Citigroup to require vaccines for return to US offices August 10, 2021 Citigroup will require US employees returning to the office to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the bank’s head of human resources said today. The bank expects these employees to start returning to the office for at least two days a week from 13 September, Sara Wechter said in a Linkedin post. The policy will apply to [...]
Covid: West End shows halted as self-isolation rules hit theatres August 10, 2021 While the end of lockdown restrictions promised a show-stopping return for the West End, self-isolation troubles mean London theatres are still being forced to put productions on ice. Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jersey Boys and The Lion King have all been forced to cancel performances in recent days after cast or crew members were [...]
Andrew Cuomo resigns as New York governor in wake of harassment allegations August 10, 2021 Andrew Cuomo has sensationally resigned as New York State governor today after being accused by 11 different women of sexual harassment. The Democrat said that “the best thing he can do is step aside”, but also claimed that the accusations were “politically motivated”. He will officially stand down in 14 days’ time. An investigation from [...]
US stocks lifted by infrastructure bill’s safe passage August 10, 2021 Wall Street opened higher this morning as investors were boosted by news that President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill had safely passed through the Senate. The blue-chip S&P 500 edged up 0.17 per cent to 4,439 points, while the Dow Jones climbed 0.5 per cent to 35,278 points. Tech shares lost ground as investors [...]
Vectura auction scrapped as Carlyle refuses to match Philip Morris bid August 10, 2021 Plans for an auction to decide the buyer of respiratory drugmaker Vectura have been scrapped after US private equity firm Carlyle said its 155p per share offer was “full and final”. Cigarette maker Philip Morris and private equity firm Carlyle both hiked their offers for the business over the weekend, leading the Takeover Panel to [...]
Thousands of UK small businesses ‘can’t repay Covid loans’ August 10, 2021 Thousands of SMEs that received government Covid loans and the furlough scheme can now not make repayments amid limited cash flow, a survey of small businesses out today shows. The survey projected 59 per cent of SMEs in the UK, amounting to around 3.5m businesses, used government loans or furlough schemes during the pandemic. The [...]
Twitter to introduce autoblocking after Euro 2020 racist abuse August 10, 2021 Twitter will trial automatic blocking of accounts that post harmful language after Brits used the platform to hurl racist abuse at England footballers following the Euros final. The social media giant said the UK was “by far” the biggest source of abusive tweets sent on the night of England’s defeat to Italy and in the [...]
Student accomodation sector ‘very positive’ after record results day and £2bn investment August 10, 2021 The purpose-built student accommodation market has been further buoyed after record A-Level results today after investors spent £656m in the sector in the second quarter of this year. Almost half (44.8 per cent) of all A-Level grades received were either A or A*, after exams were cancelled and replaced with teacher predicted grades. There had [...]
Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill passes Senate August 10, 2021 President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill secured enough backing to pass through the US Senate today. The passage is seen as a victory for cross-party cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. The vote fiished at 69-30 in the 100-seat chamber, with 19 Republicans voting yes. After the vote concluded, Senators stepped up efforts to push [...]
More than $600m lost in worst ever DeFi hack August 10, 2021 Poly Network, a cross-chain protocol, has been attacked by a hacker who drained $611m (£441m) in the worst ever theft affecting Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Poly Network, which operates on the Ethereum, Binance and Polygon blockchains took to Twitter to announce the theft. They said: “We are sorry to announce that #PolyNetwork was attacked on @BinanceChain, [...]
