Facebook’s bots labelled the US Declaration of Independence as ‘hate speech’, right before Independence Day July 6, 2018 When a Texan newspaper uploaded small sections of the US Declaration of Independence to its Facebook page this week, it didn’t expect to get called out by the tech giant for hate speech. Facebook’s algorithmic censors, which monitor posts for violations of its community guidelines, prevented the Liberty County Vindicator from uploading an extract from [...]
Stobart finance boss steps down ahead of contentious AGM July 6, 2018 Stobart Group’s finance chief has announced that he will step down ahead of this morning’s general meeting, in which the company faces a battle with activist investors. Richard Laycock will not go up for re-election, but will continue to support the business. The board is searching for an interim replacement. The news comes as Stobart [...]
Samsung and LG warn that second quarter profits are likely to miss expectations, as smartphone sales slow July 6, 2018 Two of South Korea’s biggest electronics companies, Samsung and LG, have issued warnings to shareholders that operating profits for the second quarter of 2018 are likely to miss estimates. Estimates released this morning by Samsung said that earnings growth had slowed to its most sluggish rate in more than a year. Operating profit for the [...]
Trade war erupts as China fights back against US tariffs July 6, 2018 Two of the largest economies in the world have descended into a trade war, after China followed up on its threat to retaliate against the $34bn (£25.7bn) US tariffs. Minutes after the US put its long-threatened duties into effect just after midnight on Friday morning, a spokesperson for China’s ministry of commerce said it would [...]
MPs concerned by business rates as worst year for high street looms July 6, 2018 The influential chair of the treasury select committee has expressed concern for the effect business rates have on retailers, as new figures show this year could be the worst for the high street on record. MP Nicky Morgan said today that it was clear bricks and mortar stores are “struggling to remain competittive against online [...]
DEBATE: Forget the Brexit dividend, should we pin our economic hopes on an England World Cup victory? July 6, 2018 Forget the Brexit dividend, should we pin our economic hopes on an England World Cup victory? Alastair Benn, news editor of Reaction, says YES. When Eric Dier swept home that penalty against Colombia, the whole pub erupted in joy. And I fell into a strange reverie. It seemed as if the dull present had been [...]
Tour de France: Chris Froome faces toughest challenge of his career following salbutamol case fallout July 5, 2018 In a way, when Chris Froome takes to the Tour de France start line at Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile in the west of the country on Saturday he will have already won. After nine months of conjecture, criticism and doubt the 33-year-old Team Sky rider had his anti-doping case dropped by cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, on [...]
World Cup 2018: Are Sweden, England’s quarter-final opponents, another Iceland? July 5, 2018 On Saturday England’s burgeoning hopes of long-awaited international success hinge on seeing off unfancied Scandinavian opponents who are widely seen as game but ultimately inferior. Sound familiar? Two years ago it was Iceland who knocked England off their pedestal with a 2-1 victory in Nice. It proved the pinnacle of a run to the quarter-finals [...]
How I overcame my phobia of steel to fall in love with the metallic look of the summer July 5, 2018 Despite once falling in love with Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Frosted, I’ve never felt bracelet watches, particularly those in steel, were for me. The Frosted, an incredibly successful collaboration with jewellery designer Carolina Bucci, was simply the exception that proved the rule, the sole outlier in my disdain for a style that I believe stemmed [...]
Credit Suisse fined $30m for corrupt hiring of Chinese government officials’ ‘princelings’ July 5, 2018 Credit Suisse has been fined $29.8m (£22.5m) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for employing so-called “princeling” relatives of Chinese government officials to “corruptly” influence them. The Swiss bank engaged in a form of bribery when securing the employment for “relationship hires” or “referral hires”, bypassing normal hiring processes, the SEC said in [...]