Author: LoveWorld UK

UK shares dipped from three-month highs on Thursday following strong gains earlier in the week on bets of a rebound in post-coronavirus economic activity, while miners tracked a fall in commodity prices. The blue-chip index .FTSE edged down about 0.1%, with basic materials and financial stocks among the biggest drags. Gains for AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and industrials stocks capped further declines. The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC also fell 0.1% and was set to snap a three-day winning streak, with real estate stocks .FTUB8600, life insurers .FTNMX8570 and banks .FTNMX8350 among the biggest decliners. Elsewhere in Europe, investors awaited a central bank meeting where policymakers are…

Leaders Porto suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Famalicao as Portugal’s Primeira Liga became the latest league to return to action following the coronavirus stoppage on Wednesday. An embarrassing mistake by Porto goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin three minutes after halftime gifted Famalicao the lead. The Argentine sent an attempted clearance straight to Fabio Martins who rolled the ball into an empty net from the edge of the penalty area. Jesus Corona fired Porto level in the 74th minute but the hosts regained the lead four minutes later when Pedro Goncalves left fly from 25 metres and his shot found a gap…

Prosecutors on Wednesday leveled new criminal charges against four Minneapolis policemen implicated in the death of a black man pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest that sparked more than a week of nationwide protest and civil strife. The added murder charge filed against one officer already in custody and the arrest of three more accused of playing a role in the killing of George Floyd, 46, came as several nights of escalating unrest gave way to mostly peaceful protests. Thousands of demonstrators massed near the White House lit up their cellphone flashlights and sang along to…

Prices in shops in Britain fell at the fastest pace since at least 2006 last month as retailers sought to find a way to win over shoppers hit by the coronavirus lockdown, an industry survey showed on Wednesday. Shop prices fell by 2.4% in annual terms, following a 1.7% drop in April, the British Retail Consortium trade body and market research firm Nielsen said. It was the biggest fall since the BRC records began in 2006. Clothing and furniture saw the sharpest price drops while food prices increased slightly due to higher business costs, implementing social distancing measures and labour…

Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic were among the tennis players who joined the #BlackOutTuesday campaign against racial injustice, as protests continue over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody. Floyd died after a white policeman pinned his neck under a knee for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25. Men’s world No. 1 Djokovic posted black screenshots on his Twitter and Instagram pages with the message “Black Lives Matter”, and was joined by Federer and Nadal, the other members of the “Big Three” of men’s tennis. Grand Slam winners Maria…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in charge of the government’s coronavirus response and always has been, a junior minister said on Wednesday after a report that Johnson was taking control of the crisis. With a reported COVID-19 death toll of nearly 50,000, Britain is said to be one of the worst-hit countries in the world and the government has faced criticism for being too slow to impose a lockdown, too slow to protect the elderly in nursing homes and too slow to build a test and trace system. The Telegraph newspaper said Johnson was taking back control of the…

The United Kingdom will not walk away from the people of Hong Kong if China imposes a national security law which conflicts with Beijing’s international obligations under a 1984 accord, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. “Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free,” Johnson wrote in The Times. “If China proceeds, this would be in direct conflict with its obligations under the joint declaration, a legally binding treaty registered with the United Nations.” China’s parliament last week approved a decision to create laws for Hong Kong to curb sedition, secession, terrorism and foreign interference. Mainland security and intelligence…

Small crowds at sporting events may be possible in the near future, Australia’s deputy chief medical officer said on Wednesday, citing successful efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus. Australia has not reported a death from the disease for more than a week. It has recorded 102 COVID-19 deaths and almost 7,200 infections. With fewer than 20 cases each day, Australia has allowed professional sport to begin, though no crowds are permitted. Australia’s national cabinet will on Friday meet to discuss how to further ease social distancing restrictions, including potentially allowing small, spaced out crowds at stadiums. “We’re going to…

The new coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal, a senior Italian doctor said on Sunday. “In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” said Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy’s coronavirus contagion. “The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago,” he told RAI television. Italy has the third highest death…

Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Snapchat developer Snap Inc (SNAP.N) became the latest U.S. companies condemning racial inequality in the United States as violent protests flared up across major cities over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis last week. The two tech companies followed Intel Corp (INTC.O), Netflix Inc (NFLX.O), Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) and Nike Inc (NKE.N) in taking a public stance against Floyd’s death – calling out discrimination against African-Americans. But tech companies such as Facebook and Google for years have struggled to quell…