The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from April 2002

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from April 2002

A roaring good meteor shower. (Science Scoops).(Leonid meteor shower became ministorm)
April 1, 2002... It finally happened. On the morning of November 18, 2001, the Leonid meteor shower turned into a ministorm -- a meteor squall, if you will. Maybe you saw it. If you did, you would have joined countless millions of others across the Americas,...

Does having boys or girls run in the family? (Science Scoops).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Let's say you are a girl who comes from a family of all girls. Does that mean that you too have a high probability of bringing a girl into the world? No. In fact, statistical theory suggests otherwise. According to Chance magazine (published by...

It's no longer a secret. (Science Scoops).(two-wheeled motorized scooter named 'It')(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... "IT," the mysterious invention that kept the high-tech world waiting for its debut for nearly a year, has now gone public. Also known as "Ginger," but officially known as the Segway, "IT" is a two-wheeled, motorized scooter that uses a complex...

Hubble Telescope sees alien planet's atmosphere. (Science Scoops).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... For the first time, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have detected the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system. The planet, believed to be a gas giant like Jupiter and Saturn, orbits a yellow, sunlike star...

Fourth planet odyssey. (Science Scoops).(Mars Odyssey now circling Red Planet)
April 1, 2002... Mysterious Mars has a new visitor -- one that is looking for all the "hot spots" the planet has to offer! NASA's Mars Odyssey is now circling the Red Planet. After arriving there on October 23rd of last year, the spacecraft began skimming...

Spacecraft snaps record image. (Science Scoops).(Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft takes 100,000th picture of Mars)
April 1, 2002... On November 5, 2001, nearly five years to the day after it was launched, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft took its 100,000th picture of Mars. No other spacecraft has taken as many pictures of the Red Planet. NASA's twin Viking orbiters...

The search(es) for Planet X.
April 1, 2002... The search for Planet X is an old tale; it is also a new tale. It's one that has a beginning, an ending, a new beginning, a new ending, another new beginning, and what appears to be another ending. That's because each time we find "Planet X,"...

How planets form.
April 1, 2002... It would have been dramatic, if you could have seen it. Imagine being in an enormous, raging arena filled with gas, dust, and massive chunks of rock. There is stuff everywhere, and it's hard to see the stars. All around you, rocks are plowing...

Is Pluto a planet?
April 1, 2002... Pluto is a small world, only 2,400 km in diameter. Ever since its discovery in 1930, it has been considered the ninth planet. Recently, however, its planetary status has been challenged. Should Pluto be considered a planet? To fully answer this...

Counterpoint: Pluto is a diminishing world.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... For most of Pluto's recorded history, its size was mythical. The more we learned about Pluto, however, the smaller it got. When Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930, many astronomers believed that it rivaled Earth in size. But 30 years...

Frontier at the edge: the Kuiper Belt.(belt of material left over from planetary formation)
April 1, 2002... For almost all of the 20th century, astronomy textbooks taught us that the solar system ends at Pluto. Recently, however, astronomers have discovered that this is not the case. Instead, a vast belt of comets and miniature planets resides in and...

NASA's mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.
April 1, 2002... Throughout the 1990s, planetary scientists worked to see NASA start a project to send a space mission to explore Pluto and its moon, Charon, as well as the Kuiper Belt of icy objects that orbit in the distant outer solar system beyond Neptune....

The planets that aren't.(planet-size moons)
April 1, 2002... When we study the planets, there is an entire family of little worlds in our solar system that people often forget about: the planet-size moons. These moons are small planets in their own right, entire worlds with underground oceans, towering...

Searching for worlds beyond our own.
April 1, 2002... In the fourth century B.C., the Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote' "There are infinite worlds both like and unlike this world of ours... We must believe that in all worlds there are living creatures and plants and other things we see in this...

The zoo: some strangely exceptional planets.(extrasolar planets)
April 1, 2002... The first extrasolar planets found, in 1992, were those accompanying PSR 1257+12, a star about 1,600 light-years away. Although the system is very strange, of all the extrasolars discovered to date, the ones circling PSR 1257+12 most closely...

Capturing planetary critters; artist's view of the giant planet around the star HD 209458, the first to be found because it crossed the face of its star.
April 1, 2002... Whenever scientists can see Nature more clearly, or record its workings more quickly, or measure its parts more precisely, they are likely to find something new. The discovery of extrasolar planets blossomed in the 1990s after astronomers...

Brain strain: planet puzzle.
April 1, 2002... Monica and John are gazing up at the heavens. The night sky is so clear that they can see a few planets without a telescope. "I have a puzzle for you," Monica says. "If you can get the answer correct, I'll take you out for a delicious ice...

