It’s the end of the world as we know it… do we feel fine? October 10, 2019 No-one who lives in London would be able to miss at least some news content about the Extinction Rebellion demonstrations in the capital this week. Seemingly the protestors have been everywhere: on Monday, they blocked Westminster Bridge and barricaded one end of Whitehall with a hearse, and on Tuesday they glued themselves to the Department [...]
Extinction Rebellion protester lies on top of plane at London City Airport to disrupt flight October 10, 2019 Paralympian James Brown has climbed up on top of a plane at London City Airport as a part of an Extinction Rebellion protest. Video footage streamed to social media shows the man using runway stairs to climb on top of the British Airways aircraft. Brown, who is reportedly blind, apparently boarded the plane before backing [...]
Nobel prize for literature awarded to Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke October 10, 2019 Polish author Olga Tokarczuk and Austrian writer Peter Handke have both been awarded the Nobel prize for literature. Tokarczuk, who was lauded for her “narrative imagination” and “encyclopedic passion”, was handed the prestigious award for 2018. Read more: Nationwide scoops £50m prize for small business lending Handke scooped up the prize for this year and [...]
DCMS chair Damian Collins calls for crackdown on fake news spread by ‘wealthy people’ October 10, 2019 A top MP has called for a crackdown on campaign groups funded by “wealthy people” that spread disinformation on social media. Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, warned that much of the discourse on social media was not spread organically but rather promoted by shady backers. Read more: [...]
Chris Tremlett: Chris Silverwood has all the attributes to be a success as England head coach October 9, 2019 Chris Silverwood has been appointed as England’s new head coach and I think the ECB hierarchy have made a good decision. I came across Silverwood in county cricket and, like others, all the feedback I’ve heard has been positive: he has a simple approach, is a strong communicator and man-manager. I’ve written previously that England [...]
General Election 2019: Get ready for the populist onslaught October 9, 2019 Parliament might have blocked the Prime Minister’s repeated efforts to go to the polls but everyone in Westminster is gearing up for a pre-Christmas election. Even ministers who still claim their top priority is to “Get Brexit Done” are unambiguously positioning themselves for a snap vote. The working assumption is that a General Election will [...]
Why BT’s house party with EE is about to end in a hangover October 9, 2019 If there’s a crisis on the British high street, no one told Philip Jansen. The BT boss has announced that his company will return to bricks-and-mortar, shacking up with mobile subsidiary EE. The shops are part of a wider transformation plan at the telecoms stalwart. Since taking over as chief executive in February, Jansen has [...]
Checkout.com expands to new London headquarters as revenue surges October 9, 2019 Online payments startup Checkout.com is set to hire 100 members of staff and relocate to new Old Street offices as it unveiled a sharp rise in revenue for the year. The British fintech unicorn will triple its office space with a new 63,000 square feet location near the capital’s Silicon Valley roundabout, having outgrown its [...]
Softbank executive suggests Wework should stay private until it can ‘demonstrate cash flow’ October 8, 2019 The tech world has been rocked by a string of disappointing or cancelled IPOs this year, as companies failed to convert huge private valuations into success on public exchanges. One Softbank executive has suggested a novel solution: firms should wait until they can demonstrate suitable levels of cash flow before listing publicly. Asked about the [...]
World Mental Health Day: How can an app boost your wellbeing? October 8, 2019 This Thursday is World Mental Health Day. Now before you roll your eyes at yet another article discussing the importance of our mental wellbeing, it is worth remembering the massive cost of mental ill-health to society. According to the OECD, the direct and indirect costs of it – such as absences from work and decreased [...]