Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday he was determined that the United Kingdom would remain a global leader for asset management after Brexit.

“We’re beginning a new relationship with the EU. And as we do so, we are determined that the UK will remain a global leader for asset management,” Sunak said in comments to a conference organised by The Investment Association, an industry group.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hit its highest since March on Tuesday, rising towards $47 a barrel, as a third promising coronavirus vaccine spurred hopes of a quicker recovery in economic growth and oil demand next year.

AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID-19 shot was 70% effective in trials and could be up to 90% effective, giving the fight against the pandemic a third vaccine. This follows positive results from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

Brent crude rose 31 cents, or 0.7%, to $46.37 a barrel by 0914 GMT and hit a session high of $46.72, its highest since March 6.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief called on Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire in Afghanistan and said that any move to set up an Islamic emirate would affect the bloc’s support.

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative, told an Afghanistan fund-raising conference in Geneva: “A ceasefire should not be an outcome of the (peace) processs, it should accompany the process from today...Any attempt to restore an Islamic emirate would have an impact on our political and financial engagement.”

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin hit $19,000 on Tuesday for the first time in nearly three years and was just shy touching an all-time high of just under $20,000.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency has gained around 160% this year, fuelled by a demand for risk-on assets amid unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus, hunger for assets perceived as resistant to inflation, and expectations that cryptocurrencies would win mainstream acceptance.

Bitcoin has gained over 37% in November alone.

MADRID, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- King Felipe VI of Spain will remain in quarantine for 10 days and has been forced to cancel all his official engagements after being in contact on Sunday with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 one day later, the Spanish Royal Household confirmed Monday afternoon to the country's state TV network RTVE.

LONDON, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday a "tougher" tiered system of coronavirus restrictions to replace England's current lockdown when it ends on Dec. 2.

Under the "COVID Winter Plan" which Johnson revealed to the House of Commons (lower house of parliament), the revised three-tiered system "is designed to carry us safely to spring".

According to the prime minister, under Tier One, the lowest of the new three-tier system, people in the areas will be urged to work from home wherever possible.

GENEVA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- "There is now real hope that vaccines, in combination with other tried and tested public health measures, will help to end the pandemic," said the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday.

The WHO chief's remarks came after drugmaker AstraZeneca said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with Oxford University, was up to 90 percent effective, making it the third major drug company after Pfizer and Moderna to have reported late-stage data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

GENEVA (AP) — Top officials including the U.N. secretary-general and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were taking part in a largely virtual pledging conference for Afghanistan on Tuesday, the latest effort to drum up aid and support for a country where Taliban fighters are making inroads against the government.

The gathering in Geneva, co-hosted by Finland, was expected to draw diplomats, civil society advocates and international organizations from over 70 countries in the first such event in four years.

MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/: Moscow will send congratulations to the winner of the US presidential election when its official results are summed up and all legal issues are sorted out, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"The president-elect must be announced, the incumbent president himself must recognize the outcome of the election, and all lawsuits must be completed. Only after that the results will be officially summed up," he said. In his view, "it is obvious that this has not happened yet."

MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/: The launch of three Gonets-M communications satellites from the Plesetsk spaceport delayed over technical faults with the carrier rocket has been tentatively scheduled for December 3, a source in the domestic space industry told TASS on Monday.

"The launch of Gonets satellites has been tentatively rescheduled for December 3," the source said.