LET'S cut to the chase: Volkswagen is launching its Polo this weekend at $63,300 (with COE). That is quite a bit cheaper than the usual European suspects, notably the Peugeot 207 and Renault Clio. It even compares favourably with the Japanese offerings.

If Volkswagen had cut corners to keep its price low, it does not show.

STEVEN Soderbergh reclines, matter-of-factly and unflappably, on a crazy-print fabric couch too loud for autumnal London. He is swanking it out in a posh hotel suite in Soho.

Peering through his trademark austere glasses, he winds himself up slowly for 30 minutes of a one-to-one interview.

TOKYO - THE Epicurean king who oversees the Michelin Guide fears he may be banished from France.

His shocking crime? Awarding Tokyo more three-star restaurant ratings than Paris, thereby crowning the Japanese metropolis the new gastronomic capital of the world.