England

LONDON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 26,097 patients have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in Britain as of Tuesday afternoon, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Wednesday.

It is the first time the government figures have included deaths in care homes and the community, in addition to those in hospitals.

The latest death toll marked an increase of 3,811 compared with the figure available Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is not yet at the point of wanting to change its strict guidelines on social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19, with the government focusing on reviewing the measures by May 7, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Tuesday.

“It is important that they remain in place for now. We need to pass five tests before we can think about moving on to the next phase in the coronavirus response. We are not there yet,” the spokesman told reporters.

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks should rein in bonuses to boost their capacity to help businesses and households hit by the coronavirus crisis, the European Union’s executive said on Tuesday.

The European Commission set out a package of temporary “quick fixes” offering capital relief that would support extra lending potentially worth up to 450 billion euros ($490 billion)to companies struggling as a deep recession looms.

LONDON (Reuters) - British retailers suffered their biggest fall in sales since the 2008 financial crisis in the first half of April as the coronavirus kept shoppers at home and forced store closures, the Confederation of British Industry said on Tuesday.

Together with official figures for March and an earlier survey from the British Retail Consortium, Tuesday’s numbers showed the sector was on track for a historic decline, as an earlier boost from the stockpiling of food fades.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday on concerns about scarce storage capacity and global economic doldrums from the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. oil futures led losses, falling by more than $2 a barrel on fears that storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, could reach full capacity soon.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 June futures fell $2.86, or 16.88%, to $14.08 a barrel by 1100 GMT.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 83 cents, or 3.9%, at $20.61 a barrel. The June Brent contract expires on Thursday.

LONDON, April 26 (Xinhua) -- In the six weeks up to April 19, officers across London had made 4,093 arrests for domestic abuse offences -- nearly 100 a day on average -- and domestic abuse calls have risen by around a third in the last six weeks, the Metropolitan Police (the Met) has revealed.

Charges and cautions have increased by 24 percent since March 9, when people with COVID-19 symptoms were asked to self-isolate, compared to last year, said Commander Sue Williams, the Met's lead for safeguarding.

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — The holy month of Ramadan is underway, and the Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif in Birmingham should be full of worshippers. But this year, the main arrivals are the dead.

While the mosque in the central England city has been closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, its parking lot has been transformed into a temporary morgue with room for 150 bodies.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s stand-in leader resisted pressure on Sunday to explain how the government plans to ease a coronavirus lockdown that has been in place for a month, warning that hasty action could result in a second peak of infections.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from COVID-19, said the government was working privately on how to move out of the lockdown but it would be irresponsible to speculate in public.

LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be back at work in Downing Street on Monday, about two weeks after leaving a London hospital in his fight against the novel coronavirus, British media reported Saturday night.

Johnson told his cabinet colleagues that he will be back to his normal schedule following his treatment in St. Thomas' Hospital in London for COVID-19.

LONDON, Apr 25 (APP): The United Kingdom (UK) has announced nine (9) more chartered flights from Pakistan to return thousands of stranded
Britishers.

A UK Government statement issued here today said that these will include the first UK chartered flight from Karachi, which will depart on April 30, in addition to further departures from Islamabad and Lahore.

The Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) statement said that almost 5,000 British travellers in Pakistan are to be brought home to the UK following the announcement today of a further nine Government-chartered flights.