WORLD AFFAIRS
Susan Rice
The new US permanent representative to the United Nations is a former Rhodes
scholar at New College, Oxford, who went on to became the youngest-ever
assistant US Secretary of State for African Affairs at the age of 32. A top
foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign when most of her former
colleagues were supporting Hillary Clinton, she proposed “dramatic action”
to halt genocide in Darfur, including military force. Appointing her as the
US permanent representative to the United Nations, Mr Obama restored the
post to Cabinet rank, putting her on an equal footing with Mrs Clinton, the
new US secretary of state
Ana Patricia Botín
Currently the head of the Banco Banesto, the retail bank of the Santander
group, Mrs Botin, 49, has long been seen as the natural heir to her father,
Emilio Botín. Only one thing could stand in her way. Mrs Botín was linked to
the fallout from the Madoff affair through her husband, Guillermo Morenés,
and Javier Botín Sanz, her brother, who run a company which marketed Madoff
funds. The fallout could damage her hopes, even though there is no
suggestion Mrs Botín was involved in the fraud in any way.
Raúl Castro
Cuba marked the 50th anniversary of its revolution on January 1 focusing
attention and home and abroad on what exactly the Castro brothers have
delivered for the island. Raúl Castro, who has effectively ruled since his
brother Fidel had intestinal surgery in 2006, has promised to introduce
liberal reforms to the strict communist one-party state. But there are
doubts whether the regime is prepared to relax its grip on power and if it
is serious about making way for free-market reforms in the economy.
Paulo César Quartiero
The aggressive, hardline mayor of Pacaraima faces a showdown with the
Brazilian authorities. The supreme court decides in February on whether to
enforce a ruling that would evict him and his fellow rice farmers from
Indian lands in the huge Raposa Serra do Sol reserve
Metropolitan Kirill
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad is acting head of the Russian
Orthodox Church, which claims the allegiance of two thirds of the country’s
142 million people. He is favourite to be elected patriarch when a successor
to the late Aleksi II is chosen at the end of January. A win would signal a
strengthening of conservative nationalism in Russia, which would chime with
the Kremlin’s increasingly assertive attitude in relations with the US and
Europe. In 2006 Kirill, 62, criticised Western notions of human rights as
contrary to Orthodox teaching
BRITAIN
Bob Shennan
The former head of Radio 5 Live is strongly tipped to step into the hot seat
as head of BBC Radio 2 following the resignation of Lesley Douglas in the
wake of the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross phone prank affair. The
46-year-old’s last role, as head of Channel 4 Radio, came to an abrupt end
when the channel ditched plans for three new national digital stations in
October. But Mr Shennan transformed 5 Live, making it more accessible and
boosting audiences with big-name signings including Johnny Vaughan, Eamonn
Holmes and Des Lynam. Before joining 5 in 2000, Mr Shennan headed sport for
both BBC radio and TV. The married father of three was educated at the Royal
Grammar School in Lancaster and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Wes Streeting
The 25-year-old president of the National Union of Students is tipped to
follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessors including Jack
Straw, Charles Clarke, Stephen Twigg, Jim Murphy, Phil Woolas and Trevor
Philips. Mr Streeting, a graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge, describes
himself as an active member of the Labour Party and like Mr Straw was
brought up by a single mother on a council estate in the East End of London.
He appears to have led the union towards a grudging acceptance that tuition
fees are here to stay. The NUS had previously opposed top-up fees bitterly.
However, Mr Streeting said recently that the debate had now become how,
rather than whether, graduates financially contributed to their education.
Justine Greening
The youngest female Tory MP in the Commons is expected to enter the Shadow
Cabinet within a few months. Since winning her Putney seat in 2005, Ms
Greening, 39, has resisted attempts by the leadership to use her as a poster
girl for a changing party and has earned her spurs through hard work. Her
small business brief is a portfolio that the recession can only make more
important.
Andrew Flanagan
The former chief executive of Scottish Media Group takes over as chief
executive of NSPCC as questions are being asked about what impact the
charity’s Full Stop Campaign has really had on ending child abuse. It was
the most successful charity fundraising appeal to date, raising £150
million.
