China court rejects Canadian citizen’s death sentence appeal August 10, 2021 A Chinese court has upheld today a death sentence against Canadian citizen Robert Schellenberg for drug smuggling. Schellenberg has been detained in China since 2014 after he was accused of drug smuggling. In December 2018, he was sentenced to 15 years in jail and he appealed for a retrial. But the Dalian intermediate people’s court [...]
US Democrats want more EV charging point funding to lower emissions in $1 trillion spending bill August 10, 2021 A group of 28 US House Democrats says the $1 trillion (£725bn) infrastructure bill poised for vote in the Senate falls short in electric vehicle (EV) funding. The current one trillion dollar bipartisan bill includes $7.5bn in electric vehicle infrastructure funding. The 28 Representatives have asked congressional leaders to add $85 billion towards an EV [...]
Holiday Inn owner IHG swings to profit and set to launch new luxury hotel brand August 10, 2021 InterContinental Hotels (IHG) has announced it will launch a new luxury brand as the brand swung to a profit in the first half. The Holiday Inn owner said travel had been slow to recover in European markets and scrapped its dividend to cut costs. The group will target high quality independent hotels for its new luxury [...]
Etihad slashes losses in first half but still $400m in red August 10, 2021 Gulf carrier Etihad Airways today announced that it had posted a $400m loss for the first six months of the year, half of the $800m it booked last year. The airline said that it had carried just 1m passengers in the period, down 71.5 per cent on a year ago. Passenger revenue came in at [...]
SoftBank to pause investment in China as tech crackdown withers shares August 10, 2021 SoftBank will take a “wait and see” approach and pause its investments in Chinese tech startups until Beijing’s current regulatory crackdown on the sector calms, chief executive Masayoshi Son said on Tuesday. Son hoped the situation will be resolved and new rules for the sector would be introduced within “a year or two”, but still [...]
Watches of Switzerland reports ‘extremely strong’ UK sales August 10, 2021 Luxury watchmaker Watches of Switzerland revenue has almost doubled during its first quarter with “extremely strong” UK trading. Group revenue was £297.5m during the first quarter, up from £151.6m last year, as shoppers were keen to purchase both luxury watches and jewellery. UK sales grew 104.7 per cent compared to the first quarter of the [...]
Travers Smith partner profits soar 21 per cent to £1.2m August 10, 2021 Travers Smith partner profits have soared by over a fifth to £1.2m, following investment in asset management, M&A and dispute resolution. Profit per equity partner rose by 21.5 per cent to £1.2m while turnover was up 15 per cent at £186m according to provisional figures for the year ended 30 June 2021. “None of us [...]
Record high marks given to A-level students August 10, 2021 Almost half (44.8 per cent) of all A-Level grades handed out today were either A or A*, a record high in A-level history. Sixth-formers have received teacher predicted results today after exams were cancelled due to the pandemic. Concerns have been raised around inflated grades with pupils given results given by teachers for the second [...]
Hybrid working powers office provider IWG towards recovery August 10, 2021 IWG, a company that delivers real estate solutions for businesses, has made a modest financial recovery as hybrid working brings employees back to offices. IWG’s interim results show that while revenue across its centres has fallen by 10.4 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year, revenue has [...]
Tower Bridge reopens after being stuck in raised position overnight August 10, 2021 Tower Bridge has finally reopened to traffic after a technical fault caused the London landmark to jam in an open position overnight. The bridge was raised for a scheduled lift yesterday afternoon, but remained open for almost 12 hours, shutting down one of the main roads across the Thames before it reopened to traffic at [...]
