Jacobean tale of incest is a 21st century triumph February 23, 2012 Theatre ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE Barbican **** by Steve Dinneen JOHN Ford’s Jacobean tale of incest and revenge is dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century in this highly stylised and deliciously sinister production. The forbidden love between Giovanni and his sister Annabella is portrayed as a tender but doomed affair – similar [...]
How to find the next crop of cyber security experts February 22, 2012 Hacking group Anonymous rose from obscurity last year to become a household name. Earlier this month it intercepted a phone call between the FBI and UK police discussing, ironically, the fight against cyber crime. The audacious hack was the latest in a string of high profile attacks targeting governments, police forces and corporations across the [...]
Catherine is tantalisingly close to being a great game February 22, 2012 Tantalus made a pretty bad mistake: he pissed off Zeus. To make amends, he chopped up his son Pelops, boiled him in a pot and served him as a sacrificial aperitif. Now, as you might have predicted, this only made things worse and Zeus, not the most forgiving of gods at the best of times, [...]
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS February 22, 2012 NOKIA TO UNVEIL CHEAPER LUMIA Nokia is poised to unveil a new, cheaper smartphone using Microsoft’s Windows Phone software at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona next week. The struggling Finnish giant wants to target a wider market for its new range of smartphones, with its flagship Lumia 800 failing to make the desired [...]
Segro asset value hit by write-downs February 21, 2012 SEGRO, the industrial property developer, said that it was hit by a 9.6 per cent decline in its net asset value (NAV) last year after bigger-than-forecast write-downs on its portfolio. The real estate investment trust said its NAV per share fell to 340p after the group wrote down the value of its non-core assets by [...]
Strong profits at BNP Paribas Real Estate February 21, 2012 BNP PARIBAS Real Estate enjoyed a strong performance in 2011 despite tougher market conditions, posting an 11 per cent rise in operating profits to €156m (£130.8m). The real estate advisory arm of France’s biggest listed bank – which posted full-year profits of £6bn last week – said turnover increased by six per cent to €658m [...]
Panamera GTS and BMW’s new-gen 3-series both score February 21, 2012 Porsche’s new Panamera shows that two more seats can still be sporty PORSCHE’s four-seat Panamera has sold surprisingly well. Though it’s pretty agile for such a large, heavy motor it’s never felt as sporty as it could have with a character that’s more luxury limousine than dynamic sportscar, even in its range-topping Turbo iteration. It’s [...]
CAR TALK February 21, 2012 FORD’S FIESTA-SIZED B-MAX Will Ford’s new B-MAX be the cleverest little car this year? The new Fiesta-sized MPV has its central body B-pillars incorporated into the doors so there’s a 1.5m long opening on either side of the car. Easy to get in and out of and you should be able to load large items [...]
House sales up 23% on last year February 21, 2012 There were 64,000 UK property sales in January, up 23 per cent compared the same month last year, according to figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Sales numbers endured the traditional post-Christmas dip, falling from 86,000 in December. But the January figures are the highest since 2008. Yesterday the Council of Mortgage lenders said [...]
Desperate buyers pay huge premium on top properties February 20, 2012 THE RESTRICTED supply of property in the most popular areas in London has led to buyers paying premiums of up to £100,000 above the asking price, according to a report published yesterday by estate agents Cluttons. Domestic and foreign buyers have enthusiastically invested in London, causing the stock of houses on the market to fall [...]