The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from April 2004

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from April 2004

British Cleaning Products Firm Boosts Chief's Pay to Ukpound 4.24 Million.
April 1, 2004... Byline: Patrick Hosking Apr. 1--Proof there is big money even in unglamorous products like toilet-cleaner came today, as Reckitt Benckiser lifted chief executive Bart Becht's pay package to UKpound 4.24 million. The 63 percent pay rise...

Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column.
April 1, 2004... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 1--Capita, which operates everything from the London congestion charge to the Criminal Records Office and collection of television license fees, has been trading close to a three-and-a-half year high of 314 pence...

Banks Abandon Bid for Troubled Mayflower.
April 1, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 1--Hopes of an early rescue of bus maker Mayflower evaporated today as it emerged that a City-backed vehicle is abandoning plans to put in bid. Mayflower, which last year had sales of UKpound 600 million and...

Report Reveals Shell Was Warned in 2000 of Optimistic Estimates.
April 1, 2004... Byline: Steve Hawkes Apr. 1--Top executives at scandal-struck Shell were warned it might be overstating its lucrative oil and gas reserves nearly four years ago, it was claimed today. Shell planners told senior managers in an internal...

Powerful "conveyor belts" on the sun.(Science Scoops)
April 1, 2004... Sunspots appear as mere dark spots on the sun's surface. In reality, they are magnetic regions with field strengths thousands of times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. Curiously, the number of sunspots visible waxes and wanes with an...

Scientists turn down the heat.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Are you someone who likes to blame the oil and gas industries for global warming? Well, sit down, because you may not like this new, albeit controversial, news. According to a report in New Scientist magazine, "oil and gas will run out too...

Power plague.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... If a tree falls in Switzerland, will Italy go without power? Well, that's just what happened when a falling tree limb disabled a Swiss power transmission line during a storm last September. That power break caused another Swiss power line to...

... speaking of "lights out".(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... This just in from the news desk in Bhubaneswar, India: Last September 27, five people were injured and two houses burned when either a meteorite or a large chunk of space debris apparently crashed to Earth in eastern India. One resident in...

People "flip" over Segway.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The Segway scooter, an innovative "human transport system" that was supposed to change the world, was recently recalled at the request of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Segway L.L.C. Turns out that the two-wheeled...

Power to teens!(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... It's a teen's world after all. About half the world's population is under 25. That's the latest news from the United Nations' Population Fund, which just released a report announcing that today's teenage generation is now the biggest the world...

Blackout!
April 1, 2004... On August 14, 2003, all the rides at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio suddenly stopped. The day was steamy, and so was Chris; he'd wanted to plunge into cold water on a ride called Snake River Falls. Michelle, a friend who was visiting from...

Watt's up, doc? Can you match each electricity-related term with its definition?(Activity to Discover)
April 1, 2004... a. Base load b. Current c. Watt d. Ampere, or amp e. Kilowatt-hour f. Megawatt g. Joule h. Volt i. Transformer j. Peak load k. Conductor l. Switch m. Turbine 1. Unit for measuring...

Oceans of Energy.
April 1, 2004... Limpets and Sea Snakes, Nodding Ducks and Ospreys, Mighty Whales and Wave Dragons! These are not, as you might think, the names of twisting and twirling carnival rides. They are the fanciful descriptions given to some very serious...

Biofuels : the ultimate in recycling.
April 1, 2004... Will there come a day when you can use the oil that your egg roll was fried in to power your car? How about the potato peels left over from making instant potatoes? Or the turkey guts poultry processing plants discard? In fact, that day...

Fill'er up ... and charge it--the new hybrid auto.(People to Discover)
April 1, 2004... It's not just a gasoline-powered car and it's not just an electric car. It's both--it's a hybrid! By combining a gasoline engine and an electric motor in one automobile, hybrid vehicle technology cleverly balances the pluses and minuses of each...

What's so special about HEVs? An interview with Engineer Keith Wipke.(People to Discover)(Interview)
April 1, 2004... To answer this question, ODYSSEY spoke with Keith Wipke, senior engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO. He began collecting data on HEVs--hybrid electric vehicles--more than ten...

This car runs on thin air!
April 1, 2004... Can noncombustion technology create a no-pollution way to drive? Imagine pulling into a service station to fuel up your car. But not at the gas pump or electric battery charger--at the air pump! That's not hot air, either! The next generation...

