William Boyd to pen new Bond novel set in late 1960s
LONDON (Reuters) – Suave and brutal British superspy James Bond will find himself in the thick of danger at the end of the swinging ’60s in a new, official novel by author William Boyd due out next year.
The best-selling British novelist told Reuters on Thursday that he will put his knowledge of Cold War espionage to good use to pen the next adventure of the 007 character created by Ian Fleming, who has grown into a global book and film phenomenon.
Boyd is the third writer in recent years to be invited by the Fleming estate to write an official Bond novel. U.S. thriller writer Jeffery Deaver wrote “Carte Blanche” in 2011, and Sebastian Faulks’ “Devil May Care” was published to mark Fleming’s 100th birthday in 2008.
The author of “Restless”, “A Good Man in Africa”, “An Ice-Cream War” and movie and TV screenplays said the Cold War espionage genre runs through a lot of his writing. He has worked with three of the actors who have played Bond and has been close to the story since he was a boy.
“I never met Fleming, but I knew somebody who knew him very well and I’ve written about Fleming quite a lot and I actually put him in one of my novels,” Boyd said.
“There’s been a kind of Bond/Fleming motif in my life for a long time, so it’s rather spooky and serendipitous.”
While Boyd has sworn to keep the details and title of the next 007 adventure secret, he said the book will mark a return to the classic Bond character in his mid-40s who is navigating the end of the swinging ’60s. He declined to be drawn into conversation on any of the countries Bond might travel to.
Canada tops UK expat lifestyle quality index
LONDON, Feb 29 (Reuters) – Canada’s natural beauty, multicultural society, health care service and security made it the top place on the planet for UK expats, according to an annual index released on Wednesday.
The NatWest International Personal Banking Quality of Life Index also reported that despite a global economic malaise, more than two thirds of UK expats had not seen a reduction in their quality of life abroad and fewer planned to return home.
The fifth index by Britain’s Natwest bank revealed most UK expats believe their decision to move abroad was right and that more than half of them have not had to reduce their spending significantly despite the economic backlash from a debt crisis that has depressed the global economy for years.
NatWest head of International Personal Banking Dave Isley said in a statement that the index showed expats had sailed through the most troubled global economic period since the end of World War Two.
“Our Quality of Life Index – which examines expats real life perceptions and experiences and gauges their personal assessments – shows the global financial crisis has failed to dampen the spirits of expats who seem to have adopted the ‘keep calm, carry on’ philosophy,” he said.
Expats living in China, UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore said their financial position had ‘improved dramatically’ since moving to the country. Those living in Australia, Canada and New Zealand assessed their financial position as having ‘improved significantly’.
Those living in Western Europe, South Africa and the United States were less enthusiastic about the improvement in their financial prospects and reported their financial position to have ‘improved moderately’.
Hello Heidi to bye bye bunga bunga in 2011 odd news
LONDON (Reuters) – Bunga Bunga, Zenga Zenga, a tweeting cobra and other wacky news capped a year that saw the capture of America’s most wanted man and the overthrow of dictators.
2011 was filled with animal antics that began with the introduction of Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum, as the latest feral German celebrity to capture hearts around the world.
The star of Leipzig Zoo made an appearance on U.S. television in February predicting Oscar winners, had her own merchandise, a song written about her and gained more than 330,000 fans on Facebook before dying in September to join Paul the oracle octopus and Knut the polar bear in the hereafter.
“The cross-eyed opossum Heidi has closed her eyes forever,” the zoo wrote on its website.
But Heidi wasn’t the only news story about the animal world which saw New Zealanders rescue, set free and then lose track of “Happy Feet,” the wrong-way Emperor penguin. A fox also escaped from a Belarus hunter by shooting his would-be killer with his own rifle and a flying bear killed two people in Canada.
And who could forget Mia, the cobra who escaped from New York’s Bronx zoo? She became a Twitter sensation when an anonymous Twitter user began posting tweets from @bronxzooscobra, which followed the snake’s progress visiting New York landmarks and a popular cafe for morning coffee.
