US threatens to hike tariffs on UK car exports - CNN

Mnuchin said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the United States regards digital services taxes such as the one imposed by France, and being planned by the United Kingdom and Italy, as being unfair to American tech companies.

President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed this week to a truce over the issue after the White House threatened to significantly increase tariffs on French goods such as wine, cheese and handbags. France has already introduced a 3% tax on digital services.

Asked what would happen if Britain moves ahead with its tax, Mnuchin said that Washington would consider imposing tariffs on UK car exports.

"If people just want to just arbitrarily put taxes on our digital companies, we'll consider arbitrarily putting taxes on car companies," said Mnuchin. The Trump administration official cautioned, however, that he was confident the issue would be resolved.

UK finance minister Sajid Javid, who was also on the panel, said he planned to go ahead with the digital services tax in April, even as the country seeks to negotiate a new free trade deal with the United States following Brexit.

"We're going to have some private conversations. I'm sure this will be worked out, if not at our level then between the prime minister and the president who have an excellent relationship," Mnuchin added.

The best solution, both officials agreed, would be a global resolution that establishes new rules for how countries can collect taxes on digital services sold by companies based in other markets. Negotiations are underway at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

UK car exports

Higher tariffs on cars made in the United Kingdom would be another massive blow to an industry that has been slammed by Brexit.

Nearly four years of uncertainty over leaving the European Union has caused UK auto production to decline for 17 of the past 18 months, according to the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Production dropped 17% in November, the most recent month for which data is available.

The global automakers who have built factories in Britain fear that leaving the European Union will result in new barriers to trade with their biggest market. That would snarl their supply chains, disrupt production and erode profit margins that are already razor thin.

US tariffs would also harm the industry. According to the SMMT, nearly 20% of UK car exports are to the United States.

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2020-01-22 12:50:00Z
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US threatens to hike tariffs on UK car exports - CNN

Mnuchin said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the United States regards digital services taxes such as the one imposed by France, and being planned by the United Kingdom and Italy, as being unfair to American tech companies.

President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed this week to a truce over the issue after the White House threatened to significantly increase tariffs on French goods such as wine, cheese and handbags. France has already introduced a 3% tax on digital services.

Asked what would happen if Britain moves ahead with its tax, Mnuchin said that Washington would consider imposing tariffs on UK car exports.

"If people just want to just arbitrarily put taxes on our digital companies, we'll consider arbitrarily putting taxes on car companies," said Mnuchin. The Trump administration official cautioned, however, that he was confident the issue would be resolved.

UK finance minister Sajid Javid, who was also on the panel, said he planned to go ahead with the digital services tax in April, even as the country seeks to negotiate a new free trade deal with the United States following Brexit.

"We're going to have some private conversations. I'm sure this will be worked out, if not at our level then between the prime minister and the president who have an excellent relationship," Mnuchin added.

The best solution, both officials agreed, would be a global resolution that establishes new rules for how countries can collect taxes on digital services sold by companies based in other markets. Negotiations are underway at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

UK car exports

Higher tariffs on cars made in the United Kingdom would be another massive blow to an industry that has been slammed by Brexit.

Nearly four years of uncertainty over leaving the European Union has caused UK auto production to decline for 17 of the past 18 months, according to the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Production dropped 17% in November, the most recent month for which data is available.

The global automakers who have built factories in Britain fear that leaving the European Union will result in new barriers to trade with their biggest market. That would snarl their supply chains, disrupt production and erode profit margins that are already razor thin.

US tariffs would also harm the industry. According to the SMMT, nearly 20% of UK car exports are to the United States.

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2020-01-22 11:28:00Z
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Coronavirus: UK to monitor flights from China as precaution - BBC News

Media playback is unsupported on your device

The UK is to begin monitoring flights arriving from China, as part of a series of precautionary measures after the spread of a new coronavirus.

The measures, to be announced by the health secretary later, will apply to flights from Wuhan to London Heathrow.

Aircraft will land in an isolated part of Terminal 4, before being met by a health team, a government source said.

Public Health England has upgraded the risk from very low to low, the transport secretary said.

Chinese authorities have advised people to stop travel into and out of Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak.

They also admitted the country is now at the "most critical stage" of prevention and control.

So far, there have been 440 confirmed cases and nine people have died.

Most cases have been in Wuhan and Chinese authorities believe the virus originated from a seafood market that "conducted illegal transactions of wild animals".

However it has also spread to other Chinese cities and a handful of cases have been identified abroad, including in Japan and the US. There have been no cases in Britain.

On Tuesday, authorities in China confirmed for the first time that human-to-human transmission of the virus had taken place.

Health team at airport

In its most recent update on Monday, Public Health England said the risk to the UK population was "very low" while the risk to travellers to Wuhan was "low".

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC Radio 5live that Health Secretary Matt Hancock would be announcing a package of precautionary measures later.

"The flights that come in from the affected region will now be given extra attention," Mr Shapps said.

