Tag Archives: ‘Harry Potter’ film series

Sterling rises sharply versus the euro and US dollar after better than expected UK GDP data

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“The pound rose sharply versus the euro and US dollar after today’s first-quarter 2013 UK GDP data suggested the economy avoided an unprecedented triple-dip recession by a wider than expected margin. Sterling remains some 2% lower versus the dollar compared to three months ago.” Chris Saint, Head of Currency Dealing, Hargreaves Lansdown

 

Despite the mildly positive GDP outcome for Chancellor Osborne, this does little to alter the bleak overall picture. The economy remains 2.6% smaller than at its 2008 peak, which compares unfavourably with many of the UK’s peers. It also does little to enable the government to refute critics’ claims that its austerity programme is doing more to stifle growth than it is to curb rising public debt. Absent an improbable U-turn from the government’s plan A, hopes of the recovery gathering momentum will inevitably be pinned to monetary measures such as quantitative easing and the newly extended Funding for Lending Scheme. From a currency viewpoint, this should keep the pound on the back foot in the near term given a widespread scepticism that these measures will be sufficient for the economy to gain suitable traction going forward.”

 

At the time of writing, the exchange rates stand at:

 

  Interbank rate                   % daily change

Sterling / US dollar           1.5402                                    0.79%

Sterling / Euro                    1.1805                                    0.62%

Emma Watson wants to explore self

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Emma Watson is ready to “figure out” who she really is.

The 21-year-old actress – who was cast as brainbox Hermione Granger in the ‘Harry Potter’ film series when she was just 11 years old – admits working on the franchise has ruled her life over the last decade and she is now looking forward to making her own decisions.

She said: “Not a single second of the day was in my power. I was told what time I’d get picked up, what time I could eat and when I could go to the bathroom.

“I have spent more of my life being someone else than I have being myself.

“I’ve always had a strong sense of who I am and what I want, but I do need to spend more time figuring that out.”

Among the ways the movies have affected her life was Emma’s decision to put her studies on hold last year.

The British beauty was two years into a liberal arts degree at America’s prestigious Brown University but left because it was too much of a struggle combining her school work with promoting the final two films in the series, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2’.

Emma – who will return to her degree at Oxford University in October – explained in an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I was commuting back and forth between the US and the UK trying to fulfil my commitment to this enormous ‘Harry Potter’ franchise and it just wasn’t feasible. I’m only human.

“I wasn’t getting the best out of either my studies or the filming, so I decided to give a proper goodbye to 10 years of work and resume my studies later.”