Investors unnerved by poor factory data March 22, 2012 CYCLICAL sectors led US stocks lower yesterday, setting the S&P 500 up for its first negative week in six, after factory data showed a slowdown in both the Eurozone and China. The weak data is hardly a surprise for markets, as many analysts have already factored in a recession in the Eurozon and early this [...]
A third runway at Heathrow is essential if London is to be a globally competitive city March 22, 2012 IT IS crucial for the UK’s economic recovery that London remains a global centre for trade, able to compete with old rivals such as New York and Tokyo as well as new emerging cities like Beijing, Doha and Sao Paulo. As the rhetoric around diversifying the economy and ending our reliance on financial services ramps [...]
The Budget sent mixed messages on tax certainty March 22, 2012 WE’VE had good news, bad news, and surprising news from the Budget. The UK looks attractive, partly due to financial tension in Europe. The question is whether the Budget added to or reduced the UK’s appeal as a place to do business. The answer, unsurprisingly, is mixed. The reduction of additional rate income tax from [...]
Even Disney can’t pick a winning movie script March 22, 2012 SPARE a thought for the Mouse. Disney’s latest movie spectacular, John Carter, has lost the company $200m (£127m) after a disastrous opening. Meanwhile The Hunger Games opens at cinemas today (see p.32 for our review) on speculation that it will achieve a record-breaking run. Lionsgate, the studio responsible, has seen its stock rise some 75 [...]
RAPID RESPONSES March 22, 2012 Spun up [Re: Ken Livingstone is blameless in his tax planning, Wednesday] Doug Richard makes some valid points, but the tenor of his article is misguided. The media is right to focus on hypocrisy wherever it spots it. Politicians are too ready to criticise individuals or companies, particularly if the story can be spun to [...]
GOING OUT March 22, 2012 The new Cinnamon Club Soho opens this week on the old Bar Red site on Kingly street. This is the third establishment from executive chef Vivek Singh who brought you the original Cinnamon Club in Westminster and the more contemporary Cinnamon Kitchen in the City. This time they have a younger, cheekier outlook and are [...]
Battle Royal comes to America in this terrifying post-apocalyptic thriller March 22, 2012 Film THE HUNGER GAMES 12A **** Every year in post-apocalypse North America, the Capitol of the nation of Palem forces the outer districts to send two teenagers as “tributes” to The Hunger Games. Half punishment for a failed up-rising, half reality show, The Hunger Games are an annual televised fight to the death where the [...]
Gangster saga hits right note March 22, 2012 Film WILD BILL Cert: 15 **** THIS isn’t your average East End gangster saga. Wild Bill is an impressively subtle, no-nonsense debut from first-time director Dexter Fletcher, centring around Bill Hayward (Charlie Creed-Miles), a troubled guy coming out of prison, trying to live the good life while still tangled up in his murky past. It [...]
Navy SEAL film plays like a bad recruitment video. These guys may deserve a great movie but this ain’t it March 22, 2012 Film ACT OF VALOUR Cert: 12A * Starring active duty US Navy SEALs alongside a smattering of actors, this fictionalised version of real operations follows the Bandito Platoon on a straightforward mission that leads to a terrorist conspiracy of unimaginable proportions. Following extensive interviews with the troops, directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh took five [...]
Iranian director shows what can be done with one man and his iPhone in this poignant study March 22, 2012 Film THIS IS NOT A FILM Cert: U **** There aren’t many films made partially on an iPhone and smuggled into the Cannes Film Festival in a cake. Banned for 20 years from film-making and sentenced to 6 years in prison after supporting the opposition during the Iranian elections in 2009, this documentary follows renowned [...]
