Prosecutors’ office says two museum workers, several tour guides and suspected mastermind among those detained French police investigating a suspected €10m (£8.7m) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre museum in Paris have detained nine people, including two members of staff. “Based on the information available to the museum, we suspect the existence of a network organising large-scale fraud,” a museu...
Prosecutors’ office says two museum workers, several tour guides and suspected mastermind among those detained French police investigating a suspected €10m (£8.7m) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre museum in Paris have detained nine people, including two members of staff. “Based on the information available to the museum, we suspect the existence of a network organising large-scale fraud,” a museum spokesperson told Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...
The European Central Bank will raise interest rates at least once this year, significantly boosting the euro against the dollar, according to Capital Group, the $3.3 trillion asset manager. The view runs contrary to many investors and economists who expect the ECB to remain on hold through 2027. Some even reckon it may ease policy should US rate cuts under a new Federal Reserve Chair force its han...
The European Central Bank will raise interest rates at least once this year, significantly boosting the euro against the dollar, according to Capital Group, the $3.3 trillion asset manager. The view runs contrary to many investors and economists who expect the ECB to remain on hold through 2027. Some even reckon it may ease policy should US rate cuts under a new Federal Reserve Chair force its hand. Money markets currently price a less than one-in-three chance of a quarter-point reduction. But Edward Harrold , investment director at Capital Group, expects a pickup in economic growth across Europe that will prompt the ECB to to diverge from the Fed. That should lift the euro to the “high-$1.20s area” by year-end, he said in an interview. It traded Friday at around $1.1860. “One of our more non-consensus views is that we could see tighter monetary policy in Europe sooner than the market has been pricing,” Harrold said, noting Germany’s plans to expand spending. “We expect to see European growth becoming more robust, more inflationary pressures coming through,” Harrold said. “We think this will bring the ECB to potentially begin hiking before the end of this year.” “We have a definite preference for the euro over the dollar,” he added. Harrold expects one or two rate hikes from the ECB’s current 2% level and sees the Fed easing policy broadly in line with market pricing, delivering two to three cuts in 2026. While some recent data has been softer than expected, there’s also a view that the Trump administration will want to run the economy hot before mid-term elections in November. “That will mean we get lower rates in the US but still kind of resilient inflation, so a lower real yield at the same time as we see real yields picking up in Europe,” Harrold said. “That will lead to a continuation of the positive euro/weaker dollar dynamic.” The euro area’s real policy rate is currently just under 0.5%, about half that of the US. The view on the euro hinges on a lot of “mov...
metamorworks/iStock via Getty Images Quantum computing stocks slid sharply on Thursday, with the group posting broad mid-to-high single-digit losses amid a wider risk-off move in speculative tech. The pullback adds to a tough start to the year, with most names in the space now down double digits year-to-date. Elevated bearish positioning across several names continues to frame the backdrop. Here’s...
metamorworks/iStock via Getty Images Quantum computing stocks slid sharply on Thursday, with the group posting broad mid-to-high single-digit losses amid a wider risk-off move in speculative tech. The pullback adds to a tough start to the year, with most names in the space now down double digits year-to-date. Elevated bearish positioning across several names continues to frame the backdrop. Here’s how key quantum computing stocks rank by short interest as of the January 30 settlement: Quantum Computing ( QUBT ) -20.18% YTD | Short interest: 21.89% IonQ ( IONQ ) -30.24% YTD | Short interest: 20.80% SEALSQ ( LAES ) +1.6% YTD | Short interest: 13.81% Rigetti Computing ( RGTI ) -32.3% YTD | Short interest: 13.10% D-Wave Quantum ( QBTS ) -28.03% YTD | Short interest: 12.78% Arqit Quantum ( ARQQ ) +1.59% YTD | Short interest: 5.87% Quantum computing ETF: Defiance Quantum ETF ( QTUM ) More on Rigetti Computing, IonQ, etc. D-Wave: The First Quantum Company To Go Post-NISQ D-Wave Quantum: Falling Behind With Growing Execution And Supply Chain Risks AI Can't Sustain This Rate Of Return Quantum computing stocks extend selloff as only one Buy rating remains Norges Bank's IonQ investment may start asset managers interest in quantum: Wedbush
The artist often swapped painting for etching as a way to rediscover his craft. Now a new exhibition shows these flashes of inspiration in all their intimate glory At home one evening in 1951, Lucian Freud did three drawings of fellow artist Francis Bacon. The biographer William Feaver recounts the anecdote as Freud told it to him: Bacon had stood up, undone the buttons on his trousers, rolled up ...
