Victoria Station evacuated after WWII bomb found on building site at Terminus Place February 5, 2016 Victoria Station has been reopened after it was evacuated this morning, following the discovery of a Second World War bomb on a nearby building site. The incident at Terminus Place, which was attended by armed police officers, meant the busy train terminus was closed and peopled ushered out of the building for several minutes at around [...]
Julian Assange slams Philip Hammond, saying UK and Sweden risk undermining the UN if they do not let him go February 5, 2016 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said the UK and Sweden risk undermining the UN if they do not implement a ruling by a UN working group, which said he has been held under arbitrary detention in London's Ecuadorian embassy since 2012. At a press conference today, Assange criticised a statement by foreign secretary Philip Hammond, who said the UK did [...]
TfL Tube strike on 6 to 8 February 2016 is exposing London to cyber attacks February 5, 2016 The upcoming Tube strike is exposing London to a heightened risk of cyber attacks, as thousands of Londoners prepare to work from home on Monday. “It is crucial that employers are aware of the increased risk of cybercrime that comes with staff logging on from anywhere but the office,” warned Raj Samani, Intel Security’s chief [...]
Transport for London’s plan to make all Black Cabs accept card payments is great news – but the details tilts the playing field against them February 5, 2016 We all love simplicity and speed. Last weekend I popped into my local Apple Store at Bluewater to get a new charging cable. Instead of queuing, one of the staff came over to me and I purchased the cable via her handheld mobile payment device. The VAT business receipt was automatically emailed to me. What a [...]
Emolument: Bankers aren’t happy with this year’s bonuses, as nearly half of Bank of America workers say they are dissatisfied February 5, 2016 This year's bonus round is bigger than last year's – but it has gone down like a lead balloon with bankers, new data suggests, with the majority of bank workers saying they're unhappy with what they've been offered. The research, by salary benchmarking site Emolument, shows those working at Bank of America Merrill Lynch are most disappointed [...]
UK rental prices: Why landlords aren’t to blame for the housing crisis February 5, 2016 Landlords aren't exactly flavour of the month right now. For many critics of the UK private rental market, it's landlords who seem to be presiding over a broken and unjust system, fleecing tenants out of their hard-earned cash while keeping property prices at the insanely high levels that price them out of home ownership. It’s [...]
EU referendum: The draft EU deal has given the Leave campaign a boost as Prime Minister David Cameron heads to Poland to continue negotiations February 5, 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron's draft EU deal has given a boost to the Out campaign ahead of the referendum, a new poll has found. Read more: Rees-Mogg on the PM, the EU and gruel A poll by YouGov conducted in the immediate aftermath of Cameron's EU deal has found Leave is now leading with 45 per cent [...]
Elon Musk’s “next great idea” is to develop a vertical takeoff and landing electric plane after Tesla, SpaceX and Hyperloop February 5, 2016 Elon Musk has new big plans: After out-there projects like SpaceX’s reusable rocket and Hyperloop, the billionaire tech titan wants to turn his attention to electric aeroplanes. The technology is basically non-existent commercially today, but that could all be about to change. Speaking at a Hyperloop event in Texas, the Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur was [...]
Citigroup on oil prices: Financial market “death spiral” and “oilmegaddon” could lead to a global recession February 5, 2016 The financial market “death spiral” means we should all fear an “oilmaggedon”, which could herald a “‘significant and synchronised’ global recession”, according to a particularly gloomy note from analysts at investment bank Citigroup. Tumbling commodity prices, the resilient US dollar, weak trade, capital flows and slowing emerging market growth have created a “negative feedback loop”. [...]
UN panel: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange entitled to compensation after “arbitrary detention” – but Metropolitan Police will still arrest him as UK rejects ruling February 5, 2016 A UN panel has officially confirmed that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been held under "arbitrary detention" by Sweden and the UK, and that he is entitled to compensation. But this morning the Metropolitan Police force said there is still a warrant out for his arrest. Yesterday it was reported that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary [...]