Darktrace risks being dragged into US probe into billionaire Mike Lynch February 17, 2019 UK cybersecurity darling Darktrace is at risk of being pulled into the US fraud case against tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his former Autonomy colleague Sushovan Hussain. US court documents show that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents held a voluntary interview with Darktrace’s co-chief executive Nicole Eagan, as first reported by the Sunday Telegraph. Read [...]
China: How George Osborne’s ‘golden era’ lost its shine February 17, 2019 When former chancellor George Osborne visited China in 2015, he pronounced it the start of a “golden era” of Sino-British relations. Britain threw itself into tens-of-billions of pounds worth of trade deals, Osborne turned a blind eye to a litany of Chinese human rights abuses and President Xi Jinping even joined David Cameron for a pint [...]
Amey eyes escape route from Birmingham road repair PFI contract February 17, 2019 Outsourcer Amey is reportedly approaching an agreement with Birmingham city council to pay it £200m to escape a long-term PFI contract to repair roads in the city. Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, which owns Amey, has been trying to offload the firm since last year, but it needs the contract out of the way before this [...]
Citigroup closes in on £1.2bn purchase of Canary Wharf headquarters February 17, 2019 Citigroup is in talks to buy its Canary Wharf headquarters for a reported £1.2bn in a major show of confidence in London’s status as a global financial centre. Citi is looking to secure the purchase of the 25 Canada Square skyscraper, which it currently leases, from owner AGC Equity Partners in a bid to double [...]
Jeremy Wright says social media firms could face criminal sanctions over harmful online content February 17, 2019 Culture secretary Jeremy Wright has said social media firms face criminal sanctions if they fail to protect users from harmful content, ahead of a visit to the US on the issue of internet safety. Next week Wright will head to the US with digital minister Margot James, where he expects to meet "senior people" at the [...]
John McDonnell says Labour has ‘held the party together on Brexit’ as rumours of split harden February 17, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said the Labour leadership has "held the party together" over Brexit as he addressed reports of an impending split. Jeremy Corbyn's number two said it would be "ridiculous" for the party to be divided over Brexit, saying there was "no need to split". However, a number of MPs, including former [...]
UK on the ‘wrong side’ of international law over Saudi arms sales, Lords committee rules February 16, 2019 The UK is on the “wrong side” of international law in exporting arms to Saudi Arabia for the conflict in Yemen, a House of Lords Committee has said. The cross-party international relations committee urged the government to prepare to suspend the licensing of some arms to the Saudi-led coalition. Read more: BAE Chairman: Britain should be [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s planned visit to China next week is called off February 16, 2019 Chancellor Philip Hammond's trip to China has been called off after reports that a speech the UK defence secretary made has angered the Chinese government. Hammond was set to hold trade talks with senior officials in Beijing during a brief visit next week, but a spokesperson for the Treasury has said: ""No trip was ever announced [...]
US Vice President calls for EU to leave Iran nuclear deal and for countries to be vigilant to Huawei security threat February 16, 2019 US Vice President Mike Pence has urged European countries to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and remain “vigilant” to the security threat posed by Huawei. European officials defied the US demands and said the continent stood united in commitment to the deal, which prevents Iran from working on its nuclear programme in return for [...]
Children’s ‘killer car seats’ found for sale online even though they’re illegal February 16, 2019 Children's car seats that were made illegal in the UK in 2014 have been found for sale online according to consumer group, Which. The illegal car seats offer "almost no protection" and were found to fail to protect children in car crashes as slow as 30mph after a crash test carried out by Surrey Trading Standards [...]