England

LONDON (AP) — Another member of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet has developed symptoms of COVID-19, as the number of people with the coronovrius to die in the U.K. passed the 1,000 mark Saturday.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said he had symptoms of the disease and was self-isolating a day after the prime minister and Britain’s health secretary revealed they tested positive for the virus and were experiencing mild symptoms.

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government is not crashing the economy with its multi-billion pound schemes to help businesses and workers as both companies and citizens needed support to survive the coronavirus crisis, its business minister said on Friday.

“I don’t think we are crashing the economy,” British Business Minister Alok Sharma told Sky News. “I hope the downturn, if I can put it like that, and the impact on the economy will be short term.”

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks should halt 2020 dividend payments to preserve capital and keep lending to businesses and households until the impact of the coronavirus epidemic is clearer, the European Banking Federation (EBF) said.

The EBF said the European banking sector remained “fully committed” to helping businesses and households cope with the fallout from the health crisis and it would prioritize solvency in order to be able to fund the economy.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were mixed on Friday as the market weighed the potential benefits of stimulus efforts by policymakers around the world against demand destruction caused by fallout from the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Brent crude was on track for its fifth consecutive weekly drop. By 0922 GMT, it was down 40 cents, or 1.5%, at $25.94 a barrel.

U.S. crude was up 11 cents, or 0.5%, at $22.71.

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar fell further on Thursday ahead of key U.S. data that is expected to show a surge in unemployment benefit claims as companies lay off workers due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Investors welcomed the passage of a $2 trillion U.S. stimulus package to offset the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are already indications that some American states will need more money for medical supplies.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped into negative territory on Wednesday as faltering fuel demand from the spread of the coronavirus outweighed a massive pending U.S. economic stimulus package.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 45 cents, or 1.66%, at $26.70 per barrel at 1029 GMT after earlier rising to a high of $28.29.

U.S. crude CLc1 was down 10 cents, or 0.42%, at $23.91 after a high of $25.24 per barrel.

LONDON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Britain reached 8,077 as of Tuesday morning, according to the lastest figure from the Department of Health and Social Care.

A total of 90,436 people have been tested across Britain, of which 8,077 were confirmed positive, while 422 patients who contracted the novel coronavirus have died, said the department.

LONDON (Reuters) - British manufacturers are the most pessimistic about the outlook than they have been at any time since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago because of the spread of coronavirus, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said its measure of manufacturing expectations for the next three months sank to -20 from +8 in February.

The balance of order books for March also fell to -29 from -18 but that was slightly less of fall than expected in a Reuters poll of economists which had a median forecast of -35.

LONDON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A new emergency bill to give the British government great powers to fight coronavirus was approved by lawmakers Monday night.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that the virus is the most serious public health emergency the world has faced in a century.

"To defeat it, we are proposing extraordinary measures of a kind never seen before in peacetime. Our goal is to protect life and to protect every part of the National Health Service (NHS)," he said.

TASS, March 23: The price of futures contracts of Brent crude oil for May 2020 delivery lost 7.9% on London's ICE to $25.01 per barrel, according to the trading data as of 1:16 am Moscow time.

The price of futures contracts of WTI crude oil for April delivery is down 7.5% trading at $21.06 per barrel.

The oil price drop follows reports on continuing growth of the number of coronavirus infection cases and the appearance of new sites of the disease.