India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani snaps up iconic toy store Hamleys May 10, 2019 Iconic toy retailer Hamleys has been sold to India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani for an undisclosed sum. Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate Reliance Industries, which is owned by Ambani, said late last night it had signed a deal to buy the chain from Chinese giant C Banner International. Read more: Billionaire Mike Ashley may bid for iconic toy [...]
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveils plans to send a Blue Origin rocket to the moon by 2024 May 10, 2019 Amazon owner Jeff Bezos has unveiled plans to send a spaceship to the moon by 2024 in his latest attempts to become a leader in space exploration. An unmanned rocked, called Blue Moon, will be around the size of a house, and carry four rovers and other scientific equipment to the moon, he said. Bezos, who [...]
Get your Eurovision goggles, it’s time for yet another election May 10, 2019 Two years and 11 months since Britain voted to leave the EU, the country is voting again, on how we’d like to be represented in it while we struggle to work out what leaving actually means. Yes, we found out this week that the Euros are definitely on, despite the best efforts of an embattled [...]
Attempts to tackle the ‘problem’ of high pay will end up making everything worse May 10, 2019 The more we learn about what other people earn, the more concern there is about it. Specifically, a political debate is raging over dramatic increases in the pay of chief executives of listed companies. Deemed “unfair” in the widening inequality discussion, pressure is growing from activists and politicians to fix this so-called problem. The latest [...]
Uber’s float is a huge gamble on the future of transport May 10, 2019 Every time you jump into an Uber, your ride is essentially subsidised by venture capitalists who prop up the loss-making outfit in the hope of riches down the road. Later today in New York, many more hopefuls will get the chance to back the immensely-popular-yet-controversial tech firm when it finally comes to market. Similarly [...]
Editor’s Notes: Harmony is in short supply in the EU as challenges loom large May 10, 2019 Faced with some major non-Brexit challenges of their own, the leaders of the EU27 and the heads of the EU’s powerful institutions are meeting in Sibiu, Romania for a summit. What’s emerged so far is the Sibiu Declaration, a beautifully vague and vacuous document committing the EU to a range of platitudinous positions such as: [...]
US-China trade war: China threatens retaliation as Trump rolls out $200bn tariff hike May 10, 2019 China has warned it will strike back at the US after President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on Chinese goods came into force today. China’s commerce ministry said it “deeply regrets” the move, which sees tariffs raised to 25 per cent on goods worth $200bn (£154bn), and said it would take necessary countermeasures. Read more: US-China [...]
Bank of England experts to be sent to emerging economies to promote regulation May 9, 2019 Experts from the Bank of England will be sent to 30 countries to help improve financial regulations for emerging economies, the government has announced. International Development Secretary Rory Stewart unveiled the plan in his first speech since taking on the job last week. The government will pump £6.1million into the scheme following pilots last April [...]
Facebook co-founder joins chorus of voices to break up the company May 9, 2019 Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has echoed calls to break up the social media giant amid a rise in anti-trust and data privacy concerns surrounding big tech. Hughes, a former roommate of chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, called his power "unprecedented and un-American" in an opinion piece for the New York Times. "We are a nation with [...]
Jeremy Corbyn: Second referendum could heal the UK May 9, 2019 A second referendum on Brexit could provide a “healing process” for the UK, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed as he launched his party’s European election campaign. Speaking in Kent, Corbyn said a confirmatory vote on any deal agreed with Brussels could help bring the Brexit process to a “conclusion”. Labour’s official party policy is to [...]