Donald Trump claims to have seen evidence coronavirus started in Wuhan lab May 1, 2020 President Donald Trump has claimed to see evidence coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, and said the outbreak could have been contained “relatively easily” by China. At Thursday’s White House press briefing, the US President was asked if he had seen “anything that gives you a high degree of confidence” the Wuhan Institute of Virology [...]
Meghan Markle loses first claim in Mail on Sunday legal battle May 1, 2020 Meghan Markle has lost the first stage of her legal battle against the Mail on Sunday over alleged breach of privacy. A High Court judge today sided with publisher Associated Newspapers and ruled that three aspects of Markle’s case should be ruled out. The lawsuit relates to the publication of a private letter sent by [...]
IAG secures Spanish bank loans for Iberia and Vueling despite BA job cuts May 1, 2020 International Airlines Group (IAG) this morning announced it had secured over €1bn (£880m) in Spanish bank loans for its Iberia and Vueling carriers, a day after announcing 12,000 job cuts at British Airways (BA). The loans, which will be guaranteed by the Spanish state bank, will see Iberia receive $750m and Vueling $260m to see [...]
UK tech firms suffer worst quarter since financial crisis May 1, 2020 British tech firms have posted their worst quarterly performance since the global financial crisis as the Covid-19 crisis stunts growth, new figures have revealed. Business activity across the tech sector declined for the first time in almost eight years, according to the latest KPMG UK Tech Monitor index. The headline index dropped to 47.1 from [...]
Heathrow expects passenger numbers to fall 97 per cent during ‘major crisis for aviation’ May 1, 2020 Heathrow Airport has called the coronavirus outbreak a “major crisis for global aviation” as it said passenger numbers for last month are expected to be down 97 per cent. The figures Passenger numbers dropped 18.3 per cent during the first quarter to 14.6m. Heathrow expects numbers to be down 97 per cent in April. It [...]
Credit card lending fell for the first time in March May 1, 2020 UK consumers’ credit card debt fell for the first time since records began in March, as lockdown measures froze spending. The annual growth rate of credit card lending fell to minus 0.3 per cent, the first negative annual growth since the Bank of England (BoE) started tracking the data. The annual growth rate of other [...]
First-hand account: my observations on China’s return to work May 1, 2020 Emerging markets analyst Shuyu Gao provides a personal account of virus containment measures on her return to China, and reviews the recovery in activity. Amid the global spread of Covid-19, with lockdowns necessitating working from home more broadly, I decided to return to China and work from my family home in Nanjing. At the time, [...]
Greggs shares sink as it cancels plan to reopen stores amid lockdown May 1, 2020 Shares in high street bakery chain Greggs dropped today after it postponed its reopening plans over fears of attracting crowds. The bakery chain’s share price fell 4.73 per cent to 1,750p this morning after last night’s announcement that it will now carry out social distancing trials behind closed doors. Greggs had previously planned to reopen [...]
Norwegian Air faces anxious wait to find out if it has a future today May 1, 2020 Norwegian Air faces an anxious wait to find out whether its bondholders have approved a critical rescue package, with the low-cost airline’s future in doubt if it is rejected. Yesterday shareholders voted on the package, with the deadline for acceptance moved to 9pm at literally the last minute as the airline updated its final offer [...]
Coronavirus: UK manufacturing sector books record drops in ‘ruinous’ April May 1, 2020 UK manufacturing sector activity plunged at a record pace in April during lockdown, a closely followed measure of industrial output showed today. Factories saw output slump to 32.6 in April, according to IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data. Anything below 50 represents a contraction. Output, new orders and employment all plummeted at the fastest [...]
