A fifth of UK private companies want to furlough -- temporarily lay off -- staff owing to the coronavirus turmoil, the British Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday.
Analysts said that the figure, based on a BCC survey of 1,000 companies, could rise to around 30 per cent, costing the government up to 40 billion pounds (45 billion euros, USD 49 billion) under its jobs retention plan.
"Our latest data shows that many businesses face a cliff-edge scenario, either at the end of this month or over the course of the next quarter," said BCC Director General Adam Marshall.
"We've seen a big jump in the number of firms furloughing staff, and many are now starting to apply for access to government loan and grant schemes to keep themselves afloat."
The jobs plan, designed to prevent mass redundancies in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, sees the state pay 80 per cent of the wages of furloughed workers. It goes up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds per month each.
The Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme, ...

Fifth of virus-hit firms in UK mull layoffs: survey

PTI Automatic

Diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe could become more common as human activity destroys habitats and forces disease-carrying wild animals into ever-closer proximity with us, a major study showed on Wednesday.
Illegal poaching, mechanised farming and increasingly urbanised lifestyles have all led to mass biodiversity loss in recent decades, devastating populations of wild animals and increasing the abundance of domesticated livestock.
Around 70 percent of human pathogens are zoonotic, meaning they at some point make the leap from animals to humans as with COVID-19.
US-based researchers looked at more than 140 viruses known to have been transmitted from animals to humans, and cross-referenced them with the IUCN's Red List of endangered species.
They found that domesticated animals, primates, bats and rats carried the most zoonotic viruses -- around 75 percent.
But they also concluded that the risk of spillover from animal to human populations was highest when a ...

Human activity to blame for virus spread: study

The COVID-19 pandemic could provoke the deepest recession in living memory, World Trade Organisation chief Roberto Azevedo warned on Wednesday.
"As we face what may well be the deepest economic recession or downturn of our lifetimes, we should aim to make the most of all potential drivers of sustainable growth to reverse this situation," he told a virtual news conference in Geneva.

Pandemic could cause deepest economic recession 'of our lifetimes': WTO chief

Neymar "will always be welcome" back at Barcelona, the Spanish giants' striker Luis Suarez told Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday.
Neymar left Barca in a world record move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 but has been persistently linked to a possible return to the Camp Nou.  Suarez told the paper: "Everybody knows 'Ney', we all know the affection we have for him in the dressing room.
"His ability is indisputable and he still has so much to show. He will always be welcome in the changing room, we appreciate him a lot." Suarez, 33, recovering from right knee surgery, said it was "complicated" to talk about players joining
Barca at this time of crisis with the coronavirus pandemic.
"But I can talk about players, and these are huge players," he commented when asked by the paper to discuss the rumours linking the 28-year-old Neymar with a Barca return.
The Uruguayan also had warm words for Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, the 22-year-old Argentine whose name also been associated with a move to ...

Neymar welcome anytime at Barca, says Suarez

At the Locri hospital in southern Italy, patients are often sent elsewhere for lack of doctors, the lifts are endlessly in disrepair and the CT scan works one day, but not the next.
Infiltration by the mafia, severe doctor shortages, and a regional health agency hundreds of millions of euros in debt are just a few of the challenges the hospital confronted in 2019 alone.
And that was before coronavirus.
Now, residents of the community in Italy's southernmost region of Calabria are bracing for what they fear could be an inexorable march south of the disease that has killed over 17,000 people in the country, and wondering how they can possibly cope.
"It's adding a crisis on top of a crisis," Locri's mayor Giovanni Calabrese told AFP.
The fact that Locri has so far been spared any deaths, he said, was "the only good news we've got".
To date, Italy's devastating coronavirus crisis has been centred in its prosperous, industrial north.
In regions such as Lombardy and Piedmont some hospitals .

