In a week when a Downing Street spokesperson assured us the Prime Minister has "not lost his grip", and shoppers cast aside fears of a new Covid-19 variant to send Black Friday spending soaring beyond pre-Covid levels, The Weekly has attempted to condense the news into five, quick-fire questions.

Questions:

1. Boris Johnson was widely panned this week for an unscripted riff about Peppa Pig during a rambling speech to members of the CBI. However, the Chief Executive of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, arguably made rather more controversial remarks in his speech to US business leaders on Tuesday, resulting in the Bank issuing two separate apologies to China. What did Dimon say in his speech that caused such controversy?

2. As news broke that Brockton Everlast has acquired a further stake in Cambridge Science Park this week, Bidwell's released their Arc Investment Report (Winter 2021) revealing that investment into the office and laboratory sector has already totalled a whopping £970m in 2021. The majority of this capital was directed into the Oxford and Cambridge markets. Bidwells estimate that investment into the sector will be more than twice that seen in 2020, and will easily surpass £1bn by the end of the year. What percentage of investment into Cambridge in 2021 has been from overseas investors?

3. George Canning has the dubious distinction of being the shortest-serving prime minister in Britain. Canning presided in Westminster for just 119 days between April and August 1827 before succumbing to pneumonia. If we are searching for records, however, Swedish politician, Magdalana Andersson, has a good shout for the shortest lived premiership in political history following her resignation on Thursday. For how long did Sweden's first female prime minister hold office?

4. Amidst stark warnings from finance chief, Simon Kilonback, that Transport for London may have to close down Tube lines unless they can secure Government support, TfL has begun a search for a developer to partner on three prime sites across the capital, with a gross development value of around £1.2bn. The schemes, all of which have planning consent, total around 655,000 sq ft and are expected to have an average end value of £1,800/sq ft. The local government body is looking for a single developer to joint venture on the over-station Crossrail schemes. Can you name the three stations?

5. The headlines in recent days have understandably been focused on the threat posed by the new Omicron Covid variant first discovered in Southern Africa. Yet, on Wednesday, a spacecraft lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a mission to save humanity from another existential threat. What was onboard the SpaceX-owned Falcon 9 rocket and why do NASA's scientists claim that one-day it might it be responsible for saving millions - perhaps billions - of lives?

Answers:

1. In reference to the Chinese Communist Party's 100th anniversary, the JP Morgan Chase CEO remarked, "I'll make a bet that we last longer". JP Morgan has spent years building up its operations in China and is now scrabbling to mitigate any damage to relations.
2. According to Bidwells Arc Investment Report (Winter 2021), 70% of investment into the Cambridge market in 2021 has been directed by international investors. This shows growing international recognition of the long term opportunities presented by life sciences....a sector that the Arc, with its clusters of scientific and technological excellence, is well-placed to benefit from.
3. Magdalena Andersson's stint as Sweden's first female prime minister lasted a mere 7 hours as the country was plunged into political chaos.
4. TfL is looking for a developer to joint venture on the over-station Crossrail schemes above Bank and Southwark, as well as over the Paddington Elizabeth Line station.
5. The Falcon 9 rocket carried the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft which has been designed to avert the potential threat of an asteroid collision with Earth. The mission is described as a "dry-run for the real deal" with the DART scheduled to slam into a small asteroid named Dimorphos early next year.