Which are the world’s most powerful passports? Britain and the United States April 16, 2015 With the ability to cross 147 borders without the need for a visa, US citizens have the most powerful passports in the world, new research has found – although that's shared with the UK. Financial advisory firm Arton has put together a passport index which ranks the world's most "powerful" passports, crunching data from the International Air Transportation [...]
Delta airlines suspends its service to Moscow as dollar strengthens April 15, 2015 Is US airline Delta's Moscow route the first major casualty of the strong dollar? The airline said today that it will suspend its flights to the Russian capital from December, as the rouble's volatility and the falling price of oil pushes down demand. Moscow isn't the only one losing out: it will also cut its [...]
Russia has started sending S-300 missiles to Iran again April 13, 2015 Iran is already seeing the benefits of coming to a tentative agreement with world powers over its nuclear programme – the Kremlin has just lifted a ban on providing it with S-300 missiles. Russia originally signed a multi-million dollar contract with Tehran to deliver the weapons in 2007, but the US and Israel voiced concerned [...]
The Ukraine crisis has cost Russian banks $5bn – that’s 25 per cent of their revenues April 13, 2015 The Ukraine crisis has hit Russian banks to the tune of somewhere between $4bn and $5bn, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's reckons. That's between a fifth and a quarter of their total operating revenues. It's hardly surprising that the crisis has cost lenders money – but what is surprising is that S&P believes there [...]
A history of human space travel: Here’s what we’ve achieved since the first trip into space April 13, 2015 Yesterday marked exactly 54 years since the very first human mission into space. On 12 April 1961, the Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin boarded the Vostok 1 and shouted “Poyekhali!” – “let's go!” – as he headed for the stars. He didn't actually go that far – he spent 108 minutes orbiting Earth [...]
From Hatton Garden heist to Eric Pickles in a pickle: Here’s what got us talking this week April 10, 2015 There was a jewel heist. There was plenty of oil. And somewhere in California, there was the world's first gathering of micronations. Here's what got us talking this week 1. There's oil in them there hills A huge oil well, thought to contain more of the black stuff than has been produced by [...]
Film review: John Wick April 10, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ Reports that Keanu Reeves is staging a comeback are too true to be good. Over the past decade, as the actor languished in b-movie limbo, the more optimistic among us began to hope that we’d soon be rid of him altogether. But lo and behold, his latest action thriller has done [...]
Secret plans are being drawn up to kick Greece out of the Eurozone April 10, 2015 Eurozone countries are formulating plans to boot Greece out of the single currency, as expectations grow that Athens may default on its debts next month. A memo put together by the Finnish Finance Ministry, a close Berlin ally, talks of “very difficult political decisions” as the currency bloc braces itself for Greece’s cash flow to [...]
Theatre review: Oppenheimer play is an explosive hit April 9, 2015 Vaudeville Theatre | ★★★★★ Tom Morton-Smith’s brilliant new play for the RSC begins at a smoke-filled fundraiser for the anti-fascist forces fighting Franco in far away Spain. Jazz is playing, and everyone dances – everyone except for Robert Oppenheimer (John Heffernan pictured above), who stands at the centre of things, martini in hand, smiling. In [...]
Defiant Greek PM Alexis Tsipras cosies up to Russian President Vladimir Putin April 8, 2015 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras risked straining relations with his Eurozone partners even further yesterday after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to boost ties between the two countries. Dismissing European officials who questioned his intentions for the trip, Tsipras said: “Greece is a sovereign state – it has its undisputed right to a [...]