England

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak, under pressure to meet election promises to voters and fight the spread of coronavirus, has said he is looking at possible changes to budget rules which would give him more room to increase spending.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted Sunak - who is due to deliver Britain’s first post-Brexit budget on Wednesday - as saying that he was studying “with interest” proposals to reclassify some government spending as investment.

LONDON (AP) — As cases of the coronavirus surge in Italy, Iran, South Korea, the U.S. and elsewhere, many scientists say it’s plain that the world is in the grips of a pandemic — a serious global outbreak.

The World Health Organization has so far resisted describing the crisis as such, saying the word “pandemic” might spook the world further and lead some countries to lose hope of containing the virus.

“Unless we’re convinced it’s uncontrollable, why (would) we call it a pandemic?” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week.

LONDON, Mar 07 (APP): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the Mologic laboratory in Bedford (UK), the other day also announced new funding in the fight against the spread of coronavirus.

The laboratory is developing a new rapid diagnostic test for coronavirus with support from UK aid.

A United Kingdom (UK) government statement issued here today said, the global race to find a vaccine for coronavirus would be bolstered by support announced by the Prime Minister on Friday, funded by the UK’s international development budget.

6 March 2020; AFP: Two decades ago, Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan, staying with locals along the way. Now he is deploying the same approach to his bid to become mayor of London.

The former Conservative minister and ex-diplomat is criss-crossing the British capital on foot -- and asking Londoners permission to stay on their sofas to better understand their lives.

"All change begins with getting your feet on the ground," he told AFP while on one of his walks through Highgate, a leafy suburb in north London.

LONDON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Business districts around the world began to empty and stock markets tumbled on Friday as the number of coronavirus infections neared 100,000 and the economic damage wrought by the outbreak intensified.

An increasing number of people faced a new reality as many were asked to stay home from work, schools were closed, large gatherings and events were cancelled, stores cleared of staples like toiletries and water, and face masks became a common sight.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped more than 4% on Friday on concerns that OPEC might not go ahead with steeper cuts to oil output to bolster prices after Reuters reported that Russia rejected the proposal.

Brent and WTI crude futures tumbled by nearly 6% on the news, with the close to $3 drop taking Brent crude to its lowest since July 2017 while WTI was at its weakest since December 2018.

By 1345 GMT Brent crude was down $2.27, or 4.5%, at $47.72 a barrel. U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down $2.24, or 4.9%, at $43.66.

5 March 2020; AFP: British regional airline Flybe crashed into bankruptcy Thursday after the deadly coronavirus proved to be the final nail in its coffin.

The biggest operator of UK domestic flights said it has sunk into administration -- a last-ditch process aimed at salvaging at least some of the company.

And with the carrier long blighted by fierce competition, volatile fuels costs and a weak pound linked to the uncertainty over Brexit, Flybe's announcement to ground all flights now places some 2,000 jobs at risk.

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell on Thursday amid expectations of the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further, after slashing them by 50 basis points this week in an emergency move to shield the economy from the effects of coronavirus.

The Fed had mentioned the epidemic 48 times in its latest Beige Book report, suggesting policymakers were highly concerned about the economic damage of the disease.

“The reports in the Beige Book are likely to have been important for the Fed’s inter-meeting rate cut,” said Olle Holmgren, chief strategist at SEB.

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent oil prices rose on Wednesday on expectations that major producers have moved closer to an agreement to enact deeper output cuts aimed at offsetting the slump in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up by 30 cents, or 0.6%, at $52.16 a barrel at 0954 GMT. It had risen more than $1 earlier in the session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up by 32 cents, or 0.7%, at $47.50 a barrel. The contract had gained 98 cents earlier in the session.

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Wednesday they had charged another man as part of their investigation into the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in the back of a truck near London last year.

Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 27, was charged with an immigration offense and was due to appear later at Basildon Magistrates’ Court, east of London.

Detectives also said they wanted to speak to any other Vietnamese nationals who had entered Britain illegally via a similar route through the port of Purfleet.