London Report: Syrian tension drags bank and mining stocks August 27, 2013 FINANCIALS and miners dragged Britain’s FTSE 100 lower yesterday as tensions in Syria and prospects of stimulus withdrawal by the US Federal Reserve crimped risk appetite. Reopening after a public holiday, London’s blue-chip shed 51.13 points, or 0.8 per cent to 6,440.97, costing the index all the previous session’s gains, albeit in low volumes. Crisis [...]
New York Report: Wall Street has worst trading day since June August 27, 2013 WALL Street stocks suffered their worst day since June yesterday, slumping in a broad decline as geopolitical uncertainty rose over a possible US-led military strike by the West against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. The S&P 500 closed under its 100-day moving average for the first time since 24 June, a sign of weak near-term [...]
Limited strikes against Assad would solve little in Syria’s miserable war August 27, 2013 THE USE of chemical weapons on a massive scale in the area around Syria’s capital Damascus has understandably elicited condemnation from the international community – including both Russia and Iran. And we seem to be clear on where responsibility lies. The League of Arab States and many Western powers now state clearly that the [...]
Cameron says international community must respond to Syrian situation August 27, 2013 The prime minister's official spokesman has said that David Cameron thinks the Syrian chemical attack is "absolutely abhorrent" and that the international community must respond. Prime minister David Cameron has cut short his holiday, to chair a meeting of the UK's National Security Committee. Now Britain is said to be considering a "proportionate response" [...]
Spurs set to sign Willian as door opens for Bale August 21, 2013 TOTTENHAM are expected to complete the club recor £30m signing of Anzhi Makhachkala forward Willian by the weekend, as they prepare for life after Gareth Bale, despite talk of a late snag in negotiations. Willian flew into London earlier this week to undergo a medical and agree personal terms with Spurs as the north London [...]
UK government backs arrest in Snowden case August 20, 2013 THE BRITISH government has defended the police’s right to detain a journalist’s partner if they thought lives might be at risk from data he was carrying from fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. Facing legal and diplomatic complaints after police held Guardian writer Glenn Greenwald’s Brazilian partner for nine hours on Sunday – and accused [...]
Guardian has “held back a great deal” of leaked data, editor says August 20, 2013 Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian newspaper, has said he has "held back a great deal" of information about the Edward Snowden case out of concern for the consequences for national security. Speaking on BBC Radio 4 today, Rusbridger said that there is a problem when you "start conflating journalism and terrorism". This follows the [...]
Hopes for Japan-Russia peace deal August 19, 2013 The deputy foreign ministers of Japan and Russia are meeting in Moscow today to strengthen cooperative ties in a further step towards resolving a territorial dispute which stopped them from signing a peace treaty after World War II. The meeting between Shinsuke Sugiyama and Igor Morgulov follows an agreement between Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe [...]
Sport Comment: It’s worth walking to Glasgow for glimpse of a sprint superstar August 18, 2013 GIVEN events at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, and my prediction last Monday that Arsenal would win the Premier League this season, you may be inclined to give this column a miss this week on the grounds that the writer clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It is a marathon not a sprint, remember; still [...]
An era-spanning masterpiece August 15, 2013 THEATRE THE PRIDE Trafalgar Studios | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars ALEXI Kaye Campbell’s award-winning The Pride gets a powerful revival as part of Jamie Lloyd’s Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios. The play’s protagonists Oliver, Philip and Sylvia exist in two time periods, the 1950s and now, and respond to the social pressures encountered [...]