The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from November 2001

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from November 2001

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 1--Stocks of Asian exporters were lifted today by relief that the US third-quarter GDP figures were not as grim as expected -- but any rejoicing was restrained by the knowledge that the dip of 0.4 percent still...

Evening Standard, London, Business Briefs Column.
November 1, 2001... Nov. 1--BARGAIN OF THE MONTH: Air Miles (www.airmiles.co.uk/0870 55 777 11) holders can redeem two tickets for one on flights within Europe until 23 December. A trip to Paris, for instance, now costs 450 Air Miles for two people instead of one....

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 1--The Basel Committee has been under fire ever since it decided to rewrite its rules specifying how much capital banks around the world have to hold. Nearly four years on, it is showing signs of battle fatigue....

Evening Standard, London, Christopher Huhne Column.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Christopher Huhne Nov. 1--Commissioner Frits Bolkestein has sent a formal request for information -- the first step of legal proceedings against Britain -- about Customs and Excise's clampdown on the cross-Channel booze and baccy...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Michael Clark Nov. 1--It looks as if easyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou is finding it anything but easy to raise money in the financial markets in the current economic climate. Today his advisers are due to complete a gruelling...

Lawyers Urge British Government, Rail Firm to Release Notes of Meetings.
November 1, 2001... Nov. 1--Lawyers acting for some of the largest City institutions, which between them have lost billions of pounds in Railtrack, are pressing the Government and the directors of the rail company to release the notes of secret meetings over the...

Steam Goes Out of British Retail Spending Boom.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 1--First concrete evidence that the High Street spending boom has run out of steam emerged today with an authoritative survey of retailing showing the pace of sales growth fell in October to its slowest this year....

Global Security Alerts Prompt Gadget Craze in Europe, America.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Allan Hall Nov. 1--If war is the mother of all invention, terrorism must run it a close second. Patents offices in Europe and America have been deluged with applications for new gadgets and gizmos from budding inventors in the...

US Struggles Through Five Quarters of Negative Earnings.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Nov. 1--Last time the United States saw five quarters of negative earnings, Hollywood's first big disaster film -- Airport -- topped the box office, Apollo astronauts circled the moon, the first troops were...

Mixed Signals Fog Picture for Future of Video Meetings in Britain.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Beverly Fearis Nov. 1--Video conferencing may be more affordable and reliable in this global political and economic battle than during the Gulf War recession, but British executives still do not view it as a viable alternative to...

Leonardo in space. (Science Scoops).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... If Leonardo da Vinci ever dreamed about flying in space -- and if he were alive today -- he'd be happy to know that the Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts recently attached his namesake to the International Space Station. Leonardo, an...

Egyptian dinosaur. (Science Scoops).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... A dinosaur dig led by Joshua Smith (University of Pennsylvania) about 290 kilometers southwest of Cairo, Egypt, has unearthed remnants of one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered. Meet Paralititan stromeri, a fleshy sauropod (large,...

A horsehead by popular demand. (Science Scoops).
November 1, 2001... To celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), NASA scientists asked us, the public, to vote for an object that the orbiting telescope would then view. And what did "we" want HST to look at? Why, the Horsehead...

Surprise!! (Science Scoops).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Oh, did you like that? The surprise, I mean. Well, if you're telling me "No!," I hate to break it to you, but whether you like surprises or not, your brain does! That's the latest surprise in research by scientists at Emory University...

Let's face facts! (Science Scoops).
November 1, 2001... Ready for the million-dollar question? Quick, who's better at recognizing faces, men or women? Ding! Time's up. (Is that your final answer?) Let's face it, men, women have us beat. Yup, we have to hand it to them: Women can recognize...

Leonardo: engineer, anatomist, painter ... magician?
November 1, 2001... If you were as smart as Einstein, as inventive as Bill Gates, as artistic as Picasso, as musical as Dave Matthews, as good-looking as Brad Pitt, and as entertaining as David Copperfield, wouldn't you have a pretty good shot at getting your...

An interview with Leonardo biographer Michael White. (People to Discover).(Interview)
November 1, 2001... Michael White, a former British science magazine editor and professor at d'Overbroeck's College in Oxford, England, has written more than 15 books about science and scientists, including Leonardo: The First Scientist (St. Martin's Press, 2000)....

