THE BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPISTS December 9, 2010 FACEBOOK founder Mark Zuckerberg (left) is among 16 US billionaires who have pledged to hand most of their fortune to charity when they die. The 26-year-old is estimated to be worth almost $7bn (£4.4bn). He has signed up to Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge, along with fellow billionaires including investor Carl Icahn (middle) and former AOL [...]
Narnia’s heroes take to the waves December 9, 2010 Film THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER Cert: PG In the third of the Chronicles of Narnia series CS Lewis divested himself of half the Pevensie siblings, concentrating instead on the younger two, Edmund and Lucy. That’s good news for the film adaptation, since Skandar Key9nes (Edmund) and Georgie Henley (Lucy) are the better actors [...]
UK time bomb as population grows older December 9, 2010 TWICE as many “very old people” (aged 85 and over) are living in Britain compared to 25 years ago, government figures revealed yesterday. And there are now more pensioners than children (under 16), as population ageing takes it toll. Since 1984 the proportion of British people under 16 fell by two per cent, and the [...]
Americans want Fed controlled December 9, 2010 More than half of Americans say they want to rein in the Federal Reserve, says a poll. The Bloomberg National Poll showed that 39 per cent of all Americans want the Fed to be more accountable, while 16 per cent want to abolish the Fed altogether. Republicans and independents are generally sympathetic to ending the [...]
UK exports up, but deficit widens December 9, 2010 The UK’s trade deficit was slightly up in October, increasing to £3.9bn from £3.8bn in September. However, export levels for recent months were revised upwards, improving the balance of trade. September’s trade deficit was revised down from a previous estimate of £4.6bn, due to improved data on exports. “The widening of the deficit was largely [...]
House prices slide further December 9, 2010 HOUSE prices dropped by a further 0.1 per cent in November, the Halifax reported yesterday. Prices were down 2.4 per cent on the end of 2009, averaging £164,708 per house. From September to November, prices were 2.1 per cent lower than in the preceding three months, the house price index (HPI) showed. The three month [...]
Rates stuck at 0.5 per cent as MPC remains on the fence December 9, 2010 INTEREST rates will be held at 0.5 per cent going into the new year, after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) yesterday voted against altering its stance. The £200bn programme of quantitative easing (QE) will also continue. Analysts expected the rate setting body to maintain current levels, yet prospects for next year are dividing opinion. Rates [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND December 9, 2010 FILM SOMEWHERE But not just anywhere: Sophia Coppola satirises Hollywood, starring Stephen Dorf. A SERBIAN FILM A dark, dark journey into explicit violence, with satirical pretensions that don’t add up. ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE Excellent documentary about life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. DVD INCEPTION The year’s most inventive – and enjoyably perplexing – action [...]
WILL BRITISH HOUSE PRICES RISE IN 2011? December 9, 2010 ADAM SEAGER | INSTITUTE OF OPERATIONAL RISK “I think there is a strong likelihood that we’ll see inflation in housing prices in the following year. To be honest, there is even a chance that housing prices may actually buck deflationary trends elsewhere.” CHRISTIAN BRISTO | BDB INSURANCE “I think they will, even though they really [...]
Twitter joins the Wiki war December 9, 2010 THE war between WikiLeaks’ supporters and firms desperate to avoid being associated with the controversial website hotted up yesterday, with Twitter and Facebook being drawn into the fray. The social networks have kicked accounts run by Operation Payback off their sites after the group orchestrated a number of cyber attacks on firms which have taken [...]
