VIDEO – Iceland PM storms out of interview about Panama firm
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The video below shows Iceland's prime minister storming out of an awkward interview when he was questioned about his interests in a secret offshore firm. Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, came to power in 2013 on a wave of anti-banking anger after Iceland's financial meltdown. However, leaked documents have linked him and his wife to an offshore company, which it is alleged millions were hidden while his country nearly went under. He is facing a no-confidence vote over the revelations and...
Hands up if you plan to quit England – Junior doctor crisis
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor If this picture if anything to go by we won’t have many doctors left in the UK soon. A group of medical students at the University of Birmingham were asked to put their hands up if they are going to leave the country and work abroad over the new contracts for junior doctors. Over half of the students threw their hands up, and the image is damning of the Tories mis-management of the Junior Doctors’...
New stamp duty land tax hit homebuyers
By Bea Patel, TLE Property Editor and Director of Shop for an Agent The new three per cent stamp duty land tax (SDLT) levy on top of the current standard rate hit homebuyers on 1 April 2016. Announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 Autumn statement, it affects domestic and foreign buyers of second residential homes in the UK over £40,000. Caravans, mobile homes and houseboats are exempt and there is no charge on inherited properties. With limited supply, high rents...
Is Technology Eroding Quality Family Time?
It was only when Dianne Vavra looked up one evening to see her husband streaming a basketball game on his laptop, her son absorbed by Mario Kart on the Wii and her daughter playing a game app on an iPod Touch that she realised. “The family was in the same room, but not together". The concept, dubbed the "Domestic Matrix" by the New York Times - families sharing a common space, but plugged into entirely separate planes of existence through technology - is...
Panama Papers: Huge Leak Exposes Super Rich, Celebrities, Politicians and Governing Bodies
A huge leak of data from offshore service company Mossack Fonseca has exposed the super rich, celebrities and politicians. Iceland is considering a snap election over revelations which implicate Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and his wife. He is among several leading politicians with links to Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm whose services include incorporating companies in offshore jurisdiction. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also been implicated in a $2 billion scheme which involves his best friend Sergei Roldugin. Other national leaders include Pakistan’s...
Blu-ray Review: Black Mama White Mama
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer Very much a cult curiosity, Black Mama White Mama condenses a truck load of plotting into what is effectively an exploitation chase flick. The results vary. While it’s fun to see a film which heavily influenced Quentin Tarantino, the film is so interested in stuffing itself with mobsters, corrupt cops and revolutionaries that the more interesting elements sometimes get lost. Set in an unknown exotic location (the film was shot in the Philippines), Pam Grier...
Try ‘One Of Everything’ At Gilgamesh, Camden
Have you ever looked at the al a carte options in a restaurant and thought, “I could eat everything on the menu”? It is one of Trip Advisor’s most common reviews for its most lauded restaurants, and now Gilgamesh in Camden Town is offering its punters the option of doing just that. From Teriyaki Fillet of Beef to King Prawn Tempura, Beef Panang and Black Rice Risotto, groups over ten will have the option of receiving one of every item...
London Escapes in Under an Hour: Bel And The Dragon, Cookham
If you're looking country pubs, plenty of walks and good grub in a charming setting, you could do a lot worse than Cookham. The Place A mere 39 minutes train ride out of Paddington, Cookham is a picturesque village tucked in to the north-easternmost corner of Berkshire. Crowned as Britain's second richest village in 2011 by The Daily Telegraph, its modest commercial quarter is populated with quaint restaurants and a smattering of historic pubs, which makes it an ideal base...
Bar Review – Oriole
By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Having first opened in 2010, taking over a relatively secluded space close to East London’s famous Old Street Roundabout, Nightjar has been included within the World’s 50 Best Bars Awards top ten for the past four years, and is currently ranked as the third best bar across the whole globe. So with the rising demand, it’s unsurprising that the founders opened a huge new 120-cover space at the tail end of last year, taking...