Eerie omens haunt this absorbing group portrait set over six months in an English village Sitting stoned on a hill above his village, a young man muses on his place in the world. Connor is proud to have fenced pastures while his mates have been away at university. But it’s overwhelming to think of all their lives being equally real and urgent. Are they part of the same story or separate ones? A ph...
Eerie omens haunt this absorbing group portrait set over six months in an English village Sitting stoned on a hill above his village, a young man muses on his place in the world. Connor is proud to have fenced pastures while his mates have been away at university. But it’s overwhelming to think of all their lives being equally real and urgent. Are they part of the same story or separate ones? A phrase comes to him from a book he hated at school: something about “the roar on the other side of silence”. In this fine, subtle and strange novel from one of the most probing writers of contemporary rural life, Melissa Harrison earns that nod to George Eliot, whose words she gives to an anxious and ecstatic labourer clutching a can of Fanta. The Given World follows the inhabitants of one village in a river valley, a place “as old as anywhere”, for six months between the equinoxes of a year. The time is now, or an imminent future when the seasons seem to have “ceased their metronome”. At first, the central figure appears to be Clare, who knows each flagstone of the ancient priory that has been the centre of her life. The six months are her dying time, from diagnosis to last thoughts. But, in a way that pays tribute to the solitary Clare’s understanding of interconnectedness, the novel goes out from the priory to trace a web of lives. In the breezeblock bungalow next door, a desperate farmer tunes in at dawn to American evangelists on the radio. Like Saj the postman, we call at addresses where literary fiction rarely bothers to ring the bell. Continue reading...
Rayner and Burnham are trying to gain markets’ confidence amid concerns they could loosen fiscal rules if they replace Starmer Who calls the shots on the bin collections in Sunderland, potholes in Hackney, or schools in Cardiff is not normally of interest to City traders in the multitrillion-pound sovereign bond market. But for those dealing in UK government debt, Thursday’s local and devolved gov...
Rayner and Burnham are trying to gain markets’ confidence amid concerns they could loosen fiscal rules if they replace Starmer Who calls the shots on the bin collections in Sunderland, potholes in Hackney, or schools in Cardiff is not normally of interest to City traders in the multitrillion-pound sovereign bond market. But for those dealing in UK government debt, Thursday’s local and devolved government elections are significantly more important than usual, amid speculation that a dire showing for Keir Starmer’s Labour party could topple him as prime minister. Continue reading...
I’ve received 77 unpaid PCNs from TfL but it won’t accept they weren’t from my vehicle Someone cloned my car number plate back in October and racked up £8,500 in Ulez fines. I appealed, but this was rejected. Unfortunately, the cloned car is the same make, model and colour as mine. I’ve now received 17 “order for recovery of unpaid penalty charge” notices from Transport for London (TfL). The baili...
I’ve received 77 unpaid PCNs from TfL but it won’t accept they weren’t from my vehicle Someone cloned my car number plate back in October and racked up £8,500 in Ulez fines. I appealed, but this was rejected. Unfortunately, the cloned car is the same make, model and colour as mine. I’ve now received 17 “order for recovery of unpaid penalty charge” notices from Transport for London (TfL). The bailiffs will arrive next week, according to their letters. Continue reading...
Project to refurbish ‘Angels’ hailed huge success as dean says it will ‘lift spirits and rekindle hope’ Sam Kelly admitted there had been some nights of broken sleep as he led a two-year project to restore one of Salisbury Cathedral’s treasures, a stained-glass window by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. “It would be wrong to say I didn’t lie awake sometimes,” said the head glazier. “You are ...
Project to refurbish ‘Angels’ hailed huge success as dean says it will ‘lift spirits and rekindle hope’ Sam Kelly admitted there had been some nights of broken sleep as he led a two-year project to restore one of Salisbury Cathedral’s treasures, a stained-glass window by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. “It would be wrong to say I didn’t lie awake sometimes,” said the head glazier. “You are working on something that is very precious and if it fell on the floor, it would be very bad.” Continue reading...
This traditional neighbourhood ‘across the river’ is where the city’s creatives are heading as the centre heats up Madrid’s current boomtown dynamics are driving the city centre way upmarket, pushing the average punter to outer barrios in search of cheaper rent. As seen in New York and elsewhere, the creative class is moving too – crossing the River Manzanares to open studios in the former factori...
This traditional neighbourhood ‘across the river’ is where the city’s creatives are heading as the centre heats up Madrid’s current boomtown dynamics are driving the city centre way upmarket, pushing the average punter to outer barrios in search of cheaper rent. As seen in New York and elsewhere, the creative class is moving too – crossing the River Manzanares to open studios in the former factories and metalworks of Carabanchel. Now the city’s most populous district, this used to be a separate municipality, which was annexed to the capital in 1948 and built up into canyons of high-rise flats to house the postwar influx from the provinces, and later from Latin America. Continue reading...
With its striking images and experimental soundtrack, artist Aura Satz’s film is an endurance test that might work better in a gallery This film from the London-based artist Aura Satz is an exploration of sirens – as in the warning devices, not the mythical creatures that lure unsuspecting men to their doom. Really it’s an art film, and might have been more at home in a gallery where audiences wou...
