Russian oil boss Sechin declares Opec effectively extinct May 10, 2016 The head of Russia's biggest oil firm declared the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) effectively extinct. Igor Sechin, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, told Reuters that internal strife is killing the cartel and its ability to steer the oil market has all but evaporated. Read more: Oil and gas execs flag Opec policy as biggest [...]
The case for buying emerging markets on dips May 10, 2016 The beautiful magnolia trees are blossoming, and we all know what that means. Bluer skies over London, happy dogs in the parks, and speculation picking up about whether we’ll see a repeat of the “sell in May” strategy. Last week ended with a thud after a much weaker-than-expected US April jobs report. As soon as [...]
Jenson Button nonplussed as Red Bull axe Daniil Kvyat and replace him with teenager Max Verstappen May 5, 2016 Ruthless Red Bull have axed Daniil Kvyat and promoted 18-year-old Max Verstappen in his place after the Russian caused what team bosses called “a day of disaster” at his home grand prix on Sunday. Kvyat crashed into Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel twice in the first three corners of the race, ending the German’s afternoon and also [...]
Millions of Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft email accounts sold to Russian underworld May 4, 2016 Over 270m email accounts have been hacked and sold to Russian underworld, a security expert has claimed. While a majority of stolen usernames and passwords belonged to popular Russian email service Mail.ru, credentials for some of the world's biggest email providers were also compromised. Of the 272.3m stolen accounts, nearly 40m addresses belonged to Yahoo, [...]
The problem with Ukraine and Iraq isn’t Putin and Islamic State: It’s that both countries are basket cases May 3, 2016 “The gods help them that help themselves.” – Aesop When it comes to the seemingly intractable crises in both Ukraine and Iraq, a comforting, if wholly untrue, narrative has taken hold. The chaos that has laid low these two plucky, overmatched, but deserving states is entirely the fault of the world’s two most obvious Bond [...]
Red Bull chief’s warning sounds ominous for Kvyat after Russian’s run-in with Vettel May 2, 2016 Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat is this week set to hold talks over his future at the team after causing what the outfit’s bosses called “a day of disaster” at the Russian Grand Prix. Kvyat, 22, infuriated Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel by shunting him out of Sunday’s race on the first lap in an incident [...]
Artist Sarah Sze’s delicate towers question the nature of sculpture April 29, 2016 "When I think about sculpture, I’m thinking as much about the dispersal of objects as the agglomeration of objects, about the absence of form as much as the presence, about the decay of material as much as the construction of material.” This is a suitably elusive description by Sarah Sze of her large-scale installation pieces, [...]
The five best train journeys in the world April 29, 2016 Train travel affords a vision of the world that seems so much more interesting than road journeys; somehow you hardly ever see anything interesting from a motorway. As John Betjeman said, “you need never be bored in a train”. Train travel is liberating in the time it affords for oneself – to read, write, think, [...]
Discgraced former banker Elena Kotova has been ordered to hand over her Mayfair flat April 28, 2016 A former high profile Russian banker has been ordered by the court to hand over her swish flat in Mayfair to the National Crime Agency (NCA). Elena Kotova, who was an executive director of the European Bank of Reconstruction and development (EBRD), was charged with bribery by Russian authorities in 2013, alleging that she solicited more than [...]
Leicester Tigers bid for the play-offs, James DeGale defends his title and other big scores to be settled in sport this weekend April 28, 2016 Premiership Rugby The play-off picture in Premiership Rugby could be completed this weekend should Leicester recover from their European Champions Cup semi-final disappointment to beat Worcester at home on Saturday. It would mark a 12th straight year of play-off qualification for the Tigers, who have beaten Worcester in their last 11 meetings. However, even if [...]