Britain?s financial watchdog is investigating whether Barclays chief executive Jes Staley disclosed full details of his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the bank said Thursday.

Air so foul it is hard to take a deep breath. Toxic chemicals seeping into the earth. Mothers giving birth to disabled children.

Asian shares were mostly lower Thursday as reported cases of the new virus jumped in China.

European Union health ministers were holding an emergency meeting Thursday on how to prevent the COVID-19 virus from further spreading across Europe.

The oil industry in South Sudan has left a landscape pocked with hundreds of open waste pits, the water and soil contaminated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals including mercury, manganese, and arsenic, according to four environmental reports obtained by The Associated Press.

France’s government calculates that the deadly virus outbreak in China will shave at least 1 percentage point off the growth this year of the world’s second largest economy, hurting global economic growth too.

A German businessman has been arrested on suspicion of delivering machinery to the Russian military in violation of European Union sanctions against the country, prosecutors said Thursday.

Airbus’ chief executive said Thursday that his company sees no short-term benefit from Boeing’s troubles with its grounded 737 MAX because the competing A320 is sold out years ahead.

The oil industry in South Sudan has left a landscape pocked with hundreds of open waste pits, the water and soil contaminated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals, according to four environmental reports obtained by The Associated Press.

FEBRUARY 7-13, 2020