Eavesdropping on a renaissance conversation.
November 1, 2001... Standing in a long hallway, you pause to catch your breath. The ride in the time machine was turbulent. Are you really in 16th-century Florence, Italy, as you programmed? You blink in the bright light. A strong smell of oil and turpentine --...

Making mountains: the medieval & modern geology of Leonardo da Vinci.
November 1, 2001... IMAGINE writing down your cleverest ideas and most thoughtful musings in a diary or journal. Figuring that sooner or later you would come back to them, you close the covers and slide the book to the back of your bookshelf, behind all the other...

Body science: the art of Anatomy.
November 1, 2001... The year is 1508. It's close to midnight, and most people in Florence, Italy, are fast asleep -- but not Leonardo da Vinci. He is hard at work in his chilly basement workshop at the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. A few hours earlier,...

Drawing on science. (Activity to Discover).
November 1, 2001... Have you ever wished that you could draw your dog or a magnificent sunset or your best friend and make the picture look absolutely real? Well, it all begins with seeing... really seeing the dog or the sunset or the friend. Leonardo da Vinci...

Paint the sky blue.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Do you remember asking your parents, "Why is the sky blue?" As a painter, Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by colors. In his notebooks, he described and tried to scientifically explain the subtle colors of leaves on trees, the blueness of the...

Flights of fancy: Leonardo's flying machines.
November 1, 2001... Have you ever wondered how a bird flies? Have you ever run around mimicking a bird, flapping your arms, willing yourself to take off? Leonardo did. Well, we're not sure that he actually ran around, although that is fun to imagine. But it was...

Onward ... and upward.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Leonardo eventually realized that his attempts to impose the mechanics of a bird's flight onto a man-made flying machine would never get off the ground, so he considered some alternatives: * "Leonardo's helicopter" -- His most famous flying...

What a Backward guy! (Activity to Discover).
November 1, 2001... Hold a card to your forehead and try to write your name on the card. When you look at your writing, you will see it is backward. Hold the card up to a mirror, you can read it perfectly. Most of Leonardo da Vinci's personal notebooks are...

From the notebooks of Leonardo: learn about the fantastic machines and gadgets he designed, and then build three of your own!. (Activity to Discover).
November 1, 2001... The chain and gears that power your bicycle were first designed in 1490. By whom? Of course... Leonardo da Vinci! It was also Leonardo who invented the first contact lenses, the monkey wrench, the rotisserie oven, and the diving snorkel....

Brain strain: Leonardo's problem. (Activity to Discover).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Leonardo da Vinci walks into his studio, where he is confronted unexpectedly by an aspiring painter named Capilli. Expecting to hear a question about perspective or how to achieve the richest blue, the great master is surprised by what he...

What's up.(the monthly All-Sky Chart for Nov 2001)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the Moon) as it appears at 6 p.m. (your local time) on Nov. 15. Useful all month, the chart (except for planet positions) is also accurate for 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 and 5 p.m. on Nov. 30. ...

Planet watch. (What's Up).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Morning Planets: Orange Mercury (in Virgo, moves into Scorpius) rises about a half hour before the sun at the start of the month and then is lost in the sun's bright glare. White Venus (in Virgo, moves into Libra) rises with Mercury at the...

A blue moon and two meteor showers! (Backyard Observations).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... This month observers are treated to two full moons, on Nov. 1 and Nov. 30. Although each full moon of the month has one or more different Native American names, the second full moon that occurs in a given month is always called the Blue Moon....

Meteor watching! (You Can Do Astronomy).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Throughout the year, people talk about watching meteor showers. Have you ever wondered where meteors come from or exactly when you can see them? To understand meteors, you have to understand comets. Comets are made of ice and rock. Some...

Stargazing with Jack Horkheimer: some different birds for thanksgiving.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... SOME DIFFERENT BIRDS FOR THANKSGIVING GREETINGS, GREETINGS, FELLOW STARGAZERS! IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN MANY PEOPLE IN NORTH AMERICA HAVE A BIRD ON THE TABLE TO CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING. BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY THANKSGIVING NIGHT...

Sci-chat.(brief notes)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Youth violence survey 1. My age is: [] 12 or younger [] 13 or older 2, I am: [] Female [] Male 3. During most weeks, I watch: ...

Small, smaller smallest! (Countdown).(technology in miniature)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... When you think about nanotechnology, you have to think tiny. Really tiny! A nanometer is 5,000 times smaller than a human hair is wide. This science involves such a steep slope into the minuteness of matter that it was considered science...