S'more energy please! Hungry for alternatives to fossil fuels? Try cooking with sunshine, and learn how solar ovens are producing energy around the world!(Activity to Discover)
April 1, 2004... In a refugee camp in rural Kenya, tribal villagers are preparing their dinner using an atomic stove--an oven powered by a thermonuclear fusion reactor. Is this scene for real? Absolutely. The stove is the UNESCO-sponsored "CooKit"--a...

Iceland: where hydrogen energy is hot!
April 1, 2004... The energy world is watching Iceland with awe. Why? Because this island country to the north has begun implementing a plan to become the first economy in the world fueled by hydrogen. The idea is not new. In 1874, author Jules Verne predicted...

Generous geothermal.
April 1, 2004... Geothermal (heat energy) is the most abundant source of available energy on Earth. In fact, Earth's crust, which is about 6 miles thick, contains 50,000 times as much thermal energy as it does energy stored in coal and gas. Humans have...

Zaaaaaaaap!
April 1, 2004... Maitn shimmied up the branches of the pear tree, her feet looking for more than a tentative hold. She saw what she was looking for almost ten feet farther above. The fruit glimmered huge and welcoming, a feat of organic engineering, and the...

Personal power.(Power Bites)
April 1, 2004... Got a little brother with energy to spare? Maybe he could drive your CD player instead of driving you nuts! New inventions that convert human power into electricity make that notion a very real possibility. Think about walking or jogging....

Pumping iron.(Power Bites)
April 1, 2004... Researchers in Japan are giving new meaning to the term "pump it up." Kazuo Eda and his team of electronic engineers at Panasonic's Nanotechnology Research Laboratory near Kyoto are developing a method of drawing power from blood. That's...

Plug into the moon!(Power Bites)
April 1, 2004... As demands around the world for electricity increase, will we find ourselves repeatedly in the dark? David Criswell, director of the Institute for Space Systems Operation at the University of Houston, has a bright idea to solve world...

Celestial "black out".(Power Bites)
April 1, 2004... Moving a little farther out into space.... The gravitational pull of a black hole is so powerful that not even light can escape its grip. Indeed, the classical view of a black hole is that of an object that draws energy in, not out. So,...

To drill or not to drill.
April 1, 2004... It's history class after lunch, and you are just fading off to sleep. A large, fluffy hand reaches down and carries your history teacher away as she continues to describe the presidential election of 1868. Yes, you realize, this is a dream. ...

On the up and up: ride the space elevator.
April 1, 2004... Forget those ear-deafening rockets or bone-jarring space shuttle liftoffs. Soon there will be no need for a space vehicle to gulp thousands of gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen to fuel powerful engines that propel people and payloads into...

Lyrid meteors and spring stars!(What's up)
April 1, 2004... The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the moon) as it appears at 8:30 p.m. (your local time) on April 15. Useful all month, the chart (except for planet positions) is also accurate for 8:30 p.m. local time on April 1 (honest!) and...

Stargazing with Jack Horkheimer: an astronomical instrument you already own.
April 1, 2004... GREETINGS, GREETINGS, FELLOW STARGAZERS. THE ANCIENT MAYA WERE EXCELLENT ASTRONOMERS. THEIR OBSEVATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE STARS AND PLANETS ARE AMONG THE MOST ACCURATE EVER MADE. YET, THEY HAD NO TELESCOPES. HOW DID THEY DO IT?...

Grape gauntlet.(Brain Strain)
April 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Aesculapius, Roman god of medicine and health, has devised a test for you so that he can better understand the concept of metabolism--turning food into energy. Your job is to travel from start to finish along a path...

A weighty issue.(Countdown)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Next time you choose a "supersize" drink or fast-food meal, ask yourself if that choice is helping to supersize your body as well. There is an epidemic of obesity in the United States, and young people aren't exempt. According to the...

Fowl fuel.(Animal Angles)
April 1, 2004... The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that our nation's farms generate more than 95 million tons of animal waste per year. One big contributor is the chicken industry. Chicken manure contains nitrogen and phosphorus that can pollute...

Last Year's Child Tax Credit Leads to Widespread Taxpayer Errors.
April 2, 2004... Byline: Jim Balow Apr. 2--Parents, did you receive one of those child tax credit checks from Uncle Sam last summer? More important, did you remember to account for it when figuring your income taxes this year? More than a few people...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
April 15, 2004... Apr. 15--APPLE SPARKLES AS SALES OF IPOD MAKE SWEET MUSIC: Runaway sales of Apple's iPod personal music player helped the company to a threefold jump in first-quarter net profit. Income from iPods soared to $264 million (UKpound 147 million)...

