United Kingdom

LONDON, July 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UK government unveiled a package worth £30 billion to save jobs and help the young into work to kickstart the coronavirus-hit economy.

Delivering a mini-budget to parliament, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s measures included bonuses to companies retaining staff and taking on apprentices, investment in ‘green’ jobs and allowing the whole country to enjoy discounted meals in restaurants.

“People need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope,” said Sunak.

LONDON (Reuters) - Concerns about renewed coronavirus lockdowns in the United States outweighed signs of a recovery in U.S. gasoline demand on Thursday to keep a lid on oil prices.

The market is also in a holding pattern ahead of a meeting on July 15 of the market monitoring panel of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.

LONDON, July 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A new study found that infection with COVID-19 can lead to brain damages, including delirium and nerve damage.

According to the study, at University College London (UCL), since COVID-19 broke out, there appeared to be a “concerning increase” of a rare brain inflammation, known to be triggered by viral infections.

In the UCL study, nine COVID-19 patients with brain inflammation were diagnosed with a rare condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, which is typically seen in children and can affect both the brain and spinal cord.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. sanctions targeting Huawei Technologies have had no immediate impact on the Chinese firm’s ability to supply 5G equipment to the UK, Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang said on Wednesday.

“These restrictions actually haven’t had an impact on Huawei’s capability to supply to the UK’s 5G and fibre solution at this moment,” Zhang told reporters on a call.

“We need to talk about the long term impact, it takes time, it takes months.”

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak will announce on Wednesday his next moves to prevent a wave of job cuts from snowballing into a full-blown unemployment crisis in the world’s sixth biggest economy.

He is already on course to take state borrowing to World War Two levels as he subsidises 9 million jobs - equivalent to more than a third of private-sector workers - alongside other emergency measures.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s future access to the European Union financial market must take into account how far it will diverge from the bloc’s rules, a European Commission official said on Wednesday.

After leaving the EU in January, Britain retains full access to the bloc until the end of 2020 under a transition deal with its former partners, with both blaming each other for missing an end of June deadline for assessments on access from 2021.

LONDON, Jul 06 (APP): The United Kingdom (UK) is committed to support the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan to Afghanistan.

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak earmarked 3 billion pounds ($3.75 billion) to improve the energy efficiency of homes and public buildings as part of broader plans to kickstart the economy and support jobs.

Ahead of an announcement on Wednesday of its next moves to soften the hit from the coronavirus lockdown, the finance ministry said households would be given 2 billion pounds in grants — worth up to 5,000 pounds each — to cover two thirds of the costs of insulation and double-glazing of windows.

LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus has existed worldwide and broke out whenever and wherever favorable conditions occurred rather than starting in China, an Oxford University expert has told The Telegraph.

"I think the virus was already here -- here meaning everywhere. We may be seeing a dormant virus that has been activated by environmental conditions," Dr Tom Jefferson, senior associate tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) at Oxford and a visiting professor at Newcastle University, said on Sunday.

LONDON (AP) — More than 200 scientists have called for the World Health Organization and others to acknowledge that the coronavirus can spread in the air — a change that could alter some of the current measures being taken to stop the pandemic.