Feathery fun for the family April 7, 2011 FILM REVIEWS RIO Cert: U BEARING in mind the panoply of animals to have starred in digitally animated films, from kung fu pandas to mobster sharks, it’s surprising it’s taken until now to have a movie all about a parrot. The one we now have is no classic of the genre, but that won’t bother [...]
Watch out for Osborne’s foreign currency plans March 29, 2011 A FEW ears pricked up on budget day when George Osborne announced a surprising and potentially expensive plan to rebuild Britain’s foreign currency reserves. There are two methods of executing this plan. The first is to print sterling to buy foreign currency. This could be regarded as quantitative easing (QE) by another method. Indeed, it [...]
A truly relaaxing way to ski in snowy Switzerland March 6, 2011 WHEN you work in the City, free time is as rare as a penniless hedge fund manager, so you want to ensure that you choose the skiing trip that maximises your slope time and minimises your tedious travel time. Switzerland’s Laax resort, located 150km south of Zurich airport, promises to do exactly that – whisking [...]
Serenity and decadence at Dubai’s hottest new hotel June 12, 2011 DUBAI seems an unlikely place for a relaxing holiday at first. Even 2,700 feet up, at the top of the Burj Khalifa tower, the whirr of cranes and speeding Jeeps in every direction makes the sea view throb with activity. My guide points past the hollow half-built skyscrapers jutting across the city skyline to the [...]
Capello warns Carroll not to waste chance March 28, 2011 ENGLAND coach Fabio Capello has warned his side’s brightest young stars, Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere, they risk wasting their talent if their off-field behaviour fails to improve. Capello is set to unleash Carroll, who in January became the most expensive British footballer of all-time when he moved to Liverpool from Newcastle for £35m, in [...]
Capello warns Carroll not to waste chance March 28, 2011 ENGLAND coach Fabio Capello has warned his side’s brightest young stars, Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere, they risk wasting their talent if their off-field behaviour fails to improve. Capello is set to unleash Carroll, who in January became the most expensive British footballer of all-time when he moved to Liverpool from Newcastle for £35m, in [...]
CHILL OUT FOR PRINCE ON POLAR MISSION March 30, 2011 COLD comfort for Prince Harry, who has arrived at Base Camp at Svalbard in Norway to join the Walking for Wounded team before they set off for the North Pole tomorrow on April Fool’s Day. But Harry’s training regime under expedition leader Inge Solheim is no joke – on Wednesday he spent the day cross-country [...]
Cleaning up: how selling soap can make millions April 10, 2011 THE 90s recession didn’t really affect me. Well, apart from the fact I couldn’t find a job – that’s why I created one,” says Lara Morgan casually. She describes that job simply as “selling soap.” But more accurately, it was a multi-national hotel toiletry supplier called Pacific Direct that grew into a business that supplied [...]
Insurance companies all under one umbrella March 7, 2011 THOSE hoping for huge short term gains to be had from shorting companies with significant underwriting and re-insurance exposure to either the Middle East and north Africa (MENA), or to Christchurch may be disappointed. Listed companies are understandably cagey about just how much exposure they have to those areas, and syndicates with underwritten liability are [...]
Zara Phillips knows a thing or two about relaxation. So if she favours a beautiful horsey resort in the rolling hills near Lisbon, it can’t be a bad place for us, either April 25, 2011 THESE are busy days for Zara Phillips, what with her wedding to rugby player Mike Tindall in July, her cousin Will’s nuptials this week and training to compete in next year’s Olympics. But judging by Zara’s choice of holiday home – a 220 sq m, four-bedroom villa with pool set on rolling Portuguese hills half [...]