Markets digest Omicron: After worst equity day of the year on Friday, we are in for a bumpy ride this week November 29, 2021 The wider question with respect to Friday’s market collapse and the worst day for equity markets this year, as well as the 13 fall in oil prices, is not so much as to whether it was justified or not, but whether it marks a sea change in market sentiment when it comes to the economic [...]
Brussels told to extend EU firms’ access to City’s derivative market November 28, 2021 A host of influential European banking groups have called for continued access to London’s lucrative derivatives market – weakening Brussels’ hand in negotiations over post-Brexit financial services. The European Union has so far only allowed temporary access to London for companies housed within the bloc, but over the weekend a letter emerged from groups including [...]
Emails between Staley and Epstein are an ‘uncomfortable’ read, warns Barclays chief November 28, 2021 The chairman of British lender Barclays has told shareholders to brace for reading emails between the bank’s former boss Jes Staley and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Nigel Higgins has reportedly told investors that emails between Staley and Epstein make for an “uncomfortable” read. The Mail on Sunday first reported the story. Staley unexpectedly quit [...]
Police in Kenya refuse to release post-mortem report into death of murdered BBC staffer Kate Mitchell November 28, 2021 Calls are growing in Kenya for the police to release the post-mortem report into the death of Briton Kate Michell, the BBC staffer who was murdered in her Nairobi hotel room just over a week ago. Dan Mauti, the father of the prime suspect implicated in the killing, Tamati Mauti, told various media in Kenya [...]
Saturday Read: Two sustainable fashion gurus on a mission to make soil sexy in London November 27, 2021 Far from providing a pivotal road map, COP26 has at least uncovered a few tangible solutions for multiple industries to move forward. For the first time ever, fossil fuels have been noted and added to the final agreement, albeit rather half heartedly, with a little help from India and China. Another key take-away [...]
Brexit has made our life more difficult, say two thirds of all small businesses across Britain November 27, 2021 Around half of UK SMEs believe that Brexit has had a negative impact on the UK’s society as a whole awhile 64 per cent believe that it has negatively influenced the UK economy. Moreover, one in four said Brexit has affected their business directly, according to new data shared with City A.M. this weekend. Cloud [...]
Stephen Sondheim dies aged 91: One of theatre’s ‘greatest geniuses’ November 27, 2021 The creator of the musical Sweeney Todd died on Friday morning at his home in Connecticut. Stephen Sondheim has been hailed as one of theatre’s “greatest geniuses” after his death at the age of 91. The American composer’s death was announced by his friend and lawyer, Richard Pappas, who described it as sudden, according to [...]
Omicron: Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna race to tweak Covid vaccines against new Coronavirus variant November 27, 2021 Work is underway to look at tweaking vaccines against the new concerning strain of coronavirus that has sparked travel bans. The variant, named Omicron and designated a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has reached Belgium after being discovered in South Africa. The WHO warned that preliminary evidence suggests the variant has [...]
WTO cancels summit with 164 governments as concerns over new Covid variant grow November 27, 2021 Following new travel restrictions in Switzerland, following the emergence of a worrying new coronavirus variant, the World Trade Organisation has cancelled its conference of government ministers set to open on Tuesday in Geneva. The MC12 conference at WTO headquarters in Geneva was set to take up key issues such as a long-awaited agreement on subsidies [...]
‘We are sick of double-speak’: Furious French govt lashes out at UK as Channel migrant crisis turns into full-scale row November 27, 2021 A French government spokesman has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of “double-speak” as the fallout of a dinghy that sank on Wednesday, with the loss of 27 lives, increasingly turns into a full-scale diplomatic row. France reacted with fury after Boris Johnson publicly called on Paris to take back people who survive the Channel crossing [...]