Planet watch. (What's Up).
April 1, 2002... The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the moon) as it appears at 8:30 p.m. (your local daylight-saving time) on April 15. Useful all month, the chart (except for planet positions)is also accurate for 8:30 p.m. on April 1 (honest!)...

The big dipper in 3-D! (You Can Do Astronomy).
April 1, 2002... When you look up at the night sky, imagine your ancestors doing the same, thousands of years ago. Some people thought that the sky was a great sphere and that the stars at night were lanterns. If the stars were all attached to a sphere...

The horse on the handle of the big dipper. (Stargazing with Jack Horkheimer).
April 1, 2002... GREETINGS, GREETINGS, FELLOW STARGAZERS. GET YOUR SADDLE READY. WE'RE GOING TO RIDE THE HORSE IN THE BIG DIPPER! WHERE'S THE HORSE, YOU ASK? OKAY, LOOK AT THE THREE STARS THAT MAKE UP THE BIG DIPPER'S HANDLE. SEE THE STAR AT THE BEND...

Fantastic journeys.(amateur astronomers in Zambia to see the eclipse)
April 1, 2002... My family and I had come to Zambia with about 270 other amateur astronomers, many of them eclipse chasers like us. We had left our hotel early that morning and been driven by bus to a rancher's field so that we could have a great view of the...

Announcing Space Day 2002 ... adventure to Mars. (Sci Chat).
April 1, 2002... I'm thoroughly convinced that the first person to set foot on Mars is participating in Space Day... --Dr. Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut Now entering its sixth year, Space Day has expanded into a truly global celebration,...

Hopping out of sight. (Countdown).(frogs are disappearing all over the world)
April 1, 2002... As Kermit says, "It's not easy being green." And unfortunately, he's right. Despite their amazing adaptability, frog species are disappearing all over the world. In fact, all forms of amphibians are on the decline, including toads, newts,...

Life form X. (Animal Angles).(five major kingdoms of living things)
April 1, 2002... Since cucumbers and sea cucumbers both get nutrition from the soil, why are cucumbers plants and sea cucumbers animals? Welcome to taxonomy -- the science of classifying living things. Many taxonomists (not all!) sort life forms into five...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Apr. 2--Another dose of strong US economic data provided a tonic for most Asian markets today as exporters' stocks rose on hopes that their biggest customer was experiencing a sustainable recovery. Tokyo stocks added...

Evening Standard, London, Joanne Hart Column.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Joanne Hart Apr. 2--PAY SOOTHER: Sir Christopher Gent looks like a cheerful fellow. The Vodafone chief executive is frequently pictured with a smile on his face as he tells the world that his mobile phone company is in a class of...

Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Michael Clark Apr. 2--Oil shares were back on the shopping list of many leading institutional investors today after news of the agreed UKpound 3.5 billion bid by Shell for Enterprise Oil and a strong oil price. Growing...

Commission Investigates British Mobile Phone Operators over Price Issue.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 2--Britain's four mobile phone operators face a wider-ranging Competition Commission inquiry than they might have expected into the prices they charge customers making calls from land lines to mobiles. The...

Government-Backed Rail Group to Run Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 2--The Channel Tunnel Rail Link, due to run through Kent and open next year, is to be run by Network Rail, the Government-backed body set up to take over Railtrack. In an offer made to Railtrack Group today,...

Shell Makes UKpound 3.5 Billion Bid for Britain's Enterprise Oil.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Shell surprised the stock market today, emerging as the dark horse snapping up Enterprise Oil with a UKpound 3.5 billion all-cash bid. The agreed deal snatches Enterprise from the jaws of Eni of Italy, which first approached the...

English-Style Pub Chain Launched in France.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Peddling warm beer and plates of fish and chips in a land where food is discussed with quasi-religious fervour does not sound a bright business idea. But an Anglo-Icelandic duo have turned a project from their MBA studies at...

British Cable Operator Sells Its Portion of TV Travel Group.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Telewest has sold its stake in TV Travel Group, the television channel and travel agency set up by Harry Goodman, the legendary leisure entrepreneur whose Intasun collapsed with debts of UKpound 400 million in 1991. The 37 percent...

Wall Street Sees Rash of Improving Economic News.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Apr. 2--Wall Street is at that awkward stage where good economic news raises hopes for a robust recovery but also increases stress levels about interest rates. That makes it hard to predict how the market will...

