Crude prices jumped 12 percent on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and major producers led by Russia agreed to cut output by 20 million barrels a day, according to Reuters sources. The Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters that OPEC+ is considering two proposals, which would cut output...
More than 1,000 healthcare workers and 14,400 others linked to a Covid-19 outbreak at a hospital in Hanoi have tested negative for the coronavirus, the ruling body in Vietnam's capital said on Thursday. Bach Mai hospital, one of the country's biggest medical centers, has been under lockdown since March 28 after authorities became concerned that...
Polish borders will be closed until May 3 and the government will extend a lockdown for schools and businesses, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday. The decision means restrictions will be in place near the time of the presidential election planned for May 10. The move also coincides with criticism of the government's plans...
Automobile producers across the world have accelerated efforts to restart their factories amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has sent the auto industry into the worst tailspin since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Car manufacturers and suppliers say that temperature screening, daily health questionnaires, assembly lines redesigned to keep workers between three and six feet (0.9m to...
The US Labor Department reported on Thursday that the jobless rolls continued to grow due to the Covid-19 lockdown, with 6.6 million Americans filing first-time unemployment claims in the week ending April 4. The figure nearly matches the jump registered in the previous week when 6.87 million people filed initial claims and brings the total...
With Keir Starmer replacing Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the UK Labour Party, and Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign in the US, the wave of democratic socialism, which seemed capable of reshaping both the US and UK, has receded. There are four major reasons why: the limits to which such movements can broaden their base,...
Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, requested on Thursday that the government publish its exit strategy for the coronavirus lockdown, seen as the most stringent measures in the country's peacetime history. “I'm calling on the government to publish its exit strategy,” Reuters quoted Starmer as saying. “I'm not calling for precise timings, but...