“Getting my morning coffee at the Mudtruck. Don’t even talk to me until I’ve had my morning coffee. Seriously, don’t. I’m venomous,” one Twitter message read.
Book Talk: Mary Gabriel on love, capital & Karl Marx’s family
LONDON (Reuters) – Veteran journalist and former Reuters editor Mary Gabriel spent eight years poring over the personal lives of Karl Marx and his aristocratic wife Jenny.
The result is a revealing portrait of Marx as a husband, father and human being inside a thorough account of the poverty, persecution and death which haunted the family of a man whose political theories would change the world.
Gabriel, whose book has been nominated for a National Book Award in the United States, spoke to Reuters about her work: “Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution.”
Q: Wasn’t Marx a crowded field for a writer?
A: There are libraries of books on Marx and books on his theory in every conceivable language, but I was shocked to find that among all those volumes there was not a single book that focused on Marx and his family. Marx’s personal life has been a controversial subject from the time of his death in 1883. Immediately after his burial efforts began by his followers to sanitize his story so that this ‘socialist god’ would not seem human.
I believed there was room for another biography that told the story of Marx and his family, that readers ought to be introduced to Marx as husband, father and friend – for better or worse. Readers will see that this man was not at all the stern patrician he appeared to be in socialist and communist propaganda. I also found that uncovering the private Marx helped me understand his theory. Having done so, I can’t imagine reading Marx’s works without understanding the circumstances in which they were written and the historical events that were unfolding around him as he did so.
Q: What surprised you most about Marx?
iWill: Britons leaving heirs “digital inheritance”
LONDON (Reuters) – Britons are now including internet passwords in wills to ensure their online music, photographs, videos and other digital data are not lost when they die, a British study showed.
Around 11 percent of the 2,000 British people surveyed by the Center for Creative & Social Technology (CAST) at the University of London for their “Cloud Generation” report said they had included internet passwords or plan to include them in their wills in a trend that CAST labeled “digital inheritance.”
“It’s an area that will become increasingly important given, for instance, the monetary value of music collections and sentimental value of photograph collections – fewer people now keep hard copies of either,” the report quoted Steven Thorpe, partner at Gardner Thorpe Solicitors, as saying.
“Cloud Generation” co-authors Chris Brauer and Jennifer Barth used 15 in-depth case studies and the larger poll to investigate the implications for people whose personal and cultural keepsakes increasingly exist only in the so-called cloud — online services run on remote computers rather than one’s own PC.
In the course of their study, they discovered people naturally wanted to save valuable music, photos and videos for their own use during their lifetime, but now increasingly are seeking to preserve those things for their heirs.
“It’s that it’s representative of your identity, of who you are,” Brauer told Reuters on Friday.
Brauer said they discovered that “digital natives” as — he called them — now instinctively rely on the cloud to interact, save, store and share their personal tastes and data.
You! Get on Paul Smith’s catwalk now!