British Football Club Leicester City Sells Stadium Naming Rights.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Leicester City, the relegation-haunted, loss-making quoted football club, has sold the naming rights to its new stadium for UKpound 1.5 million to Walkers Crisps, the locally-based snacks group owned by PepsiCo. The 10-year rights,...

German Stock Exchange Expects Profit Growth, Denies Stalking London Rival.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Deutsche Borse's profits will grow by at least 15 percent this year, it said today as it denied a report that it is lining up a hostile takeover bid for its rival the London Stock Exchange. Chief executive Werner Seifert described...

British Job-Seekers Told More Lies on Resumes during Recent Recession.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 2--The truth was one of the first victims of last autumn's economic downturn, a survey of City firms showed today. Desperate job-seekers included 20 percent more lies or inaccuracies in their CVs during the...

Britain's Leisure Ventures Reveals Details of AIM Flotation.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Sarah Marks Apr. 2--Leisure Ventures, the cash shell set up by former Airtours managing director Harry Coe with David Burns, chief executive of the Football League, today unveiled its AIM flotation details. The group has raised...

Middle East Turmoil Sends Oil Prices to Six-Month High.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 2--Oil prices hit six-month highs today amid escalating violence in the Middle East and Iraqi threats to use crude from Muslim countries as a weapon to pressure the US into dropping support for Israel. May...

British Employers Group Speaks Out on 'Misleading' Pensions Accounting Rule.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--The CBI has stepped into the row over the controversial accounting rule FRS 17, which forces companies to reveal shortfalls in their pension funds, as another FTSE 100 company reports a massive slump in the valuation of its final-salary...

Drop in Orders Leads German Aircraft Maker Fairchild to File for Insolvency.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Fairchild Dornier, the German planemaker best-known for its Second World War bomber, filed for insolvency today, just months before its new regional passenger jet was scheduled to make its maiden flight. The collapse of the company,...

Financial Gap between Renting, Buying Real Estate in London Narrows.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--It will soon be as cheap to rent a four-bedroom house in London as to buy one, according to new research from upmarket mortgage broker Savills Private Finance. The difference between buying and renting -- spread over the lifespan...

British Retailers Remain Optimistic about Economic Resilience.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--The bounceback on Britain's High Streets showed some signs of easing last month, but retailers remain optimistic about future sales, a CBI survey showed today. The modest slide in sales came as credit card figures showed net...

British Buy Fewer Individual Savings Accounts in February 2002.
April 2, 2002... Apr. 2--Net sales of individual savings accounts were 51 percent lower in February than a year earlier, showing people remained too nervous to jump into stock market investments. Gross sales of the tax-efficient ISAs were UKpound 319.3...

British Government Awards Contract to Study Traffic-Delay Areas.
April 2, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 2--One of the latest disciples of the Government's Private Finance Initiative, Alfred McAlpine, has won what it reckons will be a UKpound 200 million contract to look after some of the worst traffic-delay hotspots...

Delays Help Britain's Alpha Airports to Beat the Slump.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 3--Sharp cost-cutting in the aftermath of 11 September when it laid off nearly 1000 workers, plus increased spending in airport shops by delayed passengers, helped Alpha Airports shrug off the worst effects of the...

Evening Standard, London, Jim Armitage Column.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 3--TUESDAY 19 MARCH: Phew! After leaping above the Bank of England's 2.5 percent inflation target in the previous month, the underlying retail price index fell back to 2.2 percent in February. The 2.6 percent hit...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Apr. 3--Oil-price fears shake Asia recovery hopes Asian investors trod warily today as growing Middle East tensions raised concerns about further sharp increases in oil prices. Japanese stocks went strongly against...

Womenswear Proves a Drag on Struggling British Clothier William Baird.
April 3, 2002... Apr. 3--Profits at struggling clothing group William Baird plunged from UKpound 12.8 million to UKpound 4.7 million last year, hit by a poor fourth-quarter performance from its Windsmoor, Planet and Precis Petit womenswear brands. After...

Gold Aims to Recapture Its Lustre as a Safe Hedge in Troubled Times.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Richard Morrissey Apr. 3--After years of playing the part of Cinderella to other more-favoured financial assets, gold is finally shaking off its dowdy image and taking a shot at gaining the prize for best-performing asset market of...

Evening Standard, London, Joanne Hart Column.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Joanne Hart Apr. 3--DOUBT, DISSENT AND A NEED FOR DIRECTION AT ABBEY: When Ian Harley became chief executive of Abbey National in 1998, the bank's shares were trading at more than UKpound 12. Today they change hands at less than...

