In allying with Iran, China signals the start of Cold War II July 20, 2020 To read the lion’s share of today’s headlines, you would think the western world is in its final days, a Rome tottering on the edge of the abyss. And yet geopolitically, for all our leaders’ unheroic bungling of the coronavirus pandemic, our primary strategic rival China has had a far worse innings. Overconfident President Xi [...]
Tiktok shelves London HQ plans as tensions mount July 19, 2020 Bytedance, the Chinese owner of video app Tiktok, has had its plans to create a new international headquarters in London thrown into doubt by a growing diplomatic crisis and fears it could be blocked in the US. Tiktok has been in discussions with the UK government over the past few months to locate its headquarters [...]
Ericsson shares soar as 5G sales boost profit July 17, 2020 A rise in 5G network sales and software revenue helped Ericsson report higher-than-expected quarterly core earnings today, as it stuck to 2020 and 2022 financial targets. The Swedish company has experienced a recovery under Borje Ekholm – a former CEO of Investor AB- who took the position in 2017, having been chosen to steer the [...]
BMW inks €2bn battery deal with Sweden’s Northvolt July 16, 2020 Auto giant BMW has signed a €2bn(£1.8bn) deal with Swedish energy firm Northvolt to provide battery cells to power its electric vehicles. The Scandinavian company, which was founded by two former Tesla executives, will make the cells using only renewable energy at a new facility in the north of Sweden. In a statement, BMW said [...]
Pizza Express draws up plans to close 75 restaurants July 16, 2020 Pizza Express is drawing up plans to close up to 75 restaurants around the UK as the pizza chain undergoes a wide-scale financial restructure as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The company is mulling the closure of “around 75” of its 470 UK outlets through a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), Pizza Express said today. [...]
FTSE 100 slips as US-China tensions continue July 16, 2020 The FTSE 100 continued to fall today as US-China tensions and mixed Chinese economic data outweigh optimism over a coronavirus vaccine. Britain’s main stock index stood 0.4 per cent down at 6,267 points just after midday. The FTSE 250 index of smaller companies slipped further, falling 0.6 per cent. Germany’s Dax fell 0.6 per cent, [...]
US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand may copy UK Hong Kong visa, says Patel July 15, 2020 Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand are looking at creating bespoke long term visas for Hong Kong residents escaping new security laws, according to home secretary Priti Patel. Patel told a parliamentary committee today that the UK’s Five Eyes security partners were looking at following the UK by making emergency visas available to Hong [...]
New York Times moves staff out of Hong Kong following new security law July 15, 2020 The New York Times is set to relocate staff at its Hong Kong bureau to South Korea, after a new security law imposed by China has raised concerns surrounding press freedom in the city. The US news outlet yesterday said the new security law, which hands Beijing sweeping powers to arrest Hong Kong citizens suspected [...]
Trump on UK’s Huawei U-turn: ‘I did this myself’ July 15, 2020 US President Donald Trump has said he is responsible for the UK’s reversal on an earlier policy decision regarding Chinese tech firm Huawei. The government said yesterday Huawei equipment must be purged completely from the UK’s 5G network by the end of 2027. “We convinced many countries, many countries — I did this myself for [...]
Burberry shares sink as it warns of ‘continued coronavirus impact’ July 15, 2020 Burberry shares sank more than seven per cent this morning as sales slumped 45 per cent during lockdown and the group warned that it will “take time” to recover from the severe impact of coronavirus. The British fashion staple said it sees no immediate end in sight to dented sales, as the pandemic continues to [...]