United Kingdom

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to announce next week a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, five years earlier than previously planned, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Britain had originally planned to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered cars from 2040, as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and in February Johnson brought this forward to 2035.

London, Nov 14 (PTI) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Charles used the analogy of victory of light over darkness as reflective of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic crisis as part of their annual messages to mark the festival of Diwali on Saturday.

Johnson issued his 10 Downing Street statement to mark the spectacular, joyful festival of Diwali , which bursts through the autumnal darkness with an underlying theme of hope and triumph over COVID-19.

LONDON (Reuters) - Dominic Cummings, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s most powerful adviser, will step down by year-end, reducing the sway of Brexit hardliners as Johnson tries to recast his premiership after a series of coronavirus failures.

Cummings, who masterminded the 2016 Brexit referendum vote and Johnson’s 2019 landslide election win, told the BBC that he wanted to be largely redundant by the end of this year, once Britain has left informal membership of the European Union.

LONDON, Nov 12 (APP): Pakistan’s Exports to the United Kingdom (UK) during the July-September 2020-21,despite COVID-19 stood at US $ 465 million as compared to US $ 414 million achieved same period of the last fiscal year, depicting an increase of 12 percent, Economic and Trade Wing of Pakistan High Commission sources said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Thursday as traders tempered expectations of an early release of a COVID-19 vaccine and the IEA raised doubts about a quick demand rebound amid surging infections in Europe and the United States.

Brent crude was up 8 cents, or 0.2%, at $43.88 a barrel at 1132 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 10 cents, or 0.2%, to $41.55 a barrel.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s economy grew by a slower than expected 1.1% in September from August, lagging other rich nations as it struggled to recover from the shock of the pandemic even before the latest COVID-19 lockdown.

The slowdown in Thursday’s official data cemented expectations that the economy will shrink again as 2020 ends, with uncertainty about the Dec. 31 deadline for a post-Brexit European Union trade deal adding to the coronavirus drag.

LONDON, Nov 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Another 532 people died in Britain, marking the highest daily COVID-19 death toll since mid-May. The new deaths bring the total fatalities in Britain to 49,770, figures showed.

Another 20,412 people tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,233,775, the data showed.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could take five to 10 years to properly recover from the pandemic because the COVID-19 financial hit will sap the economy of the firepower it needs to rebuild for Brexit, advertising supremo Martin Sorrell said on Monday.

Britain has recorded the worst death toll in Europe and the deepest economic contraction of any leading G7 nation from the coronavirus, forcing it to pump more than 200 billion pounds ($263 billion) into the economy to keep it afloat.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.N. envoy Mark Carney backed a push to make companies give investors an annual vote on their climate change strategies, saying on Monday that might prove more effective than “overly prescriptive” regulation.

Carney, who took a U.N. climate finance role after stepping down as Bank of England governor in March, said investors could have an automatic advisory vote on a company’s plans to cut greenhouse emissions, in the same way they have a say on pay.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose on Monday, with Brent topping $40 a barrel, after Joe Biden clinched the U.S. presidency and buoyed risk appetite, and the Saudi oil minister said an OPEC+ deal on output cuts could be adjusted to offset rising supply and weak demand.

Brent crude had climbed $1.28 cents, or 3.2%, to $40.73 a barrel by 1116 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $38.40, up $1.26 cents, or 3.4%.