The artist often swapped painting for etching as a way to rediscover his craft. Now a new exhibition shows these flashes of inspiration in all their intimate glory At home one evening in 1951, Lucian Freud did three drawings of fellow artist Francis Bacon. The biographer William Feaver recounts the anecdote as Freud told it to him: Bacon had stood up, undone the buttons on his trousers, rolled up his sleeves and wiggled his hips a little, saying: “I think you ought to do this, because I think that’s rather important.” By Freud’s own admission, the older painter was provocative in more ways than just this pose: “I got very impatient with the way I was working. It was limited and a limited vehicle for me,” Freud told Feaver. He felt his drawing stopped him from freeing himself, he said, “and I think my admiration for Francis came into this. I realised that by working in the way I did I couldn’t really evolve. The change wasn’t perhaps more than one of focus, but it did make it possible for me to approach the whole thing in another way.” Continue reading...
The classic flower of romance can be used in jams, tea, even turkish delight – and now is the time to start growing your own I am extremely cynical when it comes to overly commercialised celebrations designed to pressure us into spending money. But when I realised that this column would appear on Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t resist the temptation to write about the plant that is perpetually intertw...
The classic flower of romance can be used in jams, tea, even turkish delight – and now is the time to start growing your own I am extremely cynical when it comes to overly commercialised celebrations designed to pressure us into spending money. But when I realised that this column would appear on Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t resist the temptation to write about the plant that is perpetually intertwined with romance. Fortunately for me, roses happen to be edible. While technically the entire plant can be eaten, it’s best to stick to the petals, buds and hips (as if I had to tell you not to chomp on their thorns and woody stems). Fresh or dried, rose petals can be used to make rosewater or rose syrup, as pretty garnishes for cakes, and to infuse into sweet treats such as ice-cream and panna cotta. Rosebuds can be used this way too, but beware that by harvesting an entire bud you’re not going to get the rosehip developing later. Rosehips appear once a rose has bloomed and faded, and while they can be eaten raw, the seeds inside are surrounded by irritating hairs that should be discarded. To coax the flavour and abundant vitamin C from rosehips, make them into jellies, jams or syrups, steep them in hot water as a tea, infuse them into vinegar or spirits, or cook them into soups or sauces. As with all foraging-adjacent activities, remember there are many creatures that rely on these flowers and fruit, so leave plenty behind for the pollinators and birds. Continue reading...
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why Last week, we learned of the decision of the Texas A&M University board of regents to end women’s and gender studies programs as well as the teaching of “divisive concepts” such as race. A&M was not the first university to do this. Florida ’s New College made the move in 2023. Other ...
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why Last week, we learned of the decision of the Texas A&M University board of regents to end women’s and gender studies programs as well as the teaching of “divisive concepts” such as race. A&M was not the first university to do this. Florida ’s New College made the move in 2023. Other red state legislatures have passed similar requirements and their public universities (in North Carolina , Ohio and Kansas ) have followed suit. The move to cancel gender studies is explicitly justified as a way to comply with Donald Trump ’s executive order of last year titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. That document makes “the biological reality of sex” a matter not of science but of law. Continue reading...
Brazil president to receive unprecedented honour at opening night of procession with a giant effigy of him He is a giant of Brazilian politics and soon he will become a giant of Brazilian carnival too: a 22-metre metal figurine, to be precise. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who rose from rural poverty to become his country’s first working class president , is to receive an unprecedented tribute at the...
Brazil president to receive unprecedented honour at opening night of procession with a giant effigy of him He is a giant of Brazilian politics and soon he will become a giant of Brazilian carnival too: a 22-metre metal figurine, to be precise. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who rose from rural poverty to become his country’s first working class president , is to receive an unprecedented tribute at the opening night of Rio’s annual carnival procession on Sunday. Continue reading...