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

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

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
November 1, 2004... Nov. 1--ASBESTOS DISEASE 'MAY COST UK 20 BILLION POUNDS': The total future cost of asbestos-related diseases to Britain's economy is put at up to 20 billion pounds according to research by trade body The Actuarial Profession. It says British...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
November 1, 2004... Nov. 1--SEBASTIAN SAINSBURY wants to buy Leeds United. There's much play in the Press of Sebastian being the 41-year-old great-grandson of John James Sainsbury, the retail giant's founder. A pity, then, to report that Sebastian doesn't share in...

EasyCruise launch marks change of course for owner.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Nick Goodway Nov. 1--Mr Easy, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is set to abandon the principles behind all his ventures ranging from easyJet to easyCinema with the launch early next year of easyCruise. For the first time, he will use and...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 1--BEST TO STEER CLEAR OF US GUNFIGHT: No one has any idea what will happen to stock markets this week because no one knows who will win the US election and, even if they did, they don't know what a victory to...

UK banks are urged to join action against US insurers.
November 1, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Nov. 1--Britain's largest financial institutions are being urged to take lead roles in lawsuits seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from the scandal-struck US insurance industry. British and American law...

Analysts foresee unchanged British interest rates for now.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 1--Trade unions and business groups are piling pressure on the Bank of England to signal that interest rates have peaked. With mounting evidence the housing market is slowing sharply, and consumers and firms...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Micky Clark Nov. 1--SPECULATORS STOCKING UP AT STRUGGLING SAINSBURY: City speculators continued to sniff around J Sainsbury which led the top 100 companies higher with a rise of 7 3/4 pence to 265 1/2 pence. They are pinning...

British mortgage advisers call new regulations overkill.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Magnus Grimmond Nov. 1--New controls on home loans have been blasted by mortgage advisers as it emerged Alliance & Leicester was forced to suspend online lending ahead of yesterday's launch of the system. Chris Cummings,...

British oil exploration firm Northern Petroleum readies Isle of Wight drilling.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Tom Nicholls Nov. 1--Aim-listed oil exploration and production company Northern Petroleum plans to start drilling work on the first of two onshore wells on the Isle of Wight in December or January. Exploration manager Graham...

British utility Anglian Water to cut 200 jobs in restructuring effort.
November 1, 2004... Nov. 1--Anglian Water, owned by AWG, is to axe 200 jobs across the business. The cuts will form part of a restructuring the company is putting in place before its next five-year review period begins next April. An Anglian Water spokesman...

Consumer watchdog urges water mergers in Britain.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 1--Britain's water companies should be allowed to merge in a bid to keep the lid on rising household bills, the industry's consumer watchdog said today. The intervention of WaterVoice comes amid a growing belief...

Legal & General deal ups pressure on Prudential CEO.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Steve Hawkes Nov. 1--Legal & General has struck an exclusive distribution deal for its savings products on Britain's High Streets that could put yet more pressure on Prudential chief executive Jonathan Bloomer. Bradford &...

Marconi executive restructures himself out of a job.
November 1, 2004... Nov. 1--One of the men responsible for cutting 20,000 jobs at Marconi today also found himself surplus to requirements, writes Robert Lea. Mike Donovan is leaving after restructuring himself out of a job at the telecoms equipment group but...

UK soccer club Arsenal gunning for a move to main market.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jim Armitage Nov. 1--Arsenal was at the centre of more speculation about its off-the-pitch activities today. This time it was not about pizza and soup throwing, but mooted plans for a full stock market listing of the Premier...

Mining group Xstrata ready for long takeover battle with WMC Resources.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Bill Condie Nov. 1--London-listed mining group Xstrata may face Australian government opposition to its proposed takeover of WMC Resources, the country's last remaining major independent miner. WMC last week rejected overtures...

Jet-black Venus!(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Usually when astronomers speak about seeing Venus, they're referring to that brilliant beacon in the sky. But did you see it? The transit of Venus on June 8? If so, count yourself among the countless millions of earthlings who stood in the...

Ziploc planets?(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Speaking of planets, did you know that if you release salt grains (0.5 millimeter across) in a microgravity environment, they will clump together to form centimeter-size "planets" in seconds? Just ask astronaut Donald R. Pettit...

