Author: LoveWorld UK

Britons stood on doorsteps and leaned out of windows on Thursday for a second national round of applause for doctors, nurses and all other essential workers battling the coronavirus outbreak that is forcing them to stay at home and avoid other people. For the second Thursday in a row, people across the United Kingdom banged on pots and pans, shouted, clapped and set off firecrackers to show their support for health and care professionals seen as the superheroes of the hour. With the beloved but overstretched National Health Service (NHS) facing its toughest challenge since it was founded after World…

Global financial regulators said on Thursday they are in talks with governments to allow key staff at financial firms to work on-site during the coronavirus epidemic to keep markets open. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which coordinates financial regulation for the Group of 20 Economies (G20), said its members held a teleconference on March 30 to review action to keep markets working and maintain the flow of credit to households and businesses. “A key issue discussed on the call was the critical nature of many financial services and the importance of ensuring their operation throughout the pandemic,” the FSB said…

Before the parcel from the food bank arrived, Natasha Cartey had just half a bag of rice and a tub of butter. She was wondering when her next meal would be. Cartey lives in social housing in Newham, one of London’s poorest boroughs, and receives government benefits. She is worried there will be riots if people are stuck at home for much longer. “The country might end up coming to a standstill,” she said. “How are people meant to bring up their kids or survive or pay the bills or earn income? “Protests and riots can and will get out…

LONDON (Reuters) – A consortium of British engineers, aerospace and Formula One companies are hoping to produce at least 1,500 ventilators a week within a matter of weeks, it said on Thursday. Companies including Airbus (AIR.PA), Ford (F.N), Rolls-Royce (RR.L) and BAE (BAES.L) have come together with seven Formula One teams to ramp up production of two existing ventilators made by Penlon and Smiths Group (SMIN.L) in Britain. The companies answered a call by Prime Minister Boris Johnson for industry to help build life-saving equipment ahead of the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

Russia said on Thursday it was investigating a coronavirus outbreak in a remote northern region to check if more than 50 people in a hospital had been infected by a doctor. Russia’s Komi republic, 1,000 km (620 miles) northeast of Moscow, has reported 56 cases of the virus, more than any other region outside Moscow, its surrounding region and St. Petersburg. Fifty-five of those cases were related to a single hospital in the district of Ezhva in Komi’s regional capital, Syktyvkar, according to a statement by the regional administration. A coronavirus outbreak could be difficult to control in a region…

Luxembourg, the European Union’s largest investment hub has tightened its disclosure rules in the face of market volatility caused by the coronavirus and asked funds to disclose whenever client demand to exit exceeds 10% of total assets. Markets have been roiled across the globe as governments lock down citizens to try to halt the spread of the virus, teeing up economic recession and prompting some investors to withdraw their cash until markets calm down. A number of funds have already suspended trading as a result of the volatility, and Luxembourg regulator the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) has…

Governments and central banks around the world have unleashed unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus and other support for economies floored by the coronavirus pandemic. The G20 said on March 26 it would inject more than $5 trillion (4 trillion pounds) into the global economy to limit job and income losses and “do whatever it takes” to tackle the pandemic. For a FACTBOX detailing global central bank interest rate cuts since the crisis began: Following is a summary of the main policy steps: UNITED STATES MONETARY STIMULUS – The Fed cut interest rates in two emergency meetings on March 3 (50…

Britain’s government said on Wednesday it would ramp up the number of coronavirus tests amid widespread criticism that it was doing far too few, as ministers suggested that shortages of chemicals were partly to blame. Officials say testing for COVID-19 is key to fighting it, not least to check if medics on the frontline of the epidemic could return to work. But while Germany has been testing about 500,000 people a week, Britain’s current capacity is just 12,750 a day, a figure the government said it was aiming to double by mid-April. “I hope on testing … you will see…

China is considering temporarily easing quotas designed to boost production of electric cars to help automakers badly bruised by the coronavirus pandemic to revive slumping sales, people familiar with the matter said. Policymakers in the world’s biggest auto market may also delay the implementation of a new emission particle restriction by six months to help the car industry, which has suffered a 79% drop in sales in February and expects a fall of around 10% in the first half of this year. The United States had already planned to relax vehicle emissions rules. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday completed…

China has increased U.S. crude purchases with some buyers snapping up cargoes at the widest discounts ever as sellers seek to offload excess supplies in Asia, six trade sources said on Wednesday. Beijing started processing in March applications from Chinese companies to waive import tariffs on U.S. energy goods as part of the Sino-U.S. Phase 1 trade deal and they have since bought liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the United States. The world’s largest crude importer is boosting U.S. energy imports at a time when the world is swamped with excess supply after the Organization…