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 [...]
Softbank gears up for launch of second Vision Fund as full-year profits soar May 9, 2019 Japanese investment giant Softbank will launch its eagerly-awaited second Vision Fund soon, the firm’s founder and chief executive has revealed. Read more: Softbank mulls float for $100bn Vision Fund Masayoshi Son said the new fund will be a similar size to its original $100bn (£77bn) Vision Fund, which has invested in major tech firms including [...]
‘Poorly designed’ 5G spectrum auctions risk harming consumers, mobile operators warn May 9, 2019 Multi-billion-pound auctions designed to flog 5G spectrum to mobile networks are badly-run and pose a risk to the rollout of the new technology, a new report has warned. Research carried out by the GSMA, the trade body for mobile operators, revealed auctions across the world can artificially inflate prices, meaning operators may have to limit [...]
Five things we learned from BT’s full-year results May 9, 2019 BT today published its eagerly-awaited results for the full-year, as investors kept a keen eye on the telecoms giant’s plan to turn around its ailing fortunes. After growing speculation over the company’s targets for full-fibre broadband and a potential dividend cut for beleaguered shareholders, here are five major takeaways from the results. Read more: BT boosts profits [...]
Housebuilder Barratt eyes full-year results ‘modestly’ ahead of expectations May 9, 2019 Housebuilding giant Barratt has said it expects its full-year results to be “modestly” ahead of expectations after posting a rise in sales for the year so far. The London-listed firm posted sales of £3.4bn to 5 May, up 2.4 per cent on the same period last year. Read more: Barratt Developments builds profit in strong [...]
Huawei CFO hopes to avoid US extradition after Trump’s ‘corrosive’ comments May 9, 2019 Lawyers for Huawei’s chief financial officer have said she will seek a stay of extradition, citing a string of civil rights abuses including comments made by US President Donald Trump about the case. Meng Wanzhou, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Reng Zengfei, was arrested in Vancouver in December on allegations relating to the [...]
BT profits rise but revenues slip as UK giant ramps up full-fibre targets May 9, 2019 BT has ramped up its targets for rolling out full-fibre broadband, despite posting a slip in revenues for the full year. Read more: BT’s bosses in London 'linked to Italian accounting fraud' The figures Revenues dropped one per cent to £23.4bn in the year to the end of March. Pre-tax profit rose two per cent to [...]
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo invokes Iron Lady as he slams UK over Huawei decision May 8, 2019 US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has ramped up the rhetoric against Huawei, invoking the legacy of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as he urged the UK to take a tougher line on the Chinese tech firm. In an impassioned speech, Pompeo slammed the UK’s reported decision to allow Huawei to build parts of its [...]
Social media firms to be judged on safety standards ahead of new laws May 8, 2019 Social media firms will be judged on their ability to protect their users before tough new legislation is introduced, the culture secretary has warned. Jeremy Wright today said firms need to take greater action to crack down on harmful material posted to their platforms now or risk a clampdown from a future regulator. Read more: [...]
Senior executives now biggest target of corporate cyber crime May 8, 2019 Senior executives with access to the most sensitive corporate information are now the biggest targets of corporate cyber crime, a new report has revealed. Research by telecoms giant Verizon showed top bosses are 12 times more likely to be the target of so-called social engineering attacks, which trick users into giving away data or access [...]