Water spirit.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Oh, what the beck. Planets are simply in the news these days. So let's move our focus to Mars and that plucky little rover called Spirit. The one question that has been on everyone's mind since just about forever --astronomers and lay...

Rock-climbing robot.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... You a rock climber? Yes? Then of course you're athletic and brave--but how about antiquated? Wait! Antiquated? Yes, antiquated. Your services may no longer be required--thanks to Lemur, the spiderlike robotic mountaineer. One day...

The next ice age.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Hmmm. In these days when everyone is worried about global warming, it might come as a bit of a surprise that some scientists have been busy predicting the next ice age. In fact, apparently, it's overdue. You see, we've been enjoying about...

How long have we loved cats?(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Of course you love your cat. Well, so too did ancient Egyptian rulers. Yes, it's been known for some time now that cats were bred 4,000 or more years ago in Egypt, where they were often included in Egyptian art and worshipped as the cat goddess...

A fine man.(Biography)
November 1, 2004... Long before Richard Feynman won the Nobel Prize, even longer before he became a public celebrity near the end of his life, he was a legendary character among scientists. In this issue of ODYSSEY, we will read about just a few of the many...

No ordinary mind.(Biography)
November 1, 2004... Richard Feynman was a living question mark, the embodiment of some words he wrote in a class paper: "I wonder why I wonder why. I wonder why I wonder. I wonder why I wonder why I wonder." Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, in 1918, Feynman...

One strange world: QED.
November 1, 2004... When Richard Feynman was a young boy, the science of physics was taking some very strange turns. Even before he was born, Albert Einstein had astonished the world of physics by showing, in his theory of relativity, that the speed with which...

Feynman and the rainbow.
November 1, 2004... Like most people, Richard Feynman admired rainbows. Rainbows are made of light, something the physicist thought about often. One kind of rainbow appears in soap bubbles or in oily water puddles. These rainbows form because of something...

The kick in the discovery.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... In 1965, Richard Feynman shared the Nobel Prize for physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics. For most scientists, the Nobel represents the achievement of a lifetime. For Feynman, the prize meant something else. "I don't like honors," he...

Fun with Feynman diagrams.(Activity To Discover)
November 1, 2004... Richard Feynman loved to draw. His portraits often showed graceful curves and delicate features. But Feynman's physics drawings seemed like stilted stick figures. Now these "funny-looking pictures," as Feynman once called them, are a standard...

The charming, disarming, and sometimes alarming Mr. Feynman.(Biography)
November 1, 2004... Whatever stuffy, geeky stereotype comes to mind when you consider theoretical physicists, forget it! That stereotype won't characterize Richard Feynman. Sure, Feynman developed some pretty serious mathematical formulas to describe the structure...

A "small" contribution: are you ready for a "little" science? First, discover Feynman's incredible world of nanomachines--then build your own "micromover"!(Activity To Discover)
November 1, 2004... Dinners with guest speakers can sometimes be boring. So, at the American Physical Society conference dinner in 1959, guest speaker Richard Feynman asked one of his "crazy" questions to liven things up. "Why can't we print the Encyclopedia...

The challenge of challenger.
November 1, 2004... IT IS JANUARY 28, 1986. The space shuttle Challenger has exploded, killing its entire crew. Among the seven astronauts lost is high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who would have been America's "first teacher in space." Imagine being...

For the fun of it.(Biography)
November 1, 2004... Y. You've heard about Richard Feynman's Nobel Prize for physics in 1965 and about the cool way he demonstrated on live television the reason for the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986. But here are a few fantastic facts you may...

Scientists at the round table: sizzle. Sizzle. Craaack! Boom! Pop!(Fictional Work)
November 1, 2004... The smell of sulfur permeates the air as Merlin steps out of a yellow cloud onto the auditorium stage. He adjusts his pointed hat and brushes the ends of his long, white beard. He folds back the sleeves of his flowing robe and draws a large...

The square root of genius.(Biography)
November 1, 2004... "He was the most intelligent man I have ever known," says physicist Hans Bethe, leaning forward and looking me straight in the eye for emphasis. Wow, I think, if Hans Bethe--Nobel Prize-winner, Cornell University professor emeritus, head of the...

