Gazprom profits soar 44 per cent after energy prices boom May 30, 2019 Profits shot up at Gazprom in the first three months of the year, the company reported today after months of international energy price rises. Sales at the firm rose 6.8 per cent to 1.3 trillion Russian roubles (£15.8bn) in the first quarter of 2019, even as the amount of gas it sold dropped 8.6 per [...]
Mueller says ‘not an option’ to charge Trump over Russia inquiry May 29, 2019 US special counsel Robert Mueller, the man at the helm of a two-year inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, has resigned from office. His statement marks the end of the inquiry, which also sparked concerns on the reported unconstitutionality of charging a sitting US president with a crime. Mueller called Russia’s interference as “a concerted [...]
Austrian parliament votes to sack Chancellor Sebastian Kurz after corruption scandal May 27, 2019 Austrian MPs have backed a motion of no confidence in the country’s Chancellor after a corruption scandal claimed the head of his coalition partner and deputy Heinz-Christian Strache. Parliament voted in favour of sacking Sebastian Kurz from the role this afternoon, forcing his government out of office. Read more: Merkel says Brexit delay possible if [...]
Ford announces 7,000 job cuts as US car maker moves up a gear in restructuring plan May 20, 2019 Ford is to cut around one-tenth of its global salaried workforce by the end of August as part of a major global restructuring plan. Read more: Ford gears up to announce up to 550 white collar job losses in UK The move to shed 7,000 workers this summer is expected to save the firm $600m [...]
‘I don’t need banks’: Trump hits back at reports of Deutsche Bank’s red flags May 20, 2019 US President Donald Trump has hit back at reports Deutsche Bank employees flagged suspicious transactions by the president and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The New York Times reported that anti-money laundering specialists at the bank recommended transactions by legal entities controlled by the pair be reported to a federal crimes watchdog. Read more: Deutsche Bank [...]
Brands, forget about customer loyalty and trust. Just make stuff that people want to buy May 20, 2019 If you're a harassed brand manager, a chief marketing officer with a case of the shakes, or a branding agency strategist for whom visiting Twitter is like playing Russian roulette, here’s the good news: the average person couldn’t care less about your brand. I mean really, they don’t care. Don’t interject by stating the name of [...]
The Brexit Party genie cannot be stuffed back into the bottle May 16, 2019 It was said of the French Bourbons during the Restoration following the Revolutionary and Napoleonic interregnum that “they had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing”. Utterly oblivious to how France had changed since Louis XVI had been driven from the throne, his relatives proceeded to attempt to roll back the clock and restore their vision of [...]
MPs accuse government of using Brexit as an ‘excuse’ to avoid Russian sanctions May 14, 2019 More than 50 MPs have urged the government to stop using Brexit as an "excuse" not to impose sanctions against Russian figures accused of human rights violations. The head of the all party Russia group, Chris Bryant, has demanded action from foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt in the wake of the Novichok attack on Salisbury last year. Along with [...]
Ford gears up to announce up to 550 job losses for UK office workers amid turnaround efforts May 13, 2019 Ford is poised to announce as many as 550 job cuts in the coming weeks as part of a major restructuring programme, City A.M. has learnt. Read more: Ford casts further doubt over future of its UK operations post-Brexit The second-biggest car maker in the US is expected to make the reductions among office workers [...]
Liz Truss wants to build on Green Belt land to fight of ‘tsunami’ of Farage and Corbyn, as Cabinet minister drops leadership hint May 12, 2019 Senior Cabinet Minister Liz Truss has called for 1m homes to be built on Green Belt land to protect against the Tories being “annihilated by the tsunami of Corbyn and Farage”. The Treasury chief secretary took aim at the policy of protecting the land – a favourite among Conservative grassroots activists – saying: “We need [...]