With its striking images and experimental soundtrack, artist Aura Satz’s film is an endurance test that might work better in a gallery This film from the London-based artist Aura Satz is an exploration of sirens – as in the warning devices, not the mythical creatures that lure unsuspecting men to their doom. Really it’s an art film, and might have been more at home in a gallery where audiences would be able to engage with its striking images and experimental soundtrack for as long as the mood takes them. As a feature-film experience it becomes an endurance test, a battle to pay attention and concentrate for the whole thing. It opens with a drone shot of a huge siren in the middle of what looks like a residential neighbourhood, ready to alert residents to heaven knows what threat. Over the top, a shrill, insinuating track from composer Laurie Spiegel buzzes with the nagging whine of an electronic mosquito. There are some interesting ideas here. British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla muses on the role of sirens in the 2011 Arab spring protests, and we learn that in Palestine loudspeakers in mosque minarets sound a siren every year on Nakba day – one second for every year that has passed since Palestinians were displaced from their homeland after the creation of the state of Israel. Continue reading...
(RTTNews) - Indian stocks are down on Tuesday, weighed down largely by escalating tensions in the Middle East and hurt by the rupee's weakness against the greenback. Investors are also reacting to a slew of earnings announcements.
(RTTNews) - Indian stocks are down on Tuesday, weighed down largely by escalating tensions in the Middle East and hurt by the rupee's weakness against the greenback. Investors are also reacting to a slew of earnings announcements.
A Malaysian minister urged the country’s police chief to clarify the status of investigations into allegations a network of businessmen was colluding with anti-graft agency officials to oust executives. The government has ordered law enforcement agencies, including the Malaysian Anti‑Corruption Commission, to probe the allegations involving the businessmen, nicknamed the corporate mafia. So far, t...
A Malaysian minister urged the country’s police chief to clarify the status of investigations into allegations a network of businessmen was colluding with anti-graft agency officials to oust executives. The government has ordered law enforcement agencies, including the Malaysian Anti‑Corruption Commission, to probe the allegations involving the businessmen, nicknamed the corporate mafia. So far, the police say they have found no evidence of the MACC’s involvement. “It is going to be about two months since the Cabinet expressed concern and called for a full investigation,” Gobind Singh Deo , digital minister and national chairman of the Democratic Action Party, the largest party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition, said in a Facebook post . “Transparency is paramount.” The Securities Commission Malaysia should also state what steps it has taken to address this, Gobind said. The regulator would have jurisdiction over the matter if there is any market manipulation involved — by use of force or any other measures to transfer shares in any company, he added. Spokespeople at the police headquarters, the Securities Commission, MACC and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. The MACC and its current chief commissioner, Azam Baki , have been under scrutiny since Bloomberg News published two reports in February. One focused on Azam’s shareholdings in a financial services firm that were worth more than the allowed limit for public officials. The other was on the corporate mafia network. The MACC and Azam denied the allegations of wrongdoing in the reports. In April, the government named Abdul Halim Aman, a former High Court judge, as the next anti-graft chief, taking over from Azam after his term ends on May 12. The Inspector-General of Police must state clearly whether those cited in the reports have been questioned, and outline the subsequent steps to be taken, Gobind said. “Given the specific allegations involving named companies and indivi...
A stray dog in central China has gone viral after a group of taxi drivers raised money for his surgery following a car accident. At the high speed rail station in Xuancheng, Anhui province, a yellow dog became a beloved figure among the local cabbies. Lively, friendly and always eager to run, the dog quickly warmed his way into the drivers’ hearts. Last summer, driver Zhang encountered the dog and...
A stray dog in central China has gone viral after a group of taxi drivers raised money for his surgery following a car accident. At the high speed rail station in Xuancheng, Anhui province, a yellow dog became a beloved figure among the local cabbies. Lively, friendly and always eager to run, the dog quickly warmed his way into the drivers’ hearts. Last summer, driver Zhang encountered the dog and was moved by his gentle nature. From that day, Zhang and his fellow drivers began bringing food and...
MCCAIG/iStock via Getty Images A Volatile Period Peter Boockvar inventoried sentiment shifts in his April 17 Substack post at the Boock Report, published before the April 18–19 Hormuz chaos news. We excerpt below: With this incredible and rapid two-week rally, the CNN Fear/Greed index has risen to 63, in the middle of the ‘Greed’ section and well up from the late March bottom of 10 when it was in ...
