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Mar 14

BBC Reinstates Gary Lineker, Ending Huge Crisis

  • Gary Lineker will return as presenter of flagship BBC football show Match of the Day, the broadcaster said Monday, ending a crisis sparked by his criticism of the UK government's new asylum policy.
  • "Gary is a valued part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary, and I look forward to him presenting our coverage this coming weekend," said BBC director-general Tim Davie.
Read More at ndtv.com
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Mar 13

Silicon Valley Bank UK arm acquired by HSBC for 1 pound

  • HSBC officially announced on March 13 that its subsidiary, HSBC UK Bank, is acquiring Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVB UK) for 1 British pound ($1.21).
  • As of March 10, 2023, SVB UK had loans of around 5.5 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) and deposits of around 6.7 billion pounds ($8.1 billion), HSBC said in the announcement.
  • For the financial year ending Dec. 31, 2022, SVB UK recorded a profit before tax of 88 million pounds ($107 million). SVB UK’s tangible equity is expected to be around 1.4 billion pounds ($1.7 billion).
Read More at cointelegraph.com
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Mar 13

Gary Lineker Is In The Center Of A Culture War Engulfing The U.K.

  • Gary Lineker said the government’s language about asylum was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the '30s.”
  • BBC then announced that Lineker was going to “step back from presenting its flagship soccer program ‘Match of the Day’
  • The move sparked outrage on social media, and the hashtags #ImWithGary and #BoycottBBC began trending on Twitter.
  • Several other TV and radio hosts pulled out of presenting soccer and other sports shows, forcing BBC to air reruns.
Read More at nbcnews.com
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Mar 10

WhatsApp Says It Would Leave UK If Government Tried To Weaken Encryption

  • WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart says the messaging app will depart the UK if it’s forced to weaken its encryption standards under the country’s upcoming Online Safety Bill.
  • Cathcart on Thursday criticized the legislation as the most concerning set of online regulations in the Western world.
  • WhatsApp’s warning follows similar threats from another encrypted messaging app, Signal, who said last month that the company “would absolutely 100 percent walk [away from the UK]”
Read More at theverge.com
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Mar 04

Alphabet Must Negotiate If Contract Staff Unionize, Labor Board Official Rules

  • Alphabet Inc.’s Google is legally the boss of YouTube contract staff and must collectively bargain with the workers if they vote to unionize, a US labor board official ruled.
  • In a Friday decision, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board rejected the internet giant’s claims that it wasn’t the employer of a group of Texas-based YouTube workers, who are hired via the staffing agency Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. 
Read More at bloomberg.com