The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from April 2006

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from April 2006

This month in Odyssey.(about the problem of air pollution)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Our cover image may seem to exaggerate the problem of air pollution. But turn to page 6. There are cities in the world where people don gas masks to protect themselves from dangerous air. And unfortunately, air quality is no longer a local...

Air pollution: it's to die for!(increase in suicide rate in Haywood County )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Here's a depressing thought. But first, you'd better take a deep breath. No... wait! If you live in Haywood County, NC, hold that breath. Did you know that the suicide rate in Haywood County jumped from 11.8 per 100,000 residents between...

Mold busters?(study of English ivy plant can rid the air of mold )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A California teenager wants to clear the air with this scoop. Ryan Kim, son of Long Beach allergy researcher Kenneth Kim, has conducted a study that demonstrates how an English ivy plant can rid the air of mold and other nasty pollutants....

Lichen it!(research of Lichens)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Lichen, that grayish organism whose presence on tree bark is a great indicator of clean air, can survive in the harsh vacuum of outer space! That's the recent finding from a European Space Agency (ESA) experiment (called the Foton project) that...

A pollution solution?(pollution control)
April 1, 2006... Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia draws about 1.3 million visitors a year. And what a wonder it is to explore its roughly 200,000 acres of land. In the summer months, especially, visitors are left, well, let's say, breathless......

Our nation's new smog capital!(Los Angeles )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Stop the presses! This just in! What's the most polluted city in the United States? Drum roll, please... Based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) smog standard on 84 days during the 2005 smog season (May through...

That stinks!(Mexico city)
April 1, 2006... Come with me to two of the world's most polluted cities. On second thought... you'd better stay home. I'll tell you about them. Gathering Gloom My first visit to Mexico City literally stole my breath away. First, when viewed from the...

Field report: whichever way the wind blows.(air borne pollutants)
April 1, 2006... Transboundary pollution happens when airborne pollutants travel from one country to another. Can you help solve this international challenge? Your briefing: The Problem * Acid rain is eating away at the statues in Italy--and the...

Engineering cleaner air.
April 1, 2006... CLEANING UP your room can be a huge job. Cleaning up the air is a LOT harder. Read on to see how TECHNOLOGY is engineering cleaner air for everyone. "We've been able to reduce the levels of pollution by millions of tons each year, while...

America's most unwanted: a Rogues' Gallery of air pollutants.
April 1, 2006... Nitrogen Oxides Also Known as (a.k.a.): N[O.sub.x] Last seen: Other than nitrogen dioxide, most oxides of nitrogen are invisible. Known whereabouts: Emitted from electric utilities, motor vehicles, and other fuel-burning sources. ...

Air alert.(air quality index from Environmental Protection Agency )
April 1, 2006... Local air quality affects how you live and breathe. Like the weather, it can change from day to day or even hour to hour. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others are working to make information about outdoor air quality as...

Magic and the missing symbols.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Sarah is walking down the street on a gloomy, smog-filled day when she comes upon a mysterious weatherman dressed in black. He is wearing a tall wizard's hat. "Do not fear," he tells Sarah, who is obviously ready to turn around and run. "I...

Quit to live! (And let others live!).(secondhand smoke )
April 1, 2006... You're out with your friends when Jenna lights up a cigarette. You've already decided that you're never going to smoke, and no one is pressuring you to join in. But you find yourself wondering if your friend's smoke now circling your head could...

Weeds in the atmosphere: getting rid of pollution in the atmosphere is like pulling weeds. Sometimes a plant that's a pesky weed in one place can be very useful in another.
April 1, 2006... A velvety, green carpet of grass is just right for a soccer field. But the very same grass is a weed under the rosebushes in Grandma's flowerbed. Grandma's prizewinning rosebushes, on the other hand, would be prickly weeds if they were lined up...

As seen on TV! How can you help to clean up the air? The answer is as close as your television!(television attracts dust due to electrostatic force)
April 1, 2006... (WARNING: A television set is a high-voltage appliance. NEVER put anthing inside a TV set, and NEVEr try to open the Tv case.) What does watching TV have to do with cleaning up the air? Well, take a look at your TV screen. I'll bet that...

Smog city.(Vancouver)
April 1, 2006... I'm standing at the junction of Denman and Davie, watching as a car turns and speeds away. The exhaust coughs out a cloud of thick, dark smoke that billows and curls in the air. It's another visitor. They come here in their cars and foul up the...

What's up.(All-Sky Chart)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the Moon) as it appears at 8:30 p.m. (your local daylight-savings time) on April 15. Useful all month, the chart (except for planet positions) is also accurate for 8:30 p.m. (standard time) on...

