Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyJet’s biggest shareholder, has repeatedly tried to get order cancelled
EasyJet has agreed with Airbus to delay the delivery of 24 new aircraft as the budget airline tries to stave off a shareholder rebellion led by its founder and former chief executive, Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
Ministers are looking at ending the coronavirus lockdown with a “gradual sector-by-sector approach” that could see vital industries such as manufacturing get back to work before less critical ones like entertainment, according to Whitehall sources.
Two officials said one of the main options being explored for ending the lockdown was the idea of a phased return by industry, with civil servants in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy among those looking at how it could work.
It is New Year’s Eve 2019 and around the world stock markets are closing for business on a high note. Shares in the US are up by almost 30% on the year, those in Japan by 18%. Even in Britain, where the mood has been dampened by months of Brexit uncertainty, the FTSE 100 has risen by 12%.
Overall, it had been the best year for stocks since 2009 and traders saw no real reason why the party should not continue into 2020. The US and China looked close to an armistice in their trade war, the US central bank was stimulating the world’s biggest economy, and Boris Johnson’s decisive victory in the general election had removed any lingering doubts about whether Britain would leave the European Union.
Food supplies across the world will be “massively disrupted” by the coronavirus, and unless governments act the number of people suffering chronic hunger could double, some of the world’s biggest food companies have warned.
Unilever, Nestlé and PepsiCo, along with farmers’ organisations, the UN Foundation, academics, and civil society groups, have written to world leaders, calling on them to keep borders open to trade in order to help society’s most vulnerable, and to invest in environmentally sustainable food production.
As country after country is compelled to shutter non-essential businesses and order people home to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing public health crisis is becoming an economic and social crisis that demands a policy response.
Millions of people already afraid for the health of their loved ones now confront the prospect of unemployment and prolonged economic misery. Dozens of emerging economies face financial and humanitarian distress as commodity prices and export earnings plummet, foreign investors flee and remittances from overseas workers decline.
Judge overturns unexplained wealth orders that led to freezing of London properties
Britain’s National Crime Agency has lost a high court attempt to force the daughter and grandson of a former president of Kazakhstan to explain where they got the money to buy £80m of property in London.
Last year, the NCA froze three of the family’s properties, including a mansion on north London’s so-called Billionaire’s Row with an underground swimming pool and cinema, over claims they were acquired using proceeds from unlawful activity.
Qantas is moving to recruit cabin staff from its New Zealand subsidiary to operate scheduled flights to rescue Australians trapped overseas, after it failed to get sufficient volunteers from its Australian cabin staff to operate planned flights.
Amid news that 50 Qantas and Jetstar staff have contracted coronavirus there has been growing anxiety among Qantas staff about plans to resume flights to Los Angeles, London, Auckland and Hong Kong later this week.
Primark, one of the UK’s most popular retailers, has announced it will create a fund to help pay the wages of the millions of garment workers affected by its decision to cancel tens of millions of pounds worth of clothing orders from factories in developing countries across the world.
The pledge followed sustained criticism of the fashion retailer after data from the Bangladeshi and Garment Exporters Association (BGMEA) revealed it had cancelled all orders already placed with suppliers.
Letter calls for $8bn emergency fund to bolster health systems in world’s poorer countries
A group of 165 global leaders has called for immediate and coordinated international action to tackle the twin health and economic emergencies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Past and present politicians – including three former UK prime ministers – joined academics and civil society representatives to warn the G20 that the virus will return unless urgent action is taken to bolster health systems in poor countries of Africa and Latin America.
The continued closure of car plants across Europe and North America will cost the auto industry more than $100bn (£82bn) in lost revenues if the shutdown lasts until the end of April.
All major European carmakers have suspended production because of disruption caused by the spread of the coronavirus and if this continues as expected until the end of April, this will account for $66bn (£54bn) in lost sales in Europe, or 2.6m cars. In North America this will account for 2m cars, and lost sales of about $52bn (£42bn).
Zoom, the hit video conferencing platform, will freeze new feature development and shift all engineering resources on to security and safety issues, its founder has said..
The move comes as the company battles the damage caused by a string of minor scandals ultimately related to the same scrappy approach that enabled it to capitalise on the wave of global lockdowns in the first place.
More than a million Bangaldeshi garment workers have been sent home without pay or have lost their jobs after western clothing brands cancelled or suspended £2.4bn of existing orders in the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic, according to data from the Bangladeshi and Garment Exporters Association (BGMEA).
Primark and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill are among retailers that have collectively cancelled £1.4bn and suspended an additional £1bn of orders as they scramble to minimise losses. This includes nearly £1.3bn of orders that were already in production or had been completed, according to BGMEA.
Victoria and Queensland register deaths as Western Australia flags border closure and federal government acts on childcare and industrial relations concerns. Follow live updates
The PM stresses that the “health advice we have is that there is no health reasons why children can’t go to school”.
Asked if taxes will increase to pay for its massive stimulus funding, Morrison does not address this directly.
Obviously there will be a heightened debt burden as a result of decisions we have had to take. They have been necessary decisions. Otherwise the calamity for Australian households economic will be disastrous. We have taken that decisions of government to step up and to make this commitment to provide people with an economic lifeline over the many months ahead. But you are right, we will have to then work hard on the other side to restore the economy. Now, that’s why we are being so careful not to have things that tie the economy and the budget down off into the future. We do need to snap back to the normal arrangements on the other side of this.
Morrison says schools have been planning for a “balance – a combination of distance learning” and, for those who can’t “provide a learning environment at home, for the children to be able to return to school”.
School will return after the holidays. They just won’t be holidays that most school students have known for a long time. And when they go back, it’s the learning that matters, and we hope to have an arrangement that can return as much to normal as possible.
But we have to accept that there will be, for some protracted period of time, this combination of distance learning, and for those who can’t do that at home, no child should be turned away.
The UN climate talks due to be held in Glasgow later this year have been postponed as governments around the world struggle to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The most important climate negotiations since the Paris agreement in 2015 were scheduled to take place this November to put countries back on track to avoid climate breakdown. They will now be pushed back to 2021.
All the banks are offering a similar menu of relief for retail and business customers, although details of what’s available differ between institutions.
What’s set out below is as up-to-date as possible, but what’s on offer changes frequently and you should always check with your bank before making any financial decisions.
Global oil producers have begun shutting down their oil rigs on the largest scale in 35 years as the coronavirus continues to drive market prices to their lowest level since 2002.
Internal documents describe how to profit from farmer losses and desire to oppose some independent testing
The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many US farms, internal documents seen by the Guardian show.
Risks were downplayed even while they planned how to profit off farmers who would buy Monsanto’s new seeds just to avoid damage, according to documents unearthed during a recent successful $265m lawsuit brought against both firms by a Missouri farmer.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison announced further restrictions on Sunday, including limiting public gatherings to two people. Follow all the latest Covid-19 updates
Passengers onboard the Ocean Atlantic have begged Scott Morrison to help bring them home via a YouTube video.
The passengers, who include about 150 Australians, embarked on what was supposed to be an Antarctic cruise in February/early March.
Queensland will also be issuing on the spot fines for people who ignore the social distancing rules. As AAP reports:
In Queensland thus far, no more than 10 people - other than residents - will be allowed inside a home at any one time, with homeowners and occupants now obliged to ensure they and visitors practice social distancing as much as possible.
Queensland Police now have powers to issue infringement notices for breaches of quarantine directions of up to $13,345 for individuals and $66,672 for businesses.