How Spotify and streaming is changing the world of music piracy in 2016 January 18, 2016 Piracy is still a massive problem – both in the UK and globally, but the habits of 14 billion visits in 2015 reveal the changing face of music piracy. The main trend of 2015 was a shift towards music web downloads and streaming rather than torrenting. With a decline of 20 per cent for the [...]
The terminal flaw at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s low oil strategy January 18, 2016 “If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work.” – Alan Rickman Like everyone I know with a soul, I find myself in genuine mourning for the great British actor Alan Rickman, who died last week. It is impossible for me to think of anyone who brought me as much [...]
Deputy chief of the Russian prison service Alexander Protopopov is accused of stealing a road January 14, 2016 A senior Russian official was detained by police yesterday and is facing charges for the unusual crime of stealing a road. Alexander Protopopov, the acting deputy chief of the Russian national prison service, could spend 10 years in his own jail for misappropriating state property while in an official position, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Protopopov allegedly stole a 50km stretch of public road while he [...]
Wiping world records will help to restore integrity, say UK Athletics January 11, 2016 Governing body UK Athletics has called for world records to be reset in a bid to cleanse the probity of a sport which has become overshadowed by allegations of corruption. The radical proposal is one of 14 contained within ‘A Manifesto for Clean Athletics’, which it published yesterday, and also includes lifetime bans for any [...]
Russian guests rack up a five-figure bill on their Christmas day January 10, 2016 FOR THOSE not in the know, Russia celebrated its own Christmas day last week, with a few of the capital’s wealthiest visitors racking up a very impressive bill at City eatery M’s Westminster outpost. A party of six headed straight for M’s members bar, starting as they meant to go on with six bottles of [...]
From star sign to net worth – here’s what makes a billionaire January 8, 2016 Foreign accent, a couple of yachts and probably a secret swimming pool filled with money in their basement: when it comes to the typical billionaire, most of us have a pretty clear idea of what they look like. But new analysis of the last 20 years of Forbes' World's Billionaires list has painted a picture [...]
Life bans for trio in doping bribe scandal January 7, 2016 The scale of corruption in world athletics has been illustrated further after governing body the IAAF banned three top officials for life for blackmailing a Russian athlete as part of a doping conspiracy. Papa Massata Diack, son of the IAAF’s then-president Lamine Diack and a marketing consultant to the crisis-hit organisation, and senior Russian athletics [...]
Warnings over global instability gather pace as George Soros compares climate to 2008 January 7, 2016 Warnings over global stability gathering are pace, with legendary fund manager George Soros comparing the climate to that of the financial crisis in 2008. Speaking in Sri Lanka, Soros warned China is struggling to move away from export-led growth towards a more sustainable, domestic consumption-led economic model. The billionaire investor said the People's Bank of China's [...]
Chancellor George Osborne warns on dangerous threats to UK economy January 7, 2016 Britain's financial wellbeing could come under threat from global economic shocks, chancellor George Osborne will say today. “Last year was the worst for global growth since the crash and this year opens with a dangerous cocktail of new threats,” he will tell business leaders in Cardiff. Slowdowns in Brazil, Russia and China pose a major [...]
RSA Insurance Group share price drops as it completes on sale of Italy business January 4, 2016 RSA Insurance Group revealed today that it had completed the sale of its business in Italy. RSA sold its Italian business to ITAS Mutua, which is headquartered in Italy and provides 1.2m policies, after receiving regulatory approval. The firm's share price tumbled after the news was announced, dropping 3.4 per cent to 412p shortly after the [...]