Mercury and meteors.(change in sky in spring)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... April marks a turning point in the year. though spring actually arrived on March 21, it's the month of April that shows many changes on Earth and in the sky. If you live in high latitudes in the northern hemisphere, you've noticed snowfall...

Planet watch.(morning and evening planets)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Evening Planets: Mars (in Taurus, moving into Gemini) is in the southwest near sunset and sets after midnight. Jupiter (in Libra) rises before 9 p.m. and is visible all night long. By the end of the month, it rises an hour earlier. ...

Observing artificial satellites!
April 1, 2006... Go outside on the next clear night and you'll find certain stars, perhaps a planet, and most likely the Moon. But what is that over there? A star moving across the sky? It's not an airplane, but it might be a satellite! With all the...

Update on our most beloved star pattern: the big dipper.(Cartoon)
April 1, 2006... GREETINGS, GREETINGS, FELLOW STARGAZERS. THINGS ARE ALWAYS CHANGING IN THE FIELD OF ASTRONOMY. THAT'S BECAUSE AS WE DEVELOP MORE SOPHISTICATED ASTRONOMICAL TOOLS, WE CAN MORE ACCURATELY MEASURE THINGS IN THE COSMOS. THANK, BOY... GOOD...

A big to-doo about air poo-lution.(animal wastes)
April 1, 2006... Did you know that there are more pigs than people in North Carolina? If you've ever caught a whiff of a hog, you'll know what all those little piggies do best. A pig produces six times more poop than a human. If you were to gather up all...

Yucca sends yuck smells packing.
April 1, 2006... What is tall and spiky, lives in the Mojave Desert, and cleans up the air? (a) A giant porcupine with a filter in its nose (b) The Lone Ranger, with lots of gel in his hair, and a can of deodorant (c) An air conditioner with a...

A pollution treasure hunt: go on a hunt for cleaner air!(pollution indicators to be listed)
April 1, 2006... CHARACTERS: Narrator, Nat, Esteban, Wendy, Mary Catherine, Jimmy, Mr. Bluni Narrator: Well, this certainly is a strange science class. No Mr. Bluni--just a note on his desk that reads: "This is a treasure hunt. Go out to the schoolyard and...

A "corny" solution to air pollution.
April 1, 2006... EDITOR'S NOTE: This month "Fantastic Journeys" takes us to Takoma Park, MD, where 16-year-old Nick Wolf explains how his family found a warm and cozy solution to air pollution. My home is a somewhat normal house in a quiet suburb of...

Singing sentinels.(canaries protect miners by detecting the change in atmosphere first)
April 1, 2006... It's no wonder that an early warning sign of danger is sometimes called a "canary in the--coal mine." Canaries have saved who-knows-how-many hundreds of lives, often at the cost of their own. Odorless, colorless, and toxic carbon monoxide...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 4, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 4--SHIVER GOES THROUGH ICELAND'S UK HOLDINGS: News that Icelandic investor FL International was selling its near-17 percent stake in no-frills airline easyJet has turned the spotlight on other companies in which...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--SELFRIDGES EX-BOSS TAKES HIS 'RETAIL PEDIGREE' TO ASOS: Former Selfridges boss Peter Williams has joined fashion clothing retailer ASOS as a non-executive director to add some "retail business pedigree and experience", chief executive...

EasyJet in a dive as Icelanders bale out.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 5--Shares in low-cost airline easyJet tumbled 33p, or 9 percent, to 325p today after Icelandic investment group FL International sold its 16.9 percent stake. Investors had hoped the Icelanders might bid for the...

Dixons brand will disappear in [pounds sterling]7m High St makeover.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--Dixons, one of the High Street's oldest and most famous names, is set to disappear. The electronics chain's 190 stores are to be rebranded Currys.digital, ending almost 70 years of history. The change will cost [pounds...

Branson may pull out over lottery bid rules delay.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 5--Sir Richard Branson today set a deadline for the unveiling of the rules for bidders to run the National Lottery, and threatened to drop his interest if it was not met. "We are still waiting for the rules...

Output drops as factories slow but services flourish.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 5--The chronically lopsided nature of Britain's economy was back in the spotlight today after it emerged the service sector is bowling along at a healthy clip while manufacturing flounders. Dashing hopes that...

MonsterMob boss sounds off over download charges.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--MonsterMob chief executive Martin Higginson today accused mobile phone companies, particularly T-Mobile, of excessive charges for people downloading music to their phones. He said T-Mobile charged [pounds sterling]20 for a...