Dr Sarah Kennedy
By day she is a senior psychiatrist at the Brig mental health unit in
Galashiels, the Borders. But come the night and the 31-year-old Scot
transforms into Miss Modus, the glamorous lead singer of the
Sixties-inspired Mod band, Modus. Nicknamed Dr Blonde, she must be one of
the few members of Royal College of Psychiatry to be tipped in a band to
watch this year. The singer performs with her brother, Scott, the drummer,
the guitarist Mel Johnson and the organ player, Rod Spark. Their debut
album, Sounds from the Kitten Casino, is soon to be released by Oregon-based
record label, Hammondbeat Miss Kennedy said: “I manage to keep a good
balance between my psychiatric work and my music. I work all week, then at
the weekend I'm playing gigs.” She recently reached the finals of Britain's
Best Dish with chef John Burton Race.
BUSINESS
Tim Geithner
The former head of the New York Federal Reserve takes over from Hank Paulson
as US Treasury Secretary this month. The 47-year-old has been at the centre
of efforts to prevent financial meltdown and has won praise for his calmness
under fire. He will be helping to draw up Barack Obama’s fiscal stimulus
package.
John Kingman
The former financial journalist has just stepped down as the No 2 official at
the Treasury to become arguably the most powerful figure in British banking.
Mr Kingman, 39, is chief executive of UK Financial Investments, the body
that will hold the Government’s stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB
and Northern Rock. He must juggle the pressure to get banks lending again
with the need to get the taxpayers’ money back.
Maggie Mills
Ernst & Young’s corporate restructuring partner is in charge of running
Britain’s bankrupt banks. Ms Mills, 54, is currently the administrator of
London Scottish Bank — the only British bank allowed to collapse. She is
also the administrator of the UK arm of the nationalised Icelandic bank
Kaupthing and of Heritable Bank, a UK subsidiary of Iceland's Landsbanki.
She has worked in corporate restructuring since 1979, but is still one of
only a few women in what remains a tough, male-dominated world.
Sadeq Sayeed
Nomura’s chief executive in Europe has suddenly become head of one of the
City’s biggest investment banks after the Japanese broker’s acquisition of
the European operations of Lehman Brothers. The Pakistani-born 55-year-old,
paid just $2 for the business after Lehman collapsed. But he has guaranteed
billions of dollars of bonuses for two years, which will weigh heavily on
Nomura’s results. The high-stakes gamble could go either way.
Evan Williams
The 34-year-old is chief executive of Twitter, the microblogging website,
which is one of the internet’s hottest properties. The service now has more
than six million members sending twitters —short messages of up to 140
characters either via the website or a mobile phone. It hit the headlines in
November when it spread word of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The Amazon
founder, Jeff Bezos, is an investor in the business, which has already
turned down a $500 million takeover offer from Facebook.
SPORT
Joe Hart
Time was when English goalkeepers were considered the best in the world. In
recent years they have been more of a laughing-stock, but the emergence of
Joe Hart could change that. Already Manchester City’s first-choice aged 21,
he made his England debut against Trinidad & Tobago in June and could be
a fixture in the squad for years to come.<NO>Jack Wilshere: Arsene
Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has a reputation for developing young talent
but Wilshere is unusual: he is English. A 16-year-old goalscoring creative
midfield player from Stevenage (like Lewis Hamilton and Ashley Young), he
has yet to feature in the Arsenal first-team but a buzz is developing after
his excellent pre-season performances.
Danny Care
After turning down a youth contract with Sheffield Wednesday to concentrate on
rugby over football, Care has shown that he made the right choice by being
selected first for the England sevens side and then for the full side
against New Zealand this summer. His pupillage as understudy at Leeds to
Justin Marshall, the great All Black scrum half, showed when he scored a try
in his second start for England, at Christchurch. England fans will be
hoping that there is much more to come from the Harlequins player.
Anthony Kim
One of the less familiar names in the United States team for the Ryder Cup
this month, but if games were won by self-belief alone then Kim would be up
there with Tiger Woods. The 23-year-old American, born of Korean immigrant
parents, has won twice on the American PGA Tour this year, came seventh at
the Open Championship (having been in with a shout of the title for much of
the final day) and has advanced to No 15 in the world rankings.
