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The Unite union has urged Ford to convert its UK engine plants to making electric cars and battery technology.Currently Ford makes engines for the Ford Fiesta and Jaguar Land Rover vehicles at Bridgend in South Wales and diesel engines in Dagenham in Essex.

Production of engines for Jaguar Land Rover at the Ford Engine plant in Bridgend will end in September 2020.Half of the workforce of 1,930 at Bridgend works on that engine.At the moment Ford Bridgend makes half a million engines a year for Ford's own models and a quarter of a million for JLR.After 2020 the number of engines being made on the site will be just a quarter of present production levels.

Figures from industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed sales of new diesel cars fell 17.1% last year as higher taxes and pollution fears hit demand.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long provided other world leaders with a template for authoritarian rule. Now he faces a new test: Whether his top-down system can survive the coronavirus pandemic.

"Let's not rely on our Russian luck," he said. "Please do not think, as we often do: 'Oh, this will not touch me.' It can touch everyone. And then what is happening today in many Western countries, both in Europe and overseas, could become our immediate future."

"We'll evaluate the situation and based only on the recommendations from doctors and specialists we will decide on a new date," Putin said.

Every restaurant and pub in the United Kingdom has been ordered to close as the country seeks to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. On the outskirts of Birmingham, one award-winning restaurant is riding out the crisis by assisting people in need and accepting help from German supermarket chain Aldi.

The UK government has since pledged to pay 80% of employee wages during the crisis, but at the time Aldi's intervention was a "miracle" for Hampton Manor. "That was a huge moment of relief for us," said James Hill.

"It's advertised as one-for-one model but in reality we'll probably give out more meals than we are selling," said James Hill. "The goal is to encourage people to support their community by buying from us," he added.

Just over a week ago, President Vladimir Putin said Russia had the spread of coronavirus "under control." Now the country is changing tactics, as authorities acknowledge they are gearing up for a major Covid-19 outbreak.

On the morning following his speech, the Russian government announced it would seal its borders and cancel all international flights, with the exception of repatriation planes that are expected to bring thousands more Russians home from hard-hit areas.

Those measures are the strictest Russia has seen so far, as its official coronavirus toll began to increase rapidly. On Thursday, health officials reported the largest one-day increase to date with 182 new cases, bringing the total number to 840. Three people have died of Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought much economic activity around the world to a halt, making a global recession appear inevitable — it could become a depression if policy makers don't act fast enough, according to Joachim Fels of Pacific Investment Management Co. 

On Sunday, the Federal Reserve sprang into action in an attempt to save the US economy from fallout amid the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate to near zero and said that it will increase bond holdings by $700 billion, among other measures. 

The task at hand for governments and central banks continues to be that the recession "stays relatively short-lived and doesn't morph into an economic depression," Fels said. This will require a "very large fiscal response" to support individuals and businesses adversely affected by the crisis, he wrote.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday lambasted Republican senators who had objected to provisions in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that they said would incentivize unemployment, accusing them of fixating on minor perks for workers amid a crisis.

"Here we are in the midst of the worst economic downturn perhaps since the Great Depression, tens of millions of people are worried to death about how they're going to feed their families, pay their rent, prevent a foreclosure," Sanders added. "And these guys are just staying up nights worrying about low-income workers getting a few bucks more."

"You have all kinds of people here who voted, including Sen. Graham and the others, they voted for a trillion dollars in tax breaks for the 1% and large corporations and now they're really worried that a low-income worker might receive extended unemployment plus $600 a week," Sanders said.

Last week, the country saw its cases spike more than 40% in just 24 hours. This week, the number of daily cases continues to rise — even as Americans practice social distancing by working from home, limiting outdoor excursions, and staying 6 feet away from one another.

They estimated only 12% of coronavirus cases (including asymptomatic ones) had been reported in the US as of March 15, which would mean about 29,000 infections had gone undiagnosed by that time. The US has reported more than 69,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths as of Thursday.

The most extreme model predicted that up to 1.2 million people could die. By comparison, a typical flu season in the US kills between 11,000 and 95,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The federal government hasn't issued a single stimulus check yet, but scammers are already trying to steal the money from Americans.

"Do not pay anyone who promises that they can expedite or obtain a payment or a loan for you," James continued. "If you are eligible for relief, you will not need to make any up-front payment or pay any fee to receive a stimulus payment."

The payments will start phasing out for individuals with adjusted gross incomes of more than $75,000. The amount will then be reduced by $5 for every additional $100 of adjusted gross income, and those making more than $99,000 will not receive anything.