Rents worry casts a shadow over City high-rise ventures.
April 5, 2006... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 5--The path is open for another shimmering glass skyscraper to crowd the City skyline along the Thames. Southwark council has given the green light to the 270ft New London Bridge House -- dubbed "Baby Shard"...

Stocks boom spurs a cash dash into Isas.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--Sales of Isa-wrapped savings products are up more than 50 percent year-on-year as investors rush to use up their annual tax-free savings allowance by the deadline of midnight tonight. A surge in the value of quoted companies in...

ITV sells Learning in [pounds sterling]53M deal.
April 5, 2006... Apr. 5--ITV has sold its educational publishing business Granada Learning, owner of the Letts crash course GCSE and A-level guides, in a deal worth up to [pounds sterling]53 million. The private-equity buyer, Veronis Suhler Stevenson, is...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 5--SHIVER GOES THROUGH ICELAND'S UK HOLDINGS: News that Icelandic investor FL International was selling its near-17 percent stake in no-frills airline easyJet has turned the spotlight on other companies in which...

Banks told to end [pounds sterling]300 million penalty charge 'rip-off'.
April 5, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 5--Banks and credit card companies were today ordered to cut unlawful penalty charges -- worth up to [pounds sterling]300 million a year -- for people who fail to pay their bills on time. The Office of Fair...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
April 6, 2006... Apr. 6--MICHAEL PAGE ON A HIGH AS FIRST-QUARTER PROFITS LEAP: Shares in City recruitment firm Michael Page leapt 11p to a new high of 367p today after the agency, best-known for placing finance and accounting staff, said gross profits rose by...

Co-op Bank takes [pounds sterling]100M bad-debt hit.
April 6, 2006... Apr. 6--Co-op Bank's bad-debt write-offs surged 41 percent last year, largely because of credit-card customers. The impairment charge jumped from [pounds sterling]71 million to [pounds sterling]100 million, cutting the bank's profits from...

Up for the World Cup in a private jet.
April 6, 2006... Apr. 6--England football supporters are snapping up private jets to fly to the World Cup in Germany this summer, jet charter broker Air Partner revealed today. Air Partner, which has historically concentrated on chartering aircraft for...

[pounds sterling]80M merger of top DVD online rental outlets.
April 6, 2006... Apr. 6--Screenselect and Lovefilm, the UK's biggest online DVD rental businesses, are to merge in a deal worth about [pounds sterling]80 million. The combined business will have 400,000 customers who rent DVDs on the web, receiving and...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 6--BID TALK SWIRLS AS SHARES IN HOF ARE SNAPPED UP: Can it be a coincidence that shortly after the owners of Debenhams leak plans to refloat the department stores group on the stock market, someone launches a dawn...

Vodafone shake-up to cut back on costs.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 6--Chief executive Arun Sarin today promised to increase Vodafone's efforts to cut costs and develop new streams of revenue as he slashed the number of divisions reporting to him and shook up the old management...

All3Media puts [pounds sterling]300M listing on its programme.
April 6, 2006... Apr. 6--Independent television production house All3Media today started the clock on what could be a [pounds sterling]300 million-plus flotation. All3Media, the firm behind hits such as Wild at Heart, Hollyoaks and Midsomer Murders, has...

Debenhams float to hand backers [pounds sterling]400M.
April 6, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 6--The venture capitalists who invested [pounds sterling]600 million in the buyout of Debenhams three years ago are likely to see their total paper profit on the deal soar to [pounds sterling]1.7 billion if its...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
April 7, 2006... Apr. 7--BUTTERKIST POPS UP FOR AUCTION IN CADBURY'S [pounds sterling]300M 'NON-CORE' SALE: A For Sale sign has gone up over Butterkist popcorn, munched by thousands in cinemas across the country. Cadbury Schweppes is auctioning off its Monkhill...

Evening Standard, London, Chris Blackhurst column.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Chris Blackhurst Apr. 7--THE SAD FLIGHT OF A PART OF OUR HERITAGE: The first reaction is emotional: a British company won't be involved in one of the world's two leading commercial aircraft manufacturers. So yet another blow is...

BAA stock takes off again as bid talk revives.
April 7, 2006... Apr. 7--Shares in the Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports operator BAA shot up 16p to 850 1/2p today on mounting speculation that Spanish conglomerate Grupo Ferrovial was about to launch a full-scale takeover bid. BAA last month...

