France enters second week of lockdown as COVID-19 deaths rise

Government is urging people to be more disciplined and stay indoors to stop the spread – 100,000 police officers have been deployed to enforce the restrictions.

France is entering a second week of lockdown as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise.

The French government urged people to be more disciplined and stay indoors to stop the spread while 100,000 police officers were deployed to enforce the restrictions.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reports from Montmoreau-Saint-Cybard in western France.

Neiman Marcus weighs bankruptcy as debt, store closures slam retailer

Neiman Marcus is reportedly considering bankruptcy as the luxury retailer wrestles with massive debts and coronavirus-related store closures.

The Dallas-based company is in discussions with lenders about filing for bankruptcy, which could allow it to keep operating and reduce its debts while it works to cut costs, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Neiman Marcus has not made formal decisions about whether to declare bankruptcy as a $4.3 billion debt load weighs on the company, according to the news service. The plans could reportedly change depending on factors such as the coronavirus pandemic, which has slammed the retail industry by forcing millions of consumers to hunker down at home.

Neiman Marcus, which runs Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call and Horchow stores as well as its own namesake shops, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

Neiman Marcus joined other large retailers in temporarily closing its stores last week as the coronavirus spread across the US and Europe. The company is expecting business to suffer because of the closures even though it is continuing online sales amid the global pandemic, Bloomberg reported.

The retailer’s debts reportedly exploded thanks in part to its 2013 sale to Ares Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Neiman Marcus made a restructuring deal with creditors last year that gave the company more time to turn itself around, according to Bloomberg.

Norwegian unemployment doubles in just one week to 10.9% amid virus outbreak

OSLO, March 24 (Reuters) – Norwegian unemployment has risen five-fold this month as companies announced mass layoffs and shutdowns amid efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s labour agency said on Tuesday.

Registered unemployment rose to a post-World War Two high of 10.9%, up from 5.3% a week ago and just 2.3% at the end of February, data from Norway’s Labour and Welfare Agency (NAV) showed. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)

Japan's Aso: Emerging nations in need of financial help should go to IMF

TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) – Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday emerging nations’ debt should not be bailed out and instead they should should go through consultations with the International Monetary Fund.

Speaking after attending the G7 finance leaders’ conference call, Aso also said the Tokyo metropolitan government will consider how to foot costs associated with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Takahiko Wada, writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Halliburton will reduce spending below earlier $1.2 billion budget

March 24 (Reuters) – Oilfield services firm Halliburton is accelerating its cost-cutting and will reduce spending below its original $1.2 billion budget, its finance chief said on Tuesday.

The company did not disclose a new spending target, but is testing scenarios including a 60-65% reduction in oilfield activity, Chief Financial Officer Lance Loeffler told investors on a webcast.

Russia to close nightclubs, cinemas amid coronavirus

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian government has told the country’s regions to close nightclubs and cinemas to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

It also asked officials to prepare a list of Russian citizens willing to return to Russia from other countries hit by the coronavirus, the government said.

Quebec’s number of coronavirus cases nearly tripled in one day: what’s going on?

Quebec had a reported 628 cases of the novel coronavirus in the province on Monday — nearly tripling its number of cases in one day and currently the highest number in the country.

The surge in cases is up 409 from Sunday.

So how did this happen?

Quebec Premier François Legault says one of the factors why Quebec is seeing a spike is because the province’s spring break takes place at an earlier date compared to other provinces.

Quebecers started returning home from travel abroad before anyone else in the country.

Cambodia reports four new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 91

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia reported four new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 91, the health ministry said.

The four new cases included two American and two British nationals on a boat, which the health ministry identified as the Viking Cruise Journey, docked in Kampong Cham province, north of the capital, Phnom Penh, the ministry said in a statement.

Stock Alert: LexinFintech Climbs As Quarterly Revenue Beats View

Shares of Chinese online consumption and consumer finance platform LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. (LX) are up more than 20% Tuesday morning after reporting better-than-expected revenue in the fourth-quarter.

LX is currently trading at $9.84. It has traded in the range of $7.92- $16.93 in the last one year.

Net income for the fourth quarter was RMB518 million or $74.4 million or $0.19 per share, a decrease of 24.8% from RMB688 million in the corresponding quarter last year. Excluding items earnings of $0.41 missed average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $0.30.

Operating revenue in the fourth-quarter increased to $452.19 million or RMB3.15 billion from RMB2.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, on increase in online direct sales and financial services income. Analyst were expecting revenue of $441.75 million.