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian I am usually accustomed to sitting far away from the catwalk, rows behind the fashion elite and squeezed between other reporters. Sometimes, I don’t even have a seat but stand with media or production crews, straining my neck to see a designer’s offerings for next season. But this fashion week in London, I got to taste the real deal as I was catapulted onto the catwalk itself, strutting with other models. Not exactly something I had ever imagined doing. As part of our coverage of London Fashion Week this weekend, I had just finished interviewing British designer Paul Smith backstage ahead of his spring/summer 2012 womenswear show. I chatted with my colleagues about how friendly he had been with us and how with 40 minutes to go until show time, how amazingly calm everyone backstage was – a rare sight during the fashion week frenzy. We watched as models lined up preparing for their rehearsal with music blaring in the background — a required ritual ahead of any show. Suddenly the lady lining them up called out loudly: “You! Come over here.” I was not sure who she was talking, but it seemed she was facing my direction — “You, come here” she said, now clearly looking at me. “But I’m not a model,” I protested as my TV producer colleague held onto me to prove we were part of the same team. “I’m a journalist, I’m here to cover the show.” “Doesn’t matter, come here, we need one of you here,” she answered, waving me over. Confused, I obliged, not quite sure what she wanted me to do. “Stand here,” she said, placing me between two young models. And then she walked off. I looked in front and I could see models, one by one, making their entrance on the catwalk just behind the screen. HORRIFIED I was horrified. “What do I do now? Do I actually have to walk down?” I cried out to my colleagues. They laughed, one even whipped out her phone and told our cameraman, in place at the end of the catwalk, to get ready to film. I desperately looked for the lady who had placed me in the line of models, questioning myself as to why I had come over, but she was busy fussing getting other girls in place. She even placed another girl — not a model — in the queue. Phew I thought, I’m not the only one. But this girl seemed a lot calmer than I was, clearly accustomed to such impromptu moves in fashion show rehearsals. “What do I do,” I asked when the choreographer lady finally came round to me, noticing the line in front of me was getting alarmingly shorter. “Walk down the catwalk, just enjoy it!” she said. Okay I thought, I’m not 100 percent sure about the ethics of hitting the catwalk, but to avoid any drama, I’ll play along. I thought, this will be fine, as three, then two, then one and then no more models were in front of me anymore. And so my turn came. A friendly looking man, who was timing the rehearsal, held onto my arm, clearly seeing I looked a little nervous: “Just enjoy it, it’s only a rehearsal,” he said. “Now go.” STRUT? SWAY? POUT? And so I went. And there was the huge catwalk in front of me. A dozen thoughts suddenly crammed my head — Where do I look? Do I strut down? Do I sway my hips? Do I pout? Do I smile? Panic spread so I just held on tightly to my blackberry. I must have walked three steps when a new message arrived – not now I thought! I quickly looked down at it but realised that was not very model-like behaviour so I looked back up and straight ahead. I could see the few people sitting on the sidelines looked confused at my presence as I clearly was not a model. While I like to think I had made a stylish effort for Fashion Week, I clearly was not wearing designer clothes. But I stared straight ahead, thinking what a surreal experience this was — – especially as only weeks ago I was in North Africa helping out on our coverage of the Libyan conflict with fashion the last thing on my mind. The lights were blazing and I could not make out the photographers nor cameramen in front of me. So this is what it feels like to be a catwalk model, I thought, it’s quite easy. Then I recalled I was actually wearing comfortable wedges and not skyscraper heels. The catwalk was not an average up and down runway, but a rectangle shaped around a central seating space. As I approached the TV and picture crews, I looked straight ahead –and swiftly turned my heel round. Phew, I thought, halfway done. The walking back down the catwalk was a lot easier – mainly because this part of the huge room was practically empty. Although I must have walked a little too fast as I could see I was cutting into the approaching model’s space. I held back, let her do her thing, and then calmly made my exit. My colleagues greeted me with beaming smiles and applause. Our cameraman rushed back, confused: “What was that all about?” he asked. “I have no idea,” I replied, laughing. “But it was fun.”
Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Cambridge, England
CAMBRIDGE (Reuters) – Got 48 hours to explore the colleges, pubs, green spaces and leafy towpaths of Cambridge, England? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a visit to the city that is home to one of world’s oldest universities.
FRIDAY
6 p.m. Arrive at Cambridge train station and breathe in the soft air of the Fenlands. Cambridge is a town of cyclists, where everyone from students to software millionaires ride bicycles to get around.
If you want to get the most out of the city, you can rent one too right outside the station at Station Cycles (www.stationcycles.co.uk). Buy a map while you’re at it.
7 p.m. If you’re staying in the center of town and you like a bit of history, stop in at The Eagle. It is one of the oldest pubs in Cambridge, dating back to the 1600s with a galleried courtyard for outdoor drinkers. A plaque outside will tell you this is the pub where Cambridge scientists Watson and Crick cracked the secret of DNA and there will likely be plenty of modern-day geniuses knocking back their Friday night pints. The ceiling in the RAF room at the back is festooned with the smoky signatures of World War Two airmen stationed around Cambridge, who wrote their names in soot on the ceiling before flying off to confront the Luftwaffe.
