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By Tom Espiner Published 2 hours ago comments Comments Share close Share page Copy link About sharing The pound has fallen to a two-year low against the dollar reflecting traders' increasing concerns about recession around the world as energy prices continue to soar. But sterling is also weak because markets are worried about future UK economic growth, analysts said. Sterling could fall even further after predictions of economic stagnation and as inflation rises, they added. London shares regained some ground on Wednesday following Tuesday's falls. The resignation of two senior government ministers on Tuesday evening, including former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, was not a significant factor in the pound's fall, Rabobank head currency strategist Jane Foley told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. UK household energy bills to hit £3,000 per year Sunak … [Read more...] about Pound slides to two-year low against the dollar

If the Sopranos, which returns this week for its fourth series, is arguably the most accomplished drama in television history, there is no doubt at all that it's the most analysed. Never before has a programme been subject to such extensive interpretation. While the story concerns a New Jersey mafia boss and his middle-class suburban family, no self-respecting critic would ever say that's what it was about. Ever since he first appeared on US television back in January 1999, Tony Soprano, the show's monumental anti-hero played by James Gandolfini, has been a gift to the metaphorically minded. He is the American Everyman, the embodiment of ruthless free-market capitalism, the defining figure of balding fat manhood in midlife crisis, and much else besides. It's no wonder Gandolfini stoops, carrying that weight of symbolism around on his shoulders. That Tony also visits a shrink to discuss his problems, and that shrink in turn visits another shrink to discuss the problem of seeing … [Read more...] about Deconstructing Tony

By Vanessa Buschschlüter Published 2 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing One of Italy's most wanted men, mobster Rocco Morabito, has arrived in Rome after being extradited from Brazil, where he had been in hiding. Known as the "cocaine king of Milan", Morabito was arrested in May last year in a joint operation by Brazilian and Italian police. The 55-year-old will serve a 30-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. The mafia boss spent decades on the run using a fake identity in South America. Police finally tracked him down last year to João Pessoa, a port city in north-eastern Brazil, where he was arrested along with another member of the 'Ndrangheta mafia group, Vincenzo Pasquino. Pasquino has since been sentenced to 17 years in prison for drug trafficking. Escape artist The arrival of Rocco Morabito in Rome ends a decades-long manhunt. … [Read more...] about Rocco Morabito: Fugitive mobster handed over to Italy

Phillip Rhodes (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a husband and father of two. He grew up in Hawke’s Bay and was fostered by Henare and Pam O'Keefe. He left Aotearoa to study singing in Cardiff, after winning the Lexus Song Quest in 2007. With support from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s foundation, he managed to establish himself as a professional singer in Europe with regular appearances in the UK's leading opera companies, including Opera North, Scottish Opera, Welsh National, English National and the Royal Opera House. He’s now come back home for Wellington Opera’s La Traviata, which shows from July 9-16 at the St James Theatre. What is the show you’re involved with? I will be singing the role of Giorgio Germont. Giorgio is a man of his time, a father who loves his son, and dotes on his (betrothed) daughter. He is a father who, like many, is willing to walk into hell in order to save his children. But in order to rescue his daughter's marriage he demands the termination of his son's … [Read more...] about Phillip Rhodes returns to Aotearoa for star role in Wellington Opera’s La Traviata

Auberon Waugh's death at the age of 61 is more sad than surprising. His immediate heredity wasn't promising - his father died at 62, his mother at 57 - and he suffered from ill-health all his life, partly resulting from severe wounds sustained during National Service at the age of 18. That may, in part, have accounted for the acidic personality which made him the most verbally brutal journalist of his age. Everyone who met him remarked on the contrast between his ferocity in print and his personal geniality, but this was hard to explain to those who didn't know him, especially if they had been on the rough end of his pen. Apart from health, his background shaped his career in one other respect. He spent much of his life trying to escape from the shadow of his father, the greatest English novelist of his age. This provided an obvious weapon for Auberon's enemies. Philip Larkin joked about "my projected series, Talentless Sons of Famous Fathers - Waugh, Amis, Fuller...", and for … [Read more...] about Auberon Waugh

