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

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

Airbus finds [pounds sterling]6.7bn for wide-body jet.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Ross Tieman Dec. 1--The board of European airliner manufacturer Airbus is today expected to approve the launch of a new wide-bodied twin-engined jet, the A350 XWB, to rival Boeing's top-selling B787 on long haul routes. A deal...

Al Qaeda issues threat to US banking websites.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--Al Qaeda has called for a cyber attack against online stock trading and banking websites, the US government warns. The Department of Homeland Security issued an alert but said there was no reason to believe the threat was credible. ...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.(Column)
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--ALITALIA SALE RAISES HOPES FOR EUROPEAN AIRLINE GIANT: The prospect of a European powerhouse airline comprising the flag carriers of France, Holland and Italy moved closer today after the Italian government put a For Sale sign up over...

Wolves name-change and cashback.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Dec. 1--Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries shrugged off takeover speculation today with record full-year profits but also promised a [pounds sterling]100 million share buyback and split to make it more attractive to...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.(Column)
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--The future is not looking so bright for customers of SmartGroups, the online community run by mobile phones giant Orange. Its three million subscribers face losing vital information, emails and online friends when Orange pulls the plug...

New pressure on the dollar as China ponders a switch to gold.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Bill Condie Dec. 1--Sterling moved within touching distance of $2 today, hitting a fresh 14-year high above $1.97 as the US dollar continued to weaken against the pound, yen and euro. More weak economic data from the US,...

Kerkorian does a u-turn and offloads GM holding.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has walked away from his quest to reshape struggling auto-giant General Motors, reportedly selling the last of his stake in the company. His departure came as GM announced that it has completed a deal...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.(Column)
December 1, 2006... Byline: Anthony Hilton Dec. 1--Looking at the guest list for the CBI dinner on Monday night, it was striking how few major British companies had thought it worthwhile to attend and how numerous were the serried ranks of foreign businesses...

[pounds sterling]3.1 million has Hill Station funding woes licked.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--The husband and wife behind troubled luxury ice cream maker Hill Station, which also owns the Loseley and Granelli brands, were today handed a lifeline by a food magnate and private-equity investors. Charles and Gina Hall, who left...

ITV sets out schedule for change at top.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--Michael Grade will take up his post as executive chairman of ITV on 8 January, the broadcaster announced today. Sir Peter Burt will stand down as non-executive chairman on the same day. Burt, 62, was drafted in as chairman on the...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.(Column)
December 1, 2006... Byline: Sarah Marks Dec. 1--Investors were digging deep for Siberian oil producer Imperial Energy, which today said it would quit AIM for the main market in the first half of next year. Chairman Peter Levine said it was time to "leave...

PropInvest sets sights on the Gherkin.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--Little-known property investor Glenn Maud's PropInvest has emerged as one of the favourites to buy the landmark City tower the Gherkin. Swiss Re put the 40-storey building, officially known as 30 St Mary Axe, on the market in...

PCCW tumbles 4 percent after investors reject stake sale.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--Shares in Hong Kong telecoms group PCCW fell nearly 4 percent on market disappointment at the rejection of the proposed sale of Singapore-listed Pacific Century Regional Developments' controlling stake in PCCW to a group led by...

Transport blueprint sends shares soaring.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 1--Transport stocks soared today after the long-awaited Eddington Report recommended investment in and upgrading of existing transport net-works and unclogging roads by introducing tolls on motorways and congestion...

Vodafone chief expects flat rates for mobile bills.
December 1, 2006... Dec. 1--Mobile phone bills will be based on a flat rate monthly charge within a matter of years, Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin has predicted. He said: "There is clearly going to be a flat pricing world in the future with customers...

Water firms panned over payouts to City.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 1--A water watchdog has slammed the industry for handing the City billions of pounds of windfall payouts at a time of soaring, well-above-inflation rises in household bills. With water companies revealing they...

Water firms panned over payouts to City.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 1--A water watchdog has slammed the industry for handing the City billions of pounds of windfall payouts at a time of above-inflation rises in household bills. With water companies revealing they are to hand...

Monkey see, monkey do!(Science Scoops)
December 1, 2006... If a monkey sees you eat an ice cream cone, what will it do? Well, according to Italian neuroscientist Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues at the University of Parma, the monkey will enjoy eating that cone in its mind. You see, Rizzolatti and...

