Premier Oil plugs well July 23, 2013 FTSE 250-listed Premier Oil yesterday said that it has plugged and abandoned a Vietnamese well despite discovering gas, after finding indications of overpressure which can be dangerous to drill in. “[It] was a frontier exploration well and was the first to test the prospectivity of the Oligocene section in the Phu Khanh Basin [in Vietnam],” [...]
Review: The latest generation of MacBook Airs July 17, 2013 Apple has a new MacBook Air and it looks… just like the old one. But there is more going on than meets the eye. Here is the lowdown on how Apple just made the best laptop on the market even better, says Steve Dinneen. ■ Battery life | If this was the only change in [...]
La Casa Negra Shoreditch restaurant review: achingly hip Mexican food with added attitude July 17, 2013 Street food. That’s a thing. Street food! Isn’t it great? It reminds me of that time I was travelling in Guatemala, and some indigenous people were just, you know, making food in the street, and it was all, like, totally authentic. Except that never happened. I’ve forced down slimy noodles in Tokyo; binned inedible grey [...]
Capital controls are still ruining Iceland after half a decade March 31, 2013 ONE aspect of the Cypriot crisis resolution is of particular concern. As authorities fear that anyone with money in Cyprus will want to take it out as soon as banks open, capital controls are being put in place. We are told they will be limited in scope and temporary. Hopefully that is true. Another European [...]
Bank of Dave Two: How one man took on the FSA and won February 27, 2013 I NEVER wanted to be a banker. But back in 2008, my minibus company in Burnley had a problem. My customers were coming to me for new buses, and needed finance to buy them – as they had done for 20 years. As soon as the credit crunch hit, however, the banks suddenly stopped lending [...]
MPs demand tax avoiders are named and shamed by HMRC February 18, 2013 INDIVIDUALS who take part in tax avoidance schemes should have their names made public by HM Revenue & Customs, according to the chair of an influential parliamentary select committee. Labour’s Margaret Hodge MP says the taxman “should name and shame those who sell or use tax avoidance schemes”, directing public anger at those who attempt [...]
Osborne isn’t the cat’s whiskers but we don’t have to give up on austerity January 31, 2013 AS THE UK economy skids towards a triple-dip recession, many are looking at George Osborne and his plan A and wondering whether someone else could do better. Osborne’s own cat Freya, for instance. If we saved on Osborne’s salary and, in a spirit of austerity, paid his replacement with Whiskas and the occasional catnip chew [...]
It’s snow joke as Merkel faces Davos bookies January 21, 2013 THE MOST important people in the world are currently packing their toothbrushes, making sure the neighbour will feed the cat and getting ready for five days discussing the global financial system in the Swiss Alps. But The Capitalist wonders whether those attending this week’s World Economic Forum – or Davos to you and me – [...]
The XFR is a truly astonishing beast January 8, 2013 WHEN Jaguar Cars came up with the inspired tagline “Grace, space and pace” in the 1960s, they set up their stall as a brand that considered overt displays of power somewhat vulgar. Even this XFR model, despite its capacity to boost you up to speeds that will make your hair stand on end, looks more [...]
Sterling and Suarez combine to cruise past timid Black Cats January 2, 2013 LIVERPOOL 3 vs SUNDERLAND 0 LIVERPOOL striker Luis Suarez scored a brace in a comfortable victory over Sunderland at Anfield last night. Suarez set up teenager Raheem Sterling to open the scoring with a delicate lob over Simon Mignolet from the edge of the area in the 19th minute. The Uruguay star then pounced upon [...]