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Tag Archives: United Kingdom
Splash of color: UK seaside huts brighten pandemic gloom
Hair right this moment, inexperienced tomorrow: UK stylists be part of eco-drive
‘No threat’ of catching coronavirus on public transport
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan was challenged on dwell TV as he claimed there’s “no threat” of catching the lethal coronavirus from becoming a member of the tens of millions who experience town’s packed trains and buses.
“It’s essential that we don’t unfold panic or alarm based mostly on misinformation,” Khan mentioned on “Good Morning Britain” Tuesday when requested in regards to the assumed “apparent threat issue” of public transport.
“There isn’t a threat in utilizing the Tube or buses or different types of public transport,” he mentioned, noting there are 5 million journeys every day on the underground system together with 6 million on buses.
Khan additionally claimed there could be no threat jamming in alongside “between 5,000 and 20,000” individuals at a packed live performance.
Interviewer Piers Morgan immediately challenged him over the claims, which contradicted earlier warnings and research.
“How are you going to say, as mayor of London, there is no such thing as a threat to individuals utilizing public transport?” the previous “America’s Bought Expertise” decide requested, sounding incredulous.
Khan insisted it was based mostly on “recommendation I obtain from Public Well being England and the chief medical officer.”
“You’re proper, although,” he then conceded of the truth that it’s potential to catch it “if we’re in shut proximity” to somebody who has it.
Morgan later accused the mayor of “spreading combined messages” after he admitted not shaking arms, regardless of that not being the recommendation given by the identical consultants he quoted earlier.
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Oil clambers larger as OPEC, allies transfer nearer to deeper
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil costs jumped 1.5% on Wednesday on hopes that main producers have made progress in direction of sealing an settlement to implement deeper output cuts aimed toward offsetting the droop in demand brought on by the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.
FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks function at sundown in Midland, Texas, U.S., February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Oxford
Brent crude LCOc1 rose by 78 cents, or 1.50%, to $52.64 a barrel at 0502 GMT, after settling down four cents within the earlier session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 rose by 72 cents, or 1.53%, to $47.90 a barrel, up for a 3rd session.
A panel of the Group of Petroleum Exporting International locations (OPEC) and its allies, a grouping often known as OPEC+, advisable reducing oil output by an additional 1 million barrels per day (bpd) on Tuesday. The advice might imply that Russia and Saudi Arabia, the 2 greatest producers within the OPEC+ group, are near a deal to assist costs.
That will be along with 2.1 million bpd in present output cuts that embody a 1.7 million bpd in curbs by OPEC+ and different voluntary reductions by Saudi Arabia, the world’s greatest exporter. The group is ready to fulfill formally in Vienna on March 5-6.
“That is no time for warning for OPEC+. Second-quarter oversupply wanted some heavy lifting from the group to offset even earlier than the COVID-19 (coronavirus illness) outbreak, however now it’s a should,” Barclays analysts mentioned in a analysis notice.
Brent and WTI have every fallen about 27% from their 2020-peak reached in January.
The anticipated 1 million bpd extra minimize by OPEC+ would nonetheless fall effectively in need of the newly elevated 2.1 million bpd anticipated world demand loss within the first half alone, Goldman Sachs analysts (GS.N) wrote in a analysis notice.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose in the newest week, whereas gasoline and distillate shares fell, knowledge from trade group the American Petroleum Institute confirmed on Tuesday.
Crude inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels within the week to Feb. 28 to 446.6 million barrels, in contrast with analysts’ expectations for a construct of two.6 million barrels.
Goldman has once more minimize its Brent value forecast to $45 a barrel in April, whereas anticipating Brent regularly recovering to $60 a barrel by year-end.
Morgan Stanley on Tuesday additionally minimize its second-quarter 2020 Brent value forecast to $55 per barrel and its WTI outlook to $50 on expectations that China’s 2020 oil demand development can be near zero and that demand elsewhere might weaken due to the virus.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Federal Reserve minimize rates of interest on Tuesday in a bid to protect the world’s largest economic system from the influence of the coronavirus.
“(The) Fed’s emergency fee minimize underscores fragility of financial fundamentals, and this urges OPEC+ to expedite a deeper output minimize to shore up vitality costs,” mentioned Margaret Yang, market analyst at CMC Markets.
Yang mentioned from a technical evaluation perspective, Brent has discovered sturdy assist at round $50-52, whereas quick resistance will be discovered at $54.70.
Reporting by Shu Zhang; Modifying by Christian Schmollinger and Kenneth Maxwell
Our Requirements:The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
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UK watchdog to clamp down on insurance loyalty penalties
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LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday it was finalising “remedies” to stop home and car insurance companies penalising loyal customers.
