United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday on fears about the economic fallout from rising COVID-19 cases around the globe and on oversupply worries as OPEC and its allies are set to wind back output cuts in August.

Brent crude fell 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $43.34 a barrel by 1123 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 19 cents, or 0.5%, at $40.06.

In the last month, Brent has been trading in a range between $41 and almost $45.

LONDON (AP) — Europe’s biggest bank, HSBC, said Monday that its net profit plummeted 96% in the second quarter of this year as lower interest rates combined with the downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic tool hold.

The bank’s net profit was $192 million in the April-June quarter, down from $4.37 billion reported in the same period a year earlier.

London-based HSBC has most of its business in Asia.

31 July 2020; MEMO: Senior British Muslim Conservative party life peer Lord Sheikh has won his libel case against UK media company Associated Newspapers, regarding an article published in August 2018 accusing him of appearing at a “hate conference” held in Tunisia.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could impose quarantine measures on people arriving from certain countries within days, health minister Matt Hancock said on Thursday, without specifying which countries.

Asked in a BBC radio interview whether it was possible that in the next few days there could be a change in the list of countries to which quarantine measures apply, Hancock replied: “Yes ... We just have to be realistic about the fact that these things change, because the pandemic changes in other countries.”

LONDON (Reuters) - A lawyer for Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, accused a British newspaper publisher in court on Wednesday of commercially exploiting its legal dispute with her by using court documents as the basis for “sensational” coverage.

Meghan, wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince Harry, is suing Associated Newspapers over articles in the Mail on Sunday in February 2019 that included parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Tuesday, with demand worries due to a rise in coronavirus cases worldwide undermining support coming from hopes for additional U.S. economic stimulus measures.

Brent crude was up 7 cents, or 0.2%, at $43.48 a barrel at 1052 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude fell 19 cents, or 0.5%, to $41.41 a barrel.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways faces strike action over its plans to cut jobs, pay and conditions, the BBC reported on Tuesday, piling more pressure on the airline which has been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis and faced more disruption this week from new UK quarantine rules on Spain.

Trade union Unite, which represents BA cabin crew, said that the airline is planning to fire and rehire thousands of its workers and that it planned to defend its members by immediately moving towards industrial action, the BBC reported.

27 July 2020; MEMO: British intelligence agencies have been involved in training senior spies from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, an investigation by Declassified UK has found.

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Monday as rising coronavirus cases and tensions between the United States and China pushed investors towards safe-haven assets.

Brent crude LCOc1 dipped 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $43.14 a barrel by 1000 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 dropped to $41.15 a barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.4%.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is closely watching rises in coronavirus cases in other European destinations such as France and Germany after slapping a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain at the height of the summer vacation season.

The imposition of a British quarantine on Spain is one of the starkest indications to date that Europe could face a second wave of economic turmoil as governments scramble to head off a rise in cases from the Mediterranean to the North Sea.