Europe

LONDON, June 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Airways is selling some of its multi-million-pound art collection to raise cash to help it through the coronavirus pandemic.

The collection includes art by Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley and Peter Doig, with one work believed to have been valued at more than £1m.

It is understood at least 10 pieces have been identified for sale, although exactly which ones is unclear.

BA has seen a collapse in air travel and is set to cut thousands of jobs.

LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s share of the oil market is set to rise this decade to its highest since the 1980s as investment in production elsewhere dries up in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, J.P. Morgan said in a report.

Oil prices have plunged more than 40% this year after an unprecedented collapse in demand, prompting oil and gas companies to announce spending cuts that will total $625 million by the end of the decade, according to the Wall Street bank.

BERLIN, June 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — German airline Lufthansa has said it will cut 22,000 jobs as it struggles to deal with the slump in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The carrier predicted a slow recovery in demand and expected to have about 100 fewer aircraft after the crisis.

Lufthansa said half the job cuts would be in Germany. It hopes to agree the measures with unions by June 22.

It added that it hoped to minimise redundancies through short-time working and crisis agreements.

LONDON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said Thursday that the British government is not gambling with the European Union (EU) over Brexit despite the stalled trade talks between the two sides.

Instead, Gove said, London is holding Brussels to account for its commitment to secure a zero-tariff, zero-quota deal and to use its best endeavours.

"We hope that the EU will do that," said Gove, who was in the House of Commons (lower house of parliament) to answer questions on the progress on Brexit talks.

PRAGUE, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The prime minister of the Visegrad Group (V4), consisting of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, on Thursday called for a "fair" distribution of the European Union (EU)'s recovery fund.

The appeal came at a meeting among them in Lednice of the Czech Republic. The main topic of the meeting was the preparation of a common position on the future European budget and the (EU) multiannual financial framework, according to a press release from the Czech government.

LONDON (AP) — The British economy shrank by a colossal 20.4% in April, the first full month that the country was in its coronavirus lockdown, official figures showed Friday.

A large decline had been expected given that much of the economy was shuttered as part of the lockdown, which was put in place on March 23.

Following on from March’s 5.8% decline, the U.K. economy has contracted by around a quarter in just two months.

Paris; 12 June 2020 (UMMN): The European Court of Human Rights has ruled on Thursday that France violated the freedom of expression of pro-Palestinian activists who were convicted for campaigning against Israeli goods, and ordered French government to pay 101,000 euros ($115,000) in overall damages to a group of 11 activists.

The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement hailed the court's decision.

MOSCOW, June 11./TASS/: Vice-Speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house) Irina Yarovaya has excoriated House Republicans over their latest scheme they are cooking up to impose "the toughest sanctions ever proposed by Congress against the Chinese Communist Party, Russia and the Putin regime, and Iran," by labelling Moscow a "State Sponsor of Terrorism."

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Brent oil futures with delivery in August 2020 fell by 5.6% to $39.4 a barrel on the London-based ICE on Thursday, according to trading data.

WTI futures lost 6.5% down to $37.18 per barrel.

Brent futures later lost 5.9% to $33.27 a barrel, while WTI futures declined 6.8% to $37.06 per barrel.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Moscow citizens have started developing immunity to the novel coronavirus infection and some 17.4% of those tested have anti-bodies to the infection, Deputy Moscow Mayor Anastasiya Rakova said on Thursday.