Coronavirus: Death toll rises to 259 and US declares public health emergency February 1, 2020 The number of people to have died from the coronavirus has risen to 259, according to Chinese officials. It is up from the 213 declared on Friday, while the number of cases has also increased by more than 2,000 to 11,791. These figures would “almost certainly be an underestimate” however, according to England’s chief medical [...]
Russian parliament gives Putin reforms green light in first vote January 23, 2020 Russia’s lower house of parliament has unanimously backed the constitutional shake-up proposed by Vladimir Putin last week, paving the way for reforms that could cement the President’s power after he steps down from his current post. All 432 lawmakers in the lower house assented to the reforms, with no votes against or abstentions. The vote [...]
Petropavlovsk strikes gold as sales soar in final quarter January 23, 2020 London-listed gold miner Petropavlovsk saw its shares jump eight per cent this morning after the company reported a large increase in sales. In total, the firm said its gold sales had increased 39 per cent in the year ending December 2019, from 369,000 ounces to 514,000 ounces. The firm, which has operations in Russia, attributed [...]
Greenpeace defeated in Norway Arctic oil exploration lawsuit January 23, 2020 Greenpeace has lost its attempt to disrupt Norway’s plans to expand oil exploration operations in the Arctic after an Oslo appeals court ruled against the climate group. Along with the Nature and Youth group, the environmental organisation had tried to argue that the activities violated people’s right to a healthy enivironment. Article 112 of Norway’s [...]
Vladimir Putin announces government overhaul and names new prime minister January 15, 2020 Russia’s prime minister and the entire government have resigned from their posts after President Vladimir Putin said he will hold a referendum on sweeping constitutional changes which could allow him to keep power when his term ends in 2024. The resigning prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said he wanted to give Putin room to make “all [...]
UK, France and Germany trigger dispute mechanism over Iran nuclear deal January 14, 2020 The UK, France and Germany have triggered a dispute mechanism over the nuclear deal with Iran, amid fears that the country is slipping back towards developing weapons. Iran has suspended all limits on its production of enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons. City A.M. understands that officials [...]
US officials provide UK with fresh data ahead of Huawei decision January 13, 2020 Senior US officials made a last-minute plea to Boris Johnson today to keep Huawei out of Britain’s telecoms network, warning that allowing the Chinese firm to remain involved would be “nothing short of madness”. A dossier was presented by a US delegation to the UK that officials told media outlets included new technical information that [...]
Ukrainian jet shot down by Iranian anti-aircraft missile, say reports January 9, 2020 The Ukrainian Airlines jet that crashed on Tuesday outside Tehran was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile, according to US media reports. All 176 people on board were killed after the Boeing 737-800 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s international airport on Tuesday. US magazine Newsweek today said a Pentagon official, a senior [...]
Just one in 10 Brits trusts Huawei amid China spying fears January 9, 2020 While the UK is yet to decide whether or not it will allow Huawei to participate in the country’s 5G network, it seems the public may already have made up its mind. Just one in 10 Brits said they trust the controversial Chinese tech firm, according to a new survey from Yougov, while 22 per [...]
PM Johnson urges Iranian President Rouhani to ‘end hostilities’ January 9, 2020 Boris Johnson told his Iranian counterpart there must be “an end to hostilities” during a phone call between the pair this morning. The Prime Minister spoke with Hassan Rouhani for around 20 minutes, to discuss the aftermath of the US killing of Qasem Soleimani late last week. “The Prime Minister underlined the UK’s continued commitment [...]