Safenet of US ditches [pounds sterling]86M bid for nCipher after probe by OFT.
April 7, 2006... Apr. 7--US-based Safenet has given up its [pounds sterling]86 million bid to take over internet encryption specialist nCipher after the deal was referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading. Both companies said the OFT's...

First-timers home in on the property rush.
April 7, 2006... Apr. 7--First-time buyers have joined City bankers in giving London's property market a springtime boost. Two reports out today reveal that house prices in the capital continued to storm ahead in March. Estate agent Knight Frank said...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Sarah Marks Apr. 7--RUMOURS FLAG ICI AS BID TARGET FOR DUPONT: ICI could be the latest UK blue-chip to attract the attention of a foreign predator. The talk among traders today was that US giant DuPont is pondering a bid for the...

Anite to take hit over Oz contract.
April 7, 2006... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 7--Profits at Anite, the software developer that supplies the world's big mobile phone makers, will be dented by extra costs "likely to run to several million pounds" on an Australian contract. After years...

Smoking ban lops Scots pub takings.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 7--Some Scottish pubs have seen takings crash by 50 percent since the smoking ban came into force nearly a fortnight ago, highlighting the potential impact of a ban south of the border. The leisure industry is...

Indian store chain plan is a blow to Tesco hopes.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Dean Nelson Apr. 7--Tesco's hopes of breaking into India have suffered a setback after it emerged that one of the country's richest men is to launch a nationwide store chain. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group plans to open 500...

Severn Trent admits misleading Ofwat again.
April 7, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Apr. 7--Severn Trent, the water company in the throes of a customer overcharging scandal, revealed today it may also have misled the industry regulator over its customer-relations performance. The Midlands supplier...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
April 11, 2006... Apr. 11--KATRINA AND RITA DAMAGE ST IVES BUT JORDAN HELPS OUT: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita added to the woes of printer St Ives in the first half of its financial year as overcapacity and continued price-cutting tore swathes through its...

Passenger growth at BAA slowed by late Easter.
April 11, 2006... Apr. 11--The great Easter getaway falling in April rather than March this year meant airports operator BAA's passenger numbers fell 1.3 percent to 11.4 million last month. But the Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick owner, which is under an...

Scottish & Newcastle in [pounds sterling]309m deal on Foster's.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 11--Kronenbourg brewer Scottish & Newcastle today said a big "G'Day" to Foster's, splashing out [pounds sterling]309 million to buy the rights to the famous lager brand in Europe and the former Soviet Union. ...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 11--Record prices for gold, silver and copper on world markets saw mining shares on the march again today. Five of them featured among the top 10 biggest movers among blue-chips, BHP Billiton adding 21 1/2p to...

Brent crude spurts to a record on worries of US-Iran conflict.
April 11, 2006... Apr. 11--Brent crude surged to a record $69.59 a barrel in London today on growing fears of an armed conflict between the US and major oil producer Iran. It is the first time Brent has topped $69, surpassing last summer's spike after...

Centrica plugs in to electricity from Drax.
April 11, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 11--Centrica, the power supplier that shocked customers with a 22 percent rise in its gas and electricity bills this year, today signed a five-year deal with Drax to buy electricity generated from burning coal....

Britain's trade gap draws close to new highs at [pounds sterling]6.5 billion.
April 11, 2006... Apr. 11--Britain's massive trade deficit rose to near-record levels in February. The Office for National Statistics today said the gap between imports and exports, known as the goods trade gap, was [pounds sterling]6.5 billion -- far higher...

FSA slaps record fine on Deutsche trader.
April 11, 2006... Byline: James Rossiter Apr. 11--City watchdog the Financial Services Authority has fined the London investment banking arm of Deutsche Bank more than [pounds sterling]6.3 million and one of its top dealmakers [pounds sterling]350,000 for...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
April 12, 2006... Apr. 12--OIL PRICE SCALES NEW HEIGHTS AS WORRY GROWS OVER US-IRAN CONFLICT: Brent crude oil soared to record highs today amid rising fears of a conflict between America and Iran over its plans to develop nuclear weapons. The contract, traded on...

Ottakar's bid buzz as debt-free WH Smith splits.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 12--WH Smith was today seen as a sure-fire bidder for the Ottakar's bookstores chain after it eliminated its debts and declared it would split off its newspaper distribution arm. News that a [pounds...

Burberry just loves Chinese takeaways.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Apr. 12--A sensational revival of Burberry's fortunes in London has been driven not by chavs but by Chinese. Finance director Stacey Cartwright said a new influx of big-spending tourists from China was splashing...

