Wechat suspends new user registration amid China crackdown July 27, 2021 Chinese social media giant Wechat has temporarily suspended new user registrations as Beijing ramps up its crackdown on domestic tech firms. The messaging platform, which is owned by Tencent, said it was upgrading its security technology “to align with relevant laws and registrations”. “During this time, registration of new Weixin [Wechat] personal and official accounts [...]
Olympics: Tom Dean wins gold in the pool as Team GB medal haul swells July 27, 2021 Swimmer Tom Dean edged out compatriot Duncan Scott by 0.04 seconds to add another gold to Team GB’s haul. The swimmer, who could barely walk up his own stairs six months ago having contracted Covid-19, has become Britain’s first 200m freestyle gold medallist since 1908. Duncan Scott finishing in the silver medal position marks the [...]
Ministers mull ‘taking stake in Sizewell power plant’ amid China clampdown July 27, 2021 Ministers are reportedly considering taking a stake in a proposed new power plant at Sizewell in Suffolk after it was revealed that the government was seeking to kick China’s state owned nuclear firm out of the project. The Times reported that the government is mulling options for funding the £20bn Sizewell C project, the UK’s [...]
Bezos offers to cover $2bn of Nasa costs for lunar contract July 27, 2021 Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos offered Nasa a $2bn (£1.45bn) discount if the space agency allows its company Blue Origin to build a spacecraft to land astronauts on the moon. Bezos said Blue Origin would waive payments up to $2bn in the current and next two fiscal years “to get the program back on track right [...]
Supermarket sales improve tentatively after restaurant reopening hit July 27, 2021 UK supermarket sales improved slightly in the last four weeks as Brits stocked up on beers for the Euros and picnic items to enjoy in the sun, according to new data released today. Total till sales over the four weeks ending 17th July were down 1.3 per cent on the same period last year, new [...]
Aon and Willis Towers Watson call off $30bn insurance mega-merger over monopoly concerns July 27, 2021 Insurance giant Aon and Willis Towers Watson have agreed to terminate their $30bn (£22.9bn) merger agreement in what would have created the world’s largest insurance broker, and have blamed U.S. regulators’ objections for unacceptable delays and uncertainty. Aon cited an “impasse” with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as the reason behind the decision to [...]
Average UK house price 30 per cent up on 2007 market peak July 27, 2021 The average price of a home in the UK has risen to a new high of £230,700, up 30 per cent on the 2007 market peak. Since June of last year, the average price has risen by 5.4 per cent, more than double the year on year price growth recorded 12 months ago, when annual [...]
Virgin Money personal lending up as more people shop with credit cards July 27, 2021 Banking group Virgin Money today reported that personal lending and relationship deposits have grown as consumers pick up their credit cards again. Personal lending grew 2.5% to £5.2bn in the three months to 30 June 2021, driven by more customers using their credit cards to shop. Relationship deposits increased 3.7 per cent to just under [...]
First Group boss to step down amid growing shareholder pressure July 27, 2021 First Group’s chief executive Matthew Gregory has this morning announced he will leave the company after the firm’s AGM, a day after the company’s biggest shareholder demanded his resignation. The announcement came as the FTSE 250 transport operator announced that its profit had shrunk about a fifth over the last financial year. Gregory’s resignation comes [...]
Digital credentials are not the enemy – they are the next step of innovation and efficiency July 27, 2021 They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Sometimes, significant challenges force us to innovate and we find solutions not just for the current need but ones that will endure in the future. We should continually set new standards of efficiency and resilience. Today, we are used to trusting technology to make our lives [...]
