HS2: Transport department defends top civil servant over transparency row March 15, 2020 The Department for Transport (DfT) has denied its top civil servant broke the civil service code of conduct as she faces accusations she withheld information on HS2’s budget blowouts. City A.M. reported earlier this month that DfT permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly admitted she did not tell parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) she knew HS2 was [...]
Coronavirus: Hospitality firms on the brink of collapse as footfall dives March 15, 2020 Struggling hospitality firms could be nearing the brink of collapse due to a dive in footfall across London’s pubs and restaurants this weekend as punters stayed home to avoid the coronavirus outbreak. Hospitality companies are preparing to make redundancies as soon as this week, as visitors to London’s restaurants and bars fell 39 per cent [...]
US and Germany scrap over coronavirus vaccine company March 15, 2020 Berlin is trying to prevent Washington from persuading a German company working on a coronavirus vaccine to move to the US. German government sources told news agency Reuters that the US was looking into how it could gain access to a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by German pharmaceuticals company Curevac. German newspaper the Welt [...]
Nike closes US and European stores amid coronavirus outbreak March 15, 2020 US sports giant Nike has announced it will close all of its shops in the US, western Europe, and several other countries in an effort to protect staff and customers from coronavirus. Shops will be closed from tomorrow until at least 27 March, Nike said, including in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Nike said its [...]
Mark Strong to front a coronavirus awareness advertising campaign March 15, 2020 The government will unveil its biggest public service advertising blitz since the Aids pandemic next week to promote awareness of coronavirus symptoms. Actor Mark Strong – whose credits include Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Kingsman and The Imitation Game – and the UK’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty will be the faces of the campaign. The advertisements [...]
Coronavirus: Scandinavian Airlines puts flights ‘on hold’ due to ‘non-existent’ demand March 15, 2020 Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) today announced that it has put most of its operations “on hold” due to the “non-existent” demand for air travel as a result of coronavirus. The measures are the most extreme yet taken by an airline and comes amid the grounding of thousands of planes worldwide as countries step up their measures [...]
Railway industry in talks with government over emergency coronavirus measures March 15, 2020 The government is in talks with the rail industry over a range of steps to protect franchises against falling passenger numbers due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to the BBC, at a meeting of industry figures last week it was revealed that numbers had fallen by up to 18 per cent on certain lines, although [...]
Coronavirus: Germany to close major land borders March 15, 2020 Germany is said to be preparing to close its borders with Austria, France and Switzerland in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her interior ministers have agreed the closures with the leaders of the three countries, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported. The borders will be shut down from 8am local [...]
Coronavirus: UK death toll jumps as cases top 1,300 March 15, 2020 The UK death toll from coronavirus has risen to 35, Public Health England has said, up from 21 yesterday. The public health body also said the number of confirmed cases rose 20 per cent to 1,372 as of 9am this morning. Coronavirus, which emerged in China in December, has now infected at least 156,000 people [...]
Heathrow Airport expansion in a ‘deep freeze’ after court decision and coronavirus March 15, 2020 Heathrow Airport’s planned expansion is now in a “deep freeze”, with the aviation industry expecting the project to fall off the agenda during the coronavirus pandemic. Airlines have been told an impending coronavirus recession will likely delay the third runway a further two years to 2030 at the earliest and could require job cuts, according [...]