Mirror, mirror, way up high.(solar-powered blimp)
December 1, 2006... Imagine a solar-powered blimp that could carry a telescope high above Earth's surface--one that could deliver crisp, wide views of the universe that would rival those taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Fantasy? Hardly....

"Mirroring" the future.(Science Scoops)(future mirror)
December 1, 2006... Mirrors that can provide a glimpse into the future are a popular theme in stories and folklore. But now a high-tech global consulting firm called Accenture (www.accenture.com) is developing a high-tech mirror that really will let a gazer see...

Cell phone shocker!(Science Scoops)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Flash! This just in from Science News! According to a letter published in the British Medical Journal, you should not use your cell phone during a thunderstorm! The journal tells us that a 15-year-old girl was badly injured while doing so. ...

Cell phones--how exciting!(Science Scoops)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Hold an activated cell phone up to your ear and guess what happens? Well, if it's the kind that emits electromagnetic fields known as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), part of your brain's cortex--the part nearest to the...

Mirrors: reflecting culture throughout the ages.
December 1, 2006... ASTRONOMERS USE MIRRORS IN TELESCOPES to explore the outer limits of the universe. Dentists use mirrors to explore the inner depths of our mouths. Yes, mirrors reflect progress in science. But they also reflect superstition. Let's take a look...

Mirror maze mystery.
December 1, 2006... A CROWD HAS GATHERED AROUND A MYSTERIOUS-LOOKING WOMAN WITH WAIST-LONG BLACK HAIR, BLACK PANTS, AND JACKET--AND LIPS PAINTED BLACK. EVEN HER EYES ARE dark shadows. Jade and Lindsay, who are hanging out at Dr. Marvel's Mystery Theme Park for the...

Look in the mirror!(Activity to Discover)
December 1, 2006... How many times a day do you check yourself out in the mirror? Now you can do it in the name of science. Have some fun with these mirror activities... You'll Need: Analog (nondigital) clock with a second hand Plane (flat) mirror...

A look inside the looking glass.
December 1, 2006... Alice entered a crazy, backward world in Lewis Carroll s classic book, Through the Looking Glass. Look inside a real mirror, though, and you'll find some fascinating technology, Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall Glass mirror-making began...

Extremely large telescopes: bigger & better.
December 1, 2006... IMAGINE A TELESCOPE AS LARGE AS A FOOTBALL FIELD. SUCH AN ENORMOUS TELESCOPE COULD PEER INTO CLOUDS OF GAS TO witness new stars and planetary systems being born, directly image planets orbiting around other stars, and see deeply into the early...

Reflection maze.(BRAIN STRAIN)(maze puzzles)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Here's a maze puzzle to be played on the surface of a torus (a doughnut or bagel shape). Can you solve it? First, visualize it on the surface of a torus, so that the top and bottom of the figure are connected, as well as the left and right...

Hidden mirrors, hidden worlds.(quantum computers)(Short story)
December 1, 2006... ELEANOR HAD BEEN LOSING TOUCH WITH HER TWO CLOSEST FRIENDS, CYNTHIA AND NORA. THEY OWNED QUANTUM COMPUTERS, AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER SCHOOL EACH DAY, they'd log on to the Community, where their online personas would socialize. Eleanor couldn't...

They glow in the dark and ping the moon.
December 1, 2006... ENGINEER JERRY WIANT has a short walk to work each day. Then it's just another one-and-a-quarter seconds to reach the Moon. The Moon?! Well, not exactly. For the past 36 years, Wiant has been "pinging" the Moon--bouncing a laser beam off the...

To infinity and beyond build a kaleidoscope!(Activity to Discover)
December 1, 2006... Humankind has been tinkering with mirrors and reflective surfaces for millennia, but the kaleidoscope, which we now think of as nothing more than a simple children's toy, wasn't invented until 1816. And it took a young genius to do it ...

Reflecting on gravity: the mirrors of LIGO.(Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory)
December 1, 2006... Garilynn Billingsley's mirrors are a little out of the ordinary. First of all, they're the size and thickness of birthday cakes. They're also so delicate that they can't be touched, or even breathed on, without suffering damage. Oh, and they...

Star chart.(All-Sky Chart )(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the Moon) as it appears at 6 p.m. on Dec. 15. Useful all month (except for planet positions), the chart is also accurate for 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 and 5 p.m. on Dec. 31. To use the All-Sky Chart,...