'Abandoned' Italian hospital fears virus' march south

The head of the European Research Council has resigned, the EU confirmed on Wednesday, reportedly in protest at the bloc's handling of its coronavirus response.
Mauro Ferrari, who only took over as president of the ERC in January, told the Financial Times he was "extremely disappointed" by the EU's response to the pandemic, which has hit Italy and Spain particularly hard.
A spokesman for the Europan Commission, the bloc's executive that oversees the ERC, confirmed Ferrari had resigned with immediate effect on Tuesday.
"The Commission regrets the resignation of Professor Ferrari at this early stage in his mandate, and at these times of unprecedented crisis in which the role of EU research is key," the spokesman said in a statement.
In a statement to the Financial Times, Ferrari said he had joined the ERC as a "fervent supporter" of the EU, but its handling of coronavirus had changed his mind.
He complained that the strategy he had proposed to fight the virus had been unanimously ...

EU science chief resigns over virus response

EU finance ministers failed on Wednesday to agree on a rescue plan to help hard-hit member states face the coronavirus outbreak, after the Netherlands blocked the deal over bailout conditions.
"After 16 hours of discussions, we came close to a deal but we are not there yet. I suspended the Eurogroup and (we will) continue tomorrow Thursday," said Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno.
Bickering EU finance ministers were unable to bridge differences on how to rebuild their economies after coronavirus, with a North-versus-South split that recalled the worst days of the eurozone debt crisis.
The European economy has been battered by the pandemic as national governments impose strict lockdowns that have closed businesses and put normal life on hold.
The ministers' video conference dragged on from Tuesday into Wednesday, with Italy and Spain insisting on having no strings attached to the aid plan on the table.
With tensions running high, ministers put off an especially touchy discussion on a ...

EU rescue talks fail as Netherlands blocks virus compromise

Global trade growth is expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the new coronavirus pandemic, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday, adding the numbers would be "ugly".
"World trade is expected to fall by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world," the WTO said in a statement.

Global trade will plunge by up to a third in 2020 amid pandemic: WTO

Ethiopia on Wednesday declared a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected 52 people and resulted in two deaths there.
It is the first state of emergency announced under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2018 and won last year's Nobel Peace Prize in part for expanding political freedoms in the authoritarian nation.
"Because the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse, the Ethiopian government has decided to declare a state of emergency under Article 93 of the constitution," Abiy said in a statement.
"I call upon everybody to stand in line with government bodies and others that are trying to overcome this problem," he added, warning of "grave legal measures" against anyone who undermines the fight against the pandemic.
It was not immediately clear how the state of emergency would affect day-to-day life in Ethiopia, where the government has so far refrained from imposing a lockdown similar to those in effect elsewhere in the region, ...

Ethiopia declares state of emergency to fight coronavirus

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday to give the sanctions-hit country a USD 5 billion emergency loan to combat its novel coronavirus outbreak.
The Islamic republic is battling one of the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreaks which it says has killed close to 4,000 people and infected more than 64,500.
There has been speculation abroad that the real number of deaths and infections could be higher.
Iran has said it needs what would be its first IMF loan in over half a century to continue fighting the virus. But its arch enemy the United States, which effectively holds a veto at the IMF, is reportedly set to block the loan, arguing Iran will use the funds for military purposes.
"I urge all international organisations to fulfil their duties," Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting. "We are a member of the IMF... if there's going to be any discrimination between Iran and others in giving loans, neither we nor world opinion will tolerate ...

Virus-hit Iran urges IMF to approve USD 5bn loan

Men and women have the same rights in the small municipality of Canonica d'Adda in Italy's north - except when it comes to shopping for food.
To lower the number of people in supermarkets and reduce the risk of coronavirus contagion, the mayor has decreed that men and women will not shop together.
"Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays you can go to the bread store," a policewoman told a woman waiting in line outside a big supermarket on Tuesday.
"Your husband can go on the other days, however." Those breaking the rule face a fine of up to 400 euros ($435).
Canonica d'Adda is not far from Bergamo, considered the most affected area in the region of Lombardy, where more than 9,000 people have died of coronavirus -- more than half of the total deaths in the country.
Canonica d'Adda's mayor, Gianmaria Ceria, said coronavirus had killed about 20 people in the commune of about 4,400 inhabitants.
The separation by sex for shopping was decided "to protect public health", he said.
"I have to ...

