THINK ROOMS… April 10, 2011 THE PALACE 5* High Street | Sliema | SLM 1542 Showcasing European elegance in the heart of urban Sliema, The Palace is certainly befitting of its majestic name. This luxurious hotel is a real oasis of calm, boasting sumptuous, modern décor alongside pampering spa and leisure facilities. The style continues outside too, with a gorgeous [...]
A Moroccan palace fit for a king – and actually built by one April 10, 2011 AS we loped across the tarmac, stooping from the weight of hand-luggage only (one in the eye for EasyJet), we shifted our misshapen bags on our shoulders in preparation for the passport queue. We needn’t have bothered. Waiting for us on the tarmac were two emissaries of the Royal Mansour, our home for the weekend. [...]
WHY BICK’S CHILEAN MINOR HAS X APPEAL April 10, 2011 CHARLIE Bick, the teenage son of Square1 Consulting’s chairman David Bick, looks set to follow in the footsteps of fellow Old Harrovian James Blunt, as his appearances on the Chilean X Factor are winning him an army of female fans. Charlie, 19, entered Chile’s first X Factor contest after his host family in Santiago – [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK April 10, 2011 THE co-owner of riverside restaurant High Timber near St Paul’s, Neleen Strauss, was surprised when 14 bankers from a major international City firm racked up a substantial bill in the private dining room while (mostly) sticking to their Lent resolutions. Following an indulgent few weeks post-bonus, the party only ordered two bottles of Vergelegen from [...]
DEFAULT ZONE April 7, 2011 FRESH worries about the viability of the euro surfaced yesterday as the ECB became the first major central bank to hike interest rates from historic lows, raising the base rate from one to 1.25 per cent. The Institute of Directors (IoD) said that a euro break-up is “probably the number one macroeconomic risk to the [...]
Dimon wins $21m in pay April 7, 2011 JPMORGAN Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon received $20.8m (£12.7m) in pay and benefits including a $5m cash bonus last year, regulatory filings showed yesterday. Dimon’s base salary stayed at $1m but he received $14.2m in shares, giving him an overall 51 per cent pay rise from the $15.2m he received in 2009. Filings with US [...]
Ed Miliband slams banks April 7, 2011 LABOUR leader Ed Miliband accused banks of failing British industry and exploiting their customers in an incendiary speech yesterday. Calling on the government to reform the banking system, Miliband attacked banks as “institutions that derive massive profits from speculation” and said they were failing to provide funding to businesses. His speech to the British Chambers [...]
NO CASH FOR LIB DEM INTERNS AS CENTRAL OFFICE PASSES THE BUCK April 7, 2011 JUST days after Nick Clegg made an earnest pledge to improve expenses for the Liberal Democrats’ army of unpaid interns, The Capitalist was amused to see three job ads for internships at the party on the Work for an MP (w4mp) website offering barely a cup of tea. The “short volunteer opportunity” to work in [...]
ECB rate hike piles pressure on periphery April 7, 2011 FEARS for the Eurozone’s struggling peripheral nations were heightened yesterday, after the European Central Bank hiked interest rates by one quarter of a per cent. “Even a small rise in rates – and its effect in supporting the euro exchange rate – will only pile further pressure on the uncompetitive, debt-laden peripheral economies,” commented Ben [...]
One size fits all Eurozone is set for total failure April 7, 2011 WHAT a horrible mess. Portugal is broke and begging for a bailout, yet Jean-Claude Trichet, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) president, chose yesterday to hike interest rates by a quarter point. It hasn’t exactly been a good week for the Eurozone, which is facing a slow-motion, ever worsening existential crisis that could end up destroying [...]