Stargazing.(Comic)(Cartoon)
December 1, 2006... Watch Jack Horkheimer: StarGazer, the award-winning international television series. Call your local PBS station for show times. StarGazer is a production of WPBT Miami, produced in cooperation with the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit...

Science homework.( )(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... I had to do a science project, but couldn't think of one, So I threw together some dirty socks and globs of bubble gum. Some apple cores, banana peels, and rotten candy corn. I added in some candle wax, an' a tie Dad's never worn. Orange juice...

You've got mail!(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Dear ODYSSEY, I say the hunters. of the last glacial period were the first people to wear clothes. They used needles also, probably to "make ends meet." Natasha Tchetchetkine, age 10, California Thanks, Natasha, for helping us...

A new Imax Film.(YOU'VE GOT MAIL!)(Hurricane on the Bayou)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... A NEW IMAX FILM, Hurricane on the Bayou, opens nationwide December 22. The haunting giant screen film documents Katrina's powerful effects, celebrates New Orlean's musical heritage as the "soul of America," and compellingly calls for the...

Death Stars, Weird Galaxies, and a Quasar-Spangled Universe: the discoveries of the very large array telescope.(Kid's Pick)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... In Death Stars, Weird Galaxies, and a Quasar-Spangled Universe, Karen Taschek explains how the Very Large Array (VLA) telescope uses multiple antennas to see deep into the universe, and how it differs from other telescopes throughout the...

Self-awareness on porpoise.(dolphins)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Two teenagers in Brooklyn use mirrors to look at marks on their bodies. Not much to write home about--except that these teens are bottlenose dolphins. Now, that's news! Researchers Diana Reiss and Lori Marino and their team conducted...

Evening Standard, London, Chris Blackhurst column.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Chris Blackhurst Dec. 4--London is one of the world's great financial centres, alongside New York and ahead of Tokyo and Shanghai. This old town of ours has done stunningly well in persuading the banking and investment powerhouses...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--COULD it be that John Reid is a short-seller in British Airways? Certainly, the airline is entitled to think so after his performances of late. First, the Home Secretary clobbered the airline with a gross overreaction to the alleged...

Dollar steadies but fresh falls are on the horizon.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--The dollar was stable against other major currencies today following Friday's plunge. It was trading at 1.9785 to the pound, about two thirds of a cent better than the 14-year lows touched at the end of last week after poor...

RHM and Premier in [pounds sterling]2bn foods merger.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 4--A giant new British food manufacturer was created today as acquisition-hungry Premier Foods unveiled a [pounds sterling]2 billion takeover of RHM, the Hovis bread and Mr Kipling cakes empire. In a...

RHM and Premier in [pounds sterling]2bn foods merger.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 4--A new powerhouse in British food was created today as Mr Kipling, the Bisto Kid and the Hovis delivery boy were bought up by Branston pickle group Premier Foods. Premier today unveiled the [pounds sterling]2...

Aberdeen trebles to [pounds sterling]79m after Deutsche funds buy.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--Aberdeen Asset Management more than trebled its profits after last year's takeover of the UK and US fund management businesses of Deutsche Asset Management. Pre-tax profits jumped from [pounds sterling]24.8 million to [pounds...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Anthony Hilton Dec. 4--Keith Jones, head of Morley, the Aviva subsidiary that looks after more than [pounds sterling]150 billion and is one of this country's biggest asset management groups, told a recent seminar organised by...

Equity Insurance sold to Australians for [pounds sterling]570 million.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--Motor insurance underwriter Equity Insurance Group is to be sold to Insurance Australia Group (IAG) for [pounds sterling]570 million. Equity Insurance was acquired by private-equity investors Englefield and Duke Street Capital in a...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Dec. 4--Drugs giant AstraZeneca came under the spotlight today after it emerged at the weekend that one of its biggest competitors, Pfizer of the US, had been forced to withdraw its new cholesterol treatment after it...

NY takeover creates world's biggest securities handler.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--Bank of New York is taking over rival Mellon Financial for $16.5 billion ([pounds sterling]8.3 billion), creating the world's largest handler and custodian of securities and one of its larger fund managers. The new company --...