Italy commune bans mixed-sex shopping to stem virus

Stock markets mostly declined Wednesday as EU finance ministers failed to agree on a coronavirus bailout package for the hardest hit countries such as Italy and Spain.
The euro dropped against the dollar and pound, while oil prices gained ahead of a crucial producers' meeting on possible output cuts.
Eurozone finance ministers Wednesday failed to agree on a rescue plan to help hard hit member states face the coronavirus outbreak.
"European Union dysfunctionality is the talk of the town... with overnight squabbles seeing finance ministers ultimately fail in their bid to introduce an aid package worth half-a-trillion euros," said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG trading group.
The Bank of France, meanwhile, said the nation's economy contracted six percent in the first quarter, putting it in recession and marking the worst performance since 1945.
The German economy, Europe's biggest, is expected to shrink by nearly 10 percent in the second quarter as the coronavirus paralyses ..

Stock markets drop as EU fails to strike coronavirus bailout

Sadio Mane says he would understand if Liverpool were denied the Premier League title even though they were on the brink of glory when coronavirus forced a shutdown.
Jurgen Klopp's men were 25 points clear of Manchester City when football came to a halt last month, agonisingly close to their first top-flight triumph in 30 years.
But it is unclear when, or even if, the season will be completed.
Asked if he feels like a champion, the 27-year-old Senegal forward told Talksport that he wanted to win the Premier League on the pitch.
"I want to win the games and I want to get the trophy, it's what I would love," he said.
"But with this situation, whatever happens I will understand.
"It has been difficult for Liverpool, but it has been more difficult for many millions of people around the world.
"Some people have lost family members and that is the more complicated situation. But for myself, it's my dream and I want to win it this year.
"If that's not the case, I will accept, it's part of ...

Mane would 'understand' if Liverpool were denied Premier League title

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking at transfer targets during the lockdown and believes Manchester United are well-placed to exploit any knock-on effects of the coronavirus suspension.
With training and matches halted in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Norwegian has used some of this unexpected free time to pinpoint how best to improve the squad.
Jadon Sancho, Jude Bellingham and Jack Grealish are among the names liked with the club, with Solskjaer working with United's staff to fine-tune targets.
"Football is going to get back to normality at one point, and it's very important we're ready when that happens," the United manager told Sky Sports.
"We want to be the best at everything, and of course now is a chance to spend more time, you discuss players, discuss plans."
Asked whether United can exploit the transfer market when football returns, Solskjaer said: "Who knows how the market is going to react to this? Who knows which clubs need to sell players?
"There might be just a ..

Man Utd must be ready for return to 'normality', says Solskjaer

Iran on Wednesday reported 121 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing its overall number of fatalities to 3,993.
In the past 24 hours, 1,997 new cases of COVID-19 infection were detected in Iran, state news agency IRNA quoted health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour as saying.
That put the number of confirmed cases at 64,586, he added.
Iran, which announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19, is by far the worst hit by the pandemic in the Middle East, according to official tolls.  But there has been speculation abroad that the real number of deaths and infections in the country could be higher.
Jahanpour said that while 3,956 patients were in critical condition, those who recovered had reached 29,812.
The spokesman added that Iran had carried out 220,975 COVID-19 tests to date, according to IRNA.
In a bid to halt COVID-19, Iran has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses and imposed inter-city travel bans, while refraining from a lockdown.
Iran's President ...

Iran says coronavirus deaths near 4,000

More than 750,000 coronavirus cases have been recorded across Europe, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources at 1100 GMT.
That accounts for more than half of the cases identified worldwide so far, although the official figures probably reflect a fraction of the actual number.  With at least 750,276 cases and 58,627 recorded, Europe Europe remains the continent hit hardest by the pandemic.
To date, 1,438,291 cases of novel coronavirus have been recorded across the world, and 82,726 deaths.
Italy has been the worst-hit country, recording 17,127 fatalities out of 135,586 cases.
Spain has recorded 14,555 deaths from 146,690 cases.

