By James Mackney With the release of J K Rowling’s new novel, published under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, I thought it would be an appropriate to head back and look at the filmic works of the her ever successful Harry Potter series. To date the Harry Potter films...

By Harry Bedford Today we have lost not only one of the greatest pop songwriters, but also one of the most important. Gerry Goffin was the man who put the words to the music of two of the finest melody writers in pop history, his then wife Carole King and...

By Jack Peat There's no such thing as a frugal recipe. Indeed, the idea of a recipe negates the very concept of frugality. But there is method behind the madness. Some mothers in Eastern Europe refuse to shop until all reserves in the pantry have been used up. It wasn't...

By Marcus Hunt Iraq is a state composed of at least three separate nations: Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs and Kurds. Unlike in Eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War I, the Sykes-Picot agreement drew borders that ignored national and religious affiliations. It was a grave mistake to do so,...

By Pip Cole  At around 21:40 last night a wave of disappointment swept the nation as Luis Suarez netted the second Uruguay goal, sinking England to its second defeat in as many matches. Italy sussed us out and the Uruguayans managed to contain England's attack while their talisman seized on...

By Gregory Taylor On 8th June 2013 the British government made a pledge at the ‘Conference on Nutrition for Growth’ held in London committing £375 million towards feeding some of the poorest people in the world. This was a huge amount of money for the British Government to promise, but...

By Chris Brown When attempting to prepare a withering summary of a game of football involving an African team, the rhythmic temptation to drift from one cliché to the next is stronger than Heaven 17* in 1982 or New Order in ’87. So I why bother to resist. Objectivity? Pah....

Best Newsnight Moments from the past 25 years.  Jeremy Paxman has stepped down as presenter of Newsnight after 25 glorious years of expertly intimidating politicians as the people's voice. Leeds-born Paxman has been criticised over the years for being overly aggressive, intimidating and condescending, but in confronting the secretive world of politics...

By Valentina Magri Lowered rates were expected, but Mario Draghi made them real. On 5th June 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) set a 0.15 per cent intervention rate and a minus 0.1 per cent rate on banks’ deposits. But this time, the ECB has taken also unconventional measures to...