Ofgem strikes [pounds sterling]5bn spending deal with National Grid.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--Peace appeared to break out between National Grid and Ofgem today after the energy regulator softened its stance on the next five-year price review. Allowing a [pounds sterling]5 billion spending splurge on the nation's power...

Critics of AIM spark a rules overhaul.
December 4, 2006... Byline: James McLean Dec. 4--The Alternative Investment Market is preparing to overhaul the rules governing company advisers amid growing criticism of the quality of flotations reaching London's junior share market. A whole new rule...

Another blow for Tesco as it loses in Poland auction.
December 4, 2006... Dec. 4--Tesco has failed again in its attempts to ramp up overseas expansion after Dutch supermarkets group Ahold sold its 194 stores in Poland to French rival Carrefour. The news comes less than a fortnight after Tesco was pipped at the...

Cheat firms face rulings to pay faster.
December 5, 2006... Byline: James Rossiter Dec. 5--Britain's specialist competition legal body, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), has paved the way for companies to seek speedier damages from rivals found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour. The...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
December 5, 2006... Dec. 5--MEANWHILE, a Which? survey has found that a whopping 94 percent of adults think estate agents deliberately overvalue properties. The study, published to coincide with the second vote in the House of Lords on a Bill to regulate estate...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.(Column)
December 5, 2006... Byline: Anthony Hilton Dec. 5--A favourite theme of this column is that there is very little evidence that increased corporate governance has led to improved corporate performance -- for the good reason that governance in the UK is not...

Greene King aims for a smoking ban clean-up.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Dec. 5--Across the country, hundreds of Greene King landlords and staff are poised ready to swing into Operation Clean and Fresh (OCF) the moment the smoking ban comes into force on 1 July 2007. Chief executive...

CORRECTION: Woolworths warns of Christmas crisis.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Dec. 5--The Evening Standard has issued a revised version of the story slugged EV-WOOLWORTHS, moved by McClatchy-Tribune Business News for Dec. 5. Please delete or kill the previous version and use the corrected...

BA slams plans to raise Heathrow fees.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 5--Plans to increase airline charges at Heathrow by 50 percent into the next decade -- inevitably leading to higher air fares -- have been shot down by British Airways as completely unjustified. The Civil...

HSBC sees no slowing in consumer bankruptcies.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Dec. 5--Britain's biggest bank, HSBC, sees no sign of a slowdown in the trend for consumers choosing to go bankrupt or apply individual voluntary arrangements rather than pay off their debts. It said in its...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Dec. 5--Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, up 25p at 1814p, was today being seen as one of the big tips for 2007, with City investors set to sweep the board and achieve a gain of up to 63 percent on their money. At least...

US in move to take over Saudi jets deal.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Bill Condie Dec. 5--US defence firms Boeing and Lockheed Martin are reportedly in talks with Saudi Arabia about supplying fighter aircraft if Riyadh pulls out of the Eurofighter Typhoon deal. Boeing and Lockheed were said to be...

Buoyant Tesco immune to the High Street gloom.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Dec. 5--The Tesco juggernaut kept rumbling ahead in the past three months despite gloom elsewhere on the High Street. Even its non-food operations continued to make strong gains in overall sales and in grabbing...

RBS on track for [pounds sterling]9bn-plus.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Dec. 6--Royal Bank of Scotland today hinted that it will deliver forecast-busting record profits of more than [pounds sterling]9.1 billion, up from [pounds sterling]8.25 billion last year. Chief executive Sir Fred...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Chris Blackhurst Dec. 6--POUND SLIPS AGAINST DOLLAR DESPITE TALK OF UK RATE RISE: The pound weakened slightly against the dollar today, buying $1.971, despite the likelihood that improved UK growth forecasts in today's Pre-Budget...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Anthony Hilton Dec. 6--So far, it just does not feel like Christmas. The warm weather that made autumn so pleasant has stayed with us. December, one week in, is so mild people don't need topcoats. There has been no sharp, cold snap...

Airlines slam [pounds sterling]1bn 'catastrophe'.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Robert Lea Dec. 6--The Chancellor's [pounds sterling]1 billion tax raid on air travel is an attack on business passengers and budget travellers, airline executives said today. Gordon Brown announced a doubling in air passenger...

