Crossrail will be ‘mothballed’ without extra funding, TfL chief warns November 21, 2020 The troubled £19bn Crossrail project is at risk of being “mothballed’ unless it receives urgent additional funding, London’s transport chief has warned. Transport for London (TfL) commissioner Andy Byford this week urged the Department for Transport to provide £80m of immediate support to keep the rail link on track, Sky News reported. In a letter [...]
Coronavirus: R rate falls across UK to between 1 and 1.1 November 20, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus reproduction number has fallen slightly to a maximum of 1.1, according to official figures. The current estimate of Britain’s coronavirus R rate now stands between 1 and 1.1, down from a previous estimate of 1.1 and 1.2. It means on average every 10 people infected will infect between 10 and 11 other [...]
China warns West on Hong Kong: ‘Their eyes will be plucked out’ November 19, 2020 China has warned the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to stay out of its affairs after the countries accused Beijing of silencing critics in Hong Kong. The Five Eyes alliance slammed China’s introduction of new rules that allows it to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong. The countries yesterday called on Beijing to [...]
Levelling up: Sony takes over Oxford Circus station for Playstation launch November 18, 2020 London Underground is famed for its iconic roundels, but eagle-eyed commuters will notice something different about Oxford Circus station this week. Transport for London (TfL) has teamed up with Sony to give the Tube station a redesign, transforming the traditional signs into squares, triangles and crosses — the classic symbols of the Playstation controller. The [...]
Why virtual clubbing could lift your lockdown blues November 14, 2020 Ibiza may be the world’s best-known clubbing destination, but for real connoisseurs of nasty techno, Berlin is where it’s at. Most famous among its venues is the legendary Berghain, a vast concrete cathedral to dance music where club nights turn into club days and back into club nights, and the world’s top DJs provide the [...]
Oil prices slip after week of gains as vaccine rally cools November 13, 2020 Global oil prices today pared some of their gains for the week as a vaccine-inspired rally ran out of steam. Prices shot up at the beginning of the week on the news that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was 90 per cent effective, but began to slip back yesterday. Today global standard Brent crude fell a further [...]
Young’s swings to a loss in ‘toughest period’ of 189-year history November 12, 2020 Pub chain Young’s swung to a loss in what it called one of the “toughest years” in its 189 years of trading, but said it has the resilience to survive the coronavirus crisis. The company this morning said it has the resources and funds to “see through the very worst that this pandemic can throw [...]
All pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers resign as China moves to quash opposition November 11, 2020 Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition lawmakers have resigned en masse in protest against the ousting of four of their colleagues after Beijing gave local authorities fresh powers to quash dissent. The Chinese parliament adopted a resolution earlier on Wednesday allowing the city’s executive to expel legislators deemed to support Hong Kong independence bypassing the courts. Moments [...]
The Piano Works and Kerb market bosses among those pushing Rishi Sunak to back hospitality investment November 11, 2020 London hospitality firms including The Piano Works, street food market Kerb and bar operator Lollipop have called on the government to incentivise investors to help rebuild the sector without burdening struggling companies with extra debt.
Netflix poaches ITN boss Anna Mallett to lead UK production November 10, 2020 Netflix has swooped on the chief executive of TV production giant ITN as the streaming giant bolsters its credentials in the UK. Anna Mallett will oversee Netflix’s production in Britain as well as local language productions across much of the rest of the world outside the US. Mallet currently leads ITN, which produces news programming [...]