OPCW backs UK on Salisbury nerve agent attack April 12, 2018 The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has backed the UK over Salisbury, confirming that the samples it has tested met “the identity of the toxic chemical” named as Novichok by the government. The nerve agent – which the OPCW did not name in its statement – hospitalised former double agent Sergei Skripal, [...]
Fully electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles to zoom out as soon as 2020 April 12, 2018 Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz wants to challenge Tesla’s Model S by developing a purely battery-powered sedan about the size of its $90,000 (£63,362) S-Class. The new model is dubbed the EQ S and is also positioned to compete with the upcoming high-end electric Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ models. Mercedes management board chairperson Dieter Zetsche introduced [...]
Litecoin is trying to issue debit cards again April 12, 2018 The Litecoin Foundation partnered with TenX, a startup cryptocurrency payment platform, to try offering debit cards. This is the Litecoin Foundation’s second foray into plastic after a largely hyped up but failed venture last month when its payment processor LitePay ceased operations. “TenX recently added LTC to their wallets, and we are working with them [...]
Bitcoin price (BTC) jolts to life, climbing by $1,000 in an hour April 12, 2018 Bitcoin’s price rocketed up by about 17 per cent today to reach its highest price in more than two weeks. The cryptocurrency broke past the $7,000 and $8,000 barriers in a matter of about an hour for the first time since the end of March. At the time of writing, bitcoin was down from its [...]
UK manufacturing profitability reaches second-highest value to date April 12, 2018 Manufacturing profitability has reached its second-highest value to date, according to the latest analysis of private non-financial corporations. The results from the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) report show that UK manufacturing companies had a particularly strong performance in the fourth quarter of 2017, with returns rising from 13.8 per cent in quarter three [...]
UK launched cyber war against Islamic State April 12, 2018 The UK has carried out a cyber offensive against Islamic State, the director of intelligence agency GCHQ said today. Former MI5 agent Jeremy Fleming said in a speech today that the UK has conducted a “major offensive cyber-campaign” against the terrorist group. The BBC reported that Fleming had confirmed the cyber offensive in a speech [...]
Goldman Sachs boss Blankfein on Brexit: ‘I would have thought there would have been a worse outcome by now’ April 12, 2018 Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said that he is surprised that Brexit has not had a more negative effect on the UK economy. In an interview with Politico in Brussels today, Blankfein said that he was surprised at how little effect Brexit has had at this stage. “I am wrong because I would have [...]
Santander is launching blockchain-based international transfers for UK customers on Friday 13 April 2018 April 12, 2018 Santander is launching a blockchain-based international money transfer system that personal customers in the UK can use starting Friday. The Ripple-based service lets people complete international transfers within the same or next day — it’s dubbed Santander One Pay FX. “Blockchain technology offers tremendous opportunities to improve the services we offer our customers, and the [...]
One person lodged over 1,280 noise complaints with Heathrow in the first three months of 2018 April 12, 2018 One person complained about noise more than 1,280 times to Heathrow Airport in the first three months of the year. New figures for the first quarter show that the number of noise complaints to Heathrow Airport has dropped significantly, though there were still 13,396 lodged for the first three months of the year. The number [...]
Facebook ad spend rockets 62 per cent despite Cambridge Analytica controversy April 12, 2018 Ad spending on Facebook has continued to grow year-on-year despite the difficulties faced by the company and its owner, Mark Zuckerberg. Data released by technology company 4C revealed that ad spend is rocketing across all the major social media platforms. Facebook saw overall ad spend on its site go up by 62 per cent, creeping [...]