Tech Titan Trauma

This week saw technology titans release their quarterly reports with a few shockers, both good and bad, announced.

The Good

Apple was the shinning light of the weeks earnings reports with a 46% increase in iPhone sales with sales so popular they tied with Samsung selling an estimated 74.5 million phones. Apple's reports were so astronomical they even reached some historic figures. For it's closet mobile competitor it was a mixed bag with Samsung managing to beat gloomy forecasts but with income still falling 36% due to sluggish phone sales.

Amazon wasn't to be outdone posting strong Holiday sales showing a surge of 15% year-on-year and it even managed to post a profit after recent very big, and very public, failures. Facebook saw it's share price rise after better than expected fourth-quarter earnings thanks to advertising while Yahoo saw it's shares rise after it decided to spin off it's shares in Alibaba in a tax free transaction.

The Bad

It wasn't all good news with Microsoft dropping 4% after it released some dreadful numbers thanks to a drop in people upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows XP but also due to upgrades from Windows 7 & 8 to 10 being free. Google didn't fare any better when fourth-quarter sales and profit missed Wall Street estimates due to advertising on mobile taking a knock. The darling of Wall Street, Alibaba, saw it's shares tumble 9% after weaker than expected sales growth was revealed.

The Ugly

Lastly nobody took a bigger knock than IBM who began axing over 100,000 jobs, laying off over 26% of it's global workforce, saying it would begin reorganizing the company with what it termed "Project Chrome".

Leaders Take to the Stage

This week saw world leaders take center stage from addressing nations to bidding farewell.

US President Barack Obama addressed the American people in his State of the Union address where he outlined plans to address taxation and climate change. At one point President Obama had an encounter with a cheeky Republican response to one of his statements but quickly cut them down to size with a witty retort while on the other side of the world Pope Francis ended his 5 day tour of the Philippines after huge crowds had gathered to hear him speak in Manila.
 
On the monetary front leaders met in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum with plenty on the agenda to discuss. Ukrainian leaders requested funding from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to turn around the war-torn economy while Russian President Putin was under strain when it was revealed that lending to Russian banks had dropped by over £7 billion.

The week ended with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia passing away at the age of 90 and his brother taking over his role resulting in the price of oil futures jumping 3pc while in Argentina President Cristina Kirchner found herself under the spot light after the death of the lead prosecutor investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre which resulted in protests demanding an investigation. Previously President Kirchner has suggested it was suicide but has since backtracked on the statement.

Awards Season Begins

The week saw the start of award season in Hollywood with the Golden Globes kicking things off followed by the Critics Choice Awards and nominations in the hotly contested Oscars race.

Golden Globes

All the action kicked off on the Red Carpet with celebrities creating a sea of designer labels with well sculpted heads bobbing on the surface. Inside saw Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the event where hilarity ensued leaving no celebrity safe from the cunning duo. Current events were targeted with North Korea and Sony receiving mention but it was Bill Cosby who became the ultimate punchline. Along with the humour and jest there were somber moments with many recognizing the tragic events in Paris.

When it came time for awards the men were unusually emotional from George Clooney receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Michael Keaton who took home Best Actor in a Comedy and Eddie Redmayne taking Best Actor in a Drama. The ladies on ther other hand were pillars of strength with Amy Adams winning for Best Actress in a Comedy and Maggie Gyllenhaal taking Best Actress in a TV series while Patricia Arquette took Best Actress in a Drama. The Globe for Best Original Song went to John Legend and Common while the overall Best Picture - Drama was won by Boyhood.

Critics Choice

The critics Choice Awards were also held this week with Boyhood and Birdman taking top honors along with Michael Keaton and Julian Moore.

The Nominees

With the mood set the Oscars were next on the agenda with the naming of the nominee's revealing Birdman and Grand Budapest Hotel taking poll position with 9 nods each. While the full list of nominee's contains many stellar performances there were a few missing with neither Angelina Jolie nor Jennifer Aniston grabbing a nod.

Need to Know - #‎JeSuisCharlie‬ (I am Charlie)

A shocking act of violence rocked the beginning of 2015 when 12 people were executed by terrorists at the headquarters of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Attack

2 gunmen entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo where they confronted a women and her young daughter forcing her to provide the security code to access the magazines office. The gunmen called out the victims by name searching for their targets. Entering the morning meeting the gunmen executed the magazines editor, police bodyguard followed by several cartoonists.

Leaving the building the gunmen were confronted by police who opened fire but were outgunned by the heavily armored terrorists. A wounded officer lying on the ground was approached by the 2 gunmen and executed with a gunshot to the head before leaving. The speed and proficiency of the attack are thought to be due to training by Al Qaeda.

Response

Sympathy rolled in from all corners with the people of Paris standing together with signs of "Je Suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) along with support from the international community with other journalists and cartoonists posting their work as a show of support.

French police released the identities of the 2 gunmen and began the manhunt while 1 of the suspects handed himself in. The getaway car used by the gunmen was later found abandoned and another vehicle stolen while the Police conduct terror raids in search of the terrorists.

Since the attack survivors at the magazine insist they will continue with a million copy edition.

What Happened? 2014 Style News

Even with the world facing challenges in 2014 there was still time for beauty to lift the spirit.

Events

The world renowned Fall/Winter Fashion Weeks rolled into New York with everyone from Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren to Michael Kors and Calvin Klein. London Fashion Week had Tom Ford and Pam Hogg showing how it's done while Paris wasn't going to be outdone with Givenchy and more.

Later in the year New York kicked off the Spring/Summer Fashion Week with Rebecca Minkoff and Diane von Furstenburg to Derek Lam and Hugo Boss. London Fashion Week saw Mulberry, Topshop Unique and Marchesa show their wares while Paris took to the stage with Jean Paul Gaultier and Celine among others.

Elsewhere it was the sight of gorgeous amazonian beauties strutting the catwalk at the 2014 Victoria's Secret show that had heads turning in London for the first time. Still in Britain the British Fashion Awards celebrated British Beauties from designers to models.

Designers

Renowned designers dominated the fashion news with Jean Paul Gaultier ending his ready-to-rear line in a blaze of glory and John Galliano returning to the fashion world joining Maison Martin Margiela after his shameful exit in 2011 from Dior.

While some designers redefined their career's others left the fashion world with their legacy. The fashion world lost an icon when Oscar de la Renta passed away in October and in a tragic turn of events L'Wren Scott committed suicide in March.

Celebrities

What would the fashion world be without the rich and more importantly famous dressed to kill on the red carpet from the American Music Awards to the Emmys and the Billboard awards.

While some celebrities made news for their choice of attire others joined brands lending their considerable presence with Jennifer Lawrence with Dior to Julie Roberts and Givenchy campaigns even Maddona appeared in a Versace campaign.