Crack the code.(Brain Strain)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Richard Feynman was a man of many talents and interests* One of his hobbies involved solving secret codes and cracking safes. In honor of Feynman, 1 present one of my own safe-opening problems. Richard Feynman throws a dart twice at the...

What's up.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... 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. To use...

The dazzling autumn night sky.(What's Up)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... November skies provide an excellent opportunity to check out the constellations of the season as well as both morning and evening planets! Morning planet watchers will be dazzled by the sight of Venus and Jupiter in the eastern sky 40...

Planet watch.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Evening Planets: Mercury (in Libra, moving into Sagittarius) sets about 30 minutes after the sun early in the month. The best views of Mercury occur in mid- to late month, when it is visible for 60 minutes after sunset. Saturn (in Gemini)...

Hunting for galaxies.(You Can Do Astronomy)
November 1, 2004... On any clear night, look at the full scope stars all around you overhead. They are part of the spiral galaxy we live in called the Milky Way. We can't see the spiral very well because we are looking from the inside out. It's kind of like...

Our stupendous sun. (Stargazing with Jack Horkheimer).(Comic)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... TALK ABOUT HUGE! OUR SUN IS LARGE--ALMOST A MILLION MILES WIDE! WE NEED A WIDER DOOR! IF THE SUN WERE HOLLOW, OVER 1,300,000 EARTHS COULD FIT IN IT! OUR SUN IS A STAR, AND, LIKE ALL STARS, MAKES ITS OWN LIGHT. THANK YOU! THANK...

Gross Universe: Your Guide to All Disgusting Things Under the Sun.(Kids' Picks)(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... text by Jeff Szpirglas, illustrations by Michael Cho (Maple Tree Press, 2004) Gross Universe: Your Guide to All Disgusting Things Under the Sun is exactly what the title implies: GROSS and DISGUSTING! Its factual style concerning all...

Optical Illusion Magic: Visual Tricks & Amusements.(Kids' Picks)(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... by Michael A. Despezio (Sperling Publishing, 2000) This book is really cool. It's about optical illusions--things that play tricks on you. They make you think you are seeing something when you are really seeing something different. Some...

Scent~sational!(Animal Angles)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Let's face it. Despite Richard Feynman's drive to follow trails and improve his sense of smell, he was no match for Nick Carter. Not Nick Carter, the singer... Nick Carter, the dog! Born in Kentucky in 1900, Nick Carter made at least 650...

U.S. rules set to hand huge bonus to accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 2--Britain's biggest accountancy firm is expecting a 150 million pounds fees bonanza from helping clients cope with post-Enron accounting regulations and new international financial reporting rules. ...

Airports operator BAA soars to 363 million pounds as crowds return to skies.
November 2, 2004... Nov. 2--BAA today proved there is one way to make good money out of the aviation industry -- running airports. The operator of Heathrow, the world's busiest international hub, as well as Gatwick and Stansted reported soaring profits as...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
November 2, 2004... Nov. 2--3I NAMES CIVIL SERVANT AS NEW FINANCE CHIEF: Venture capital group 3i has appointed civil servant Simon Ball as finance director on a 400,000 pounds salary. He will take over in February from Brian Quinn, who is to head 3i's growth...

Christmas retailing fears are eased as shoppers return to London's High Street.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 2--Signs that shoppers are trickling back to the High Street today soothed fears that retailers are heading for a dismal Christmas. The CBI said a net 11 percent of retailers reported higher sales in October...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
November 2, 2004... Nov. 2--It's the sort of advice that money cannot buy. Richard Downs, chief executive of Iglu, the small but growing online ski holiday specialist, was chosen by CNN to pose questions on business strategy to Jack Welch, former chairman of...

Developer faces accusation of bringing U.K. planning system into disrepute.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Mira Bar-Hillel Nov. 2--A Croydon councillor has attacked developer Sir Stuart Lipton, alleging improper goings-on behind the 300 million pounds battle for the Croydon Gateway site. Adrian Dennis told the Office of the Deputy...

