HS2 faces new legal challenge from Siemens over £2.8bn contract July 1, 2021 HS2 has reportedly been hit by another legal challenge, this time by German industrial group Siemens, over a £2.8bn contract to build trains for the new rail link. The new lawsuit comes just days after the firm behind the project confirmed it had settled a previous dispute with Spanish firm Talgo out of court. The [...]
Oil prices hit highest levels in three years July 1, 2021 Global oil prices hit their highest levels in three years today as fuel demand continued to pick up amid the reopening of the global economy after the pandemic. Both worldwide standard Brent crude and US benchmark WTI topped $75 today, touching their highest prices since October 2018. The latter’s price picked up a further 2.2 [...]
H&M to cut 250 stores this year as customers head online July 1, 2021 H&M plans to shut 250 stores globally this year as part of its strategy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw many of its shops shut for months at a time. The fashion retailer said the closure of the shops was in response to more customers shopping online, but declined to say how many [...]
SSE Networks bows to stakeholders and plots a £4bn net zero investment July 1, 2021 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) may pledge over £4bn in the push for net zero, the energy giant said in a draft business plan today. The draft plan for 2023 to 2028, which was led by stakeholders according to SSEN, set goals like cutting unplanned power interruptions by 20 per cent and connecting a [...]
Daily Covid cases in Scotland surpass 4000 in a day – for first time ever July 1, 2021 Scotland has reported a record number of daily Covid cases for the third time this week, as cases surpassed the 4000 mark for the first time since the start of the pandemic. 4234 people registered positive Covid test results in the last 24 hours, according to the latest Scottish government figures published on Thursday. The [...]
Brexit: UK and EU still no closer to financial services deal July 1, 2021 The Chancellor today confirmed that the UK and EU have still not reached a post-Brexit financial services agreement. Speaking at Mansion House, Rishi Sunak said “our ambition had been to reach a comprehensive set of mutual decisions on financial services equivalence. That has not happened.” Sunak confirmed that the UK and EU have failed to [...]
Home Office to allow late EU Settlement Scheme applications after website crashes July 1, 2021 Home Office to allow late EU Settlement Scheme applications after website crashes
New report outlines how to deepen UK-India capital market links July 1, 2021 A new report released today [1 July 2021] calls for the development of a deep, liquid corporate bond market in India to fund the country’s large infrastructure investment needs and its transition to a low carbon economy. Unleashing the potential of the Indian Debt Capital Markets is the first report by the City of London Corporation [...]
Test and Trace: Weekly Covid cases hit highest level in England since mid-February July 1, 2021 NHS Test and Trace figures showed that almost 80,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in the week to June 23, as the PM gave his strongest hint yet that reopening will go ahead on July 19. The latest figures showed that 79,247 people tested positive between June 17 and June 23 – a 43 per [...]
US jobless claims drop to new pandemic low July 1, 2021 The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid dropped to its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic, new figures released today reveal. The US Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims dropped by 51,000 to 364,000. The figures provide further evidence that the US labour market is rebounding strongly from the damage inflicted on it [...]