London cab drivers will protest against Uber and its regulation by Transport for London today December 17, 2015 Cabbies are staging a fresh protest against Uber and Transport for London (TfL) in the capital today over the way the taxi industry is regulated. This time, it's minicab drivers, who want TfL to suspend the recently launched UberPool ride-sharing service, claiming that by giving it the go ahead, TfL is "riding rough shod over the regulatory review process by pre-empting [...]
Whether we get cancer is mostly down to lifestyle factors, not bad luck December 17, 2015 It's an ongoing question – how much is cancer caused by genetic factors outside our control, and how much is it the result of the environment we put ourselves in? Now, researchers at the Stony Brook Cancer Centre in New York think they've worked out how much of a role each influencer plays, and their [...]
Feeling forgettable? MIT researchers have created a tool to tell you how memorable your face is December 17, 2015 We've all had that moment: you're at a party, you go to greet someone you've met before – and they introduce themselves. Awkward… It could just be your face, though. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a tool which can tell you how memorable your face is – or whether you're just another forgettable part [...]
Hitting the brakes? Driverless cars must have a driver, says California DMV, putting bump in road for Google, Apple, Ford December 17, 2015 The development of self-driving cars has hit a bump in the road, after US authorities said they won't be allowed to hit the roads without a driver present. Regulators in California, where the majority of research and testing of autonomous vehicles is centred, said there needs to be a driver present in case the technology fails. Google is the best known [...]
In the last days of Christmas, Asda gave to me: £4m investment into customer service December 17, 2015 Getting stressed about Christmas shopping? Asda thinks it might have the solution. The Walmart-owned supermarket has just ploughed a further £4m into its customer service department for the last two weeks ahead of the big day, hoping to take the fuss out of the festive season. The company has deployed 8,000 staff as "Go-Getters for Forgetters", [...]
It’s official: English people do not have worse teeth than Americans December 17, 2015 The popular belief that English people have terrible teeth compared to other nationalities is wrong, it turns out. In a study comparing the oral health of English and American people, researchers found real no difference between the two. In fact, in some ways English people have better teeth – Americans are more likely to have [...]
HMRC is failing to answer its phones and is not doing enough to tackle tax fraud December 17, 2015 No matter how bad your commute has been, your morning is still probably better than that of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) – after two separate reports highlighting the UK tax authority's shortcomings were released today. The National Audit Office (NAO) concluded that, while taxmen and women had come a long way in their compliance efforts, there [...]
City A.M.’s annual celebration of giving December 17, 2015 Welcome to our second annual charity magazine, City A.M. Giving. At the heart of this magazine you will find the fourth edition of our Charity Index, which ranks the world’s private sector charitable institutions in terms of how much they have distributed during the year. Each year, the index, compiled by prof dr Theo Schuyt, [...]
Miracle on George St: the stars align for charity lottery December 17, 2015 It’s not unusual for Edinburgh’s George Street to be teeming with people at this time of year. But last month, it was brought to a standstill, not by Christmas shoppers, but the most famous “George” in the world. Double Oscar-winner George Clooney (sorry, Prince George) was in town to drop into the offices of People’s [...]
FTSE 100 bounces on Fed rate rise – as Asian shares close higher December 17, 2015 The FTSE 100 opened 1.33 per cent higher this morning, at 6,142.9 points, after the US Federal Reserve announced an interest rate hike for the first time since 2006 The UK's bluechip index followed Asian shares, which closed higher after the announcement, with the Nikkei rising 1.6 per cent and the Hang Seng ending 0.8 per [...]