General Election 2015: Three things we learned about Ed Miliband from his Obama strategist David Axelrod in his interview with the Guardian February 16, 2015 The man who helped get Obama elected and invented what’s probably the most famous political slogan of our times – “Yes We Can” – is on the campaign trail (sort of) with Ed Miliband as the Labour leader’s hot-shot election strategist. Miliband hired the political heavyweight David Axelrod as an adviser in a bid to [...]
Wade makes Six Nations England bid in Wasps win January 4, 2015 WASPS boss Dai Young has backed Christian Wade to earn a recall to Stuart Lancaster’s England squad after the winger played a starring role in the 41-16 demolition of Sale at the Ricoh Arena yesterday. Scrum-half Joe Simpson crossed the line twice in the bonus-point victory, while flankers James Haskell and Ashley Johnson as well [...]
Car review: The Audi TT Roadster 2.0 TFSI Quattro S Line is as cool as it looks February 23, 2015 There's little point trying to deny it: the TT is a great-looking car. It always has been, despite the 1998 model's divisive image. The MkI TT was first sketched as a Roadster before marketing types got their hands on the plans and insisted on selling it with a hard-top roof to begin with. Even so, [...]
Chinese Landwind X7 vs the Range Rover Evoque: This car looks suspiciously familiar… November 21, 2014 Executives on their way to launch Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) new Evoque at yesterday's Guangzhou motor show could have been forgiven for ending up at the Landwind stand by mistake. For the Chinese manufacturer's latest offering, an SUV, looked suspiciously familiar. Its narrow headlights, chunky front end and trendy black alloys evoked… well, they evoked Range [...]
Hodge steps into CEO’s shoes at Pimco January 22, 2014 DOUGLAS Hodge, chief operating officer of bond fund manager, will step into the chief executive role when Mohamed El-Erian leaves the firm in mid-March. In a surprise announcement on Tuesday night, Pimco said El-Erian – heir apparent to Pimco co-founder Bill Gross – would step down as chief executive and co-chief investment officer. Hodge, a [...]
Theatre review: Treasure Island December 12, 2014 Olivier Theatre | ★★★☆☆ The National Theatre employed the services of a “comedy consultant” for its lavish new Treasure Island adaptation. Whatever he did, it didn’t work – the jokes let down an otherwise impressive production that kids will enjoy (if not love) and adults will tolerate. Too often laughs are grasped at clumsily, upsetting the [...]
YouTube ranking: John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Burberry and Marks and Spencer have the best Christmas ads of 2014 December 2, 2014 It’s only the second day of December, but we've already been treated to a sneak peak of the joy ahead for the Christmas season via the medium of advertising. This year, retailers battled it out with penguins, soldiers and celebs in a bid to get the public into the festive spirit and spend their pennies- although [...]
Attwood happy for England to be called boring November 30, 2014 ENGLAND lock Dave Attwood has dismissed criticism of Saturday’s defeat of Australia, insisting they are happy to sacrifice entertaining, expansive rugby in favour of results. Two tries by No8 Ben Morgan and 16 points from the boot of fly-half George Ford helped the hosts to a pragmatic if unspectacular 26-17 victory over the Wallabies. They [...]
Ed Balls talks business: Markets alone won’t deliver for the UK, says shadow chancellor February 9, 2015 It's been a bit of a bruising few days for those in the Labour Party charged with finessing its relationship with the UK’s top business leaders. But that won’t stop Ed Balls relishing the prospect of speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference tomorrow in front of hundreds of business leaders. [...]
Islamic State’s dominance must be halted – the West needs to act now February 8, 2015 There are no words to describe what flight lieutenant Moaz al-Kasasbeh – the Jordanian pilot captured by Isis in Syria in December 2014 – endured at the hands of his captors. But perhaps we should remember what writer Edgar Allen Poe once said: that “there are moments when, even to the sober eye of reason, [...]