to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus crisis, France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday, while adding the carmaker also needed to adapt to the situation. Le Maire told Europe 1 radio that Renault’s French plant in Flins must not close and that the company should be able to keep as many jobs as possible in France, but should also remain competitive. “Yes, Renault could disappear,” said Le Maire. He added Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard was working hard on a new strategy plan, and had…

Hong Kong activists called on Friday for people to rise up against Beijing’s plans to impose national security legislation in the city, prompting alarm that the new laws could erode its freedoms through “force and fear”. A proposed march at noon in the central financial district did not materialise after online calls were heeded only by a handful of activists and as riot police made their presence visible on the streets. But new calls have emerged for flash mobs at night across the territory and activists including Joshua Wong plan to meet the press to announce “street action” later on…

Britain has extended its mortgage payment holiday scheme for homeowners in financial difficulty during the coronavirus pandemic for another three months. Britain’s finance ministry said more than 1.8 million mortgage payment holidays had been taken up since the scheme was launched in March. It had been due to end in June. Homeowners struggling financially can also choose to make reduced payments. “Everyone’s circumstances will be different, so when homeowners can pay some or all of their mortgage, they should work with their lender on a plan; but if they are still struggling, I want them to know that help is…

British healthcare workers will on Thursday begin taking part in a University of Oxford-led international trial of two anti-malarial drugs to see if they can prevent COVID-19, including one U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been taking. The ‘COPCOV’ study will involve more than 40,000 frontline healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America to determine if chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are effective in preventing the novel coronavirus. The drugs have risen to prominence since Trump said earlier this week he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive medicine against the virus despite medical warnings about its use. The trial,…

Outbursts of political anger are rare in Japan. Street protests tend to be tame and some are led by the elderly. Government supporters have swamped online debate at times, and the Shinzo Abe administration has rarely listened to voices of dissent. But now, the coronanvirus is reshaping how the Japanese talk about politics. In an unusual outburst of political anger, millions of tweets by hundreds of thousands of netizens have helped force the government to delay a bill extending the retirement age for prosecutors, which critics say threatens judicial independence. Opposition party lawmakers and others have also said the legislation…

London-listed stocks headed lower on Thursday as a plunge in Japanese exports dulled optimism around a speedy recovery from a coronavirus-induced economic slump, with investors also sifting through another mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports. The export-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE slipped 0.7%, taking the shine off strong gains earlier in the week as data showed Japan’s April exports fell the most since the global financial crisis with the pandemic slamming demand for cars and industrial materials. The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC shed 0.4%, snapping a four-day winning streak. Real estate, financials and consumer discretionary stocks were among the biggest drags on the index in…

British low-cost airline easyJet said it would restart a small number of flights on June 15, becoming the latest airline to plan for the return of European travel by making face masks mandatory onboard. EasyJet’s planes have been grounded since late March when the novel coronavirus spread across Europe. The airline said it would restart primarily domestic flights in Britain and France, before adding other destinations. Flights would restart with new safety measures including the wearing of masks by passengers and cabin crew, enhanced cleaning of aircraft and no food service onboard. EasyJet shares, which have sunk 62% over the…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China over the coronavirus on Wednesday, calling the $2 billion Beijing has pledged to fight the pandemic “paltry” compared to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars of damage. Pompeo rejected President Xi Jinping’s claim that Beijing had acted with transparency after the outbreak in China, and said if Xi wanted to show that, he should hold a news conference and allow reporters to ask him anything they liked. “President Xi claimed this week that China is acting with openness, transparency responsibility. I wish it were…