UK Supermarket Chain Big Food Group Warns of Price War as Iceland Sales Slide.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Steve Hawkes Apr. 15--Big Food Group warned today that a damaging supermarket price war is on the horizon as it showed the much-lauded sales recovery at its frozen foods chain Iceland has ground to a halt, writes Steve Hawkes. ...

London-Based Senior Bankers Continue to Change Jobs.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 15--The post-bonus City merry-go-round gained further momentum today, with another large group of senior bankers quitting their jobs to join rival companies. The latest set of defections has come at investment...

Survey Shows British Manufacturing, Service Firm Seeing Increase in Activity.
April 15, 2004... Apr. 15--British business continued to bounce back from last year's downturn in the first quarter, with manufacturing companies enjoying a pick-up in activity and service sector firms staying buoyant. The latest survey of more than 6000...

British Furniture Retail Group Puts Out Yearly Profits Warning.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Fiona Walsh Apr. 15--Furniture group DFS today warned that full-year profits will fall short of most analysts' forecasts after a disappointing winter sale. There was further disappointment in the City as the group said it has...

Private British Bank Withdraws from Gold Trading Market.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 15--The small, wood-panelled room in the heart of the City where the price of gold has been "fixed" for more than 80 years will become just another of the Square Mile's anonymous meeting rooms following NM...

German Publisher Holds Talks With Hollinger Executives over British Newspapers.
April 15, 2004... Byline: Allan Hall Apr. 15--Representatives of Germany's Axel Springer publishing house have already been in "constructive talks" with senior management at the for-sale Telegraph group, writes Allan Hall from Berlin. It is understood...

London Cabbies Split over Plan to Split Up Taxi Mutual Firm.
April 15, 2004... Apr. 15--Cabbies are up in arms over plans to demutualise Radio Taxis and sell a quarter of the firm to an American investor. While some members of the firm are in favour, others are vehemently against. The Transport and General Workers...

UKpound 7.8 Million Sell-Off of British Vitamin Firm Makes Owner Winner Again.
April 15, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 15--Olympic swimmer David Wilkie has struck gold again, as a multi-millionaire through the sale of his vitamin and mineral supplements business. Wilkie, 50, won a gold medal in the 200 metres breast-stroke...

Shareholders of British Advertising Agency WPP Irked by Executive Pay Plan.
April 16, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 16--Rebel shareholders have vowed to leave WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell with a "bloody nose" today as the advertising agency bids to push through a new executive bonus scheme that could pay out UKpound 112.5...

Gloucestershire, England-Based Biplane Firm Tussles with Singapore Airlines.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Jake Lloyd-Smith Apr. 16--In a David-and-Goliath fight for control of the skies, a small British company that offers flights in vintage biplanes is taking on the modern might of Singapore Airlines in a legal tussle. ...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Jake Lloyd-Smith Apr. 16--PROFIT-TAKERS CLIP SAMSUNG DESPITE ITS RECORD EARNINGS: It is hard to imagine that today's first-quarter figures from Samsung Electronics could have been any better. The most valuable electronics company...

Rising Cost of UK Pension Schemes Hurts National Australia Bank.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Bill Condie Apr. 16--National Australia Bank admitted today that rising costs of its UK pension schemes are expected to push cash earnings down by as much as 5 percent. The bank said the profit warning meant cash earnings after...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
April 16, 2004... Apr. 16--HEALTHY JOBS MARKET KEEPS PRESSURE ON FOR RATE RISE: The return of big City bonuses boosted average earnings growth in the three months to February to its fastest in nearly three years. Earnings were 4.9 percent higher than the...

Calpers, Largest US Pension Fund, Takes Stand on Corporate Governance.
April 16, 2004... Apr. 16--The largest US pension fund, Calpers, has stepped up its campaign against directors who do not measure up to its corporate governance standards, saying it will withhold 2.36 million proxy votes from nine Lockheed Martin directors and...

Citigroup Reaps Profit of $5.27 Billion in First Quarter 2004.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Richard Thomson Apr. 16--Citigroup, America's largest bank, made UKpound 22,000 a minute during the first quarter of the year as profits leapt 29 percent to a record $5.27 billion (UKpound 2.94 billion). A credit binge by...

