Author: Oliver Grant
UK-India trade talks to re-launch in the new year
Free trade talks between India and the UK will be relaunched in the new year, Downing Street has announced. The news comes after Sir Keir Starmer met Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in Brazil. A post-Brexit deal could unlock valuable markets for British cars, Scottish whisky, and financial services worth billions of pounds, with India on course to become the third largest economy in the world by 2050. However, the UK has been locked in more than a dozen rounds of negotiations since 2022, with key sticking points around relaxing visa rules and lowering fees for Indian students and [Read More…]
India’s luxury airline Vistara flies into the sunset
Indian full-service carrier Vistara will operate its last flight on Monday, after nine years in existence. A joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Sons, Vistara will merge with Tata-owned Air India to form a single entity with an expanded network and broader fleet. This means that all Vistara operations will be transferred to and managed by Air India, including helpdesk kiosks and ticketing offices. The process of migrating passengers with existing Vistara bookings and loyalty programmes to Air India has been under way over the past few months. “As part of the merger process, meals, service ware and [Read More…]
German coalition collapses after Scholz fires key minister
Germany’s governing coalition has collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired a key minister and said he would call a vote of confidence in his government early next year. The chancellor said he had no trust in Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who heads the pro-business Free Democrats and has been part of the coalition along with Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens. The crisis inside the coalition plunged Europe’s largest economy into political chaos, hours after Donald Trump’s US election victory triggered deep uncertainty about the future of the continent’s economy and security. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for common sense to [Read More…]
Trudeau accuses India of ‘massive mistake’ amid diplomatic row
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of making a “massive mistake” that Canada could not ignore if Delhi was behind the death of a Sikh separatist leader last year on Canadian soil. Trudeau made the comments two days after Canadian officials accused India of being involved in homicides, extortions and other violent acts targeting Indian dissidents on Canadian soil. After Canada levelled the accusations on Monday, both countries expelled top envoys and diplomats, ramping up already strained tensions. India has rejected the allegations as “preposterous”, and accused Trudeau of pandering to Canada’s large Sikh community for political gain. On Wednesday, India [Read More…]
Gaza war: Where does Israel get its weapons?
Western governments have come under pressure to halt arms sales to Israel over how it is waging the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel is a major weapons exporter, but its military has been heavily reliant on imported aircraft, guided bombs and missiles to conduct what experts have described as one of the most intense and destructive aerial campaigns in recent history. Campaign groups and some politicians among Israel’s Western allies say arms exports should be suspended because, they say, Israel is failing to do enough to protect the lives of civilians and ensure enough humanitarian aid reaches [Read More…]
Canada hits China-made electric cars with 100% tariff
Canada says it will impose a 100% tariff on imports of China-made electric vehicles (EV) after similar announcements by the US and European Union. The country also plans to impose a 25% duty on Chinese steel and aluminium. Canada and its Western allies accuse China of subsidising its EV industry, giving its car makers an unfair advantage. China has called the move “trade protectionism” which “violates World Trade Organization rules”. “We are transforming Canada’s automotive sector to be a global leader in building the vehicles of tomorrow, but actors like China have chosen to give themselves an unfair advantage in [Read More…]
CrowdStrike and Microsoft: What we know about global IT outage
A massive tech failure has caused travel chaos around the world, with banking and healthcare services also badly hit. Flights have been grounded because of the IT outage – a flaw which left many computers displaying blue error screens. There were long queues, delays and flight cancellations at airports around the world, as passengers had to be manually checked in. Cyber-security firm CrowdStrike has admitted that the problem was caused by an update to its antivirus software, which is designed to protect Microsoft Windows devices from malicious attacks. Microsoft has said it is taking “mitigation action” to deal with “the [Read More…]
‘Russia now is like 1984’: Inside a Russian dystopian library
If the billboards in Ivanovo are to be believed, Russia’s really going places. “Record harvest!” “More than 2000km of roads repaired in Ivanovo Region!” “Change for the Better!” In this town, a four-hour drive from Moscow, a giant banner glorifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine covers the entire wall of an old cinema. With pictures of soldiers and a slogan: “To Victory!” These posters depict a country marching towards economic and military success. But there is one place in Ivanovo that paints a very different picture of today’s Russia. I’m standing outside it. There’s a poster here, too. Not of a [Read More…]
Biden plans to send $1bn arms shipment to Israel
The White House has told Congress it plans to send more than $1bn (£800m) in new weapons to Israel. This comes despite the US being opposed to a full-scale invasion by the Israeli military on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It said last week it had paused a shipment of bombs to Israel over concerns civilians would be killed if used in densely populated areas. The package can be blocked by Congress if a majority in both chambers object. The package, confirmed by US media, would include $700m in tank ammunition, $500m in tactical vehicles and $60m in mortar [Read More…]
Google looks to AI paywall option, claims report
Google, the search engine used by more than a billion people around the world, is reported to be considering charging for premium content generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The company, owned by Alphabet Inc, is said to be revamping its business model and looking at putting some of its core product behind a paywall. It would be the first time Google had charged for any of its content. Google said it did not have anything to announce “right now”. According to the Financial Times (FT) it is said to be looking at whether to add certain AI-powered search features to [Read More…]