Juan Martin Del Potro
The next big tennis player to come out of Argentina, the 6ft 6in Del Potro had
a staggering summer, winning four titles in a row between Wimbledon and the
US Open, the first player ever to win his first four trophies in consecutive
events. Unusually for an Argentinian, he prefers to play on hard courts
rather than clay. As a result of his 22-match winning streak last year, Del
Potro has advanced to 9th in the world rankings. And he is only 20
Sebastian Vettel
Anyone who Bernie Ecclestone, the ringmaster of Formula One, says has the
right stuff is worth following. Two years younger, at 21, than Lewis
Hamilton and potentially just as exciting, Vettel became the youngest
Formula One driver three years ago and in 2007 became the youngest to lead a
grand prix. He has just been waiting for the right car, and was given a
boost recently when it was confirmed that he would be replacing David
Coulthard at the Red Bull team.
ARTS
Film - Rebecca Hall
Most young actors would gladly give their eye-teeth for the parts that Rebecca
Hall has lined up in 2009. The 26-year-old daughter of Sir Peter Hall and
Maria Ewing has secured lead roles in three high-profile films. She is
Michael Sheen’s glamorous squeeze, Caroline Cushing, in Ron Howard’s
gripping drama, Frost/Nixon. She is the reluctant lover, Vicky, in
Woody Allen’s teasing Don Juan comedy, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
And she plays Emily Wootton in Oliver Parker’s lavish remake of Dorian
Gray with Ben Barnes (Dorian) and Colin Firth. There’s an intelligence
about Hall that is as fresh and unaffected as her beauty. Given that her
film career only started in 2006, Hall’s ascent has been nothing short of
astonishing.
Theatre - Jamie Lloyd
At 28, Jamie Lloyd has already accumulated quite a CV. He recently staged the
revival of Piaf now at the Vaudeville and the Royal Court premiere of
Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride, which impressed critics with
its sharp portrait of changing attitudes to homosexuality. Lloyd, who
trained as an actor at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing
Arts before turning to directing, was also responsible for the Donmar’s
touring production of Guys and Dolls and the double-bill of Pinter’s Lover
and Collection in the West End — and could clinch his reputation with
Richard Greenburg’s Three Days of Rain, which brings James
McAvoy to the Apollo Theatre on January 30.
Art - Goshka Macuga
There is both a face to watch and a façade to watch next year. Goshka Macuga
may not have won the Turner Prize, for which she was shortlisted in 2008,
but she still looks set for great things. In April the Whitechapel Art
Gallery re-opens after a £13.5 million expansion project. It is Macuga who
has been chosen to kickstart an adventurous new programme. Taking Pablo
Picasso’s Guernica as a starting point for one of her idiosyncratic,
sculptural environments, this Polish-born artist will build one of her
strange assemblages of historical objects that seem to become more
mainstream as they grow more ambitious.
Classical - Andris Nelsons
The players of Simon Rattle’s old band, the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra, seem to have found another whizzkid maestro by appointing a
little-known 30-year-old Latvian conductor as their music director. Andris
Nelsons has galvanised an orchestra that had lost a little of its Rattle-era
exuberance. He is a protege of another Latvian conductor, the brilliant
Mariss Jansons, and many of his gestures are like mirror-images of the older
man. But there are worse models. And Nelsons’s acute musicality is matched
by extraordinary energy. It’s rare for a concert to have progressed far
without both his feet leaving the podium. Catch him in Wagner
(January 28-29), or doing Ravel and Mussorgsky (February 22).
Symphony Hall, Broad Street, Birmingham (www.cbso.co.uk
0121 780 3333)
Rock/Pop - La Roux
From Lady GaGa to Little Boots, there’ll be no shortage of female electropop
contenders to choose from in 2008, but the Brixtonian Elly Jackson – La Roux
to the world at large – is arguably the most compelling. Shades of
Eurythmics at their early, otherworldly best abound on current single Quicksand
– though it’s worth pondering the alarming fact that her parents were five
years off conceiving her when Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) came
out. Elsewhere, the crudely assembled declamations of Tigerlily and Fascination
wield hooks so huge you could use them to raise the Titanic. All of which
augurs well for her debut album in the spring. La Roux is on tour from
January 22.
