US lawyer pulls out of Hong Kong government forum after activists brand it a ‘propaganda event’ May 23, 2022 The head of US law firm Davis Polk’s Asia division has pulled out of speaking at a Hong Kong government forum commemorating the coming into force of the city-state’s controversial national security laws, after pro-democracy activists branded it a “propaganda event”. In a post on Linkedin, Martin Rogers, the chair of Davis Polk’s Asia business, [...]
G4S to face legal battle after judge approves triple killer’s negligence lawsuit May 23, 2022 A psychiatric patient, who killed three elderly men in Exeter, is suing security contractor G4S for negligence after the firm’s staff said he should be released from police custody. The London firm will now face a High Court trial after a judge rejected G4S’s argument that Alexander Lewis-Ranwell should not be able to bring forward [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange to open US and Europe offices May 23, 2022 The Hong Kong stock exchange is planning to set up two new international offices in the US and Europe, in an effort to draw overseas investors back to the City state. Speaking to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) at Davos, Nicolas Aguzin, the head of Asia’s third largest stock market, said the new offices [...]
Government to face Atos in court following spat over £845m supercomputer contract May 23, 2022 The UK government is set to face IT company Atos in the UK’s High Court next month after the French firm filed a lawsuit against government over its decision to award an £845m Met Office contract to Microsoft. The French multinational is claiming its bid was wrongly excluded from the tendering process on the grounds [...]
Beny Steinmetz’ BSGR bribed dictator’s wife to secure rights to run Guinean iron ore mine, US arbitration ruling says May 23, 2022 Beny Steinmetz’ mining company, BSGR, paid millions in bribes to the wife of Guinea’s former dictator to secure the rights to operate an iron mine in the West African country, a US arbitration ruling has said. The diamond magnate’s firm used “corrupt practices” to obtain licenses to mine Guinea’s Simandou iron ore deposit, the International [...]
UK’s information watchdog tells Clearview AI to delete photos of British people from facial recognition systems May 23, 2022 The UK’s information watchdog has told surveillance tech firm Clearview AI to delete its database of facial images scraped from British people’s social media profiles. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also fined the tech firm £7.55m, after ruling the firm broke the law by taking people’s photos without their permission. The intervention comes after [...]
Brexit boost: UK trademark disputes double following Britain’s exit from the European Union May 23, 2022 The number of UK trademark disputes has soared to record highs due to a surge of trademark applications following Britain’s exit from the European Union. Disputes in the UK more than doubled from 3,584 in 2020 to 8,026 in 2021, according to new research from intellectual property (IP) law firm Mathys & Squire. The surge [...]
Boris Johnson should take a lesson from Emmanuel Macron to boost UK’s economic growth May 23, 2022 Boris Johnson should follow in the footsteps of Emmanuel Macron by ensuring Britain is made a “natural home for investors,” the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has said. In launching a new 10-point manifesto to boost Britain’s economic growth, the CPS published new researching showing investors are worried about the UK’s trajectory and concerned about [...]
Sunak poised to give poorest households £5-7.5bn to deal with cost-of-living crunch, Deutsche Bank says May 22, 2022 Deutsche Bank has said it expects the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will give £5-7.5bn in support to the UK’s poorest households to help them deal with the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. The chancellor could increase universal credit payments, give money to food banks, and help poor households pay for energy bills, in a [...]
World Economic Forum kicks off first Russian free Davos meeting since the fall of the Soviet Union May 22, 2022 The World Economic Forum (WEF) has refused to invite a single Russian to its annual conference in Davos this week, in what is set to be the first Davos conference without any Russians since the fall of the USSR. The WEF’s annual meeting – which is set to be the first in-person Davos conference since [...]