The watchdog said the “loyalty penalty” cost longstanding customers an extra 1.2 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) in 2018.
More than four in five adults in Britain have one or more insurance products, and consumers who stay with their existing insurer at renewal almost always pay higher premiums than those who switch or negotiate, the FCA said in Sector Views, its annual review of key concerns for the year ahead.
The FCA also said high-risk retail investment products were exposing consumers to more risk than they can absorb, the FCA said.
“Some of the highest-risk products are often marketed directly to retail consumers with poor communication of the risks involved and implications that the investments are regulated, when this is not the case,” it added.
Many new payments firms had been able to enter the market and grow quickly, and some of their products had offered no protection for consumers.
Sector Views are used by the FCA to shape its business plan for the coming financial year and determine whether to open new market investigations and use its powers to intervene.
$1 = 0.7696 pounds
Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by John Stonestreet
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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U.S. raises tariffs on European aircraft in ongoing dispute over subsidies
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Friday said it would increase tariffs on aircraft imported from the European Union to 15% from 10%, ratcheting up pressure on Brussels in a nearly 16-year transatlantic dispute over aircraft subsidies.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Airbus is pictured at the aircraft builder’s headquarters of Airbus in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said it remained open to reaching a negotiated settlement with the EU on the issue, but could revise its actions if the EU imposed tariffs of its own in connection with a pair of disputes over the subsidies.
In a statement released late on Friday, USTR said it would make minor modifications to 25% tariffs imposed on cheese, wine and other non-aircraft products from the EU, including dropping prune juice from the list. It did not raise the tariff rates on those product, as it had suggested it might do in October.
The higher aircraft tariff will take effect March 18.
The U.S. action comes as U.S. President Donald Trump, emboldened by agreement on a Phase 1 trade deal with China, has trained his sights on restructuring the more than $1 trillion U.S.-EU trade relationship, raising the specter of another major trade war as the global economy slows.
EU officials have said they want to negotiate with Washington but will not be bullied into submission.
European planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) said the U.S. move would hit U.S. airlines already facing a shortage of aircraft and complicate efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with the European Union in the longstanding dispute.
Airbus said it would continue discussions with U.S. customers to “mitigate effects of tariffs insofar as possible” and hoped USTR would change its position, particularly given the threat of EU tariffs on U.S. products in its own case before the World Trade Organization.
“USTR’s decision ignores the many submissions made by U.S. airlines, highlighting the fact that they – and the U.S. flying public – ultimately have to pay these tariffs,” the company said in a statement.
EU officials had no immediate comment on Friday’s news.
The USTR had announced in December that it could increase tariff rates up to 100% and subject additional EU products to tariffs, following a decision by the WTO that EU launch aid to Airbus continued to harm the U.S. aerospace industry.
The WTO in October had awarded Washington the right to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of annual EU imports in its case against Airbus. Washington then slapped 10% tariffs on most European-made Airbus jets and 25% duties on products ranging from cheese to olives and single-malt whisky, from Oct. 18.
Boeing, in a statement, said it was working with U.S. federal and state officials to “promptly bring the United States into full compliance” with WTO rulings.
“The EU and Airbus could end these tariffs by finally complying with their legal obligations, ending these illegal subsidies, and addressing their ongoing harm. We hope they will,” the company said in a statement.
The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) said it remains strongly opposed to tariffs on European-origin wine and spirits, and urged U.S. and EU trade officials to negotiate an end to a trade dispute that was lowering revenues.
A study commissioned by the group estimated that the 25% tariffs implemented in October could result in the loss of nearly 36,000 jobs in the beverage alcohol industry.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said tit-for-tat tariffs on alcoholic beverages were hurting companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
It said new U.S. government data showed the U.S. spirit industry’s exports to the EU, its largest export market, fell 27% in 2019 from a year earlier, and global exports of American whiskey declined 16% in the same period.
“We urge both sides to resolve these disputes so that consumers can enjoy #ToastsNotTariffs,” the group said.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Makini Brice; Editing by Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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US wants to return codebreaker’s seized items to UK school
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The U.S. government is trying to return memorabilia from World War II codebreaker and computing pioneer Alan Turing that were allegedly stolen more than 30 years ago
DENVER —
A U.S. woman who said she was visiting England to do a study of the late World War II codebreaker and computing pioneer Alan Turing walked into the prestigious boys’ boarding school he attended and asked to see a collection of his memorabilia.
She was given a wooden box with items that once belonged to Turing, who helped crack Nazi Germany’s secret codes and whose story inspired 2014’s Oscar-winning film “The Imitation Game.” Inside the box was his Ph.D. from Princeton University, his Order of the British Empire medal and other mementos.
When she left that day in 1984, the box was empty. The only thing left inside was a note asking for forgiveness and promising to return the items someday, according to a recent court filing by government lawyers.
