Ofo in £7.9m spot of hot water over unpaid bike bills September 2, 2018 Floating bike-sharing startup Ofo is being sued for defaulting on around 70m yuan (£7.9m) in payments to its supplier Shanghai Phoenix Bicycles, the company’s Shanghai-listed parent said in a filing late on Friday. Shanghai Phoenix petitioned a court in Beijing last week to demand Ofo repay 68.15m yuan as well as 1.87m yuan in losses incurred [...]
Tech giants to testify before US Congress over Russian interference September 2, 2018 Top bosses from Twitter and Facebook are set to testify before US lawmakers on Wednesday, as part of a probe into how Silicon Valley polices online content. Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey will attend a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on 5 September to give evidence in a hearing on social [...]
Sky eyes Israel and Europe as it expands startup footprint September 2, 2018 Broadcaster Sky has announced plans to ramp up its startup investment and commercial partnership activity through a series of investments. The company will open a new office in Berlin to focus on companies in Germany and Scandinavia, and invest $4m (£3.1m) into Remagine Ventures, an Israeli venture capital fund based in Tel Aviv. Sky’s group [...]
Liam Fox says Treasury’s no-deal Brexit forecasts are ‘hard to swallow’ September 2, 2018 International trade secretary Liam Fox has said Treasury forecasts over a no-deal Brexit are 'hard to swallow', highlighting critical divisions in the Tory party over Brexit. Last month Philip Hammond, the chancellor, warned there would be "large fiscal consequences" if the UK crashed out of the European Union, including that Britain could end up borrowing an [...]
Apple reaches a new self-driving car milestone in its first road accident September 2, 2018 A test vehicle from Apple's self-driving car programme was involved in a road accident near its Silicon Valley headquarters last month, making Apple the latest tech giant to join a recent spate of autonomous driving incidents. One of Apple's Lexus RX 450h self-driving vehicles was preparing to join a motorway in Sunnyvale on 24 August when it [...]
Chinese online retail tycoon released after US sexual conduct charge September 2, 2018 The billionaire leader of a Chinese web retail giant was arrested in the US on Friday on a charge of criminal sexual conduct, before being released a day later. Richard Liu, the founder of JD.com – one of China’s biggest online retailers, and a major rival to web behemoth Alibaba – was taken into custody [...]
Institute of Directors appoints new chair as its bids to move away from racism scandal September 2, 2018 The Institute of Directors (IoD) announced today it has appointed corporate governance expert Charlotte Valeur as its new chair, following the ousting of previous chair Barbara Judge amid bullying and racism accusations. Valeur, who founded private equity firm Brook Street Partners in 2003, has a background in finance with stints at Societe Generale, BNP-Paribas and SG Warburg. [...]
Theresa May vows no compromises on Brexit plan as Tory party conference looms September 2, 2018 Theresa May has said she will stick to her guns over Brexit and not "give in" to demands for a second referendum. The Prime Minister said she will "not be pushed" into compromises on her Chequers agreement that are "not in the national interest". The deal, thrashed out over the summer, would seek to impose close [...]
Petrol station merger could drive up fuel prices, watchdog finds September 1, 2018 Motor Fuel Group's (MFG) takeover of petrol station supplier MRH could drive up prices, the competition watchdog has found. An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the merger could increase fuel prices at 29 locations across the UK. Read more: Petrol prices soar to four-year high on back of weak pound Competition provided [...]
World’s biggest trade deal agreement set for November September 1, 2018 A agreement on the world's biggest trade deal will be made in November, according to Singapore's trade minister. A broad deal on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Austrailia, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and China will be made at a mid-November summit [...]