Who are Grand Theft Auto’s new contenders on the block? February 27, 2017 | City Talk Imagine inventing an awesome digital game. It then reaches global domination in sales. The fruits of becoming a billionaire might even be incidental to the sheer satisfaction of creating a global best-seller. And especially so when you work hard and play even harder. £4.2bn in UK consumer spend The UK game industry is booming: According to the Association for [...]
Brave sub-zero temperatures to discover Moscow’s hidden cultural treasures February 24, 2017 Russia’s sprawling capital teems with magnificent onion-domed churches, candy-coloured Baroque buildings and compelling, clean-lined, Stalin-era skyscrapers. Pretty parks such as the vast, green Gorky Park dot the city, and at its heart is the imposing plaza of Red Square. This is home to the showpiece cathedral of St Basil, Lenin’s mausoleum and the state-owned department [...]
Opinion: If you’re an Airbnb host, there are a number of legal potholes that can catch you out if you’re not careful February 24, 2017 Airbnb is now a hugely popular online platform connecting would-be landlords (or “hosts”) with tenants (or “guests”). The site allows for the vetting of both hosts and guests through online reviews and provides hosts with insurance in case things go wrong. But that still leaves a number of legal snags, however, which can be easily [...]
Holiday Homes: Legal changes that may make Swiss property purchases more costly in future – here’s what you should be looking at February 24, 2017 If you have a yearning to buy a Swiss ski home, you might want to get your skates on. Since 2012 a law has prevented resorts from allocating more than 20 per cent of its new build properties to second home buyers, be they Swiss or foreign investors. Any development project already holding permission for [...]
How the Victorian obsession with a shade of green was driving them slowly insane February 24, 2017 Toward the end of the 19th century, a silent pandemic had swept the country. The deadly malaise is hinted at in writing of the time, and well documented in the journals of confounded medical practitioners. A mysterious sickness would strike without warning and seemingly at random, driving certain individuals mad and rotting their flesh, while [...]
Buy a house worth worshipping like one of these ultra-ambitious and clever church conversions February 24, 2017 British buyers in particular want to tick three boxes when they go house-hunting; location, space and character. Church conversions offer all three. They’re often in the centre of town, where they would have been convenient for parishioners; have high ceilings and a generous footprint; and are often packed with historical details and period features. Here [...]
Focus On Paddington: With Crossrail, a £775m glass cube and new homes, W2 is about to become one of London’s next property hotspots February 24, 2017 Believe it or not, Paddington, synonymous for so long with its eponymous cartoon bear and its fantastic transport links, is one of the most undervalued places in Prime Central London. Within walking distance to Hyde Park, Oxford Circus and smart neighbourhoods like Mayfair and Knightsbridge, it’s nevertheless not traditionally seen as a great residential location. [...]
New homes: The new properties going on sale this weekend in White City, Upton Park, Putney, Chelsea and St James February 24, 2017 Television Centre, White City From £750,000 New homes are going on sale tomorrow at the iconic former home of the BBC in west London. One to three bedroom apartments will go on the market, all with balconies overlooking Hammersmith Park’s Japanese ornamental garden, which was created in 1910 as part of the Japan-Britain exhibition. They [...]
Patriots Day film review: A moving, yet flawed, dramatisation of the Boston Marathon bombings February 24, 2017 The Hollywoodification of recent American history continues with this dramatisation of the Boston Marathon bombings and the subsequent hunt for the terrorists behind the attacks. It starts off promisingly, following a number of Bostonians as they make plans to watch the annual race on their day off. The lead up to the atrocity itself is [...]
America After the Fall depicts the pain and the anxiety of America following the Wall Street Crash February 23, 2017 Hot on the heels of its Russian Revolution exhibition downstairs, the RA continues on an exciting trajectory in its programming with an equally intriguing – and rigorously curated – show in its Sackler Wing, focusing on American art in the decade following the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. Much has been made of the [...]