City View exclusive: Foreign Affairs Committee chief labels Chinese ambassador ‘bully’ July 30, 2020 The chair of the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee has called China’s ambassador to the UK a “bully”, after the Beijing official accused Britain of cooking up “lies and slander” about the country and of getting too involved in its internal affairs. Speaking on City A.M.‘s daily podcast The City View, Tom Tugendhat said China’s recent [...]
Liberal Democrats leadership race: The long road to relevance July 30, 2020 For the second consecutive summer, Liberal Democrat members will be dragged to the polls to vote in a leadership election. While last year’s contest had a palpable feeling of optimism and excitement for many members, this year’s affair will likely represent the most abject contrast. The Liberal Democrats had surged to an unlikely lead in [...]
Tiktok sets up $2bn fund to poach creators from rivals July 30, 2020 Tiktok has today revealed it will be putting more than $2bn aside over the next three years to pay creators on its platform, in a bid to attract more influencers from rivals Instagram and Youtube. Around $300m of that fund will go to creators in the UK and Europe, while $1bn will be set aside [...]
O2 weathers coronavirus storm as sales surge July 30, 2020 O2 appeared to weather the Covid-19 storm in the three months to June, with revenues declining just under four per cent year on year, as handset sales surged during lockdown. O2 results O2’s UK operations notched a 10.1 per cent year on year increase in handset sales to €428m over the quarter. Handset revenues saw [...]
Want a cure for Covid right now? Stop smoking, exercise more, and focus on holistic health July 30, 2020 So much of the conversation around how to beat Covid-19 has focused on the Holy Grail of a vaccine. This is obviously of utmost importance. But to beat coronavirus, as well as prepare for the next pandemic, we need a new definition of health — one that can strengthen our natural immunity and save thousands [...]
Big Tech vs Congress live: Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon face Washington grilling July 29, 2020 Welcome to City A.M.’s Big Tech vs Congress live blog. Please refresh this page for live updates. Big Tech faces its day of reckoning today as the world’s four biggest tech moguls appear before the US Congress in Washington to face a grilling over their companies’ size and power. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, [...]
Who will the PM hire as the press conference spokesperson? July 29, 2020 The Prime Minister today launched a search for a spokesperson to host White House-style daily televised press briefings, in a bid to boost government transparency during the pandemic. An advert for the job posted on the Conservative’s Linkedin page suggested that the successful candidate will be a well-known figure on the political circuit, and assured [...]
Tiktok boss attacks Facebook as parent firm weighs $50bn takeover bid July 29, 2020 Tiktok’s chief executive Kevin Mayer has launched a stinging rebuttal against Facebook, accusing it of using patriotism as a way to unfairly target the short-form video app. In a blog post today, Mayer criticised Facebook for pushing for higher scrutiny on Tiktok’s Chinese origins. “At TikTok we welcome competition. We think fair competition makes all [...]
Tories turn to Linkedin to recruit £100k host of White House-style briefings July 29, 2020 Boris Johnson has launched a search for a new £100,000-a-year spokesperson to front Downing Street’s press briefings, as the Prime Minister looks to step back from the limelight. The Conservatives posted the vacancy on their Linkedin page this morning, describing it as a “unique opportunity” to work at the heart of the political circuit. The [...]
Zuckerberg defends Facebook: ‘Companies aren’t bad just because they’re big’ July 29, 2020 Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg is set to tell Congress that “companies aren’t bad just because they are big,” as the world’s biggest social media company today faces a historic investigation into its size and power. Zuckerberg is expected to tell the US Congress that Facebook became successful “the American way, by starting out with nothing [...]