Smart motorways plan aims to boost

The government says it wants to "raise the bar" on smart motorway safety, following criticism of the scheme. Under the plan, opening motorway hard shoulders for traffic in busy periods will be scrapped. On those smart motorways where the…

Eurozone bank tries to ease coronavirus

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced steps to tackle the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. It is offering cheap loans to commercial banks to encourage them to lend to small businesses. It is also expanding its…

Budget virus plan ‘substantial’ but

The Budget measures to tackle the coronavirus are substantial, but limited, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).The IFS gave its assessment the day after the chancellor announced a £12bn package to mitigate the economic…

Pandemic crashes global stock markets

It's a rout on global stock markets, not far off crash territory. That follows the travel ban speech from US President Donald Trump that triggered a pan-European sell-off. The failure of the European Central Bank to follow the Bank of…

digital future for Bank of England banknotes?

The Bank of England is considering the introduction of electronic banknotes for use by consumers and businesses. Governor Mark Carney said: "We are in the middle of a revolution in payments," saying the Bank must look into how electronic…

The spectacular failures and successes

Not far from Cairo stood a remarkable dam, the Sadd el-Kafara, more than 100m long, and 14m high, and able to store about half a million cubic metres of water. These statistics are modest, by modern standards - but the Sadd el-Kafara is…