Callum Skinner interview: How British Olympic champion cyclist is fighting to give athletes a voice March 23, 2020 When Olympic champion track cyclist Callum Skinner retired from professional sport 12 months ago, he was just 26. Skinner, who won gold and silver medals at Rio 2016, was not forced into quitting the sport by injury. But the way his “pretty serious mental health issues” were dealt with by British Cycling saw him exit [...]
Harvey Weinstein tests positive for coronavirus in New York jail March 23, 2020 Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein has tested positive for coronavirus while serving a prison sentence in New York for sexual assault and rape. The 68-year-old former film producer has been placed in isolation at Wende Correctional Facility after a test came back positive yesterday, according to Michael Powers, head of the state corrections officers union. [...]
Asda donates money to help food banks during coronavirus crisis as supermarkets offer new jobs March 23, 2020 Supermarket chain Asda will donate £5m to partner charities. The donation to the Trussell Trust and FareShare is part of an effort to help four million vulnerable families. “This funding will help us recruit and train new food bank volunteers across the UK, and support the coordination of packing and delivering pre-made food parcels to [...]
Government ‘in talks with Amazon’ over coronavirus test delivery March 23, 2020 The UK government is said to have approached companies including Amazon over delivering coronavirus testing kits to frontline health and social care workers. Whitehall officials are in discussions with the firms about ramping up the availability of tests for healthcare staff as the spread of the virus picks up pace, the Financial Times reported, citing [...]
Coronavirus: Tube drivers ‘furious’ at people still commuting March 23, 2020 Tube drivers are “furious” at the amount of people still catching the Tube in rush hour, according to a London Underground union boss. Social media was awash this morning with photos of packed Tube trains, despite the government instructing people to not use public transport unless they were an “essential worker” going to their workplace. [...]
Coronavirus: British companies rush to mothball results after City watchdog calls for delay March 23, 2020 British companies are rushing to delay the publication of their results following an unprecedented call from the financial regulator for results to be suspended due to the coronavirus crisis. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said late on Saturday that listed firms planning to report preliminary results in the next few days should mothball them for [...]
Shell and Total slash costs and suspend buybacks amid oil price slump March 23, 2020 Oil giants Shell and Total have suspended their share buyback programmes and announced billions of dollars of cost cutting as they try to weather the recent crash in oil prices. The price of Brent crude slumped to a 17-year low last week as the coronavirus pandemic has cut global demand for oil and a price [...]
Blackstone buys Clearbell Capital’s £120m logistics portfolio March 23, 2020 Private equity firm Blackstone has bought 22 logistics sites from Clearbell Capital as consumers turn to online shopping in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Clearbell Property Partners III, a fund managed by private real estate fund manager Clearbell Capital, has sold its industrials and logistics portfolio for £120m. The portfolio comprises of 22 small to [...]
Flying taxi startup Lilium raises $240m in funding round March 23, 2020 German flying taxi firm Lilium has raised an extra $240m (£207m) in funding from backers such as Chinese tech firm Tencent. The new funds mean that the startup has now raised more than $340m, which it will use for further development of its prototype jet as well as preparing its facilities to begin production. The [...]
Whatsapp launches coronavirus chatbot with World Health Organization March 23, 2020 Whatsapp has launched a messaging service with the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide users with the latest information about coronavirus. The new chatbot, which has the potential to reach 2bn people, will ensure users are given news and information from trusted sources. The service includes details on symptoms and how people can protect themselves [...]
