Author: LoveWorld UK

Nearly 140 campaign groups and charities urged the IMF and World Bank, G20 governments and private creditors on Tuesday to help the world’s poorest countries through the coronavirus crisis by cancelling debt payments. The call, spearheaded by the British-based Jubilee Debt Campaign, comes a day before a Group of 20 working group tasked with the coronavirus response for developing countries is due to meet. Separately, Ghana Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who chairs the Development Committee advising the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), singled out China – Africa’s largest bilateral creditor – to do more to relieve its debt…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fighting worsening coronavirus symptoms in an intensive care unit on Tuesday, leaving his foreign minister to lead the government’s response to the accelerating outbreak. Johnson’s personal battle with the virus has shaken the British government just as the United Kingdom enters what scientists say is likely to be one of the most deadly weeks of the pandemic, which has killed 70,000 people worldwide. Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital across the River Thames from the House of Commons late on Sunday after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms, including a high temperature and a…

Oil rose on Tuesday amid hope that the world’s biggest producers of crude will agree to cut output as the coronavirus pandemic crushes demand, even as analysts warn a global recession may be deeper than expected and big production cuts will be needed. Brent crude LCOc1 was up by 80 cents, or 2.4%, at $33.85 a barrel by 0657 GMT after falling more than 3% on Monday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was up by 83 cents, or 3.2%, at $26.91 a barrel, having dropped nearly 8% in the previous session. The world’s main oil producers including Saudi Arabia…

Britain’s shares gained on Tuesday, boosted again by a surge in travel stocks as investors were heartened by signs the COVID-19 crisis could be easing in the worst-hit regions of Europe. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 3.3% by 0822 GMT, extending gains for the second day as the outbreak showed signs of levelling off in New York, while hardest-hit Italy and Spain have started looking ahead to easing lockdowns after steady declines in their fatality rates. Still, doubts lingered as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson fought worsening coronavirus symptoms in an intensive care unit on Tuesday, leaving his foreign minister…

Britain’s housing market is largely on pause due to the coronavirus crisis which will make it hard to calculate price changes ahead, but it is too early to gauge the long-term impact of the government’s shutdown, mortgage lender Halifax said. Halifax said house prices in March were flat month-on-month after a 0.2% rise in February. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 0.1% uptick. In annual terms, house prices rose 3.0% in March, speeding up from growth of 2.8% in February but a smaller increase than the Reuters poll forecast of 3.3%.

UK shares gained on Monday, led by battered travel stocks and insurers, as investors cheered signs of slowing coronavirus-related deaths in the hotspots of western Europe. The internationally focussed FTSE 100 .FTSE gained 1.5%, but underperformed its European peers, as exporters were pressured by a recovering pound. [GBP/] The currency recouped from an overnight dip as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to return to his office “shortly” after being hospitalised with persistent coronavirus symptoms on Sunday night. Stock markets globally were on steadier grounds after last week’s modest selloff as new infections and deaths slowed in Italy and Spain, while hard-hit…

India is reportedly “considering” a request by Donald Trump to release stocks of a drug the US president has called a “game-changer” in the fight against Covid-19. Mr Trump called India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, a day after the country banned the export of hydroxychloroquine, which it manufactures in large quantities. The two leaders are on friendly terms, and Mr Trump recently made a high-profile trip to India. But is India really in a position to help the US? And does hydroxychloroquine even work against the coronavirus? What is hydroxychloroquine? Hydroxychloroquine is very similar to Chloroquine, one of…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was undergoing tests in hospital on Monday as he is still suffering coronavirus symptoms 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19, but the government insisted he remained in charge. Johnson, who had been isolating in Downing Street after testing positive for the virus last month, was taken to hospital on Sunday night because he still had a high temperature and his doctors felt he needed additional tests. His office and ministers said Johnson, 55, continued to run the government, that the prime minister was doing well and that he would undergo “routine tests” as a…

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria plans to reopen smaller shops from next week in its first step to loosen a lockdown that has slowed the spread of the coronavirus, as long as the public continue to observe the lockdown broadly, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday. Kurz told a news conference that since Austria had acted earlier than most countries, that gave it the ability to reopen shops sooner as well. If all goes well, it will reopen non-essential shops of less than 400 square metres and DIY shops on April 14, followed by all shops and malls on May 1,…

European shares rebounded on Monday as a slowdown in coronavirus deaths raised hopes that nationwide lockdowns were starting to show results, while Rolls Royce soared after becoming the latest multinational firm to raise cash to weather an economic slump. The British aero-engine maker (RR.L) jumped 15.4% after losing more than half its value this year, as it secured an extra 1.5 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) in reserves, even though it suspended its dividend for the first time since 1987. The benchmark STOXX 600 index was up 2.7%, after ending Friday with its sixth weekly decline in seven as the health…