England

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday, reversing the previous session’s surge, as record high inventories and worries about a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic outweighed support from a gradual reopening of global economies.

Brent crude were down 43 cents, or 1%, to $42.20 a barrel by 1020 GMT a day after hitting its highest level since a price plunge began in March.

The benchmark crude has climbed from below $16 in April but remains a third lower than its level at the end of 2019.

LONDON (Reuters) - At the edge of the desert in North Khorasan province in northeast Iran, near the country’s largest deposit of bauxite, sits an aluminium production complex that the government has publicly hailed as a key part of its efforts to boost output of the metal.

LONDON (Reuters) - British transport minister Grant Shapps said he would say more on June 29 about possible air bridges with other countries to enable travel during the coronavirus crisis, adding that conversations were ongoing.

Britons hoping to go on holiday and airlines are putting pressure on the government to drop a quarantine on those returning to Britain or to form air bridges, where two countries agree to allow travel without such measures.

LONDON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that the current 2-meter social distancing rule will be loosened from July 4 to "1 meter plus" in England so as to further ease the coronavirus lockdown.

Following a review, the prime minister set out the guidance that allows people to keep a social distance of "1 meter plus" where it is not possible to stay 2 meters apart.

This means staying 1 meter apart, plus mitigations which reduce the risk of transmission, according to a statement from 10 Downing Street.

LONDON (Reuters) - Japan has given the UK just six weeks to strike a post-Brexit deal, putting Boris Johnson’s government under pressure to agree one of the fastest trade negotiations in history, the Financial Times reported.

“To avoid a gap in January, we must pass this in the autumn session of the Diet [the Japanese parliament],” Hiroshi Matsuura, Tokyo’s chief negotiator, told the Financial Times. “That means we must complete negotiations by the end of July.”

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LONDON (Reuters) - Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there would need to be greater public and private investment as the economy came out of the coronavirus slump, to counteract potential consumer weakness and meet longer-term environmental goals.

Carney, now an advisor to the British government on the United Nations COP26 climate summit next year, said the economy was only just beginning to come out of the slump caused by COVID-19, and it was too soon to know the long-term damage.

LONDON (AP) — The English town of Reading mourned Monday for three people stabbed to death in what is being treated as a terror attack, gathering for a moment of silence as police questioned the suspected lone attacker.

More than 100 students lit candles and laid flowers in memory of history teacher James Furlong, who was named as one of the victims. A flag in the courtyard of the Holt School, where he taught in nearby Wokingham, had been lowered to half-staff.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will outline its plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown this week, health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday, potentially relaxing the two-metre rule on social distancing, allowing many businesses to reopen in early July.

Many employers, especially in the hospitality and leisure sectors, have said the rule that people must remain two metres apart will prevent them from being able to operate as lockdown measures are lifted.

READING, England (Reuters) - A stabbing rampage in the southern English town of Reading, in which three people were killed and three others were seriously wounded, is being treated as terrorism, police said on Sunday.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after the stabbings on Saturday evening in a park in Reading, which is about 40 miles (65 km) west of London.

A security source told Reuters that the man, who remains in police custody, is a Libyan.

LONDON (AP) — Three people were killed and three seriously hurt Saturday in a summer-evening stabbing attack in a park in the English town of Reading, police said. They said it was “not currently” being treated as a terrorism and the motive was unclear.

Thames Valley Police force said officers arrested a 25-year-old local man at the scene and they were not looking for anyone else.