Triple A rating still in doubt August 1, 2011 THE US could still be downgraded by ratings agencies despite passing its deficit reduction plan yesterday, say economists, leaving debt markets under a cloud of uncertainty. The deal to cut US spending by $2.4 trillion over the next decade falls far short of S&P’s stated requirement that Washington would have to produce some $4 trillion [...]
EASTBOURNE, EAST SUSSEX July 28, 2011 KING EDWARDS PARADE Price: £550,000 This three-bedroom seventh floor apartment sits on Eastbourne’s famous seafront and promenade. The apartment has an entrance hall, lounge, dining room, bathroom, shower room and a private balcony. The rooms and balcony have stunning views over the sea and downlands. Contact: Freeman Forman Eastbourne on 01323 453049 or go to [...]
PROPERTY NEWS July 28, 2011 FAIRY TALE CASTLE FOR SALE Castello di Scerpena, a five-bedroom mediaeval castle in Tuscany, is now on the market for €16.5m. There are two villas, a guardian cottage, a deer park and 190 hectares of land with 7,000 olive trees attached to the property’s sale. Contact Savills International on 0207 016 3754 or go to [...]
CITY GRANDEES DEBATE FUTURE OF UK BANKING July 25, 2011 MAGIC circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Fleet Street offices played host last night to a City crowd debating one of the most pertinent questions currently facing the UK’s politicians, regulators and bankers – whether the country’s biggest banks should be forcibly broken up, or whether other kinds of reforms are the best way forward. [...]
Norway death toll continues to climb to 93 July 24, 2011 NEO-NAZI sympathiser Anders Behring Breivik yesterday admitted carrying out both the shooting spree on a Norwegian island youth camp and the Oslo bombing, which have so-far claimed 93 lives. At least four more people are missing, with police still recovering bodies from the icy water surrounding the island of Utøya and offices around the bomb [...]
Down on the farm for the (lucrative) good life July 21, 2011 MOST of us have days when the fresh air and slower pace of country life appeals. Days when we would rather watch wheat sway in the breeze than its future price move on a Bloomberg terminal. This need not be a pipe dream though. It’s not just the wheat product’s price that is rising at [...]
Harry Potter nets £300m July 17, 2011 THE final Harry Potter film has shattered worldwide box office records with $476m (£295m) in global ticket sales since it opened last week. And the $168.6m US and Canadian takings for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” is the best three-day opening for a film ever, distributor Warner Bros said yesterday. It [...]
FOCUS ON: EAST GRINSTEAD, SUSSEX July 14, 2011 ACORN HOUSE, MILL FIELD Price: £499,000 This four-bedroomed family home with a garden has a living, dining and utility room downstairs. The upstairs houses the bedrooms and a family bathroom. The master bedroom has its own en-suite facilities. Contact: Hamptons on 020 7236 8398 or go to www.hamptons.co.uk POETS PLACE, HOLTYE ROAD Price: £575,000 This [...]
Where country piles come grand …and affordable July 7, 2011 A 40-bedroom castle, supposedly haunted as well as being a 2005 location for Doctor Who, is on the market for £1.5m. Sure, there may be ghosts roaming its hallowed halls, but by any standard, Craig y Nos Castle, in the Upper Swansea Valley, is going for a song. To anyone used to London prices, the [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK | FILM, MUSIC, GAMES July 7, 2011 FILM TRUST David Schwimmer (yes, Ross himself) directs this nuanced look at a family crisis, with Clive Owen. SUPER Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon star in yet another post-modern, post-Kick Ass superhero romp. LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD Alain Resnai’s classic of French New Wave cinema from 1961, on re-release. DVD THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU [...]