United Kingdom

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said it was removing certain images after messages using extremely strong racist abuse appeared on some listings on its UK website when users searched for Apple’s (AAPL.O) AirPods and other similar products.

The message sparked outrage on Twitter, with the topic “AirPods” trending in the United Kingdom.

“We are removing the images in question and have taken action on the bad actor,” an Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters on Sunday. She did not elaborate more on the “bad actor”.

LONDON, May 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Another 215 COVID-19 patients died in Britain, as of Friday afternoon, bringing the total death toll in the country to 38,376, Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said Saturday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

Chairing Saturday’s Downing Street daily briefing, Dowden said, Britons will be able to exercise outside with up to five others from different households from Monday, provided that strict social distancing guidelines are followed.

LONDON (Reuters) - British foreign minister Dominic Raab defended on Sunday the government’s “careful” loosening of the coronavirus lockdown, saying it was the “right step to be taking at this moment in time”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under fire from some scientists for easing a lockdown put in place 10 weeks ago, with some saying it was a premature and risky move in the absence of a fully functioning system to track new outbreaks.

LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is so nervous about the position of the Communist Party that he is risking a new Cold War and imperilling Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s pre-eminent financial hub, the last British governor of the territory told Reuters.

Chris Patten said Xi’s ‘thuggish’ crackdown in Hong Kong risked triggering an outflow of capital and people from the city which funnels the bulk of foreign investment into mainland China.

LONDON (Reuters) - A third member of a scientific advisory body to the British government has warned that it is too soon to lift the COVID-19 lockdown because the test and trace system is not yet fully operational.

Professor Peter Horby, chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said Britain could not afford to lose control of the virus.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s government is planning to launch a big stimulus package before the summer with a focus on creating jobs and infrastructure projects to help drag the economy out of the coronavirus crisis, the Financial Times reported.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak declined on Friday to say whether he would bring forward his next budget statement, due in the autumn, to spell out how he will tackle Britain’s surging debt.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were dragged sharply lower on Friday by weak U.S. fuel demand, fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases in South Korea and a worsening in U.S.-China relations, but were still on track for a hefty monthly gain.

July Brent crude LCOc1 fell $1.16, or 3.3%, to $34.13 a barrel by 0927 GMT while the more active August contract fell $1.11, or 3.1%, to $34.92. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down $1.28, or 3.8%, at $32.43.

LONDON, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The world’s oldest man, according to the Guinness World Records, has died from cancer in Britain at the age of 112, his family confirmed on Thursday.

Bob Weighton, a former teacher and engineer from the central English county Hampshire, died “peacefully” in his sleep at home on Thursday morning, they said.

Weighton took up the title of the oldest man in the world in February after the death of the previous holder, Chitetsu Watanabe of Japan.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s easyJet (EZJ.L) plans to cut up to 4,500 jobs and shrink its fleet to adjust to the smaller travel market which is forecast to emerge from the coronavirus crisis.

EasyJet, which employs more than 15,000 people in eight countries across Europe, is moving later than others in announcing job cuts as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought airlines across the world to their knees.

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares rose for the fourth straight session on Thursday and the euro perched at a two-month high, as businesses returning to work and a 750 billion euro EU stimulus plan outweighed rising U.S.-China tensions.

Asian markets had been subdued overnight after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had warned Hong Kong no longer warranted special treatment under U.S. law, but there was no stopping Europe.