According to a government source, the "port measures" will include:

• A health team to meet each direct flight from Wuhan to London Heathrow
• Passengers on flights will hear an announcement and be given a leaflet to encourage them to report if they are ill
• Aircraft will land in an isolated area of Heathrow Terminal 4 that "better lends itself to any health contingencies"

There are currently three direct flights a week from Wuhan to London Heathrow.

Mr Shapps said it was important to "stay ahead of the issue" and monitor the situation very carefully.

Professor Calum Semple, an expert in outbreak medicine at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, said it could be difficult to spot passengers infected with the virus because it takes about five days for symptoms to appear and during this initial period someone could seem completely healthy.

He told the BBC that these symptoms, which include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties, can also be difficult to differentiate from seasonal flu.

It comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) will also consider on Wednesday whether to declare an international public health emergency over the virus - as it did with swine flu and Ebola.

Authorities in several countries, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have stepped up screening of air passengers from Wuhan.

US authorities last week announced similar measures at airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. They have now announced plans to introduce similar measures at airports in Chicago and Atlanta this week.

What we know so far about the Chinese coronavirus

This type of coronavirus is a new strain that hasn't been seen in humans before, which means doctors still have lots to learn about it.

The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. There have not been any other suspected human cases reported prior to this.

The incubation period (how long it takes for symptoms to appear after catching the infection) is days, rather than weeks.

It is not yet known how or when the virus became infectious to people. Experts believe the first cases were transmitted by an animal.

Other coronaviruses, such as Sars and Mers, came from civet cats and camels respectively.

At the moment, there is no vaccine that can protect people against it, but researchers are looking to develop one.

The UK's expected measures do not appear to include a medical screening of passengers at the airport for signs of the virus, as the UK did in 2014 following the Ebola outbreak.

Then, screening involved taking people's temperatures to check whether they have a fever and asking several questions to assess their risk.

• New China virus 'could mutate and spread further'

China - which is stepping up containment measures - has still not been able to confirm the exact source of the virus.

But the country's National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin said there was evidence that the disease was "mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract".

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2020-01-22 09:33:01Z
52780557239644

Coronavirus: UK 'to monitor flights from China' as precaution - BBC News

Media playback is unsupported on your device

The UK is expected to begin monitoring flights arriving from China, as part of a series of precautionary measures after the spread of a new coronavirus.

The measures, set to be announced later, will apply to flights from Wuhan to London Heathrow.

According to government sources, Public Health England will upgrade the risk to the UK population from very low to low.

Chinese authorities have advised people to stop travel into and out of Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak.

They also admitted the country is now at the "most critical stage" of prevention and control.

So far, there have been 440 confirmed cases and nine people have died.

Most cases have been in Wuhan but the virus has also spread to other Chinese cities.

A handful of cases have also been identified abroad, including in Japan and the United States. There have been no cases in Britain.

On Tuesday, authorities in China confirmed for the first time that human-to-human transmission of the virus had taken place.

Health team at airport

In its most recent update on Monday, the UK government said the risk to the population was "very low" while the risk to travellers to Wuhan was "low".

The situation was "under constant review", it said.

A government source has now told the BBC that Public Health England and the chief medical officer are expected to increase the risk level to the population to "low".

And on Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is also expected to put in place a series of "port measures" as a precaution which include:

• A health team to meet each direct flight from Wuhan to London Heathrow
• Passengers on flights will hear an announcement and be given a leaflet to encourage them to report if they are ill
• Aircraft will land in an isolated area of Heathrow Terminal 4 that "better lends itself to any health contingencies"

There are currently three direct flights a week from Wuhan to London Heathrow.

It comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) will also consider on Wednesday whether to declare an international public health emergency over the virus - as it did with swine flu and Ebola.

Authorities in several countries, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have stepped up screening of air passengers from Wuhan.

US authorities last week announced similar measures at airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. They have now announced plans to introduce similar measures at airports in Chicago and Atlanta this week.

The UK's expected measures do not appear to include a medical screening of passengers at the airport for signs of the virus, as the UK did in 2014 following the Ebola outbreak.

Then, screening involved taking people's temperatures to check whether they have a fever and asking several questions to assess their risk.

• New China virus 'could mutate and spread further'

China - which is stepping up containment measures - has still not been able to confirm the exact source of the virus.

But the country's National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin said there was evidence that the disease was "mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract".

A National Health Commission official admitted that the country was now at the "most critical stage" of prevention and control.

What we know so far about the Chinese coronavirus

This type of coronavirus is a new strain that hasn't been seen in humans before, which means doctors still have lots to learn about it.

The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. There have not been any other suspected human cases reported prior to this.

The incubation period (how long it takes for symptoms to appear after catching the infection) is days, rather than weeks.

It is not yet known how or when the virus became infectious to people. Experts believe the first cases were transmitted by an animal.

Other coronaviruses, such as Sars and Mers, came from civet cats and camels respectively.

At the moment, there is no vaccine that can protect people against it, but researchers are looking to develop one.

