EU considers offering asylum to Russian soldiers if they desert Ukraine amid claims Kremlin is using hunger as a weapon April 6, 2022 European Council president Charles Michel said EU countries should think about ways to offer asylum to Russian soldiers willing to desert Ukraine battlefields. During an address to the the European Parliament, Michel expressed his “outrage at crimes against humanity, against innocent civilians in Bucha and in many other cities”, and called on Russian soldiers to [...]
Many Tories believe Channel 4 sale is ‘revenge for biased coverage’ on Brexit and Boris Johnson, says Julian Knight MP April 5, 2022 Government plans to forge forward with the privatisation of Channel 4 are “revenge”, adding that many Tories believe the move is “payback time” for “biased coverage”, according to Tory MP Julian Knight. In a string of tweets, the MP addressed what he said was the “elephant in the room time” as he tweeted: “Is this [...]
European Union proposes total ban on coal from Russia in another £3bn blow to Moscow April 5, 2022 The European Commission has proposed new sanctions against Russia, including an import ban on coal worth 4 billion euros (£3.3 billion) per year. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU needed to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after what she described as the “heinous crimes” carried out around Kyiv. [...]
10m British pensions at BlackRock ‘helped’ Putin’s invasion of Ukraine via £1bn in oil energy dividends April 5, 2022 Fund manager BlackRock – which oversees 10 million British pensions – has helped Putin build his war chest by investing heavily in Russia’s biggest companies, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism told City A.M. this morning. While those investments have strengthened Putin, they have also generated a fortune for BlackRock’s clients, the group said. Since 2014, [...]
Channel 4: Some key questions about the Government’s privatisation plans answered April 5, 2022 The Government is set to proceed with plans to privatise Channel 4. City A.M. sought answers to some of the key questions about the decision. Firstly, why does the Government want to privatise the broadcaster? The Government has argued that Channel 4’s long-term future needs to be secured amid concerns for its survival in the [...]
Moneycorp plots complete withdrawal from retail as fintech giant shifts focus to payments and banking April 5, 2022 Fintech giant Moneycorp plans to exit from its last remaining retail branches at Gatwick Airport. “Today’s announcement marks an end to the group’s retail franchise and an important step in its evolution from a UK foreign exchange business to a global payments and banking services provider,” the company said in a statement sent to City [...]
Shanghai completely shut: ‘Extremely grim’ Covid outbreak in China’s biggest city deepens with 26m people confined to their homes April 5, 2022 Amid an ongoing lockdown confining around 26m in Shanghai, a city official said this afternoon local time that the Covid-19 outbreak in China’s largest metropolis of Shanghai is “extremely grim” The director of Shanghai’s working group on epidemic control, Gu Honghui, was quoted by state media as saying the outbreak in the city was “still [...]
Ukraine war is dramatically dialling up risk of global recession April 5, 2022 The war in Ukraine has dramatically dialled up the risk of a global recession, according to leading economist. The conflict has thrown a ‘massive monkey wrench’ into what was a gradually improving post-pandemic picture, Ira Kalish, chief global economist at Deloitte told delegates at the World Retail Congress in Rome. And it could have damaging, [...]
Civilian ship sinking in Mariupol after Russian shelling April 5, 2022 Ukraine says a civilian ship is sinking in the port of Mariupol after Russian forces fired on it. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said the ship was struck during “shelling from the sea” by Russia, causing a fire in the engine room. The crew was rescued, including one injured crew member, it added. The ministry said [...]
Food banks struggle to keep up with 99 per cent of all free food points seeing surge in demand as cost of living crisis rages April 5, 2022 Thousands more households are turning to the UK’s food banks for the first time as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, according to new research shared this morning. A new survey by community giving platform Neighbourly and Aldi – which work together to distribute surplus food from the supermarket’s stores – almost all food banks (99 per [...]