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 [...]
Asian stocks falter as coronavirus cases surge July 8, 2020 Asian stocks dithered on Wednesday as an increase in new coronavirus cases in some parts of the world cast doubts over the economic recovery while oil prices eased on oversupply fears. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were a tad lower after hitting a 4-1/2 month high just on Tuesday. Chinese shares flickered [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks drop on economy warnings July 7, 2020 The FTSE 100 and US stocks have fallen as investors weigh persistent worries about the economy against countries’ moves to reopen after lengthy coronavirus lockdowns. London’s blue-chip index was 1.6 per cent lower this afternoon, at 6,187 points. It rose more than two per cent yesterday after Chinese shares rallied more than five per cent. [...]
Hong Kong: All the tech firms pausing activity after China’s security law July 7, 2020 A host of tech giants have said they will be pausing the processing of requests by authorities in Hong Kong to review user data, following a strict new security law passed by China last week. China’s parliament has approved the national security law in Hong Kong, which pushes the city state towards a more authoritarian [...]
Zoom and Linkedin join tech giants in pausing requests from Hong Kong July 7, 2020 Microsoft’s Linkedin and Zoom are the latest tech companies to reveal they will be pausing all requests to review user data from authorities in Hong Kong, in light of new laws in the region. Zoom said it has paused processing of all data requests from and related to Hong Kong, while Linkedin said it has [...]