Virgin Galactic signs private space travel deal with Nasa June 22, 2020 Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic said today it has signed a deal with Nasa to develop a programme to promote private missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Shares in Virgin Galactic spiked more than 14 per cent on the news. Virgin will help identify and train new candidates to become astronauts for commercial space flight, [...]
Startup Checkout.com triples valuation to $5.5bn in Series B funding round June 22, 2020 London fintech startup Checkout.com has tripled its valuation to $5.5bn following a $150m Series B funding round. The online international payments business, which powers the likes of Grab, Revolut, and Klarna, said the steep increase in value reflected a growing demand for its cross-border online payment product. Checkout.com’s online transaction numbers had already increased by [...]
A regulated blockchain can empower governments, corporations, and people June 22, 2020 For too long, blockchain has been regarded as an obscure technology powering an industry that cannot be trusted. According to a recent trust survey by Edelman, three in four people said they were not familiar with blockchain and cryptocurrencies, while 60 per cent believed that these technologies were not regulated enough. So how can we [...]
Katie Hopkins permanently banned from Twitter June 19, 2020 Right-wing commentator and media personality has been permanently banned from Twitter, the social media platform confirmed today. The micro-blogging site had suspended her account, but a spokesperson told the Huffington Post that this time the ban was for good. “In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our hateful conduct policy”, [...]
Apple says government had not told it about coronavirus app plans June 19, 2020 Apple has said that it was not aware that the UK was developing an NHS contact tracing app using technology the firm built with Google. Yesterday the government announced that it was dropping its own app in favour of using the Apple/Google technology, which is already in use in countries such as Germany. However, speaking [...]
As China gears up on the cyber offensive, we need herd immunity to boost our national resilience June 19, 2020 With a GDP of $13.5 trillion, dwarfing Britain’s by almost $12 trillion, China is the third most economically powerful country in the world after Russia and the US — for now at least. And as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts the world in a way not seen since the Second World War, China is seeking to [...]
Softbank Vision Fund expands minority founder programme to Europe June 18, 2020 Softbank’s Vision Fund has today said it will be expanding its programme to uplift minority founders to Europe, after completing its first cohort in the US. Launched in partnership with Wework Labs, the Emerge programme is an eight-week intensive startup accelerator designed to help early-stage founders from underrepresented backgrounds. Each participating startup must have at [...]
Out of crisis comes opportunity… for fraudsters June 18, 2020 | City Talk ‘Out of crisis comes opportunity’ is usually said with positivity in mind. In the current context, for example, entrepreneurs discovering ways to successfully diversify their business. What is less frequently spoken of, though, is how bad practice and criminality can emerge, grow or even thrive during a crisis. Criminals see opportunities in crises, too. So, [...]
Nintendo shares level up to 12-year high June 18, 2020 Shares in Japanese gaming giant Nintendo surged today as investors took stock of the company’s successes during the coronavirus pandemic. The firm’s share price reached ¥50,180 during trading, before closing at ¥50,110. Analysts pointed to news of a new Pokemon game as piquing traders’ interests, as well as hopes that Nintendo will continue to benefit [...]
Privacy U-turn: NHS tracing app shifted to Apple and Google model June 18, 2020 The government has announced it will abandon its previous work on its coronavirus-tracing app to move towards a more privacy-focused model, based on technology developed by Apple and Google. The UK will follow in the footsteps of others such as Germany in chasing a more decentralised approach. While it has been argued to be more [...]