Chairman of Allied Domecq Decries Executive Bonus Schemes.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 16--Gerry Robinson, one of the most successful -- and best paid -- businessmen of his generation has made an astonishing attack on executive bonuses, saying they create huge boardroom problems and urging companies...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Malcolm Withers Apr. 16--DIAGEO STARS AS BROKERS TURN TO DRINK AND SMOKES: Booze, fags and the telly dominated markets today as brokers selected shares in those sectors for investor attention. Diageo, the maker of Guinness --...

New York-Based Marvel Enterprises Launches London-Based International Division.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Boyd Farrow Apr. 16--Every superhero has a catchphrase and Marvel Enterprises, home of Spider-Man, The Hulk and more than 4700 other specially gifted characters, is trying this one on for size: "expand and exploit". The publicly...

Evening Standard, London, Angus McCrone Column.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Angus McCrone Apr. 16--There is something uniquely nerve-wracking about accessing an exam result over the internet -- there is no warning thud as the post hits the doormat, no delay for breath as you open the thin brown envelope....

Morgan Stanley Favored to Win Battle for Canary Wharf.
April 16, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 16--A Morgan Stanley-led UKpound 1.71 billion bid for Canary Wharf was being tipped to beat Canadian rival Brascan in the battle for the 86-acre site as the auction moved into its final day, writes James...

Nokia Issues Second Sales Alert as Rivals Close Gap.
April 16, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 16--Nokia, the world's largest supplier of mobile phones, today sounded its second sales warning in a fortnight after fierce pricing competition from rivals. Despite a booming market globally for mobiles,...

German Publisher Springer Mulls Takeover Bid for UK Firm Hollinger.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Allan Hall Apr. 16--She is known as Mrs Citizen Kane -- the European grande dame of journalism who may decide whether her German company should seek to take over that great British institution The Daily Telegraph. Friede...

London Property Rush Heads for New Records.
April 16, 2004... Apr. 16--The London housing market is roaring toward one of its busiest weekends ever as a number of crucial market drivers coincide, fuelling the raging debate about whether the market is about to boil over. The peak spring buying season,...

British Supermarket Tesco Cuts Prices to Stay Competitive.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Fiona Walsh Apr. 16--Tesco is stepping up the price war pressure on its supermarket rivals with a UKpound 70 million package of cuts across its product range. The reductions, which start from Monday, will see prices on 450...

Britain's Air Traffic Control Service Causes Fewer Flight Delays.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 16--Flight delays caused by air traffic control failures are at their lowest for nearly a decade despite the skies being busier than ever, latest figures reveal. National Air Traffic Services, the...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
April 16, 2004... Byline: Anthony Hilton Apr. 16--WHY THE CUSTOMER MUST BE KING: Customer focus is a bit like communication. Every chief executive pays lip service to it. And just as most would happily locate their public relations department and its...

Auditor Won't Sign Off Results at Adecco.
April 19, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 19--Temporary staffing agency Adecco, which is being probed by US financial authorities over alleged accounting irregularities, has again delayed releasing its results after independent auditors Ernst & Young...

British Executives Prepare to Face Sceptical Investors at Annual Meetings.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 19--The blue-chip annual meetings season erupts in earnest this week as a raft of top boards face a cacophony of private investors taking them to task on everything from executive pay to corporate strategy -- not to...

Challenging Times for New Boss as National Australia Bank Falters.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Jake Lloyd-Smith Apr. 19--National Australia Bank (NAB), owner of Britain's Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, has been making far too many headlines of late for many investors' liking. It was rocked by a rogue-trading scandal,...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
April 19, 2004... Apr. 19--CHINA TO EASE THE RULES ON SHORT BOND SALES: China will allow short-selling of treasury bonds for the first time in nine years to boost its thriving bond markets, according to new rules published today. "The aim is to promote...

Leading European Camping-Travel Firm Holidaybreak Issues Profit Warning.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 19--Holidaybreak, the number one provider of camping holidays in Europe via its Eurocamp and Keycamp brands, today issued a profits warning as fewer Brits choose to spend their holidays under canvas. The group...

Buyout Leaves Shareholders Short at British Country-Club Group Clubhaus.
April 19, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 19--Golf and country clubs group Clubhaus has succumbed to a management buyout under which original shareholders receive around UKpound 1.5 million for a company valued at UKpound 95 million four years ago,...

London Firms Raise Prices as Inflation Begins to Stir.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 19--London firms are putting up their prices at the fastest rate in more than three years, in the first sign of burgeoning inflationary pressures in the capital's economy. Having slashed their prices for...

