It’s totally fine for GCHQ and MI5 to spy on MPs’ communications like the rest of us, tribunal rules October 14, 2015 MPs keep insisting they're just like the rest of us. But now judges have ruled they actually are – when it comes to spying, at least. A tribunal has ruled spy agencies such as GCHQ and MI5 are allowed to eavesdrop on the communications of MPs in the same way as they would anyone else. Read more: Web inventor Tim [...]
It turns out worker ants are actually lazy layabouts October 13, 2015 We’ve all been duped: Despite their name, worker ants are nothing but slackers. This is according to a new study published in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, which has found that a significant proportion of ant colonies’ so-called “workers” spend most of their time “completely inactive”. Just three per cent of worker ants were [...]
Twitter confirms 336 jobs will go a week after Jack Dorsey joins flock permanently October 13, 2015 Twitter has confirmed it's making job cuts just a week after founder Jack Dorsey made a permanent return to the flock as chief executive. Up to 336 staff will go – around eight per cent of the company's global workforce. "The restructuring is part of an overall plan to organise around the company’s top product [...]
Blockchain platform Setl hits one billion daily transactions – 1,000 times faster than Bitcoin’s blockchain October 13, 2015 Blockchain platform Setl claims to be capable of processing one billion transactions per day – matching every electronic payment made globally. Scaling up to this extent makes blockchain an even more attractive rival to traditional financial systems, as the booming fintech sector is increasingly seen not just as a viable but a cheaper alternative. The company [...]
Just like football and rugby, professional video gaming events in the UK attract millions of views from around the world October 13, 2015 A UK-based sporting competition featuring some of the best professionals from across the globe competing for huge sums of money has recorded almost 60m views. This isn't the Rugby World Cup – but the Gfinity Championship Series, a series of 23 weekly eSports (professional, competitive video gaming) tournaments, hosted by Aim-listed company Gfinity. The UK-based company exceeded [...]
UK Green Investment Bank says it has raised £818m for offshore wind farms October 13, 2015 The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has so far raised £818m for its offshore wind fund, the government-owned bank announced today. The bank said that it had executed a second close on new commitments of £355m for the offshore wind fund, bringing the total amount raised to £818m after a £463m initial close earlier this [...]
Facebook will be scrutinised by MPs over corporation tax October 12, 2015 Members of an influential parliamentary committee will be looking into Facebook, after it was revealed that the social media giant paid just £4,327 in corporation tax last year. Meg Hillier, the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch who recently took the reins of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has confirmed that backbenchers on the committee will talk [...]
Email etiquette: This tool tells you how polite (or impolite) your emails are October 12, 2015 Let's all admit it, communicating by email can be a psychological minefield. One person's clear reply is another person's passive aggression. Buzzword-filled managementese fills up inboxes and sometimes firing off a quick response to a request from someone senior can leave you wondering which words to choose. Now there's a new tool to help you navigate the [...]
Boris Johnson is heading on a trade trip to Japan to promote fintech and life science investment… and the Rugby World Cup October 11, 2015 The London mayor Boris Johnson is heading east to promote investment in the capital's fintech and life sciences sectors on a new trade trip to Japan. The out-going mayor is seeking to tie up new deals between the countries in tech innovation and life sciences, as well as retail, in a bid to increase the £950m pumped into the capital [...]
Facebook’s UK corporate tax bill in 2014 was less than the cost of this annual commute between London and Brighton October 11, 2015 Facebook paid just £4,327 in corporation tax last year – less than the annual cost of travel for some people commuting to London from Brighton each day. The miniscule amount was paid on losses of £28.5m at its UK business, according to its latest accounts, up from £11.6m the year before. Revenues hit £105m in 2014, [...]