Britain gets ready for rollout of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week December 6, 2020 By Estelle Shirbon and Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors’ clinics, the government said on Sunday. Footage posted by the National Health Service (NHS) showed boxes containing [...]
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer self-isolating for the second time December 5, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is back in self-isolation after a member of his staff tested positive for coronavirus. It will be the second time Starmer has had to quarantine after one of his children showed symptoms in September. The opposition leader is not thought to be showing any symptoms but will have to remain [...]
O Come, Emmanuel: Hopes of Brexit trade deal run thin as Macron toughens stance December 4, 2020 The latest Brexit talks between the UK and EU “did not go well”, according to reports, as British officials accused French President Emmanuel Macron of making fresh demands at the eleventh hour. Macron is understood to have remained unwavering in his demand that France preserves a substantial portion of existing fishing rights in British waters [...]
FTSE 100 opens higher despite deadlock in Brexit talks December 4, 2020 The FTSE 100 opened higher this morning outperforming its European peers as Brexit remains in focus. London’s blue chip index climbed 0.7 per cent on the open to 6,535 poins, while the FTSE 250 of midcap companies rose 0.17 per cent. Brexit talks have stalled somewhat despite promising signs at the start of the week. [...]
Supermarket heavyweights the Co-op and Waitrose face mounting pressure to return business rates relief December 4, 2020 High street titans the Co-op Group and Waitrose are facing mounting pressure to follow their peers and hand back millions of pounds of business rates relief dished out to keep the companies afloat during the pandemic. The Co-op is facing growing disquiet from members after refusing to emulate rivals Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, [...]
Exclusive: Government offshoring customs jobs to prep UK firms for Brexit December 3, 2020 A government grant programme is paying for overseas workers to help British logistics firms prepare for Brexit. A loophole in the HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) £50m grant programme means taxpayer funds can be given to train overseas workers as long as their company has a UK base. The Customs Grants Scheme, which is being [...]
Successful Indian Premier League 2020 underlines that competition remains king December 3, 2020 Cricket’s Indian Premier League ended with the Mumbai Indians beating the Delhi Capitals in a rather one-sided and lacklustre final last month. Yet while the showpiece event failed to deliver, it couldn’t take the gloss off a remarkably successful tournament in the UAE. Uday Shankar, president of Disney Asia Pacific, which owns broadcaster Star Sports, [...]
Asda joins ranks of supermarkets set to return business rates relief December 3, 2020 Asda has joined the growing number of UK supermarkets to hand back business rates relief given by the government to help it through the coronavirus crisis. This afternoon the grocer confirmed that it would repay £340m in emergency support – the fifth supermarket to make such a pledge. Since Tesco first announced it would give [...]
Positive coronavirus tests fall 28 per cent as England’s lockdown makes its mark December 3, 2020 Positive Covid cases dropped more than a quarter in England last week, according to the latest Test and Trace figures, as the country begins to feel the effects of the nationwide lockdown. Figures from the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) found that just over 110,000 people in England tested positive for coronavirus in [...]
The Future is Decentralized: 5 Reasons Why DeFi’s Cool-down Will Be Short Lived December 3, 2020 DeFi was once the hottest crypto trend of 2020, but the sector’s recent slowdown has some wondering whether the boom times are over. While Bitcoin’s taken the spotlight for now, crypto enthusiasts take heed: it would be unwise to count DeFi out. The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector started out as a relatively niche market before [...]