Author: LoveWorld UK

Greek hair salons, flower shops and bookstores reopened on Monday as part of a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions imposed six weeks ago to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. From early morning, police carried out inspections on buses and in metro stations to make sure passengers were wearing the mandatory surgical masks and in shops to check whether social distancing rules were being respected. Greeks no longer need a form stating a valid reason – such as shopping for food or medicine, or taking physical exercise – for permission to leave their homes. Traffic volumes increased on the…

China has questions to answer over the information it shared about the novel coronavirus outbreak but a post mortem over its role should come later, Britain’s defence minister said on Monday. Asked by LBC radio if China had questions to answer over how quickly it made the world aware of the extent of the crisis, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “I think it does.” “The time for the post mortem on this is after we’ve all got it under control and have come through it and our economies are back to normal,” Wallace said. “China needs to be open and…

Instead, state media simply showed him surrounded by aides and appearing confident at a gleaming fertiliser factory that is believed by outside experts to be part of a secret nuclear-weapons programme. While much remains a mystery about Kim’s condition, the abrupt re-emergence of the relaxed and smiling leader was clear choreography of key messages from the secretive government: Kim is the supreme leader in full control of a drive to improve the impoverished country’s food security and economy, amid tough international sanctions and the threat of the new coronavirus. CENTRE OF WORLD NEWS The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper devoted three…

Joggers, cyclists and surfers across Spain emerged from their homes early on Saturday, with adults allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks as the government began easing tough coronavirus restrictions. In Barcelona, runners and cyclists crowded paths near the beach, while surfers and paddle-boarders were out enjoying the waves. Mar Visser, 45, who lost her job as an events organiser, was jogging along the path in Castelldefels, a town near Barcelona. “I have been longing for this. It beats running in my house or doing yoga or Pilates inside,” she said. In Madrid, cyclists and skateboarders…

Premier League clubs will discuss plans for resuming the season in a conference call on Friday but the practicalities of how to even begin training will be the first obstacle they have to overcome with “Project Restart”. The league is hoping the U.K government, which is due to review coronavirus lockdown restrictions on May 7, will give the go-ahead to a return to training, albeit with strict medical guidelines in place. Getting players back on the training field would clear the way to an eventual resumption of the season in early June with games expected to be held behind closed…

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday Britain was now past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak and promised to set out a plan next week on how the country might start gradually returning to normal life. In his first news conference since recovering from a serious case of COVID-19, Johnson sought to offer hope to weary Britons, but urged them to stick with lockdown restrictions that are hammering livelihoods and the economy. “I can confirm today that for the first time, we are past the peak of this disease. We’re past the peak and we’re on the downward slope,…

British state-backed lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) said its profits halved in the first quarter, as it set aside 802 million pounds against a likely spike in bad loans due to the coronavirus pandemic. RBS on Friday posted pre-tax profits of 519 million pounds for the period, down from 1 billion pounds the previous year, just ahead of the 415 million pound average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank. The lender reiterated its strategic priorities set out by CEO Alison Rose in February, but said it would wind down Bó, the digital bank only launched last November, as…

People from some ethnic minorities in Britain are dying in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19, possibly in part because they are more likely to work in healthcare and other sectors most exposed to the virus, a leading think tank said on Friday. Per capita deaths for people in Britain who had black Caribbean heritage were three times that for British citizens who are white, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said. Per capita deaths among other black groups were double that of the population overall, while those of Indian descent also suffered more fatalities than average, the IFS said. Taking into account…

Oil prices jumped on Thursday, extending steep gains in the previous session on signs the U.S. crude glut is not growing as quickly as expected and that gasoline demand battered by COVID-19 restrictions is starting to pick up. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 climbed to a high of $17.35 a barrel and were up 14.3%, or $2.15, at $17.21 at 0350 GMT. The U.S. benchmark surged 22% on Wednesday. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 10.3%, or $2.33 to $24.87 a barrel in light trading, with the June contract expiring on Thursday. The contract hit a high of $24.91 earlier…

Lloyds Banking Group’s (LLOY.L) pretax profit was all but wiped out in the first quarter, after it became the latest lender to be hobbled by provisions against expected bad loans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Britain’s biggest domestic bank on Thursday reported pre-tax profits of 74 million pounds, down from 1.6 billion pounds the previous year, hit by a 1.4 billion pounds loan impairments charge. The figure was sharply below the 863 million pounds average of analysts’ forecasts compiled by the bank. Lloyds is viewed as a bellwether for the British economy, as the country’s largest provider of home loans…