More than 30 years later, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Denver has the items that were seized from the Colorado home of the woman, who later changed her name to Julia Turing.
The Princeton degree was found behind a dresser in 2018. The medal, given for contributions to a field, and a letter from King George VI awarding the honor to Alan Turing was found in a briefcase behind a wall in a bathroom.
Her offer to donate the items to the University of Colorado had launched a lengthy international investigation to sort out the rightful owner of the items, according to a forfeiture action filed Jan. 17 and first reported by BizWest. The action is the first of two legal steps to return the memorabilia to the Sherborne School in England.
Julia Turing had letters from Sherborne’s treasurer, Col. A.W. Gallon, thanking her for previously returning most of the memorabilia and saying she could keep the diploma, according to court documents. They suggested she could show the correspondence to police if she was questioned.
But school officials told investigators that giving away any school property would require the permission of its board of governors, which did not consider the matter, according to Sherborne documents.
The school said some items that Julia Turing previously returned were not the original items that were taken. It noted that the Order of the British Empire medal she sent back was tarnished and did not include its miniature version and the king’s letter.
According to court documents, Julia Turing told investigators that she had bought OBE medals online, and several were found during the search of her home, along with the original discovered behind the bathroom wall.
In diaries and letters seized by investigators, she wrote of her “tremendous love and devotion” to Alan Turing and how she wished she did not have to hide his things. In one diary entry, addressed to Alan Turing, she worried about a museum forcing her to give up the items by claiming they are stolen, court documents show.
The U.S. government is asking a judge to give it permanent custody of the items so it can begin another legal process to return them to the school.
Julia Turing has until March to file an objection to the forfeiture. Her attorney, Katryna Spearman, did not return messages seeking comment. She has not been charged with a crime.
Sherborne School headmaster Dominic Luckett declined to comment Friday on the items removed from the school’s archives because authorities are still dealing with the matter.
Sherborne officials are proud of their distinguished alumnus and seek to preserve and promote his legacy, Luckett said in a statement to The Associated Press.
“As part of that, we take very seriously our responsibility to look after those items in our archives which relate to his time at Sherborne School and his subsequent life and work,” he added.
During World War II, Alan Turing helped crack Nazi secret codes by creating the “Turing bombe,” a forerunner of modern computers. After the war, he was prosecuted for homosexuality, then illegal in England, and forcibly treated with female hormones. He died in 1954 at age 41 after eating an apple laced with cyanide in what was ruled a suicide.
He received a posthumous apology from the British government in 2009 and a royal pardon in 2013.
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Associated Press researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report.
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AirAsia CEO Fernandes and chairman step aside as Airbus bribery allegations probed
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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – AirAsia Group (AIRA.KL) CEO Tony Fernandes and Chairman Kamarudin Meranun will step aside for at least two months while the airline and authorities investigate allegations Airbus paid a bribe of $50 million to win plane orders from the company.
FILE PHOTO: Founder of AirAsia X Tony Fernandes (R) listens to its chairman Kamarudin Meranun during the signing ceremony for the new Airbus A330-200s in Kuala Lumpur February 28, 2011. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad/File Photo
A committee comprising the non-executive members of AirAsia’s board will review the allegations and take any necessary action, Asia’s biggest budget airline said on Monday.
Fernandes, one of the aviation industry’s best known executives, and Kamarudin will remain advisers, however, “in view of the current difficult economic circumstances facing the airline industry”, the company added.
Senior company executive Tharumalingam Kanagalingam will be the acting CEO, with the changes effective immediately.
In a joint statement, Fernandes and Kamarudin denied any allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct as directors of AirAsia.
“We would not harm the very companies that we spent our entire lives building up to their present global status,” they said.
Shares of AirAsia and unit AirAsia X (AIRX.KL) fell on Monday after the allegations by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) came to light on Friday. AirAsia stock fell as much as 11% to 1.27 ringgit, their lowest since May 2016, while AirAsia X dropped 12% to an all-time low of 11.5 Malaysian sen.
Malaysia’s anti-graft agency is also investigating the allegations. AirAsia has said it never made any purchase decisions that were premised on Airbus (AIR.PA) sponsorship, and that it would fully cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Malaysia’s Securities Commission said on Sunday it would also examine whether AirAsia broke securities laws.
The allegations were revealed as part of a record $4 billion settlement Airbus agreed with France, Britain and the United States. Prosecutors said the company had bribed public officials and hidden payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption.
“This agreement and the contents were arrived at without any reference to us; neither were any explanations sought from us,” Fernandes and Kamarudin said in their statement.
“This is in clear violation of fundamental legal principles of fairness.”
Airbus said at the weekend it would not comment on the Malaysian investigations.