Animal ankles: Monumental morgans.(art)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... The duke of Milan once ordered Leonardo da Vinci to make the world's largest statue of a horse. Leonardo sketched the duke's horses and built a 7.2-meter-high clay model. Then war broke out. French soldiers used the model for target practice....

Charges to Soar at British Airports.
November 2, 2001... Nov. 2--Aircraft take-off and landing charges at Heathrow and Gat-wick are set to soar over the next few years in a pricing review announced today by the Civil Aviation Authority. The increases are aimed at making sure that airports...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 2--Technology stocks grabbed all the attention in Asia today as buyers moved in on hopes that the prospects for the sector were brightening, or at least, were unlikely to get much worse. Elsewhere slack trading...

Evening Standard, London, Joanne Hart Column.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Joanne Hart Nov. 2--CONTRACTS THAT MAY TEMPT A BID SELL-OUT AT THE TOP: When Stuart Rose became chief executive of Arcadia he was handed almost 6.5 million stock options which would turn into cash as the shares hit 90 pence, 180...

Prudential Cuts 2000 Jobs after Swiss Deal.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 2--Prudential, Britain's second-biggest life assurer, today confirmed it is selling its general insurance arm to Swiss group Winterthur Insurance and is expected to slash around 2000 jobs. The job cuts, which...

Evening Standard, London, John Swinfield Column.
November 2, 2001... Byline: John Swinfield Nov. 2--Celebrations on 5 November always spell a boost for the goods of pet care specialist M&C. It makes a range of products ending in um: Deodor-um, Geriatri-um, Green-um and Serene-um. Sales of the last...

Downgrade Blow for British Telecom as Spin-Off Nears.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Michael Clark Nov. 2--British Telecom suffered a setback today -- just weeks before the proposed demerger of its mobile telephone business mm02 -- after one big City firm chose to downgrade the shares. Broker UBS Warburg...

Unilever's Pensions Head Testifies in Court Case in Britain.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Jim Armitage Nov. 2--The battle lines were fully drawn this week in the legal fight between two of the City's most powerful women as Wendy Mayall, Unilever's pensions head, took the stand in the modern surroundings of Court 81. ...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 5--There were some scattered fireworks in Asian markets today, but most investors were content to sit back and see what interest rate action would emerge from the Federal Reserve this week. Chipmakers sparkled on...

European Budget Airline Beats Aviation Gloom.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Nick Goodway Nov. 5--Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, rolled out forecast-busting profits today despite what chief executive Michael O'Leary called "the worst six months in European aviation history, which began with...

Evening Standard, London, William Davis Column.
November 5, 2001... Byline: William Davis Nov. 5--Next week's World Travel Market at Earl's Court will give the troubled industry a chance to fight back. Many popular spots, such as the Caribbean, are having a hard time. Airlines, hotels and resorts, travel...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 5--NO ROOM FOR SUBTLETY IN US EFFORTS TO EASE CRISIS WORRIES: The damage from the Twin Towers collapse and war in Afghanistan has yet to be fully factored in to the global economy but the initial data from the...

British Insurer Hit by Fears of Cash Call.
November 5, 2001... Nov. 5--Royal & SunAlliance touched 374 pence before reducing the deficit to 3 pence at 382 pence following weekend reports claiming the general insurer is about to hit shareholders with a UKpound 2 billion fund-raising exercise. Details...

Australian Retailer to Buy Loss-Making Music Chain.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Lachlan Colquhoun Nov. 5--Ian Duffell has been Sir Richard Branson's competitor and partner at various points in his career as a retail executive -- now he is both at the same time. The British-born executive's new company,...

British Employers' Organization Seeks Half-Point Cut as Gloom Deepens.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 5--The number of companies going to the wall is set to accelerate over the next 12 months, the director general of the CBI is warning in a dire forecast of prospects for many businesses. As the CBI meets in...

British Service-Sector Slump Fuels Rate-Cut Pressure.
November 5, 2001... Nov. 5--The most sudden deterioration in the service sector in five years added to pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates again on Thursday. The closely watched CIPS/Reuters survey of services, which accounts for two thirds...

