Begone Trumpist protectionism! How Biden will boost prospects for global trade November 12, 2020 We cannot be sure on the exact order in which European leaders were contacted by the US President-elect, but we do know that Boris Johnson was among them early on, silencing the hysteria that our Prime Minister might be snubbed. Fears have abounded during this US presidential race that a Joe Biden win would result [...]
Two new UK coronavirus cases confirmed to bring total to 15 February 27, 2020 Two more British patients have tested positive for the coronavirus, raising the total number of UK coronavirus cases to 15. The new patients did not pick up the coronavirus in China but it was passed onto them in Italy and Tenerife. They are now being treated at the NHS’ specialist infection centres in Royal Liverpool [...]
Coronavirus: NHS confirms 32 more deaths in UK March 18, 2020 The NHS has confirmed that there have 32 more deaths from coronavirus, taking the total death toll in the UK to 104. Earlier the Department of Health has confirmed that there have now been 2,626 coronavirus cases in the UK, up from 1,950 cases yesterday. It is the biggest daily surge of confirmed cases yet, [...]
Saudi Arabia denies responsibility for attack on Iranian oil tanker October 13, 2019 A senior Saudi minister has denied that his country was behind a suspected missile attack on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea. “We did not engage in such behaviour at all. This is not how we operate and that’s not how we did [it] in the past,” minister of state for foreign affairs [...]
Will ESG turn Bitcoin into a digital ‘stranded asset’ or monetary MySpace? (Part II) April 13, 2021 In this second instalment of a two-part piece, Ben Ashby, Derek Usher and Gerard Fox explain why environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors will undermine Bitcoin’s eye-catching rise, here focusing on the ‘S’ and ‘G’. We at Good Governance Capital (GGC) are enormously enthusiastic and supportive of innovation and competition in finance. As former mainstream [...]
Before the bell: Equity sentiment slips while all eyes are on OPEC November 30, 2020 Equity markets had a positive run last week on the back of more progress being made with respect to developing a Covid-10 vaccine. In addition to that traders are more optimistic that President Trump will leave office quietly in January. The main story of the week was that the drug being developed by AstraZeneca and [...]
UK lowers security risk for Straits of Hormuz shipping November 7, 2019 The UK today lowered the security risk for UK-flagged tankers travelling through the Straits of Hormuz, more than a month after the Stena Impero was released from detention by Iran. The Gulf state’s revolutionary guards seized the British tanker was seized in response to Britain’s capture of an Iranian vessel off Gibraltar. Read more: Saudi [...]
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 [...]
Oil prices rally as rockets damage Iranian oil tanker in Red Sea – reports October 11, 2019 Two rockets have hit an Iranian oil tanker near a Saudi Arabian port city, according to state news, sending oil prices climbing. Oil is spilling into the Red Sea after the reported attack on the Sabity, which Iranian news agency ISNA said belonged to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Read more: Saudi Aramco could [...]
The world’s great power rivals must not underestimate American blundering October 26, 2020 I love the peerless movie Casablanca beyond all others for its wit, intelligence, charm. I love it for its beating heart of romanticism, all lying just under the strata of the most delightful cynicism imaginable. But most of all I love it for its politics. A perfect geopolitical allegory of the early 1940s, it finds [...]