Coronavirus: Columbia Road Flower Market shuts March 23, 2020 Columbia Road Flower Market has been shut down just one day after pictures emerged of people ignoring government instructions and flocking to the East London market. Photos and videos were shared on social media yesterday of people congregating in open spaces, including the famous flower market, despite government instructions to stop socialising in public to [...]
Alex Salmond acquitted of all sexual assault charges March 23, 2020 Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has been acquitted of all charges in his sexual assault trial. Salmond was facing a combined 13 charges of sexual assault and attempted rape against nine different women. The jury at the Scottish High Court in Edinburgh found him not guilty of all charges this afternoon, leaving him to [...]
ITV drops dividend and outlook as pandemic hits advertising March 23, 2020 ITV today ditched its dividend and outlook for the year as the coronavirus outbreak continues to decimate advertising revenue. The broadcaster said it would no longer propose a 5.4p per share dividend for 2019 at its upcoming annual general meeting, nor its 8p full-year payout for 2020. ITV said its decision to scrap the dividend [...]
Adbreaks during an outbreak: How to advertise during coronavirus lockdown March 23, 2020 After a week in which the coronavirus outbreak has turned life on its head for everyone in the UK, companies are having to learn quickly about how best to operate over the coming months. Some, like toilet roll manufacturers, find themselves in prime position to both help society and make huge steps forward commercially from [...]
ITV’s Saturday Night Takeaway bags record 9.5m viewers as Brits flock to traditional TV March 22, 2020 ITV’s Saturday Night Takeaway pulled in a record 9.5m viewers last night as housebound Brits flock to traditional broadcasters during the coronavirus outbreak. The hit sketch show secured 45 per cent of all live TV viewers as hosts Ant and Dec presented the programme without a studio audience for the first time as a result [...]
Coronavirus cases surpass 305,000 globally March 22, 2020 305,046 people worldwide are now confirmed to be infected with coronavirus. Figures also show 13,028, or four per cent, of those infected have since died. Here in the UK, the death toll has risen to 281. However, 95,500, or 31 per cent have recovered from the virus. In the US, New York state has been [...]
‘You are not invincible’: WHO chief sends stern coronavirus warning to young people March 21, 2020 The World Health Organisation director-general has warned young people they are “not invincible” to the threat posed by coronavirus. In a stern warning, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Covid-19 could still hospitalise or kill young people, despite older and more vulnerable people being most affected. Speaking at an online news conference from WHO headquarters [...]
GBP / EUR update March 20, 2020 As everywhere across the world, everything in the UK has been accelerating at pace and the pound has paid the price. Whilst not always at the bottom of the pile, sterling has been struggling and hit a 35-year low against the US dollar. Measures to address all aspects of the crisis were well-received by investors [...]
Coronavirus: Spain death toll surpasses 1,000 as Germany threatens curfews March 20, 2020 The death toll in Spain due to coronavirus has surpassed 1,000 as it climbed by 235 today. There are now 19,980 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country, while Germany has threatened to impose strict curfews. More than a third of the cases in Spain are in the capital of Madrid. Army specialists were sent [...]
Coronavirus: Netflix downgrades streaming quality after EU plea March 19, 2020 Netflix has said it will downgrade video streaming qualities on its platform in a bid to save network space. The US streaming giant said it will cut bitrates in Europe for 30 days, which is expected to reduce traffic by 25 per cent. It comes after the EU asked Netflix to restrict high definition (HD) [...]