Wall Street Ready for Fed to Get Aggressive.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Nov. 5--Wall Street is counting on the US Federal Reserve to provide another monetary fuel injection tomorrow and investors are likely to be disappointed if the Fed does not cut rates an aggressive half a...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
November 6, 2001... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 6--A LITTLE LEARNING IS A VITAL THING IN THE RUSH TO BONDS: Not so long ago, corporate bonds were being marketed as the new big thing. Investors who had previously bought only Government bonds were now being...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
November 6, 2001... Nov. 6--AVON PICKS UP SPEED AS BID BUZZ GROWS: Shares of car components supplier Avon Rubber have begun accelerating out of the slow lane in the belief that a bidder is about to offer 200 pence a share, valuing the business at UKpound 57...

Marks & Spencer Rally Strengthens with 20-Percent Profits Leap.
November 6, 2001... Byline: Joanne Hart Nov. 6--Marks & Spencer today provided further evidence that it is on the road to recovery as it unveiled a strong increase in half-year profits and delivered a confident message about the future. The group also...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 7--NTT Docomo sent shock waves through the global telecoms world today as profits halved for the first six months of the year. Anticipation of the dismal figures, released after the market closed, sent shares in...

Asian Investors Pin Hopes on Interest Rate Cut, Tech Stocks.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 7--Asian investors were betting on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 or 50 basis points today, and were also snapping up technology stocks following a prediction by Cisco Systems that revenues were on...

Evening Standard, London, Business Notes Column.
November 7, 2001... Nov. 7--200 FACE THE AXE AT UBM: United Business Media plans to cut up to 200 jobs from its 1000-strong CMP Information division, which runs a wide range of trade journals and conferences. It said today that it had begun the consultation...

High Sterling Value Is Killing British Manufacturing.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Andrew Smithers Nov. 7--The harm done by an overvalued currency is not quickly apparent. It is all the more dangerous because the real damage takes time to emerge. A fierce example of this is seen in Britain's chlorine business....

Job Tenure of U.S. Executives Decreases as Pressure to Perform Grows.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Lauren Chambliss Nov. 7--The revolving door in corporate America's executive suites is spinning faster than ever and, with the economy heading into negative territory, more high-profile executives are likely to be unceremoniously...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 7--Goldman Sachs last week rubbished the idea that the US economy might be starting to look a bit like Japan's. The investment bank is probably right. That America's next decade could see four recessions and an...

Evening Standard, London, Market Report Column.
November 7, 2001... Byline: By Nov. 7--The banking sector came under the hammer today after one broker decided to take a cautious view of short-term prospects. Broker HSBC Securities, part of the HSBC banking giant, knows what is going on among the retail...

Evening Standard, London, Angus McCrone Column.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Angus McCrone Nov. 7--HARRY'S BIG SCREEN TEST A WIZARD ARMCHAIR BET: Hogwarts School is supposed to be a long way from the materialistic edge of contemporary Western society, but this month there is a lot of money riding on its...

Chairman of British Mobile Phone Company Surprised by Stock Slump.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Nick Goodway Nov. 7--Charles Dunstone, chairman of The Carphone Warehouse, admitted that he was bemused at the stock market's disappointment with today's first-half results. He said: "The market has changed enormously in the last...

Swiss Army Has Need of Cutting Edge Products as Knife Sales Are Blunted.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Allan Hall Nov. 7--Swiss Army knives -- the ultimate Boy Scout accessories that became fashion items -- have an uncertain future in the wake of the terror attacks on America. Penknife sales have plummeted because people can no...

Bank of England Could Follow Federal Reserve in Cutting Rates.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath and James McLean Nov. 7--The tenth straight interest rate cut by America's Federal Reserve last night looked set to help take London's leading shares to their highest levels in more than two months today. With the US...

London Stock Exchange Beaten in Bid Battle for Liffe.
November 7, 2001... Nov. 7--The London Stock Exchange was beaten in the battle for Liffe because its plan required the futures market to undergo far more change than the proposal put forward by successful bidder Euronext, LSE chief executive Clara Furse said...

Scottish Power to Refinance Unwanted Water Company.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 7--Southern Water, the un-wanted utility in the Scottish Power empire, is being refinanced through the capital markets, raising UKpound 1.9 billion. ScotPower today said it is not selling the South Coast water...

