British Airways settles sleepless passengers with 7-hour train film June 24, 2014 British Airways is adding an unusual film to its in-flight entertainment designed to help weary travellers drift off in the confines of a cramped cabin. Part of the so-called “slow TV” genre, the film is a seven-hour-long Norwegian epic, but it's no Scandi-noir thriller box set. The film is a minute-by-minute recording of a train [...]
Evan Davis to fill Paxman’s shoes on BBC Newsnight July 21, 2014 Evan Davis, one of the most well-known voices of Radio 4’s Today programme, will replace Jeremy Paxman as the main host of BBC Newsnight after the famously forthright presenter maid his stage exit last month after 25 years. A former economics editor of the flagship current affairs show Newsnight, as well as BBC News, Davis [...]
Smashing! Car insurance prices decline for a record 10th quarter July 9, 2014 Car insurance premiums have fallen for a record tenth time in a row according to new research. Consumers are seeing even cheaper prices as premiums are pushed down by a further £17 in the second quarter of 2014, a new survey by Towers Watson and Confused.com has found. Prices for new comprehensive policies fell by [...]
Football Comment: Low’s men primed to enjoy lots more highs July 13, 2014 THEY were he best team on the night and deserving winners over the whole tournament – this was Germany’s occasion and it might just be the dawning of a new era. Germany looked sharper and stronger than Argentina in the final, despite having to deal with the twin blows of losing Sami Khedira in the [...]
Sport Comment: Resilient Cook deserves an award August 5, 2014 IT IS probably a two-horse race for Sports Personality of the Year at the moment, with Rory McIlroy a freckle ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the voting. But here’s a nomination that you probably haven’t considered, but who has another opportunity tomorrow to illustrate his strength of character and leadership skills, plus his not inconsiderable [...]
Sport Comment: England have been galvanised by tourists’ failed pursuit of charges August 6, 2014 I ADMIRE an awful lot of things about how India try to play cricket but I haven’t been impressed with their pursuit of James Anderson over an altercation with Ravi Jadeja during the first Test and, ultimately, I think it has seen them shoot themselves in the foot. To me, the incident seems to have [...]
Alastair Campbell on winners: Are there any left in the Labour party? March 5, 2015 When the political satire In The Loop came out in 2009, the Culture Show did a segment in which the critic Mark Kermode watched the film with Alastair Campbell. Afterwards, a sourfaced Campbell delivered his verdict: “I didn’t find it terribly funny.” Kermode said he had sympathy with any representation of politics as venal and [...]
Arsenal’s English core: Gunners have three times as many England players as Chelsea, but who is the most represented club in Roy Hodgson’s squad? September 3, 2014 After Arsenal’s deadline day dash to sign Danny Welbeck from Manchester United for £16m, Arsene Wenger’s squad now has a strong domestic core running through it. Just under nine years ago Wenger named the first ever 16 man Premier League squad not to feature an Englishman, yet he could now feasibly pick six English [...]
Admiral Group reports boost in profits August 29, 2013 Motor insurance company and owner of price comparison website Confused.com Admiral Group has reported a 5.6 per cent increase in pre-tax profits and six per cent growth in earnings per share for the first half of the year (release). Pre-tax profits rose to £181.4m from £171.8m in the same period the year before. Basic earnings [...]
World Cup: Hitzfeld delight at dream finish as Swiss triumph June 15, 2014 SWITZERLAND 2 ECUADOR 1 SWITZERLAND manager Ottmar Hitzfeld last night revelled in the “dream finish” that saw substitute Haris Seferovic get his team off to a winning start in Group E. The Swiss had not conceded a single goal from a set-piece during their World Cup qualifying campaign, but fell behind on 22 minutes when [...]