UK deploys crisis response teams to help people cross Afghan border August 31, 2021 The UK Foreign Office has announced it is deploying three consular teams to Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries to help those seeking to flee the country for the UK. In a statement released this evening, foreign secretary Dominic Raab acknowledged the people eligible for UK support who were stuck in Afghanistan after the UK ended its evacuation, [...]
Morgan Stanley hikes pay for junior bankers … again August 31, 2021 Morgan Stanley has raised base salaries for entry-level bankers for the second time in a month, heating up the pay hike frenzy as Wall Street rivals compete for junior talent. Junior bankers at the US investment bank will now be paid a base salary of $110,000 – up from the previous rise from $85,000 to [...]
Google pushes back office return to January as Covid cases surge August 31, 2021 Google has pushed back on plans for a full return to the workplace and extended its voluntary return-to-office policy through to January next year, amid concerns over rising Covid cases in some locations around the world. “Beyond January 10, we will enable countries and locations to make determinations on when to end voluntary work-from-home based [...]
Analysts: China’s tech crackdown could backfire as it may hamper economy August 31, 2021 Analysts caution China’s economic growth could slow down if Beijing continues to target private enterprises that power the country’s economic success. Beijing’s sweeping regulatory crackdowns have spread like wildfire across sectors, ranging from technology and internet algorithms to online gaming and tutoring. Ross Terrill, a research associate at Harvard’s Fairbank Centre for Chinese Studies, told [...]
SoftBank-backed AI startup Peak raises $75m in second funding round in six months August 31, 2021 Manchester-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) provider Peak will expand into new global markets after raising $75m in its latest funding round, led by SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund Two. Peak AI, which sells its “decision intelligence” enterprise software platform to non-tech companies to help with their operations, plans to use the latest raise to double its workforce [...]
Sliding tech stocks weigh on Wall Street August 31, 2021 US stocks slipped today as poor performances among technology heavyweights weighed heavily on Wall Street’s main benchmarks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.10 per cent to 15,250.36 points, led down by losses among Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. The blue-chip S&P 500 and the Dow Jones both inched up, rising 0.02 per cent and 0.08 per cent [...]
Landsec agrees forward purchase of Oval Village office space August 31, 2021 Landsec has conditionally exchanged contracts to forward purchase an office space in Kennington. The real estate company has exchanged contracts on Oval Works, which will be a 76,800 sq ft space in Berkeley’s Oval Village. Office workers will be able to use the space – estimated by some property agents to be worth up to [...]
Traffic chaos: Extinction Rebellion occupy London Bridge and BoE sites August 31, 2021 Traffic in the heart of London has ground to a halt as Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists stage occupations of key roads during the ninth consecutive day of protests. Helicopters could be heard overhead as Police blocked off London Bridge, the site of an Extinction Rebellion occupation where activists have glued themselves to a bus blocking [...]
Apple snaps up classical music streaming service Primephonic August 31, 2021 Apple is challenging the likes of Classic FM and BBC Radio 3 with the launch of a new classical music streaming app. Apple will be incorporating Primephonic, a classical music streaming app from based in the Netherlands, into its Apple Music service. Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and Beats said: “we love and [...]
Northern Ireland economy minister calls for Covid restrictions to end soon August 31, 2021 The devolved Northern Ireland government must set out a pass to end all Covid-19 restrictions, Stormont’s economy minister has said. Gordon Lyons, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has called on first minister Paul Givan to have all restrictions to be ended by the end of next month. Givan has previously indicated that [...]