Give me Liberty or Give me TikTok July 14, 2020 Bytedance’s superstar mobile app, TikTok has risen to hero status becoming the go-to source of entertainment during lockdown. Viral dance challenges, comedic skits and short snippets of video content have grabbed the attention of over 1 billion monthly users. In a time where uncertainty and boredom reigns, a bit of creative romance is received with [...]
China threatens to sanction Lockheed Martin over Taiwan arms sales July 14, 2020 Lockheed Martin looks set to be slapped with sanctions by China for its role in providing arms to Taiwan, in a move likely to further damage the US’ relationship with the east Asian giant. Last week the US government approved a $620m upgrade package for a surface-to-air missile system, in which Lockheed is the main [...]
Former BP boss Lord Browne to step down as Huawei UK chair July 14, 2020 Lord John Browne has resigned as UK chairman of Huawei, ahead of an expected ban on the telecoms provider to be announced later today. He will step down from the board in September, ending his tenure seven months early. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden is expected to tell MPs this afternoon that the government will ban [...]
Asian shares retreat as virus and Sino-US tensions flare July 14, 2020 Asian stock markets slipped today, oil sagged and a safety bid supported the dollar as simmering Sino-US tensions and fresh coronavirus restrictions in California kept a lid on investor optimism as earnings season gets underway. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei retreated from a one-month high touched [...]
Huawei: Will the government ban the Chinese vendor tomorrow? July 13, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to decide whether to ban Huawei from the UK’s 5G infrastructure tomorrow, following intense pressure from MPs and US President Donald Trump to U-turn on a deal with the Chinese vendor over national security fears. In January, Johnson struck a deal with Huawei to build technology for the UK’s [...]
Asian shares climb as US earnings to test optimism July 13, 2020 Asian shares climbed toward five-month peaks today as investors wagered the US earnings season would see most companies beat forecasts given expectations had been lowered so far by coronavirus lockdowns. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added one per cent, having climbed sharply last week on the back of surging Chinese stocks, which [...]
An open letter to the PM: Britain must build Sizewell C — nuclear sits at the heart of a green recovery July 12, 2020 An open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, business secretary Alok Sharma, and chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak We are writing as engineers, nuclear experts, scientists and concerned citizens to applaud your commitment to fighting climate change through energy policy, in particular the commitment to proceed with new nuclear construction at the same time [...]
Tiktok removed more than 49m videos for content violations in six months July 9, 2020 Tiktok took down more than 49m videos worldwide in the second half of 2019, it said today in a transparency report, as scrutiny of the platform ramps up. The removed videos represented less than one per cent of all posts on the app in that time. Tiktok said the videos were taken down for violations [...]
Vodafone and BT warn it may take five years and cost ‘billions’ to scrap Huawei July 9, 2020 Vodafone and BT have warned that it may take at least five years and cost “billions” of pounds to strip Huawei equipment from UK networks, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces mounting pressure to scrap a deal with the Chinese vendor over security concerns. Vodafone UK’s head of networks, Andrea Dona, today told the government’s [...]
HSBC shares tumble as US mulls Hong Kong crackdown July 8, 2020 HSBC shares have tumbled four per cent after advisers to the US government said they could undermine the Hong Kong dollar’s peg to the US dollar and crack down on banks in the city. The UK and Hong Kong-focused bank has been caught up in a geopolitical struggle over the semi-autonomous city which has seen [...]