MCCAIG/iStock via Getty Images A Volatile Period Peter Boockvar inventoried sentiment shifts in his April 17 Substack post at the Boock Report, published before the April 18–19 Hormuz chaos news. We excerpt below: With this incredible and rapid two-week rally, the CNN Fear/Greed index has risen to 63, in the middle of the ‘Greed’ section and well up from the late March bottom of 10 when it was in ‘extreme fear.’ The Daily Sentiment Index fell to just 12 at the end of March and was at 78 yesterday according to my friend Helene Meisler. The SPX stands at 76. The NAAIM Exposure Index closed yesterday at 79 vs 60 in March. Investors Intelligence (covering sentiment last Friday so I’m sure the Bull/Bear spread has widened much further) saw Bulls rise to 39.6 from 33.3 and Bears dropped to 22 from 27.8 and vs 31.5 in the week before. Last weekend saw the Citi Panic/Euphoria index back in Euphoria land at .43. The outlier to this bullish shift in line with the market rally is the very volatile and fickle AAII retail survey, my least favorite, where Bulls fell 4 pts to 31.7 vs Bears at 42.8 that was little changed. Bottom line, record highs certainly brought back the Bulls, and they came stampeded in but there is nothing extreme here yet. The breadth though has been lacking. In January, 68% of NYSE stocks were trading above its 200-day moving average. Yesterday at index record highs that figure stood at 57%. - (“Sentiment/Data center delays/Banks, PC/Most hated sector/Manpower on labor, Alcoa on supply” | Boock Report, ) The Role of Wealth Concentration As we examine what is happening with the stock market, it’s important to keep in mind that wealth in the US is increasingly concentrated, and that is a contributing factor to increased volatility. Why? Investing people are moving around greater sums of money per capita. Here’s the summary on this issue from the April 20 th edition of TLR on the Economy : Consumer sentiment, something dark is going on - The share of overall w...
Exchange-traded funds can be the source of liquidity that retail investors need after ramping up exposure to private assets, BlackRock Inc. executives wrote in a report. The lack of daily liquidity in private funds, which typically only allow redemptions at specific intervals, as well as their slow repricing boosts the need for something that can be quickly bought or sold during challenging times,...
Exchange-traded funds can be the source of liquidity that retail investors need after ramping up exposure to private assets, BlackRock Inc. executives wrote in a report. The lack of daily liquidity in private funds, which typically only allow redemptions at specific intervals, as well as their slow repricing boosts the need for something that can be quickly bought or sold during challenging times, the report argues. With private credit allocations growing among wealthy clients, bond ETFs can be a “liquid ballast,” they said. “As portfolios incorporate greater private exposures, maintaining sufficient liquidity becomes increasingly critical at the overall portfolio level,” said Vasiliki Pachatouridi , EMEA head of the firm’s iShares Fixed Income Product Strategy, one of the paper’s authors. “That’s where we think bond ETFs can be increasingly used as a source of liquidity and flexibility, particularly during periods of market stress and volatility,” she said in an interview. The report comes as the private credit industry has been hit by a wave of redemption requests from retail investors, who are fearful of artificial intelligence’s impact on the software firms the funds are invested in. Outflows have been so strong that several private credit funds have had to cap redemptions, leaving billions of dollars trapped. Trading in fixed income ETFs has ballooned, more than tripling since 2020 to $67 billion daily year-to-date, according to BlackRock. Volumes generally spike during periods of market stress, hitting $84 billion last month during the Iran War, its report said. “When public assets reprice more quickly than private valuations, portfolio weights shift, and they can shift quite materially,” Pachatouridi said. In recent weeks, bond managers including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Janus Henderson Group Plc said retail investors who previously gravitated to private credit have become receptive to their pitch of similar returns with daily liquidity. Read mor...
Germany's Inflation Scapegoat: Why Hormuz Is A Convenient Cover Story Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Over the weekend, economist Gerrit Heinemann warned in Bild of a drastic increase in food prices in Germany. The scholar from Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences focused his analysis on the massive rise in fertilizer prices. A significant share of these—estimated at roughly one third of global pr...
Germany's Inflation Scapegoat: Why Hormuz Is A Convenient Cover Story Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Over the weekend, economist Gerrit Heinemann warned in Bild of a drastic increase in food prices in Germany. The scholar from Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences focused his analysis on the massive rise in fertilizer prices. A significant share of these—estimated at roughly one third of global production—is transported through the Strait of Hormuz. Following the dual blockage of the strait, this sector too has entered a state of global scarcity, forcing farmers worldwide to adjust prices, which ultimately feeds through to consumer prices. Heinemann concludes that Germany’s food price index could rise by as much as ten percent this year. In Berlin, a familiar narrative has already taken hold, and there is broad agreement: the Hormuz crisis alone is responsible for the disaster. Yet core inflation had already reached around 2.7 percent year-on-year in March . Price increases across the entire spectrum of goods—especially energy and housing, which has become scarce due to migration—have accompanied Germany’s economic decline for quite some time. Only the dramatic slump in private investment and general consumer restraint have slightly dampened price pressures in recent years. What stands out in this development is the steady upward revision of inflation forecasts. In March, there was consensus between the Economics Ministry and leading research institutes that inflation would come in at around three percent this year. By early April, after one month of the Iran crisis, economists at the International Monetary Fund were projecting price increases of five to six percent. Now comes the ten-percent hammer in food prices. One could also put it this way: the culprit for rising prices in Germany has been found. Media and government point at every opportunity to Washington, where the supposed architect of the disaster allegedly sits: Donald Trump. But does this thesis hold? S...