Housing Boom about to Slow Says British Home Loans Giant.
April 3, 2002... Apr. 3--Britain's biggest mortgage lender today called on the Bank of England to keep its finger off the interest rate trigger as it predicted that the housing market boom will run out of steam later this year. As the Bank's monetary...

Italy's Reform Hopes Take a Pounding on the Streets.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Steward Fleming Apr. 3--With the assassination last month of Professor Marco Biagi, an adviser to the Italian government on labour reform, the bullet has once again taken centre stage in Italy's too-frequently bloodied democracy....

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
April 3, 2002... Apr. 3--Takeover target Innogy saw some heavy turnover in its shares overnight resulting in almost 7 percent of the company changing hands. In one deal US securities house Lehman Brothers bought a total of 74.4 million shares from various...

Evening Standard, London, Angus McCrone Column.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Angus McCrone Apr. 3--The deadline for opening individual savings accounts for 2001-02 is approaching on Friday but few people are likely to get knocked over in the last-minute rush this year. Private investors are in much too wary...

Britain's TV Corp. Falls in the Red, But Refocus Makes Future Look Bright.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 3--A year that saw massive restructuring, a disastrous foray into power boat racing and the sudden departure of chief executive Chris Rowlands left Television Corporation nursing a hefty pre-tax loss but in a...

London Institutional Broker Predicts Higher First-Half Results from 2001.
April 3, 2002... Apr. 3--Numis, the institutional broker formerly known as Raphael Zorn Hemsley, said today that its first-half results would be significantly ahead of those of 2001, when it made UKpound 1.7 million profit. Shares in stockbroker rose 12...

McDonald's Runs Low on Chicken in Japan Due to Ban on U.S. Poultry.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Apr. 3--Japanese fans of Western fast foods are having to give up regular helpings of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets because the burger chain is running out of chicken. In the latest setback for the Japanese offshoot of...

Former Chief Executive Receives UKpound 1 Million from British Coal Producer.
April 3, 2002... Byline: James McLean Apr. 3--UK Coal, Britain's largest coal producer, has paid almost UKpound 1 million to its former chief executive Richard Budge. Budge, dubbed King Coal after he secured the privatised coal assets for the then RJB...

British Specialist Financing Firm Hopes for a More Active Year.
April 3, 2002... Apr. 3--Intermediate Capital Group, which provides specialist financing for takeover deals, today reported a sharp drop in profits after a year punctuated with few initial public offerings and takeovers. But the group, chaired by former...

Among British Brokers, Fund Managers, Compliance Staff Numbers Go Rocketing.
April 3, 2002... Apr. 3--The fastest-growing profession among private-client stockbrokers and fund managers by a mile last year was in compliance staff as firms geared up to the new regulatory regime under the Financial Services Authority. More than 1000...

British Mining Company Passes Hat to Fund Gold Hunt in Uzbekistan.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Malcolm Withers Apr. 3--There is a glitter of gold for Oxus Mining in Uzbekistan, but it is still in the ground and Oxus shareholders will have to stump up their own cash reserves to extract it. Having raised $31 million...

Australian Tycoon's Financial Firm Set for UK Annuities Assault.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Lachlan Colqhoun Apr. 3--SYDNEY, Australia--Australian tycoon Kerry Packer has arrived in the British life insurance market through his interest in up-and-coming Australian financial firm Challenger International. Packer owns...

London Expects Drop in Oil Prices Following Report on U.S. Crude Stocks.
April 3, 2002... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 3--The City was today braced for a sharp fall in the oil price from yesterday's six-month highs after news of a surge in US crude stocks. The American Petroleum Institute said inventories were up by 6.5...

Survey Reveals Large Numbers of Top British Executives Earn Top Dollar.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 4--One in every five FTSE 100 company directors earned more than UKpound 1 million in salary and bonuses last year, according to research carried out for Business Day. The survey highlights an astonishing rise...

Metal Union's Strike Threat Signals German Crisis.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Allan Hall Apr. 4--Germany's all-powerful IG Metall union is stepping up its strike action with a walkout of 100,000 members planned for next Monday. But industry remains implacable that it will not bow to demands for a 6.5...

Evening Standard, London, Joanne Hart Column.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Joanne Hart Apr. 4--THE SOONER THE BETTER FOR A RAILTRACK RE-LISTING: In the past fortnight, Railtrack shareholders have been told they will receive UKpound 500 million for the company's core business, UKpound 375 million for the...

Major US Online Brokers Shining after Weathering the Storm.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Apr. 4--Of all the dot com players, America's major online brokers have displayed a keen survival instinct in the face of extreme environmental stress. In the past 18 months, online brokers have faced a...