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2020-01-22 07:18:44Z
52780557239644

UK begins testing unsupervised autonomous transport pods - Engadget

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Capri Mobility

Shoppers at a UK mall have the opportunity to try out autonomous transport pods this week which -- in a UK first -- operate entirely without supervision. The driverless pods are being tested at the Cribbs Causeway mall in Gloucestershire, and run between 10AM and 4PM every day for a week, transporting passengers around the premises and along shared pedestrian spaces.

The project, called CAPRI, is being run by a consortium of businesses and academic institutions that hope to introduce this kind of transport system as standard to UK roads. But as George Lunt, technical director at infrastructure firm AECOM, said, "However, for this idea to fully develop, it is vital the public are on board and have the chance to experience a mobility service that can potentially transform the way they travel."

The pods use sensors, radar and vision processing to navigate areas crowded with pedestrians, push-chairs and bikes. As well as using the trial to iron out any technical issues, the researchers will be studying the public's reaction to autonomous transport, with the view to rolling out a trial on open public roads later this year.

This is not the first time this type of autonomous vehicle has been tested on UK soil. The GATEway project hit the streets of Greenwich back in 2016, while "Heathrow Pods" are operational at the UK's busiest airport. CAPRI, however, marks the first completely unmanned initiative, bringing us closer to a truly autonomous public transit system.

Via: Sky News

Source: Capri Mobility

In this article: autonomous, CAPRI, driverless, green, pods, public, tomorrow, transit, transport, transportation, UK

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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2020-01-21 12:20:03Z
CAIiEG1vw1GEldCye9_2-sAA6IAqGAgEKg8IACoHCAowwOjjAjDp3xswicOyAw

The Titanic will be protected by a treaty between US and UK - CNN

(CNN) — The underwater ruins of the RMS Titanic will now have the protection of an international treaty.

The United States and the United Kingdom have both passed legislation allowing them the power to grant or deny licenses to enter the hulls of the wreckage and remove artifacts found outside, according to a statement from the British Department for Transport and Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

"Lying two and a half miles below the ocean surface, the RMS Titanic is the subject of the most documented maritime tragedy in history," Ghani said in Belfast Tuesday, according to the statement. "This momentous agreement with the United States to preserve the wreck means it will be treated with the sensitivity and respect owed to the final resting place of more than 1,500 lives."

The UK signed the treaty to protect the Titanic, which is about 370 nautical miles south of Newfoundland, Canada, in 2003. But the treaty is only coming into force now, as the US didn't ratify it until the end of 2019, the statement said.

The ratification of the treaty marks a step forward in an effort of multiple countries to protect the ship, the statement said.

The Titanic was deemed an "unsinkable ship" and was the largest passenger ship afloat in 1912. But on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York in April, the ship struck an iceberg and sank. Of the 2,223 passengers and crew on board, only 706 survived, according to the US Senate report on the disaster.

Divers visited the wreckage in August for the first time in 14 years. Images they captured show the ship being swallowed up by the ocean floor and ravaged by metal-eating bacteria.

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2020-01-21 08:13:40Z
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Sterling slips as businesses fret over hard Brexit warnings from UK finance minister - CNBC

Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid leaves 10 Downing Street in central London after attending the weekly Cabinet meeting on 29 October, 2019 in London, England.

NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Sterling dipped sharply against all of its main trading peers on Monday, as traders reacted to weekend Brexit comments from U.K. Finance Minister Sajid Javid.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, the chancellor warned U.K. businesses that the government would remain committed to as hard a Brexit as possible and that it would not seek regulatory alignment with Brussels.

"There will not be alignment, we will not be a rule-taker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union — and we will do this by the end of the year," Javid said.

As markets woke Monday, sterling slipped by around 0.2% versus the greenback and 0.3% versus the euro. The pound has been losing value of late as poor economic data has taken the shine off the strong Conservative Party election win in December.

In a note Monday, Societe Generale's Kit Juckes said many traders were still backing the pound, despite also pricing in a 70% chance that the Bank of England will cut rates later this month.

"With so many longs, and unemployment data tomorrow and PMI (purchasing managers' index) on Friday, sterling remains on the back foot, sterling is vulnerable," said Juckes.

The U.K. will leave the EU by the end of January where it will enter a transition period during which a new trading relationship with the EU will be settled.

The largest body representing the interests of U.K. businesses is the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Following Javid's comment that there will be no regulatory alignment with the EU after Brexit, BCC co-Executive Director Claire Walker said the government must be careful not to drive employers away from Britain.

"Our business communities have differing views but are prepared to be pragmatic about coming changes to regulation. Uncertainty around the extent of divergence risks firms moving their production elsewhere," said Walker in a statement Saturday.

The BCC is also calling on the government to provide additional support to help firms adapt to new rules.

The auto industry is a big employer in the U.K. but heavily dependent on the smooth transport of parts and completed cars between the EU mainland and the U.K.

In an email to CNBC Monday, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Mike Hawes, said that additional regulations could "add billions" to the cost of developing cars in Britain for sale in Europe.

"It is important, therefore, that we have early sight of the details of the government's ambitions so we can evaluate any impact on our competitiveness and the future of volume manufacturing in the U.K.," he added.

Now watch: U.K. economy almost at "full capacity"

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2020-01-20 12:52:00Z
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