Know your fiction:?the Booker shortlist assessed September 8, 2010 IN A STRANGE ROOM BY DAMON GALGUT Atlantic, £15.99 Best for: travellers DAMON Galgut’s semi-autobiographical novel follows a man, named Damon, on three different journeys – through Greece, through Africa and through India. Although he encounters and connects with different people on each trip, and himself fulfils different roles in relation to them – the [...]
OUT OF OFFICE September 8, 2010 EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE AT THE TATE Tate Britain is playing host to an exhibition of photographs by one of the medium’s true pioneers. Muybridge’s images of bodies in motion – including horses galloping (proving for the first time that they had all four legs in the air at one point in its running stride) and wrestlers [...]
LIFE COACH September 8, 2010 I’ve been invited on a game shoot, but I’ve never been before and don’t know what to expect. What do I need to know? AS many people in the City will attest, going on a shoot is a terrific social occasion. There’s nothing like spending a day standing in fields blowing fowl out of the [...]
Cable says Diamond appointment shows risks in banking sector September 8, 2010 Business minister Vince Cable said Bob Diamond’s rise to the top post at Barclays bank highlights the task the government faces in trying to make the banking sector safer. “We are worried about this combination of the casinos and the traditional banking,” Cable, a Liberal Democrat in the Conservative-led coalition administration, told BBC radio. Cable [...]
UK industrial output up 0.3pc September 8, 2010 UK industrial output was up 0.3pc in July compared with the previous month. Manufacturing output also maintained a healthy pace of growth, rising 0.3pc. Recent surveys – particularly the purchasing managers index – suggested that momentum has slowed a little over the summer. The three-month on three-month rate of growth in manufacturing eased to 0.9 [...]
House prices in slim rise in August September 8, 2010 House prices rose 0.2 per cent in August mortgage lender Halifax has said. Prices rose 4.6 per cent up in the three months to August compared with a year ago and took the average price of a home to £167,953 – nine per cent above its low in April 2009 but still 16 per cent [...]
Japan to tackle soaring yen September 8, 2010 The Japanese yen has hit a new 15-year high against the dollar, despite hints that the government will take action to curb its strength. It rose to 83.4 yen versus the dollar, adding to fears that Japanese goods are becoming uncompetitive. Japan’s finance minister Yoshihiko Noda, had suggested that he would take measures to push [...]
Dana Petroleum turns down hostile bid from KNOC September 8, 2010 Dana Petroleum has rejected a hostile £1.67bn bid from Korea National Oil Corp, citing an independent valuation that said the explorer was worth considerably more. Dana also unveiled the acquisition of North Sea assets from Canada’s Suncor for £240m. Last month KNOC made its 1,800 pence bid direct to Dana’s shareholders after failing to convince [...]
Foster’s rejects £1.6bn bid for wine business September 8, 2010 Foster’s Group, Australia’s largest brewer, knocked back a private equity offer worth up to $2.5bn (£1.6bn) for its wine business as too cheap, but the approach could spark offers for the entire group. The unexpected bid for the world’s second-largest wine business pushed Foster’s shares up six per cent on hopes of better offers for [...]
Barratt warns of tough times despite profit rise September 8, 2010 Housebuilder Barratt Developments said wider economic fears and the lack of mortgage finance meant the market for new housing was still challenging as it reported a jump in profits. House prices fell much faster than expected last month, according to a monthly survey from mortgage lender Nationwide, stoking concerns that the country could be headed [...]
