Energy giant Saudi Aramco has sought to distance itself from accusations of "racism" triggered by images of a migrant worker wearing a dispenser to hand out sanitizer to white-collar staff.

Britain's economy will suffer a "significant but temporary" impact from the coronavirus, finance minister Rishi Sunak said Wednesday in the government's first post-Brexit budget dominated by action to tackle the crisis.

Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Wednesday to do everything it takes to tame the coronavirus crisis, signalling she is even ready to suspend the cherished dogma of keeping Germany's budget balanced.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday pledged to mobilize "all the tools" available to the bloc to lessen the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic, which has roiled markets across the globe.

Italy prepared Tuesday to allow families to suspend mortgage and some tax payments to help deal with a coronavirus outbreak that has killed 463 people and forced the government to restrict movement for its 60 million citizens.

Argentina has finalised a proposal to restructure some $69 billion of the country's massive public debt, the government said Tuesday, hoping to delay the maturity of some institutional loans and reduce the amount owed to private creditors.

Stock markets in the energy-rich Gulf states made a strong rebound in opening trade Tuesday, led by the Saudi bourse which jumped 5.6 percent, as oil prices bounced after heavy losses.
Energy giant Aramco, which dominates the Saudi Tadawul market, gained 5.5 percent after a series of sessions in the red where it tumbled below the price where it listed last December.

The soaring price of pork and other food kept Chinese consumer inflation close to eight-year highs in February, official data showed Tuesday, as authorities battled the coronavirus outbreak.

The World Health Organization warned Monday that the threat of a coronavirus pandemic is "very real" as financial markets tanked, oil prices crashed and millions of people in northern Italy were put under lockdown.

US aviation regulators plan to require Boeing to rewire all 737 MAX aircraft before allowing the troubled planes fly again, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The MAX has been grounded worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after take-off last March, less than six months after the same model was involved in a similar fatal accident in Indonesia.
