Railway strikes in the UK have halted services throughout July and Augst 2022.
Sony, owners and creators of the gaming sensation PlayStation, have been hit with a lawsuit with a possible £5 billion pay out.
What Just Happened?
The UK government has once again extended its trade sanctions with Russia.
The UK underwent a record-breaking heatwave in July with another hitting the country in August.
The UK has blocked a Chinese company from purchasing intellectual property from the University of Manchester using its powers under the National Security and Investment Act.
BARBRI, the largest US provider of crammer courses for American state bar exams, has released a report last month condemning the high costs incurred by students in the legal education pathway here in Britain. The research conducted by 'Hook Tangaza' consultants suggests that the existing GDL/LPC route could be costing students on average £25,000 to £38,000 more than a new SQE scheme which is set to come into effect next year
In the bleak times of COVID-19, contactless delivery through using drones can facilitate an effective way to deliver medical supplies, COVID-19 test samples and other medical equipment. Notably, China's Antwork drone delivery start-up already made deliveries of medical supplies to the People’s Hospital of Xingchang in Shaoxing, China. This was to help the hospital respond to the then developing coronavirus emergency in China.
What just happened?
EasyJet has signalled to the government that it may require additional financial support. This comes after the company slashed its winter flight schedule due to plummeting passenger demand. EasyJet has already received a £360m loan from the government, cut 4500 jobs equating to almost a third of its staff and raised £608m from selling aircraft[
The UK government and car industry have teamed up to launch a new initiative researching, testing, and trialing driverless car technology within British cities. Dubbed ServCity, this Nissan-backed project forms part of the UK’s £100m ‘Intelligent Mobility’ fund and will run for two and a half years.
Covid-19 cases hit a new record of 19,724 on Wednesday creating split opinions on how to manage the virus. [1] SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, released a report stating that a two-week circuit breaker at the end of October could halve covid-19 deaths between now and the end of the year.
What just happened?
Downing Street has been considering adopting an Australian offshore detention system. The Foreign Office revealed Downing Street has sought its advice on “negotiating an offshore asylum processing facility similar to the Australian model in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.” If this system is implemented it will raise a series of human rights violations.
In mid-August this year, Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave an executive order to disband Public Health England. The executive agency will be merged with the NHS Test and Trace programme to form the new National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP), promised for September. Now in October, the new institution is still “pending”, delayed until spring 2021
What has just happened?
8 years after the killing of Jyoti Singh Pandey, famously eulogised as ‘Nirbhaya’ (meaning “fearless”). Hundreds of people have once again gathered in New Delhi to denounce the rape and murder of a young woman in Uttar Pradesh. Sparking outrage in India, a 19-year old Dalit woman died in hospital, after being assaulted by four ‘upper Caste’ men.
What has happened?
The London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) is the interest rate that participating banks offer to other banks for loans on the London market. It is the most widely used benchmark for short-term interest rates globally. [1]
LIBOR is scheduled to be phased out by 2022. A suggested replacement rate is the Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate (SONIA) which measures the rate paid by banks on overnight funds. SONIA is calculated as a trimmed mean [2] of rates paid on overnight unsecured wholesale funds.
What has just happened?
The e-commerce sector in Mexico represents a huge investment opportunity for domestic and international firms. Currently, online shopping represents 2% of the country’s $203 billion in annual retail sales. COVID- 19 has accelerated the growth of e-commerce as Walmart de Mexico, the largest retailer in Mexico, e-commerce sales grew 68% in a single quarter.
The fourth and final quarter of the year is often where fellow shopaholics find the biggest and best bargains. Stocking up on seasonal promos, flashing the cash in the Black Friday sales and of course the post-Christmas ‘let’s spend even more of a fortune’ Boxing Day sales. People usually don’t think twice about nipping into their local shopping centre or high street stores, however now that’s not as easy as it sounds.
What’s just happened?
During 2020, Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index score rose from 41 to 51 out of 180 countries, showing improvement in the country’s corruption problem. [[1]] However, Malaysians are still not satisfied, blaming a lack of substantial change on the economic downfall that has happened recently.
As a result of Covid-19 restrictions, the judiciary in England and Wales has published a slew of measures to promote remote hearings in order to reduce the backlog of cases. The Lord Chief Justice set the tone in March by urging for an increased use of telephone and video technology. This was quickly followed by the Coronavirus Act 2020, which legislated for a broader range of audiovisual court proceedings.
What has happened?
Questions are being raised about the right of patients to claim for clinical negligence in relation to a healthcare worker’s ‘negligent’ actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NHS has introduced an ‘additional indemnity coverage’ scheme. This scheme is available for cases whereby healthcare professionals have carried out activities related to COVID-19. This is in accordance with clauses 10-12 Coronavirus Act 2020.
The Public Interest Disclosure (Protection) Bill is a new bill being proposed by the Scottish National Party’s Dr Philippa Whitford. The bill aims to provide protection for whistle-blowers, by establishing an independent body that would set, monitor and enforce standards on how whistle-blower cases are handled.
