United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Kingdom has drawn up plans to require employers to cover 20% to 30% of furloughed employees’ wages from August to reduce the vast burden of the coronavirus crisis on government finances, The Times newspaper reported.

The United Kingdom on May 12 extended its job retention scheme - the centrepiece of its attempts to cushion the coronavirus hit to the economy - by four months but told employers they would have to help to meet its huge cost from August.

LONDON (AP) — David Waugh is putting down barrier tape and spraying yellow lines on the ground outside the main door of his school near Manchester.

Waugh, who oversees five schools in northwestern England, already has painted yellow arrows to ensure that children follow a one-way path around the building when they return next month from an extended break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

LONDON (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic is interrupting immunization against diseases including measles, polio and cholera that could put the lives of nearly 80 million children under the age of 1 at risk, according to a new analysis from the World Health Organization and partners.

In a new report issued on Friday, health officials warned that more than half of 129 countries where immunization data were available reported moderate, severe or total suspensions of vaccination services during March and April.

LONDON (Reuters) - George Soros, the billionaire financier, has cautioned that the European Union’s survival was threatened by the novel coronavirus unless it could issue perpetual bonds or “consols” to help weak members such as Italy.

“If the EU is unable to consider it now, it may not be able to survive the challenges it currently confronts,” Soros said in a transcript of a question-and-answer session emailed to reporters. “This is not a theoretical possibility; it may be the tragic reality.”

LONDON (Reuters) - It should be for British schools to decide when to reopen following nationwide closures to stem the spread of the coronavirus and some have the confidence to do so, a senior health official said on Friday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government wants schools in England to reopen for some pupils from June 1 but the plans have been criticised by teaching unions and many local authorities say they will not be reopening institutions in their areas.

LONDON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Another 338 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain as of Wednesday afternoon, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 36,042, the Department of Health and Social Care said Thursday.

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

As of Thursday morning, 250,908 people in Britain have tested positive, said the department.

LONDON, May 20 (APP): The United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday welcomed the agreement between Afghanistan leaders on forming an inclusive government.
A statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) London said.

The FCO Minister for South Asia Lord Ahmad Tariq of Wimbledon while commenting on the agreement said, “I welcome the agreement between Afghan leaders on forming an inclusive government”.

Lord Tariq said that a strong and unified government was vital at this critical time for Afghanistan.

20 May 2020; MEMO: British based charity Human Aid, has written to the UK’s police watchdog demanding an investigation into allegations of police harassment of Gaza-bound aid workers and the seizure of cash donations last year, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported.

LONDON/LAGOS (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic has done in a handful of months what even a 27-year civil war did not: it has brought oil drilling to a halt in Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer.

The consequences could be grave for a poor country that relies heavily on oil revenues and is saddled with debts that exceed its economic output.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s inflation rate fell sharply in April to its lowest since August 2016 as retailers resorted to discounts in the face of the coronavirus shutdown, global oil prices slumped and regulated water and power tariffs slid.

The consumer price index dropped to an annual rate of 0.8% in April from 1.5% in March, official data showed on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had mostly thought the CPI would fall to 0.9%.