11 p.m. Most pubs in Cambridge still close near or around this traditional closing time, though some stay open past midnight. You could try the nightlife if you’re keen. There are at least three busy late night clubs close by The Eagle: The Kambar, Lola Lo and Fez Club. But beware it’s an early start in the morning…
SATURDAY
Warning: UK dinner hosts may be serving “floor pie”
LONDON (Reuters Life!) – British consumers have a nasty habit of serving their dinner guests food that has been dropped on the floor or past the recommended date for its sale and consumption, a new survey showed on Friday.
The poll of 2,000 British consumers, commissioned by Italian pasta brand Giovanni Rana, found 15 percent of respondents admitted to serving “floor pie,” food that had fallen on the floor, and 10 percent knowingly made a feast for guests using off-food or goods well past their sell-by date.
And 13 percent said they had accidentally poisoned themselves and their guests with their cooking.
Some of the accidental poisoning could be attributed to the five percent of people who admitted defrosting food using alternative heating appliances, including an iron, hairdryer and sun bed.
The study also found men to be marginally more experimental in the kitchen than men, 26 percent versus 24 percent.
But the male experimentation comes at a cost, with 27 percent managing to set their kitchen or house on fire while on cooking duty and a further 21 percent admitting to having singed their eyebrows or burned off some hair in the process.
48 hours in London for the royal wedding
LONDON (Reuters) – Got 48 hours to explore the British capital where a prince’s love will transform an ordinary girl into a princess on April 29th?
Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors explore royal London amid the hoopla of Prince William’s marriage to his university sweetheart Kate Middleton.
Thursday
6 p.m. You’d better arrive at least a day ahead of the wedding. Many people will get to London even earlier and will already be staking out a place along the royal procession route. But first why not familiarise yourself with some of the local culture and go for a pint. Thursday night before a national holiday means the pubs will be buzzing.
Ditch the ubiquitous lager dens dotted around the capital in favour of a visit to the “pub of the year” as chosen by Britain’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
The Harp in Chandos Place lies in the shadow of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, near to Covent Garden shopping, dining, Leicester Square, the theatre district and the pubs and clubs of Soho.
8 p.m. Dine with the ruling class at Rules restaurant (www.rules.co.uk) in Covent Garden. It’s old, it’s grand, the food is traditional English and it’s a popular dining spot for the privately educated elite. This gastronomic institution has been reviewed by Kingsley Amis, defended by John Betjeman, immortalised by Graham Greene and frequented by Edward VII and his lover Lillie Langtry.
Travel Postcard: 48 hours in London for the royal wedding
LONDON (Reuters Life!) – Got 48 hours to explore the British capital where a prince’s love will transform an ordinary girl into a princess on April 29th? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors explore royal London amid the hoopla of Prince William’s marriage to his university sweetheart Kate Middleton.
Thursday
6 p.m. You’d better arrive at least a day ahead of the wedding. Many people will get to London even earlier and will already be staking out a place along the royal procession route. But first why not familiarize yourself with some of the local culture and go for a pint. Thursday night before a national holiday means the pubs will be buzzing.
Ditch the ubiquitous lager dens dotted around the capital in favor of a visit to the “pub of the year” as chosen by Britain’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
The Harp in Chandos Place lies in the shadow of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, near to Covent Garden shopping, dining, Leicester Square, the theater district and the pubs and clubs of Soho.
8 p.m. Dine with the ruling class at Rules restaurant (www.rules.co.uk) in Covent Garden. It’s old, it’s grand, the food is traditional English and it’s a popular dining spot for the privately educated elite. This gastronomic institution has been reviewed by Kingsley Amis, defended by John Betjeman, immortalized by Graham Greene and frequented by Edward VII and his lover Lillie Langtry.
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