A Twitter account that tweeted a call to violence and claimed to be representing the position of "Antifa" was in fact created by a known white supremacist group, Twitter said Monday. The company removed the account.

"This account violated our platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. "We took action after the account sent a Tweet inciting violence and broke the Twitter Rules."

The revelation of the account comes as President Donald Trump increasingly blames left-wing activists for violence occurring at protests across America.

Twitter says President Donald Trump has violated its rule against glorifying violence and has affixed a warning label to one of his tweets — the first time such action has been taken against the president's account.

This means the tweet will not be removed, but will be hidden behind a notice that says "this Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible." Users can view it if they click past the notice.

Later on Friday morning, Trump resumed his criticisms of Twitter and tweeted that "it will be regulated." The official White House Twitter account also posted the same tweet after it was flagged by Twitter in an apparent attempt from the Trump administration to further test the platform's rules.

On Saturday, former President George W. Bush released a short, heartfelt video offering words of support for a nation rocked by a staggering loss of lives and livelihoods during the coronavirus pandemic. In less than three minutes, a somber-voiced Bush expressed gratitude to the nation's medical professionals, called on Americans to protect their neighbors by keeping their distance from them and urged us to show empathy and kindness to all.

Come Sunday morning, President Donald Trump shared his view on the video in which he, true to form, made it all about himself and his grievances.

True, Trump has expressed some concern for the suffering of our fellow Americans and their loved ones -- but at callously low levels.

Singapore has introduced new laws governing social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak that could see offenders serve six months in jail.

Those who do not keep at least one meter (3.2 feet) apart, or who meet in groups of more than 10 people outside of work or school, could face a fine of up to 10,000 Singapore dollars ($7,000) and/or up to six months' imprisonment, according to a Ministry of Health statement posted Thursday.

sweeping series of measures that pushed the 106-year old central bank deeper into uncharted territory.

central bank said it will buy unlimited amounts of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to keep borrowing costs at rock-bottom levels -- and to help ensure chaotic markets function properly. It also set up programs to ensure credit flows to corporations as well as state and local governments.

unnerved investors are by the pandemic, the Fed’s moves failed to spark anything beyond a brief rally in stocks and corporate bonds Monday after weeks of staggering losses

The Federal Reserve is signaling it will do whatever it takes to save the coronavirus-ravaged American economy from a depression.

Taken together, the Fed said the new programs will provide up to $300 billion in new financing to an economy getting crushed by the crippling health restrictions aimed at fighting the pandemic. The Fed is going all out to prevent the health crisis from turning into a full-blown financial crisis.

US stock futures spiked on the new emergency actions from the Fed, which has already slashed interest rates to zero. Recession fears and a liquidity crunch have crashed the stock market over the past month and caused parts of the bond market to malfunction.

His final minutes in the custody of the police were captured in a devastating video, as he screamed "Mama." Floyd was pleading with the officers -- one of whom held a knee to his neck -- that he couldn't breathe, to the growing alarm of bystanders, one of whom recorded the scene. Floyd's mother is deceased. But in his cry -- "Mama!" -- I heard a twisted combination of hope and horror. Hope because in that moment he hoped the person who gave him life could save his life even in death. She'd undoubtedly done it before when she was alive. And horror because that's never how a black mama wants to hear her sacred title.

It's an unwavering declaration of faith. Whether they are three, 12, 20 or 46, like Floyd, children yell it when they're excited, proud, threatened or in pain.

I've heard that sound of panicked hope and belief that I could, and would, solve all problems and heal all wounds.

The record 3.3 million jobless claims reported Thursday mark the beginning of an economic crisis facing American workers and businesses — a slump, experts say, that will only end when the coronavirus pandemic is contained.

Although no official figures exist yet, the unemployment rate has likely jumped to at least 5.5 percent, says economist Martha Gimbel of Schmidt Futures, a level not seen since 2015 and up from 3.5 percent in February.“The most terrifying part about this is this is likely just the beginning of the layoffs,” Gimbel said

The bill, which gives most Americans checks worth $1,200 or more and provides billions in low-cost loans to businesses, is likely to provide a lifeline to workers and companies facing devastation, but it won’t stop a severe recession nor be adequate to sustain workers if the coronavirus health crisis lasts more than a month or two.

Trump made 50 false claims from March 2 through March 8, then 21 false claims from March 9 through March 15. Of those 71 false claims, 33 were related to the coronavirus. That is on top of some additional misleading claims from Trump about the coronavirus (we only count the false claims here), plus some false and misleading claims from members of his administration.

Trump is now averaging about 57 false claims per week since we started counting at CNN on July 8, 2019. From that date through March 15, he has made 2,062 false claims in all.