British Company Directors Cash In on Their Own Companies' Shares.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 19--Company directors sold shares in their own firms worth UKpound 31 million more than those they bought over the last three months. That is a drop from the UKpound 52 million of net sales seen in the final...

London Market Watchers Split on How High Interest Rates Are Set to Climb.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 19--With a May rise in interest rates a racing certainty, focus in the City is shifting to how high they are likely to go, writes Jane Padgham. It is a question that is hotly contested, with no sign of...

ITV Shareholders Vent Fury Over Former Directors' Pay-Off.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 19--ITV Plc's board faced a torrent of criticism from shareholders today over pay-offs to former directors and potential multi-million rewards for current executives, writes Nick Goodway. Shareholders...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 19--RETAILERS ON THE RISE AS CITY GOES SHOPPING FOR BARGAINS: High Street retailers enjoyed some of the biggest gains today as City bargain-hunters put them to the top of their shopping lists. Dealers said...

Northrop Grumman Faces U.S. Lawsuit over Cold War Accounting Gimmicks.
April 19, 2004... Apr. 19--Aerospace group Northrop Grumman today stood accused of major accounting irregularities as it struggled to maintain good relations with the Pentagon in the 1980s. Internal documents to be used by the US government in a lawsuit...

Board of British Retailer WH Smith to Weigh Permira's Bid Offer.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Jake Lloyd-Smith Apr. 19--The board at troubled High Street chain WH Smith will meet tomorrow to weigh up a possible UKpound 900 million offer for the company from Permira, the private equity group. The move comes just two days...

Shell Stages Triple Move to Stem Scandal Damage.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Steve Hawkes Apr. 19--Scandal-hit Shell is to bring forward an unprecedented review of its corporate structure after making a further cut to its oil and gas reserves and demoting its finance chief today in a desperate bid to draw a...

U.S. Wants Full Report Held Back While Shell Probe Goes On.
April 19, 2004... Apr. 19--The prospect of criminal charges resulting from the exhaustive investigation at Shell grew today, as it emerged that US authorities have asked the group not to release the full internal report. Shell presented amazing email...

Fallen Oil Giant Shell Explores Ways to Regain Credibility.
April 19, 2004... Apr. 19--Shell may announce firm plans to abandon its dual-listed corporate structure as early as June, as the fallen giant looks to placate investors furious over the collapse in credibility at the company. A working party has already...

British Train and Bus Operator Stagecoach on Course for Profit Rebound.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 19--Stagecoach investors received a double dose of good news today as the trains and buses operator said profits for the year to the end of April will be better than expected and announced a UKpound 250 million...

Crunch on Wall Street as Earnings Figures Flood In.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Richard Thomson Apr. 19--The next two weeks, when two-thirds of Standard & Poor's 500 companies report quarterly results, could be make-or-break time for the US stock market, which was spooked last week by fears of an imminent...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
April 19, 2004... Byline: Anthony Hilton Apr. 19--In this column last week I asked whether the management of WH Smith had any idea what the business was for. This week the question is even more pressing because Permira, the private equity house, wants to...

U.S. Advertising Group Interpublic Pulls Out of British Grand Prix.
April 20, 2004... Apr. 20--U.S. advertising group Interpublic is cutting its ties with the British Grand Prix as it attempts to refocus on its core business and halt losses. The owner of the McCann-Erickson agency said it had struck a deal with Formula One...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
April 20, 2004... Byline: Jake Lloyd-Smith Apr. 20--Ever so gently, the mandarins of China's economic policy are stepping on the brakes in a bid to restrain inflation and keep the country's remarkable boom from turning to a painful bust. The measures...

Budweiser's World Cup Deal Angers German Hosts.
April 20, 2004... Byline: Allan Hall Apr. 20--German brewers and their fans are furious that American giant Budweiser has been granted exclusive rights to sell beer at World Cup 2006 matches. The championship might be taking place in Germany but the...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
April 20, 2004... Apr. 20--SAUDIS HIT BACK OVER CLAIMS OF OIL FIX FOR BUSH: Saudi Arabia has dismissed suggestions that it would manipulate the oil price to try to tilt the US Presidential election in favour of incumbent George Bush. "We do not use oil for...

British Chip Designer Beats Forecasts Thanks to Electronics Boom.
April 20, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 20--Booming sales of electronic gadgets from mobile phones and hand-held computers to digital cameras saw chip designer Arm Holdings turn in a forecast-busting set of first-quarter results, writes James...