England

16 June 2020; AFP: An estimated 1.7 billion people -- more than 20 percent of the world's population -- risk becoming severely infected with COVID-19 due to underlying health problems such as obesity and heart disease, analysis showed Tuesday.

The novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 420,000 people globally during the first wave of the pandemic, adversely effects patients suffering from co-morbidities.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge the European Union on Monday to commit to renewed energy to reach an agreement on the future relationship by the end of the summer, his spokesman said on Monday.

Johnson holds discussions with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and the heads of the European Council and European Parliament later on Monday at a meeting that is not expected to produce a dramatic moment in the ongoing talks.

LONDON (Reuters) - Three Greece-based shipping firms said they have halted trade with Venezuela after the United States imposed sanctions on vessels under their management, as Washington ramps up commercial heat on Caracas.

The U.S. government is seeking to choke Venezuelan oil exports to starve the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue. Existing sanctions have cut Venezuelan exports sharply, but Maduro has held on.

Washington may tighten sanctions by adding dozens more tankers to an existing blacklist, sources told Reuters.

LONDON, June 15 (Xinhua) -- A cross-government commission is set to be launched to check how discrimination in the education system, in health and in the criminal justice system has affected black and minority ethnic groups in Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said here on Sunday.

"We're going to have a big, big effort, which we will be announcing very shortly: a new cross-government commission to look at what is going on for black and minority ethnic groups and to champion their success," Johnson noted.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned “racist thuggery” after far-right protesters clashed in London on Saturday with anti-racist demonstrators and police trying to keep the two sides apart.

Fights broke out between groups outside Waterloo station, with fireworks thrown before police cordoned off areas. On a nearby bridge, stones were lobbed at police. Sporadic skirmishes continued in parts of the city centre.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways was labelled a “national disgrace” by lawmakers for its treatment of employees on Saturday, adding to pressure on the airline as it juggles job cuts and new quarantine rules.

Britain’s Transport Select Committee said that BA and its parent company IAG (ICAG.L) were trying to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to cut 12,000 jobs and downgrade the terms and conditions of other employees.

LONDON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Britain on Friday formally ruled out the possibility of an extended post-Brexit transition period, leaving business in uncertainty again.

Michael Gove, the British cabinet office minister, said Friday in a tweet that he formally confirmed the decision.

"I formally confirmed the UK will not extend the transition period & the moment for extension has now passed. On 1 January 2021 we will take back control and regain our political & economic independence," he said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s share of the oil market is set to rise this decade to its highest since the 1980s as investment in production elsewhere dries up in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, J.P. Morgan said in a report.

Oil prices have plunged more than 40% this year after an unprecedented collapse in demand, prompting oil and gas companies to announce spending cuts that will total $625 million by the end of the decade, according to the Wall Street bank.

LONDON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said Thursday that the British government is not gambling with the European Union (EU) over Brexit despite the stalled trade talks between the two sides.

Instead, Gove said, London is holding Brussels to account for its commitment to secure a zero-tariff, zero-quota deal and to use its best endeavours.

"We hope that the EU will do that," said Gove, who was in the House of Commons (lower house of parliament) to answer questions on the progress on Brexit talks.

LONDON (AP) — The British economy shrank by a colossal 20.4% in April, the first full month that the country was in its coronavirus lockdown, official figures showed Friday.

A large decline had been expected given that much of the economy was shuttered as part of the lockdown, which was put in place on March 23.

Following on from March’s 5.8% decline, the U.K. economy has contracted by around a quarter in just two months.