This week began with confusion after Boris Johnson announced a “relaxation” of the UK’s lockdown rules that left most people scratching their heads.
But hopes were raised that the restrictions might be eased more quickly amid reports that an unnamed English city has been selected for a mass coronavirus testing experiment.
The housing market is already back in business after estate agents got the go-ahead to reopen from Wednesday, but experts are warning that property prices are likely to be volatile as the pandemic takes its economic toll.
Those financial fears were underlined by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has warned that the UK is likely to face a “significant recession” as a result of to the disruption caused by Covid-19.
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Just as night follows day, Donald Trump this week took exception to journalists’ questions – again. The president stormed out of a press briefing organised to celebrate his handling of the coronavirus on the same day that the coronavirus death toll in the US passed 80,000.
However, the president is nothing but resourceful when it comes to changing the subject, a tactic he almost pulled off by floating his mysterious “Obamagate” theory.
In other world news, at least 19 Iranian sailors were killed when a new anti-ship missile being tested in the Gulf of Oman hit a support vessel – an error that has raised questions about the readiness of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces amid fluctuating tensions with the US.
Over in Latin America, Brazilian and Mexican leaders continued to downplay the coronavirus crisis, even as both countries’ death tolls hit record highs.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization warned that coronavirus “may never go away” – a prediction that means customers at a newly launched drive-through strip club in Oregon may be confined to their cars for the foreseeable future.
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