Hydrogen holds the keys to unlocking a zero carbon future July 21, 2020 Today, we should have been celebrating the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Following their postponement to 2021, the Games will make history for being the first Olympiad to take place outside of the four year cycle since the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896. They will also make history for another [...]
Rare earth miner Pensana inks deal with Chinese firm for Angola project July 20, 2020 Rare earth metals firm Pensana has today announced that it is exploring a partnership with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) to develop its flagship mine in Angola. The project, at Longonjo in the southern African country, is the first new rare earth mine in over a decade. The mine, which is slated to start [...]
Airlines call on Rishi Sunak to waive passenger tax for 12 months July 20, 2020 The UK’s airlines have renewed calls for a 12-month waiver from paying Air Passenger Duty (APD) in a bid to protect the industry from damage from the coronavirus crisis. A new survey from industry body Airlines UK has found that without such a waiver, 600 air routes will be lost in the short-term, as well [...]
M&S set to announce hundreds of UK job cuts this week July 20, 2020 Supermarket giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) is set to announce plans for hundreds of job cuts later this week, according to reports, as the retailer undergoes a wide-scale restructure in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. M&S will begin announcing redundancy plans over the next few days, which are expected to run into their thousands [...]
Met Office mistakes huge swarm of flying ants over London for rain July 17, 2020 Flying ants have once again taken to the skies of London, with swarms so big that the Met Office weather radar has mistaken them for rain. On Sunday, millions of the bugs filled the skies across the country on what is known as “Flying Ant day”. Undeterred, the winged insects have returned in huge swarms [...]
British Airways retires entire fleet of Boeing 747 jumbo jets July 17, 2020 British Airways marked the end of an era today as the world’s largest operator of Boeing 747s said it will retire its entire fleet of jumbo jets with immediate effect due to the coronavirus pandemic. Global travel bans imposed to stem the spread of the virus has put the future of many airline companies in [...]
Government reviewing response to ‘unacceptable’ Russia hack, says minister July 17, 2020 The UK is reviewing its response to Russian-backed attempts to steal coronavirus vaccine research, security minister James Brokenshire said this morning. Yesterday the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued a statement in conjunction with counterparts in the US and Canada saying that hacking group Cozy Bear had been attempting to steal Covid-19 research from institutions [...]
FCA hires accountancy firm BDO to help monitor Wirecard July 16, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has drafted in a team of accountants to aid with its monitoring of Wirecard. The City watchdog has hired BDO to work on its response to the Wirecard crisis, according to Sky News. The FCA reportedly appointed the firm to ensure the now insolvent German firm complies with a series [...]
Biffa eyes ‘steady recovery’ as revenues start to come back July 16, 2020 Waste management firm Biffa said it was seeing a “steady recovery” in demand for its services, with revenues last month recovering to 83 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels. In a trading update, the FTSE 250 firm said that its business had performed “slightly” better than expected over the last three months. However, it warned that [...]
Trump on UK’s Huawei U-turn: ‘I did this myself’ July 15, 2020 US President Donald Trump has said he is responsible for the UK’s reversal on an earlier policy decision regarding Chinese tech firm Huawei. The government said yesterday Huawei equipment must be purged completely from the UK’s 5G network by the end of 2027. “We convinced many countries, many countries — I did this myself for [...]