President Biden stands ‘squarely’ behind decision to withdraw from Afghanistan August 16, 2021 US President Joe Biden has stressed a “swift and forceful” response if the Taliban attempts to disrupt the US evacuation from Afghanistan. “Once we have completed this mission, we will conclude our military withdrawal,” Biden told journalists after the Taliban seized all major cities in Afghanistan. The President said it would be wrong to ask [...]
A British soldier’s view on Afghanistan’s turmoil: ‘What on earth was it all for’ August 16, 2021 The Taliban advances in Afghanistan has left seriously injured British veteran Ben Parkinson asking “what on earth was it all for” and as he hopes no more British soldiers are harmed. Parkinson suffered horrendous injuries when an Army Land Rover hit a mine near Musa Qala in 2006, and is regarded as the most severely [...]
Wall Street banks start enforcing stricter mask and vaccine requirements August 16, 2021 Big Wall Street banks have started enforcing stricter mask and vaccine requirements for staff, sometimes communicating them behind the scenes, in an effort to combat coronavirus infections in their offices while avoiding a fierce national debate about individual rights, sources at the banks and consultants who work with them have said. Watch the full report.
Football clubs, players and agents increasingly on HMRC’s radar August 16, 2021 HMRC tax investigators are targeting football clubs for £45m in tax they have underpaid, City A.M. can reveal today. According to data provided by HMRC to accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young and shared with this newspaper today, HMRC has uncovered £5.8m in tax owed by players and £4.8m owed by agents in the last year. [...]
Watch: Hungarians compete in wife-carrying contest August 16, 2021 Some 40 Hungarian husbands, with their wives on their backs, clambered over rough terrain on Saturday in the nation’s second wife-carrying contest. Watch the full report.
Despite the Plymouth tragedy, UK gun violence among the lowest in the world August 16, 2021 Police confirmed over the weekend that Plymouth gunman Jake Davison was a licensed firearms holder. Nevertheless, gun laws in the UK are often described as some of the strictest in the world, with licences needed to carry approved firearms. The level of gun crime in the UK is one of the lowest in the world, [...]
Dominic Raab: Speed of Taliban takeover of Afghanistan took UK by surprise August 16, 2021 Dominic Raab has said the Taliban’s lightning quick takeover of Afghanistan took the UK by surprise as 150 UK nationals are set to arrive home early tomorrow morning. Raab, speaking after a Cobra meeting chaired by Boris Johnson, said a further 350 British nationals and Afghani visa holders would be evacuated to the UK in [...]
US to investigate Tesla’s Autopilot following emergency vehicle crashes August 16, 2021 The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said today it plans to launch a probe into Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot after repeated crashes with emergency vehicles. The investigation will cover Tesla Models Y, X, S, and 3 vehicles released between 2014 and 2021, estimating 765,000 Tesla vehicles in the US to be involved [...]
Life sciences sector alert to evolving skills challenge August 16, 2021 | City Talk ‘We stand on the cusp of an era of cures, in which new technologies make previously terminal diseases treatable or curable’: so states the UK ‘Life Sciences Vision’, which outlines a 10-year strategy for the sector.The vision, unveiled last month, states that life sciences will be one of the great drivers of growth in the [...]
Retirement housebuilder Churchill revenue up 75% after lonely lockdowns August 16, 2021 Retirement housebuilder Churchill has reported revenue up 75 per cent as lonely lockdowns encouraged people to consider moving into retirement homes. Revenue hit £160m as 48 per cent more retirement homes were sold, the housebuilder revealed in its full year results for the year to June 30. The group swung back to profit with an [...]