United Kingdom Fashion Retailer New Look Rebounds with Record Profits.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--Fashion retailer New Look put its troubles firmly in the past today as it said profits for the year just ended would surge by more than 80 percent to at least UKpound 56 million, a record for the group. The big turnaround comes on...

Takeover Bids Are Hot Again.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Trevor Webster Apr. 4--Takeover bids are suddenly roaring back into fashion after a six-month lull following the terrorist attacks on New York last September. Shell's UKpound 3.5 billion bid for Enterprise Oil, Britain's...

Tokyo Pension Funds Add to War Chest.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Ray Heath Apr. 4--Japanese stocks fell today on growing unease over the Middle East conflict and the impact of higher oil prices, despite a major input by government-backed pension funds. Less-bullish figures on the US economy,...

Mystery Lingers over Chief Executive's Departure from BAE Systems.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--The mystery over the departure of BAE Systems chief executive John Weston deepened today when the company's annual report appeared with no mention of his abrupt resignation last week. Weston, 50, flummoxed the City by suddenly...

Bank Dealmakers Yearn for End to Thumb-Twiddling in London.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Patrick Hosking Apr. 4--A revival in bid activity can't come a minute too soon for the City's thumb-twiddling investment bankers. Thousands have lost their jobs and the axe continues to fall. Credit Suisse First Boston fired...

Entertainment Rights Buys Worldwide Rights to Barbie as Rapunzel.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--Barbie is back in her second feature-length video after Entertainment Rights bought the worldwide rights to Barbie as Rapunzel from the doll's owner Mattel, writes Nick Goodway. The 75-minute computer-animated film is scheduled for...

British Communications Group Energis Will Shut Down Swiss Arm.
April 4, 2002... Byline: James McLean Apr. 4--The Swiss arm of ailing communications group Energis is to file for insolvency today in a move which may preface further shutdowns of other loss-making European units. Energis said it would fund its primary...

British Car Repairer Nationwide Accident to Sue Ernst & Young over Accounting.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--Nationwide Accident is to take legal action against its former auditor Ernst & Young over accounting irregularities which caused a UKpound 2.4 million profits shortfall over three years. Chief executive Adrian Dunleavy said he could...

British Finance-Initiative Specialist May Light Streets of London Neighborhood.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--The citizens of Islington are set to have their streets lit by Amey. The private finance initiative specialist will also be responsible for running Tube stations in the borough and Underground lines running through it as part of...

End Is Near for German Media Giant Kirch.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Allan Hall Apr. 4--Germany's Kirch media empire is likely to file for bankruptcy by tomorrow afternoon unless a last-minute rescue package can be put together. Weeks of negotiations have failed to find a saviour for the...

British Building Society Predicts House Prices Will Rise 10 Percent This Year.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 4--Britain's biggest building society, Nationwide, today lifted its full-year house price inflation forecast to 10 percent as it unveiled another leap in property values during March. The average price of a...

Bank of England Keeps Interest Rate on Hold for Now.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 4--The Bank of England today bowed to expectations and kept interest rates at 4 percent for the fifth month in a row, despite new evidence that the service sector is growing at the fastest pace for a year. ...

Investment Bankers at Deutsche Bank Top UK Deals for First Time Since 1980s.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Patrick Hoskins Apr. 4--Investment bankers at Deutsche Bank have topped the league table for British deals for the first time since the 1980s glory days when Morgan Grenfell, now part of Deutsche, headed the charts. Deutsche...

Cosmetics Giant L'Oreal Reports 8.4 Percent Increase in First-Quarter Sales.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Ross Tieman Apr. 4--L'Oreal, the world's biggest cosmetics and skincare group, today confirmed its recession-proof pedigree with first-quarter sales ahead 8.4 percent to euro3.7 billion (UKpound 2.4 billion). Whilst luxury...

Frenzy over Individual Savings Account Is Just a Memory in Britain.
April 4, 2002... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 4--The traditional last-minute rush to meet the tax year-end deadline for Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowances looks set to fall well short of the frenzy seen in previous years. Fund managers are...

Evening Standard, London, Travel Tips Column.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--Stay a minimum of two nights at the luxury Peninsula in Bangkok for US$195 (UKpound 136) per night, which includes one-way airport transfer, breakfast, traditional afternoon tea for two and 20 percent off beauty and massage treatments....

Virgin Express Turns a Profit.
April 4, 2002... Apr. 4--Sir Richard Branson's formerly spectacular loss-maker Virgin Express turned a profit last year and announced plans to expand with the opening of a second Continental hub to add to its Brussels base. The European short-haul...