The SFO’s allegations concern a 2012 sponsorship agreement between the now-defunct Caterham Formula 1 racing team, founded by Fernandes, and Airbus’s then-parent, EADS.
The SFO said on Friday that between October 2013 and January 2015, EADS paid $50 million to sponsor a sports team which was jointly owned by two people described as AirAsia Executive 1 and Executive 2. It said Airbus employees offered an additional $55 million, though no payment was made.
Fernandes bought Caterham together with Kamarudin in 2011.
FILE PHOTO: Lotus (later Caterham) Formula One team principal Tony Fernandes poses with Air Asia flight attendants before the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix at Sepang circuit outside Kuala Lumpur April 10, 2011. REUTERS/Tim Chong/File Photo
The SFO said Executives 1 and 2 were “key decision makers in AirAsia and AirAsia X, and were rewarded in respect of the order of 180 aircraft from Airbus”.
Analysts said the accusation against AirAsia comes at a particularly bad time as airlines grapple with a slowdown in business because of the fast-spreading coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 300 people in China and disrupted air travel.
TA Securities downgraded AirAsia Group stock to “sell” from “buy”.
Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Greenback bounces after end-2019 selloff, yuan shrugs off coverage easing
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(Reuters) – The greenback snapped a six-day dropping streak so as to add 0.25% on Thursday, the primary buying and selling day of 2020, pushing the euro off five-month highs whereas the offshore yuan shrugged off reserve ratio cuts that might add $115 billion value of liquidity.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. 100 greenback notes are seen on this image illustration taken in Seoul February 7, 2011. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Gained/
Buying and selling might stay skinny till Tuesday, when most European international locations open after Monday’s Epiphany vacation however market gamers will likely be relieved the greenback navigated the vacation interval with out experiencing the cash market squeezes many had feared.
The greenback index slumped 0.4% on New Yr Eve as massive banks took solely a small portion of the $150 billion supplied by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s in a single day repo operation and borrowing prices fell to the bottom stage since March 2018.
(Graphic: The Fed dives into the repo market png click on, right here)
Whereas wariness stays that there might be a repeat of final January’s “flash crash”, when large stop-loss promoting swept via holiday-thinned markets, analysts mentioned the Fed’s liquidity injections had lowered the danger.
“There’s nothing basic…on the finish of final 12 months the greenback offered off fairly sharply so we’re seeing an easing in among the greenback promoting stress,” mentioned Lee Hardman, senior FX strategist at MUFG.
“The liquidity squeeze didn’t materialise in order that’s contributing to stability in broader monetary markets…However the greenback story has been turning detrimental in current months, partly due to motion taken by the Fed to ease greenback liquidity,” Hardman mentioned, referring to the U.S. central financial institution’s steadiness sheet growth re-launched in October.
Having ended December nearly 2% decrease in opposition to a basket of currencies, the greenback inched as much as 96.65 whereas in opposition to the euro it was at $1.119, knocking the only forex from its highest stage since early August of $1.1249.
The dollar index ended 2019 nearly flat.
The Chinese language yuan closed at 6.9631 to the greenback, its strongest shut since Aug. 2, and in addition firmed offshore after small downward strikes triggered by Wednesday’s transfer to chop the amount of money that banks should maintain, releasing $115 billion value of funds to assist the economic system.
The transfer had been broadly anticipated following Premier Li Keqiang’s pledge final month to unleash extra stimulus.
(Graphic: China lending fee and RRR click on, right here)
Traders at the moment are ready for the U.S. ISM manufacturing survey due on Friday. Throughout a lot of Asia and Europe, closing buying managers indexes painted a barely brighter image, with French, German and euro zone readings a contact higher than advance PMIs.
However additionally they confirmed an 11th straight month of contracting euro zone exercise.
The euro slipped 0.2%, having strengthened 1.8% in opposition to the greenback final month. Nevertheless, euro zone bond yields prolonged their rise and inflation expectations rose to the very best since July.
“Increased bond yields are more likely to hold the euro’s micro-rally going, wildfires will hold a lid on Aussie greenback, and PMIs and oil are supporting Norwegian, Swedish and Canadian currencies,” Societe Generale informed purchasers.
The Swedish crown briefly firmed 0.3% in opposition to the euro after PMIs rose in December following three months of declines, though they nonetheless languished in contraction territory.
The Norwegian crown inched to 3-1/2 month highs after firmer PMIs, additionally benefiting from firmer crude costs.
The Australian greenback slipped 0.3%.
U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned on Tuesday that Section 1 of a commerce take care of China could be signed on Jan. 15 on the White Home. Markets are ready for additional particulars
Reporting by Sujata Rao; Modifying by Frances Kerry, Kirsten Donovan
Our Requirements:The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
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