Barclays set to face new legal action over Enron.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--Barclays Bank has been dragged back into a $40 billion ([pounds sterling]20.3 billion) legal action by Enron shareholders, who say it helped hide financial misdeeds that led to the energy giant's collapse. District Judge Melinda...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--Sad news at the Bank of England. The staff magazine, The Old Lady, is to cease publication. A monthly, it first appeared in March 1921, as "a journal of general interest produced by staff of the Bank". It's a glossy, well-produced...

Capgemini in fundraiser ahead of new acquisitions.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--Capgemini today put itself at the centre of industry consolidation among European computer consultancies as it raised significant funds which, it said, it would use for acquisitions. Just weeks after its $1.25 billion ([pounds...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Dec. 6--Venture capitalist CVC Capital Partners has finally decided to sever its connections with car accessories retailer Halfords, which it helped bring back to the stock market two-and-a-half years ago. It has...

NTL drops bid for ITV and cries foul.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Nick Goodway Dec. 6--Cable giant NTL has lodged formal complaints with the regulators about BSkyB as it today walked away from its [pounds sterling]4.7 billion hostile takeover bid for ITV, blaming BSkyB's [pounds sterling]1...

Agnellis have an eye on property agent Cushman.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--The Agnelli family, one-time owner of Fiat, is looking to take over one of the largest property agents in New York, which has extensive operations in the UK. Ifil, the Agnellis' investment vehicle, is said to be in talks with...

High Street high-flier.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Chris Blackhurst Dec. 6--Thank God for Sir Stuart Hampson, chairman of John Lewis. While the rest of the High Street bleats away about their worst season ever, Hampson is smiling from ear to ear, producing thumping figures and on...

Stagecoach pair unwrap [pounds sterling]100 million.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--Stagecoach presented founder and chief executive Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag with a [pounds sterling]100 million Christmas gift today after the trains and buses group announced a higher-than-expected [pounds sterling]400...

Fury as Brown shifts the goalposts again.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Dec. 6--Gordon Brown today provoked an uproar as his 10th and final Pre-Budget Report saw him move the goalposts once again to meet his Golden Rule on the economy. Last year, he triggered widespread accusations of...

Reshuffle at top of Yahoo in chase for lost revenue.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--In a bid to reignite flagging revenue growth, internet firm Yahoo has announced a reorganisation that marks finance chief Susan Decker as a potential successor as chief executive officer. Yahoo has been losing out to Google in...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--O2 SENDS OUT A [pounds sterling]2BN SALE MESSAGE OVER AIRWAVES: Airwaves, the emergency services wireless communications system, is likely to be sold by O2 for about [pounds sterling]2 billion after it asked investment banks to come up...

Founder of Caffe Nero in [pounds sterling]225 million buyout bid.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--Gerry Ford, the American boss of the Caffe Nero coffee bars chain, today struck a [pounds sterling]225 million deal to buy out the company. He has become fed up with the lowly share price in recent years and has been battling with...

Evening Standard, London, Neil Collins column.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Neil Collins Dec. 7--SHOCKS THAT MAY FLATTEN GORDON'S HOUSE OF CARDS: Here's a word that Gabbling Gordon didn't mention yesterday: taxpayer. Through the usual mad cascade of statistics, bolstered by enough reports to collapse a...

Brown savaged for Golden Rule 'miss'.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Dec. 7--Gordon Brown today stood accused of making appalling blunders in his estimates of the economy, with some claiming he had still failed to meet his Golden Rule despite moving the goalposts again in yesterday's...

UK rates frozen but Europe lifts to 3.5 percent.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Jim Armitage Dec. 7--The Bank of England today voted to freeze interest rates but its European counterpart pushed up the cost of borrowing to its highest level in five years. Interest rates on the Continent are now 3.5 percent,...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Mickey Clark Dec. 7--FOOTSIE 'SET TO CLIMB HIGHER FOR FIFTH YEAR': City investors can look forward to another good year of returns in 2007 with the stock market expected to achieve its fifth consecutive year of growth. The...

BP 'was told of danger years before killer blast'.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--BP was warned years before a lethal explosion at its Texas City refinery that it risked a major disaster, lawyers suing the firm say. In court documents just released, the oil giant is accused cutting safety spending even after being...

[pounds sterling]350 million Rank cashback as Seminoles buy Hard Rock.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--Rank Group today unveiled plans to return [pounds sterling]350 million to shareholders as it sold its Hard Rock Cafe chain for [pounds sterling]490 million. Hard Rock is being sold to the Seminole native American tribe, which...