Air Travelers Warned of Losing Money if Airline Folds.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Colin Ellson Nov. 8--Air travellers can lose their money if they buy a full fare ticket with cash, or by writing a cheque, direct from the airline if the firm subsequently folds before take-off. The warning from business and...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 8--A wave of selling that hit shares of Japan's debt-ridden smaller banks failed to halt a rise in the Nikkei 225 Average as technology stocks climbed on growing indications of a recovery in the sector. The...

Finance Chief of British Telecom Giant Set to Step Down.
November 8, 2001... Nov. 8-- British Telecom finance director Philip Hampton has handed in his notice just a week after chief executive Sir Peter Bonfield announced he would quit the group in January. Unlike Bonfield, who is in line to collect more than...

American Card Makers Expect Dismal Sales of Holiday Cards Due to Anthrax Scare.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Allan Hall Nov. 8--Christmas may be coming and the geese getting fat -- just don't expect a seasonal greetings card dropping on your mat. Not if you live in America anyway. Reliant on a Yuletide surge to boost profits -- in...

Concorde Starts Flying Again to New York.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Gaby Huddart Nov. 8--Those lucky passengers who were flown from London for free on British Airways' Concorde yesterday were treated like heroes when they arrived in New York. And tomorrow, the first fare-paying passengers for...

Shares of Johannesburg, South Africa-Based Financial Services Giant Knocked.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Nick Goodway Nov. 8--"This is not a profits warning, definitely not," asserted Julian Roberts, finance director of Old Mutual. But stock markets in the financial services giant's home city of Johannesburg and main listing of...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton Column.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 8--RSA A DESERVED LEADER ON INSURERS' ROAD TO RECOVERY: For years, British insurance companies have behaved like investment trusts with an expensive hobby -- they have made a pile of money from stocks and shares...

Evening Standard, London, Christopher Huhne Column.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Christopher Huhne Nov. 8--Europe's finance ministers were still putting a brave face on the mounting evidence of recession at their meeting on Tuesday. There are some anxious eyes watching the European Central Bank as it meets...

Evening Standard, London, Stock Markets Column.
November 8, 2001... Nov. 8--City cheer over the cut of half a percentage point in bank base rates by both the Bank of England's monetary policy committee and the European Central Bank proved short-lived. The cut to 4 percent by the MPC -- the seventh so far...

British Giant Boots Says Revamp Is on Track with London's Expectations.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Joanne Hart Nov. 8--High Street giant Boots today delivered a determined message to stakeholders, saying its radical transformation programme is on track and it intends to meet City expectations. "We have achieved a great deal...

British Financial District Shocked by Double Rates Cut.
November 8, 2001... Nov. 8--The Bank of England and the European Central Bank today shocked the City by slashing interest rates by half a percentage point. Britain's monetary policy committee sliced the base rate to 4 percent and cited concerns about the...

British Retailers Queuing up to Take Euro at Their Registers.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Chris Gothard Nov. 8--That bastion of tradition, Harrods, is among retailers allowing the unloved euro into the country by the back door. While UK politicians debate the merits of the pound against Europe's common currency and...

Rising Tension Is a Threat to Tough Global Trade Talks.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Stewart Fleming Nov. 8--Trade ministers from 142 countries gather today in Qatar to try to launch a new global trade liberalisation round amid concern a simmering row about the availability of patented drugs in developing countries...

Evening Standard, London, Asian Markets Column.
November 9, 2001... Byline: Ray Heath Nov. 9--The long-awaited admission by the Japanese government that the economy would shrink this year and plunging bank stocks took the Nikkei 225 index down 2 percent to a four-week low today. The Japanese government...

Former Head of British Asset Management House Battles through Unilever Storm.
November 9, 2001... Byline: Paul Armstrong Nov. 9--Was the poor performance of Unilever's pension fund the result of a simple error or was Mercury Asset Management's stock market judgment so bad that it was negligent? Did Alistair Lennard, the Mercury man in...

London Becomes Hotbed for Credit Card Counterfeiting.
November 9, 2001... Byline: Siddika Khalique Nov. 9--If you don't want to end up funding the global drugs trade to the tune of UKpound 24 million a year, don't let your credit card out of your sight next time you pay a restaurant bill. London, already the...

British Energy Regulator Probes Energy Trade as American Firm Is Snubbed.
November 9, 2001... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 9--Energy regulator Ofgem is investigating a potentially serious destabilisation of Britain's electricity and gas trading markets because of the problems facing giant American power player Enron. Power...