From Grumpy Cat and falling oil prices to Google blackouts and the weather bomb: Here are 10 things we learned this week December 12, 2014 It's been another busy week… here's our pick of the things we learned. 1. Grumpy Cat may not look too impressed but for once she certainly had something to smile about. Turns out the feline internet celebrity earned £32m last year. That's more than a host of business bosses, including Sir Martin Sorrell, Jamie [...]
FCA chiefs Martin Wheatley and David Lawton cling on despite damning Davis report on insurance market fiasco December 10, 2014 City watchdog Martin Wheatley came in for criticism yesterday as the £3.8m Davis report on the regulator’s handling of media briefings was released to the public. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) chief executive will forgo his bonus for 2013-14 as a result of the findings, as will David Lawton, director of markets, Zitah McMillan, director [...]
Google’s Eric Schmidt says artificial intelligence concerns are normal but misguided after Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk warnings December 10, 2014 Google boss Eric Schmidt is the latest to weigh in on the artificial intelligence debate after Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk both offered a dim view of intelligent machines in the future. Schmidt is tabling a much more positive view of the rise of the machines. Nothing to do with Google’s massive investment in AI, [...]
London opens its first “Cereal Killer” cafe: Here are the capital’s most gimmicky cafes December 10, 2014 Forget the "weather bomb" – if you're in the capital and you're partial to grains, today's biggest story is the opening of Cereal Killer, the new London cafe that serves nothing but cereal. According to owners Gary and Alan Keery – identical, bearded twins – the Brick Lane venue is a "nostalgic cafe displaying hundreds [...]
The Royal Palm in Mauritius: The best resort hotel in the Indian Ocean is back with a bang December 7, 2014 The Royal Palm, haunt of former French presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, has just undergone a £10m refurbishment. It was already the best hotel in Mauritius and, in the words of Spinal Tap, it has just turned it up to eleven, upgrading to become the only six star hotel in Mauritius. The Royal Palm [...]
Uber delivers Christmas trees on demand in Paris, Dubai and Guadalajara, but not in US cities this year December 7, 2014 Not content with delivering people home after a night out, rideshare service Uber is getting festive. Lucky city dwellers in three cities around the world are being treated to Christmas tree deliveries at the tap of a smartphone in another one of the startup’s marketing ploys. These have also included ice cream delivery in London [...]
JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon is “clear of cancer” December 5, 2014 JP Morgan boss Jame Dimon has told employees he is clear of throat cancer. In an internal memo sent to staff, the 58-year-old boss of the US' largest bank said there was "no evidence of cancer left in my body" after CAT and PET scans three months after treatment. The good news is that the [...]
Film review: St Vincent December 5, 2014 Cert 12a | ★★★☆☆ It isn’t clear whether those rumours of Bill Murray turning up randomly at house parties are true. But on this evidence, you probably wouldn’t want him to crash yours. In St Vincent, Murray reconfigures his surly persona to play Vincent MacKenna, a feckless drunk and reckless gambler who’s struggling to keep [...]
Pets at Home’s groom rooms help retailer’s profits jump to £40m December 4, 2014 Doting pet lovers spoiling their pooches and cats helped Pets at Home deliver a 10.2 per cent jump in sales to £381.5m in the six months to October. The retailer, which provides pet food, accessories and veterinary services from around 400 outlets, has doubled its profits to £40.5m from £21.3m in the first [...]
Aguero sparks comeback as win keeps pressure on Blues December 3, 2014 REIGNING champions Manchester City exorcised their Stadium of Light demons by recording a third straight Premier League win courtesy of a Sergio Aguero-inspired comeback against Sunderland last night. City have lost 1-0 on each of their last four visits to Sunderland and, buoyed by their stalemate with top of the table Chelsea at the weekend, [...]