Coronavirus cases recorded in Europe pass 750,000: AF

Mexico's main football league will launch an eSports tournament on Friday with professional players as the global pandemic sees stadiums shut and physical play suspended.
The competition will be a "replica" of 2020's closing tournament, organized over 17 days with nine maches daily and culminating in a finale, the Liga MX said Tuesday.
"There will be general rankings with, in the end, eight teams qualified for the play-offs," said the Liga MX, who were forced to halt the season on the pitch at the end of the competition's 10th day to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Each of the 18 clubs will choose three players from their professional teams to participate in the virtual tournament, with each meeting seeing a one-on-one match.
The games will be played in two periods of six minutes, with a half-time of less than three minutes, and will be broadcast across the main Mexican TV channels.
Two championship days are scheduled for the week.
In the eventuality that physical play is able to ...

With no physical matches, Mexican footballers play online

The Czech Republic is past the worst of the coronavirus and has managed to stop an uncontrolled spread of the COVID-19 disease, the health minister said on Wednesday.
"We can get ready for a gradual controlled return to normal life," Minister Adam Vojtech told reporters.
"We are certainly past the worst. At the same time, we have succeeded in protecting hospitals and intensive care units which still have reserves."
Czech officials reported 195 new cases on Tuesday, down from a peak of 375 on March 27.
At the same time, Tuesday saw a record-high 7,434 tests compared with just over 5,000 tests on March 27.
"Recent data show a break in the trend," said Ladislav Dusek, head of the Czech Institute of Health Information and Statistics.
"This is a clear signal that... the uncontrolled spread of the disease has stopped."
Dusek told reporters that on Tuesday the total number of confirmed cases made up 5.1 percent of total tests carried out, following a steady decline from 6.7 percent in late ..

Virus under control in Czech Republic, says minister

Italy's former European indoor champion Donato Sabia has died from coronavirus aged 56, days after the pandemic claimed the life of his father, the Italian athletics federation (Fidal) announced on Wednesday.
Sabia won 800m gold at the 1984 championships in Gothenburg, and finished fifth and seventh at the distance at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics respectively.
He had been hospitalised in intensive care for some days in his native Potenza, in the southern Basilicata region.
"A tragedy within a tragedy, Donato was a person you couldn't help but love," said Fidal president Alfio Giomi confirming Sabia's death days after that of his father from Covid-19.
Sabia was president of Fidal's regional committee in Basilicata.
Over 17,000 people have died in Italy as a result of the virus, but Sabia's death was only the 15th recorded in Basilicata.

Italy's 1984 indoor European champion Sabia dies aged 56

Despite "positive signs" from some countries, it is too early to scale back measures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization's European office said Wednesday.
"Now is not the time to relax measures," WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told a news conference.
"It is the time to once again double and triple our collective efforts to drive towards suppression with the whole support of society." Kluge called on "all countries" to strengthen their efforts in three main areas.
Firstly, protecting health service workers, including training and making sure they have the necessary support structures.
Second, authorities needed to focus on stopping and slowing the spread of COVID-19 by using public health measures aimed at separating "healthy people from suspected and probable cases".
Third, governments and authorities had to continuously communicate with communities to make people conform to "current and possible future measures".
Several ...

'Now is not the time to relax measures': WHO Europe

Sevilla said Wednesday they planned to join Barcelona and other top Spanish clubs in slashing players' wages by up to 70% in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
With Spain's La Liga suspended indefinitely and club income sharply reduced, Sevilla said their decision would affect first team players as well as other playing staff and back room staff.
That means "a reduction of 70per cent of working hours for staff and men's and women's first team players and the reserves," the club said, adding that players had agreed to the terms.
Sevilla join Barcelona, Espanyol and other top clubs in taking advantage of a government scheme known by its initials ERTE that authorises salary cuts by up to 70 per cent in extreme circumstances.
La Liga, which estimates that clubs stand to lose around one billion euros if the season is not resumed, backs the move by clubs hoping to minimise the economic consequences of the virus.
Javier Tebas, La Liga president, said Tuesday he expected most Spanish clubs 

AFP

AFP

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