Published 12 May comments Comments Share close Share page Copy link About sharing The risk of a recession has risen, analysts have warned, after the economy shrank during March just as the UK had recovered from the pandemic. Higher prices are "beginning to bite", the UK statistics body said , with people spending less and cutting down on car journeys due to high fuel costs. The impact of higher energy bills in April has also yet to be seen. The economy grew by 0.8% over the first three months of the year, but in March it shrank by 0.1% as people cut back. The main boost to the economy came in January, as hospitality and travel industries recovered from coronavirus pandemic restrictions. However, that came before the war in Ukraine and before households began to feel the pinch of higher prices. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the … [Read more...] about Recession fears grow as rising prices hit spending

By Tiffanie Turnbull Published 1 day ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing About 50,000 people have been urged to evacuate their homes as floods hit Australia's largest city for the third time this year. Parts of Sydney have received about eight months of rain in four days. Roads have been cut off, some houses are under water and thousands have been left without power. Widespread flooding across Australia - driven by a La Niña weather pattern - has killed more than 20 people this year, many in New South Wales (NSW). More than 100 evacuation orders have been issued across Greater Sydney for the current emergency. People in another 50 areas have been warned to prepare to leave, as several major rivers flood. Severe weather is also hitting the nearby Hunter and Illawarra regions. Some areas of NSW have seen 800mm of rain in four days, says the Bureau of … [Read more...] about Australia floods: 50,000 on evacuation alert after deluge hits Sydney

Chris McKeen/Stuff The Auckland segment of Southern Cross Cable's Next cable came ashore last year and is now live (video first published in July 2021). An internet cable that roughly doubles New Zealand’s internet connectivity to the rest of the world is now in service. The US$350 million ($570m) SX Next cable runs between Auckland, Sydney and Los Angeles and will also provide the first fibre-optic broadband connections to Tokelau and Kiribati. Spark spokesperson Sam Smith said the new cable, which it part owns through the Southern Cross Cable joint venture, would reduce the lag on internet traffic between Auckland and Los Angeles by about 5% thanks to its more direct route. “While it may not seem like much, it tends to be very important for users with time-sensitive requirements such as financial traders, and gamers,” she said. READ MORE: The cables that keep New Zealand connected to the world Telstra and Spark team up for $440m internet cable between NZ, … [Read more...] about Subsea cable doubles NZ’s internet capacity and offers reduced lag

Speaking at a news conference Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia would have to carpet-bomb the Ukrainian capital and kill its residents to take the city. Meanwhile, the Russian troops are attempting to encircle Kyiv further, fighting against heavy resistance in the west and the north of the city. And after twelve days of siege, the strategic southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is without water, gas, electricity or communications, and people were seen fighting for food in recent days. The situation is "almost desperate", warned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The number of civilians killed during the siege of Mariupol reached 1,582, and some of the casualties had to be buried in mass graves. Local authorities fear that the actual number might be much higher. 03.12.2022 09:24 Saturday's main developments: The worst of the fighting overnight took place in Irpin, Mykolaiv and Sumy, according to the General Staff of the … [Read more...] about Ukraine war: Kyiv would only fall ‘if carpet bombed’ by Russia, Zelenskyy says

By Shaimaa Khalil Published 20 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing In the town of Windsor, north-west of Sydney, some roads have turned into small rivers. And the only way to get around is by boat. Mathew Benson has been rowing up and down one of the streets in a neighbourhood in the suburb of Australia's largest city. "I'm bringing food and water to people over there," he tells me, pointing to the other side. "We're just watching and waiting." While some cars are barely visible, others are completely submerged. Many residents in the area have had to leave their homes and others are stranded as roads have been cut off. Thousands have been left without power. Another local, Sam, points to her house just across the submerged road. "We don't know about the second floor. But the first floor is definitely flooded," she tells me in tears. This is the … [Read more...] about Sydney floods aftermath: ‘Everybody is traumatised’