Johnny Depp claims Amber Heard ‘punched’ him as High Court libel case begins July 7, 2020 Johnny Depp’s defamation case against the Sun newspaper over claims that he abused ex-wife Amber Heard kicked off at the High Court today, with Depp’s lawyers telling the court the allegations were “complete lies”. They also claimed that Heard had “punched” the Hollywood actor in the face, which Heard denies. Depp is suing the Sun’s [...]
London’s City University scraps Cass name from business school over slavery links July 6, 2020 London’s City University has dropped the name of its Cass Business School over its 18th-century namesake’s links to the slave trade. The school, which frequently ranks in the world’s top MBA programmes, today said it will be renamed City’s Business School after a unanimous ruling from its shareholders found the name was “incompatible with City’s [...]
Boohoo shares dive following Leicester factory allegations July 6, 2020 Shares in fast fashion retailer Boohoo slumped more than 18 per cent today following allegations of illegally low wages at the firm’s factory in Leicester. Boohoo shares fell 23 per cent during trading today, after the Sunday Times yesterday reported that workers making clothes for the firm’s Nasty Gal brand were paid as little as [...]
PM calls for driverless Tube trains in TfL bailout July 6, 2020 Boris Johnson has said that driverless Tube trains should be a condition of any future government bailout of Transport for London (TfL). The government gave TfL a £1.6bn support package in May following a slump in revenue as the coronavirus lockdown prevented commuters from using the service. The funding is due to expire in September. [...]
Magnitsky Act: Dominic Raab unveils first foreign citizens facing visa restrictions July 6, 2020 Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has unveiled the first 49 foreign citizens facing sanctions for alleged human rights abuses under the UK’s new Magnitsky Act. Speaking in the Commons today, the foreign secretary said the UK was taking action against the “thugs of despots and henchmen of dictators” and those trying to launder their “blood-stained ill-gotten [...]
Greece to resume direct flights from UK next week July 6, 2020 Greece will resume direct flights from the UK on 15 July, after it last week extended a ban on travel from Britain over concerns the infection rate could spike. Greece is exempt from the Foreign Office’s advice against all but non-essential international travel, but the country last week signalled it was not ready to resume [...]
High street footfall soars on Super Saturday after lockdown lift July 6, 2020 Footfall in England hiked almost 36 per cent on Saturday evening, according to new research, as revellers flocked to high streets around the country to enjoy their first pints out after more than three months of lockdown. New data released by Springboard today showed that footfall on English high streets rose 35.8 per cent on [...]
‘Serious concerns’ raised over government’s export credit agency July 6, 2020 The government’s export credit agency could be “cutting corners” as it races to finance the post-coronavirus and post-Brexit trade drive, raising “serious concerns” about the UK’s future trading relations, according to a new report. A report released today by anti-corruption campaign group Spotlight on Corruption found that UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit [...]
Government launches major review into long-term health impacts of coronavirus July 5, 2020 The UK government has launched a major review of the long-term mental and physical health implications of coronavirus. A study of more than 10,000 patients, led by the Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, will assess the impact of coronavirus on patients and how recovery is shaped by individual characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, the Department [...]
UK coronavirus death toll rises by 22 July 5, 2020 A further 22 people have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths to 44,220. The increase, announced today by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), includes the number of people who have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in hospitals, care homes and the wider community as [...]