Indian rate hike sets the scene for the rest of Asia March 23, 2010 SO FAR this year, the markets have been concentrating on the prospect of monetary policy tightening in China and what that will mean for global recovery. But while the Asian powerhouse has been slowly tightening here and there in an effort to cool its economy down, it was India that bit the bullet and hiked [...]
CHELTENHAM BRINGS THE CITY OUT IN FORCE March 16, 2010 TO Gloucestershire yesterday for the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, the favourite corporate entertainment jolly of the year for many a self-respecting racegoer. Bucking the austere trend of recent years, this year’s Festival has already seen a roaring trade in City schmoozing, with the long list of companies taking private suites including HSBC, BlackRock, [...]
Johnson not yet ready, says Mancini March 14, 2010 SUNDERLAND (1) v/s MANCHESTER CITY (1) MANCHESTER CITY boss Roberto Mancini says Adam Johnson is not yet ready to stake a claim for England’s World Cup squad despite his late heroics at the Stadium of Light. The 22-year-old winger fired a stunning injury-time goal to deny his hometown club and earn below-par City a precious [...]
A haunting tale of cat and mouse as a child takes on a serial killer March 10, 2010 BLACKLANDS BY BELINDA BAUER Corgi, £7.99 by Zoe Strimpel EXMOOR dripped with dirty bracken, rough, colourless grass, prickly gorse, and last year’s heather, so black it looked as if wet fire had swept across the landscape, taking the trees with it and leaving the moor cold and exposed to face the winter unprotected. Drizzle dissolved [...]
Sunderland end winless streak in style as Bent smashes a treble March 9, 2010 SUNDERLAND striker Darren Bent plundered a hat-trick as the Black Cats ended a 15-match wait for a Premier League victory with a 4-0 rout of 10-man Bolton. Fraizer Campbell set the home side on their way after just 41 seconds, before forward partner Bent took his tally for the season to 19 with a second-half [...]
Animation fails to bring Alice alive March 4, 2010 Film ALICE IN WONDERLAND Cert: PG THE idea of Tim Burton turning his imaginative powers to Lewis Carroll’s children’s fantasy, and roping in his old mucker Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in the process, seems so blazingly obvious it’s a wonder it took them this long. Sadly, it seems what they were waiting for [...]
Real and Barcelona are football’s Euro fat cats March 1, 2010 LUCRATIVE individual broadcast deals have helped Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona leave Premier League clubs trailing in the wealth stakes and cement their place as the two richest teams in the world. Real last season became the first team in any sport to record revenue of more than €400m (£341m), despite a relatively unsuccessful [...]
Black Cats still looking for win February 28, 2010 ENGLAND strike hopefuls Darren Bent and Bobby Zamora both drew a blank as Sunderland and Fulham drew 0-0 at the Stadium of Light. A drab match of few chances saw Sunderland, who are just three points above the relegation zone, fail to win for the 14th game in a row. Fulham, unbeaten in eight, climb [...]
Find a new you with a new look February 22, 2010 LAUREN Luke’s life was not going anywhere when she decided to ditch her job as a taxi dispatcher in a town near Newcastle and begin selling makeup on eBay. To accompany the products, she took photos of herself wearing the makeup to show how it could be used. Her buyers started asking more about how [...]
Affluent tax dodgers pay out £373m as HMRC tightens net February 16, 2010 HM REVENUE & Customs’ (HMRC) crackdown on wealthy tax evaders is gathering pace after investigators clawed back £373m last year, an increase of 21 per cent on 2008’s haul. Hedge fund managers and investment bankers were among those targeted by HMRC teams who examined the affairs of more than 50,000 people earning in excess of [...]