Aluminium group EN Plus to buy back a fifth of shares February 6, 2020 Russian aluminium and power producer EN Plus said it would buy back a fifth of its shares from state bank VTB for $1.6bn (£1.24bn) in response to the US lifting sanctions on the group. Oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, offloaded his controlling stake in EN Plus to VTB [...]
Oil price edges up on Opec production cuts hopes February 4, 2020 Oil prices showed signs of recovery this morning as officials from oil cartel Opec were set to meet in Vienna to discuss the rapid fall in prices due to China’s coronavirus outbreak. Brent crude clawed back 0.7 per cent to reach $54.92, whilst West Texas Intermediate, which on Monday breached the $50 mark, gained 1.5 [...]
Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre review: Toby Jones delivers an acting masterclass January 31, 2020 Just as Dickens charted the plight of the underclass in Victorian England, Chekhov chronicled the slow collapse of the Russian aristocracy at the end of the 19th century. In Ian Rickson’s production of Uncle Vanya, adapted by award-winning playwright Conor McPherson, this breakdown is made literal, with trees winding through broken windows and vertiginous bookcases [...]
Coronavirus: Brits returning from Wuhan face two weeks in quarantine January 29, 2020 British citizens being flown back to the UK from the Chinese city of Wuhan tomorrow will be put in quarantine for two weeks as a precaution against coronavirus. The government will evacuate Britons from Wuhan, where the outbreak started, and the surrounding Hubei province as the virus spreads across China. Hundreds could be flown home. [...]
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote review: Terry Gilliam goes balls-to-the-wall in this kaleidoscope of imagination January 24, 2020 Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote begins with a title card: “After 25 years in the making… And unmaking”. He’s not kidding – Gilliam started work on the film in 1989, it entered full production almost a decade later with Johnny Depp starring, only to see illness and floods destroy the work and [...]
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 [...]
Davos 2020 live: Carrie Lam ‘disappointed’ by rating downgrade January 21, 2020 Please manually refresh this page for our latest Davos 2020 updates. The World Economic Forum at Davos is focusing on sustainability this year. US President Donald Trump is set to make a special address, despite his impeachment beginning in the Senate. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg hosts a panel session. Read more: What is Davos 2020? [...]
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 [...]
West blames Iran missile for plane crash as new video emerges January 10, 2020 Western leaders believe it is highly likely that a missile is to blame for the crash of a passenger jet over Iran that led to the death of all 176 people on board. Officials from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia have all agreed it is likely an Iranian missile was the cause of the [...]
World leaders blame Iran for accidentally shooting down plane January 9, 2020 World leaders have lined up to blame Iran of accidentally shooting down the Ukrainian passenger plane which crashed outside Tehran with no survivors in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that “there is now a body of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian surface to air [...]