Women barely figure as part of UK’s super-rich
There are 53,000 super wealthy people in the UK who are in the prestigious top 0.1 per cent of earners. These are people who make more money in a month than most make in a number of years. Probably a nice place to be, if you are part of this elite group. However, for everyone else these super rich people live in a world we can only imagine, and it is also a male dominated social strata. A report by...
Safer surgery is fundamental to solving global poverty
Millions face financial ruin to afford surgery. Mercy Ships is helping to implement the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in Africa. Lea Milligan, Executive Director of Mercy Ships UK, knows such projects will mean the difference between a life of poverty and a life with hope. Mercy Ships is an international charity, running a state of the art hospital ship which offers free medical care and humanitarian aid to some of the world’s poorest people. Since the charity’s creation in 1978...
John Carpenter’s ‘Utopian Facade’ is an Android’s Nightmare
It's like Tron meets Ex Machina meets Dawn of the Dead. Master of Horror JohnCarpenter has released a dark and dystopian video for ‘Utopian Façade’, taken from his most recent studio album ‘Lost Themes II’. The video was produced & directed by Gavin Hignight and Ben Verhulst, painting a story of an android's nightmare, hidden in dark & futuristic forests. Watch below: Commenting on the video, Gavin Hignight said: "We were instantly haunted upon hearing Utopian Façade. It conjured images of jagged tree branches, dark woods and...
Sam Allardyce Faces The Sack Over Allegations
England boss Sam Allardyce has told friends he thinks he will be sacked as England manager following allegations that he used his role to negotiate a £400,000 deal and offer advice on how to "get around" rules on player transfers. The former Sunderland boss has only been in the job two months but has already hit his first off-the-field hiccup. The Telegraph has released footage of Allardyce meeting men claiming to represent a Far East firm in which he appears to say third-party ownership...
Blu-Ray Review: Love and Friendship
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer When you see the words Jane Austin Adaptation, it's hard not to think of direct Whit Stillman. In fact, it's surprising that we'd not seen a Stillman interpretation of Austin’s work until now. The writer-director’s particular brand of waspy angst, snappy quips and social mores fall pretty comfortably into Austin's work with ease. After the rather disappointing Damsels in Distress, which had the filmmaker making no real leaps from his past works. Love and Friendship;...
DVD Review: The Nice Guys
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer A fellow writer once nailed an aspect about movies that some secretly (some not so secretly) enjoy in one sentence when in debate with an associate: “Movies are often at their most interesting when they are problematic”. Granted, this was caught by me on a social networking thread, but I feel the statement stands pretty true. When a film is spiky, or jars with a viewer in a way that’s not completely comfortable with them,...
Post-Brexit business optimism at lowest level since 2009 financial crisis
It seems that the business community is not feeling to positive about the future of the UK economy post-Brexit. The first quarterly survey, since the nation decided to leave the EU, indicates that business optimism in the financial services industry sector is very low. Over half of financial companies, who were part of the well-respected survey, said the impact of Britain's decision to leave the European project was negative. There are also concerns that Germany’s business hub, Frankfurt, is trying...
Virgin East Coast strike set for 3rd October
Virgin East Coast trains staff will stage a 24-hour strike over Monday 3rd October, according to the RMT union. The strike means that staff will not work between 00.01 and 23.59 BST on that day.Virgin East Coast operate the line from London to Scotland via the North East of England. The service was drawn into the Corbyn “traingate” saga after they released footage of the Labour leader, which they claimed showed he could have had a seat, when he claimed...
“Racism in football remains a burning, very serious and topical one,” as FIFA dissolves anti-racism task force
Many were shocked when FIFA announced it has decided to end its anti-racism task force, as it had “completely fulfilled its temporary mission.” The 2018 World Cup in Russia has worried many who believe that there are dangerous racist elements at play at Russian football clubs. Many fans have already been put off from attending the tournament, due to the horrific scenes of Russian hooligans fighting with English fans during the 2016 Euro championships and Russia’s regressive policies toward the...