The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women: Brits Minouche Shafik, Katharine Viner and Donna Langley join Queen on Forbes list May 26, 2015 Three new British entrants last night made it onto Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik, Guardian editor Katharine Viner and Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley made it onto a list at 66th, 80th, 58th places respectively. They joined Queen Elizabeth II who was 41st [...]
Putin praises David Cameron for 7 May win but talk on Ukraine crisis remains icy May 25, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron received a rare phone call yesterday when Russian president Vladimir Putin rang Number 10 to congratulate Cameron on the Conservatives’ success at the General Election. According to Downing Street, the two leaders spoke about Syria and the Ukraine during the 30-minute phone call. A Number 10 spokesperson said that Cameron and [...]
US interest rate hike: Are emerging markets in for a bumpy ride? May 25, 2015 Developing economies are better prepared to withstand higher US interest rates. A slowdown in global trade and investment growth, as well as a fall in commodity prices are dominating the outlook for emerging economies. Major central banks – notably China, India, Indonesia and Turkey – have focused on cutting interest rates to shore up [...]
Who would have won the Eurovision Song Contest if the result was based only on the telephone vote? May 24, 2015 Who would have won the Eurovision Song Contest if we only counted the popular vote? The voting process, in most cases, is split in two. A jury of four panel members from each country votes to rank the songs, and the viewers at home do the same. The votes are then aggregated to give an [...]
Eurovision Song Contest 2015: Secretly, these countries are probably hoping they lose May 23, 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest is getting more and more expensive, despite Europe's decline into austerity. The annual tradition blossomed in the 60's, at a time when things looked brighter for Europe and there was a stronger sense of solidarity. But now the event is more lavish and over-the-top than ever, and each year the winning [...]
Eurovision Song Contest 2015: Three charts showing what would happen if winning gave you lots of power May 20, 2015 At 8pm on Saturday night, music fans from across the continent will turn on their TVs and tune into the annual Eurovision Song Contest. As usual, the event promises to fill our screens with crazy costumes, emotional love ballads and over-enthusiastic presenters covered in glitter. But it's not just a contest for raw musical [...]
Parliament returns: Six MPs business needs to know about May 18, 2015 Parliament meets today for the first time since the Conservatives swept to a shock victory in the General Election. Over the next few days the key focus will be chancellor George Osborne's pledge to deliver a new budget "for working people" before the summer recess. But who has the fate of British business in their [...]
Cranes, planes, urns and eight ice-hocky goals: Six times Vladimir Putin has played the all-Russian action hero May 17, 2015 Vladimir Putin is the king (or perhaps tsar) of the publicity stunt. Not content with annexing such macho activities as hunting on horseback, fishing, and archaeology Putin took to the ice to score a devastating eight goals in an ice hockey match involving ex-NHL legends. Putin was, of course, on the winning side in the [...]
George Osborne gives Goldman Sachs alum Jim O’Neill top Treasury job May 14, 2015 Former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill has been given a peerage and a top job in George Osborne’s treasury. The chancellor of the exchequer tweeted yesterday afternoon: “I am delighted to confirm Jim O’Neill as the new commercial secretary to the treasury to make devolution and the Northern Powerhouse happen.” https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/598855150640472064 Lord O’Neill, [...]
Two Russian military jets spotted heading towards UK airspace May 14, 2015 Two Russian military planes were spotted heading towards UK airspace earlier today, but were escorted away by RAF Typhoon fighter jets. "At no time did the Russian military aircraft cross into UK sovereign airspace,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence told the BBC. He added that their presence was not considered a threat. [...]