Author: LoveWorld UK

More than three-quarters of British have applied for the government’s emergency — and hugely expensive — job retention scheme to help them through the coronavirus lockdown, according to an official survey. Seventy-six percent of the companies which responded to April 20-May 3 survey said they had applied, the Office for National Statistics said, up from 66% in the previous fortnightly survey by the Office for National Statistics. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, under which the state pays 80% of the wages of workers who are temporarily laid off, is the centrepiece of Britain’s attempts to prevent an expected doubling of…

COVID-19 contact-tracing apps must only be used during the pandemic and will need to be automatically de-activated once the crisis is over, EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders said on Thursday in a bid to allay concerns over state surveillance. Countries are rushing to develop mobile tracing apps, hoping smartphone technology could help bring about a reopening of borders and economic activity without unleashing a second wave of the pandemic. “Apps cannot be used for mass surveillance. Individuals will keep control on their data,” Reynders told EU lawmakers in a plenary sitting, as deputies reiterated concerns over risks that these apps…

The head of the World Trade Organization will announce his early departure on Thursday more than a year before the end of his term, Geneva-based sources said, a surprise move at a time when the agency’s mechanism to resolve disputes has been paralysed. Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, 62, has been director-general since 2013 and is serving a second term due to conclude at the end of August next year. He has summoned a virtual meeting to inform national members on Thursday afternoon of his decision to step down early, the sources said. His departure would come at a testing time for…

The World Health Organization (WHO) has “forgotten” its professionalism and neutrality in locking Taiwan out of the body for political reasons, Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen said on Thursday. Taiwan says China and the WHO have conspired for political purposes to keep it out of key meetings, that the WHO has not responded to requests for coronavirus information and has misreported the number of its infections. The WHO and China have strongly dispute the accusations, saying Taiwan has been given all the help it needed, but that only China, which claims democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, has the…

The European Union’s executive will say on Wednesday that airlines will not have to leave the middle seat empty but passengers will have to wear masks on board and in airports as travel amid the coronavirus crisis gradually resumes. The non-binding recommendations are part of a wider set of proposals to salvage the ailing tourism industry, which in normal times represents some 10% of the EU’s economic output and employs almost 12% of the bloc’s workforce. According to a European Commission document, the executive will propose vouchers for cancelled flights or holidays remain valid for at least a year with…

Belgian football is anticipating a stormy end to the season on Friday when key decisions about the campaign are finally decided in the boardroom. While play for the rest of the season has been cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, decisions must still be made over whether to declare a champion, promotion and relegation as well as places in next season’s European club competitions. Belgium was the first country in Europe to end the campaign but that decision made by the Pro League board — which at the time saw runaway leaders Club Brugge hailed as champions —…

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Tuesday that he spoke with Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), in recent days about a potential move of the company’s electric vehicle assembly plant to the Lone Star state. Abbott’s remarks came just came three days after Musk threatened to move Tesla’s headquarters and future operations to either Texas or Nevada, after officials in the California county where Tesla’s only U.S. vehicle factory is located said the plant could not reopen because coronavirus lockdown measures remained in place. Abbott said during an interview with the Wichita Falls CBS affiliate that…

Britain’s economy shrank by a record 5.8% in March as the coronavirus crisis escalated and the government shut down much of the country, according to official data that point towards an even bigger hit to come. The monthly drop in gross domestic product was felt in almost all sectors – from the country’s shuttered restaurants and bars to its building sites and factories – and was the largest since comparable records began in 1997. “The sharp contraction in UK Q1 GDP comes as little surprise, but does clearly highlight the magnitude of the challenge facing policymakers,” JP Morgan market strategist…

England tentatively began easing its coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday, with some people who cannot do their jobs at home urged to return to work, as stark economic data showed the disastrous impact of the pandemic. The worst-hit country in Europe with more than 40,000 deaths from COVID-19 according to official data, Britain has been in extensive lockdown since March 23. As of Wednesday morning, people in manufacturing and certain other sectors were being asked to return to work if they could. GDP data released on Wednesday showed the economy shrank by a record 5.8% in March compared with February, and…

The European Central Bank is the champion of the European project, not its villain, ECB rate-setter Peter Kazimir said, pushing back on a German court ruling that put years of efforts to keep the currency bloc together in jeopardy. Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that the ECB had overstepped its mandate with two trillion euros worth of government bond buying in the past five years. It ordered the Bundesbank to quit the scheme unless the ECB can prove within three months that the measures are necessary. “The European Court of Justice has sole authority to decide on the ECB’s…