Lookers warns of revenues blow if rival's bid succeeds.
April 12, 2006... Apr. 12--Car dealer Lookers, fighting a [pounds sterling]259 million takeover bid from rival Pendragon, said it could lose more than a quarter of its revenues if the raider succeeds. It said franchises generated [pounds sterling]326 million...

Deloitte faces [pounds sterling]80m bill as judge slams action against BOE.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 12--A High Court judge today lashed BCCI liquidators Deloitte over their farcical legal battle against the Bank of England after he awarded costs, expected to be more than [pounds sterling]80 million, against...

Homebase nailed by the DIY downturn.
April 12, 2006... Apr. 12--The appalling state of the DIY market has finally taken its toll on Homebase, the home improvements chain owned by GUS. While the downturn devastated rivals, Homebase had been resilient due to its move in recent years to make its...

Jobless tally leaps as firms cut back.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 12--Unemployment soared again last month, raising fresh fears about the economy and renewing speculation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates later this year. The number of people claiming...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 12, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 12--The soaring cost of raw materials is beginning to have a depressing effect on stock markets around the world. With the oil price pressing toward $70 a barrel, gold climbing above $600 an ounce and silver...

Pirc urges votes of no at three AGMS.
April 13, 2006... Apr. 13--Shareholder advisory group Pensions Investment Research Consultants (Pirc) has taken aim at three annual meetings next week by recommending shareholders oppose resolutions tabled by publisher Pearson, transport group Arriva and cruise...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
April 13, 2006... Apr. 13--GOOGLE IS PRESSED TO END VOTES SYSTEM THAT FAVOURS FOUNDERS: A US pension fund is demanding an end to the two-tier voting structure at Google that gives founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin control of the internet search giant. The...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
April 13, 2006... Apr. 13--MORE funding sleaze? Manchester Airport Plc has donated [pounds sterling]174,075 to the Labour Party. Who owns Manchester Airport? Er 55 percent of the shares are held by Labour-run Manchester Council, with the remainder owned by other...

Evening Standard, London, Neil Collins column.
April 13, 2006... Byline: Neil Collins Apr. 13--THIS LIFE FLOAT IS SO MUCH WAFFLE: Next week, assuming the Post Office can rise to the challenge, 2.4 million Standard Life policyholders should receive an 80-page document, mostly written in a language they...

Unhappy Easter in store for High Street.
April 13, 2006... Byline: Jane Padgham Apr. 13--Retailers face grim trading over the Easter bank holiday, experts warned today. With consumers tottering under the weight of record debt, spiralling household bills and rising unemployment, confidence...

Euronext stakeholders stand united.
April 13, 2006... Byline: Ross Tieman Apr. 13--Five banks that together own almost 10 percent of pan-European stock exchange Euronext have signed a shareholder pact under which they will take a common stand on any consolidation moves. The move follows...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
April 13, 2006... Byline: Anthony Hilton Apr. 13--A FAT WALLET DOESN'T MAKE NASDAQ LSE'S IDEAL PARTNER: Alan Bond, the Australian entrepreneur who flourished, albeit rather briefly, in the 1980s, was once introduced to a woman whose withering opening...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
April 13, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Apr. 13--M&B IN A FROTH AS IT SNUBS [pounds sterling]4.6BN BID: City speculators were raising a glass to Mitchells & Butlers, the country's second-largest pubs chain, after it rejected an offer of 550p a share from...

[pounds sterling]2m payday for new man in Rentokil hot seat.
April 13, 2006... Apr. 13--Doug Flynn, the Australian brought in to rescue royal ratcatcher Rentokil Initial, collected [pounds sterling]2.1 million in pay and bonus last year -- more than double the amount earned by his predecessor James Wilde, ousted in summer...

Rolls swings pensions axe over [pounds sterling]1.28bn black hole.
April 13, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Apr. 13--Rolls-Royce, the [pounds sterling]8 billion aero-engines maker, today became the latest FTSE 100 company to say it will close its final-salary pension scheme as part of a plan to plug a [pounds sterling]1.28...

Pain in the pocket for next bosses.
April 13, 2006... Apr. 13--The pain on the High Street became the pain in the boardroom for Next's four executive directors last year as the stores chain was squeezed by Primark and Marks & Spencer. With sales at their worst for three years in the 12 months...

...But Moss Bros is well-off.
April 13, 2006... Apr. 13--Wealthier men who buy their clothes at Hugo Boss and Canali are keeping sales at retail group Moss Bros ahead of the pack. Amid the current High Street malaise, its mid-market Moss sale and hire shops and factory outlets are...