UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
from Left field:
Federer at his sublime best in Paris
By Greg Rusedski
The Paris Masters was going to determine who was going to be the last players to qualify for the ATP world finals in London. The last few places were up for grabs and all the players that were in pole position ended up qualifying. The top eight for the field ended up being Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mardy Fish.
The other story of the week concerned Djokovic and whether he would play after shoulder problems in Basel. If he didn't play he would have missed his commitments for the master series events and it would have cost him over 1 million pounds in bonus pool money. He did play!
Could Murray continue his unbeaten run since the U.S. Open and win his fourth event in a row?
Also worth noting that Nadal pulled out the week before the event to concentrate on the ATP world finals and the Davis Cup final. With all the other big names playing it wasn't a big loss. This was a smart thing for Nadal to do because he needs the rest.
from Photographers Blog:
Shooting the Rugby World Cup
In the third installment, Sydney-based photographer Tim Wimborne describes what is necessary to keep the file fresh throughout the tournament and to satisfy different client needs.
In the second of a series of multimedia pieces, Bucharest-based photographer Bogdan Cristel talks about the focus required to cover the Rugby World Cup.
More than just an autograph
Frederique Jamolli’s job is to prise the most treasured items from the hands of newly-crowned Olympians.
Her job is to ask sprint champion Usain Bolt for his Jamaican vest or the pair of brightly coloured spikes worn by Cathy Freeman after her 400-metre win at Sydney in 2000.
from Left field:
Tales from tennis’ fifth major
Greg Rusedski writes exclusively for Reuters thanks to Thomson Reuters’ sponsorship of the Lawn Tennis Association.
The Sony Ericsson Open tournament is considered the fifth major by most of the tennis fraternity. It became a week with many story lines:
from MacroScope:
The octopus and the economists
What do an eight-legged creature in an aquarium in Germany and 74 economists have in common? The consensus view that Spain would claim the World Cup -- until the economists, as they so often do, changed their minds.
If World Cup 2010 goes down as one of the most unpredictable and exciting competitions in recent history, bringing underdogs Holland and Spain to the final showdown, what was hopelessly routine was watching so-called expert opinion converge around the safest bet. At least among financial professionals, who have done so well of late predicting the future.
from MacroScope:
Some good econ reads from the Blogosphere
From the econ blogosphere:
UK BUDGET
-- The libertarian Adam Smith Institute says here that the UK government should look at every government job, programme and department, and ask whether they are really needed. "Do we really need new school buildings....? Should taxpayers really stump up for free bus passes, or winter fuel and Chistmas bonuses for wealthy pensioners?"
CHINESE FX
-- VOX publishes this post from senior research fellow Willem Thorbecke of the Asian Development Bank on China's latest move on the dollar peg. "China's action may facilitate a concerted appreciation in Factory Asia, helping the region redirect production away from western markets and towards domestic consumers."
from The Great Debate UK:
London 2012 – a chance to nurture strong female role models
-- Tessa Jowell is Britain's Minister for the Olympics and London and has held a variety of senior government posts. She has direct responsibility for delivery of the government's Olympic programme. Jowell has been a member of parliament for the Labour Party since 1992. The views expressed are her own. --
In 1896 a Greek woman called Stamata Revithi decided to run the inaugural modern day Olympic Marathon in Greece. Arriving in the Village of Marathon she was told by officials that she was not allowed to compete in the race the next day as the entry deadline had expired.
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The Wall