Recovering sales cheer U.K. discount retailer Matalan, but jeans unit struggles.
November 2, 2004... Nov. 2--Discount stores group Matalan is still in talks with an unnamed buyer over its loss-making Lee Cooper jeans business, which it put up for sale last month. Chief executive John King hopes to have firm news in the early part of next...

U.K. customers give French state-owned electric utility thumbs down.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 2--London's main electricity supplier, the French State-owned EDF group, is among the country's worst energy providers, a new report has found. A major customer satisfaction survey by consultants JD Power of...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 2--It is a dangerous game to put in a good word for a chief executive with a baying crowd snapping at his heels, but someone needs to try and save Jonathan Bloomer for the nation. The Prudential chief...

Downturn in equity, bonds earnings hits investment manager UBS.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Nick Goodway Nov. 2--A slide of 20 percent in revenues from equity and bond trading knocked UBS's third-quarter financial earnings back sharply. Only a strong performance by its 56 percent-owned Swiss industrial holding...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Mickey Clark Nov. 2--STOCK EXCHANGE PLAN MAY PROVE COSTLY FOR INVESTORS: Investors could end up paying more for their shares if the London Stock Exchange (LSE) presses ahead with plans to reduce the gap between bid and offer, or...

British industrialist, Thatcher-era dealmaker Lord Hanson dies at 82.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Bill Condie Nov. 2--British industrialist Lord Hanson, who came to epitomise the Thatcher revolution, has died of cancer at his home near Newbury, aged 82. Lord Hanson, with his business partner Lord White, built a vast,...

Spiralling fuel prices keep Ryanair's profit on ground.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 2--Ryanair will fail to make a profit this winter as its aircraft fuel bill soars by as much as 50 percent after it admitted it had not taken action against the spiralling oil price. With the price of oil at...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
November 3, 2004... Nov. 3--ZINGO NOT A WINNING LINE: Black cabs may be struggling to pick up more passengers but 97 percent of drivers claim they will not be signing up to Zingo, the mobile phone-based hailing service which aims to help them increase their...

Bank of England slows pace of interest rate increases.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 3--After lifting interest rates five times since last November, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee took another breather last month, holding the cost of borrowing at 4.75 percent. It was a widely...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
November 3, 2004... Nov. 3--STELLA AND BECK'S GIVE INBEV A GLOBAL LIFT: Stella Artois sales in Britain declined in the last nine months in a "very challenging" market, the world's largest brewer said today. Belgium's InBev said UK Stella volumes fell 3.3...

Evening Standard, London, Chris Blackhurst column.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Chris Blackhurst Nov. 3--ON THE RACK AT SMITHS: For two days now, the Kensington branch of WH Smith has been out of matches and stamps. A colleague went to his WH Smith in Kent at the weekend to buy a birthday card. He couldn't...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
November 3, 2004... Nov. 3--SIR TERRY LEAHY refuses to take any outside directorships despite receiving countless offers down the years. Leahy believes that running Tesco requires his full and undivided attention. Unfortunately, such dedication rules Leahy out...

Dairy firm to net 14 million pounds in sell-off of farmers' co-operative.
November 3, 2004... Nov. 3--Dairy giant Robert Wiseman is selling a 15 percent stake to a farmers' co-operative in an unprecedented industry alliance that will hand the Wiseman family more than 14 million pounds, writes Steve Hawkes. First Milk, a group of...

Drug firms rally as Kerry challenge falters.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Steve Hawkes Nov. 3--Shares in GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca rallied today as investors worried by promises of tough, new price cuts under Senator John Kerry welcomed signs he has lost his battle for the White House. Kerry...

London's economy is moving out of the fast lane, city's cabbies say.
November 3, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Nov. 3--London's economy has shifted down a gear and is set to move forward at an even slower pace in the next three months, according to the latest poll of the capital's cabbies. Only around half of them are...

London shares boosted as Bush looks set to win.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 3--London shares bounced today as investors cheered signs that market-favourite President George W Bush would be re-elected to the White House for another four years. The FTSE 100 index had risen 18.7 points...

Film pioneer Sherry Lansing set to quit as Paramount Pictures chairwoman.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Bill Condie Nov. 3--Sherry Lansing, the woman who broke into the cosy boys' club of Hollywood to became one of Tinseltown's most influential players of either gender, is stepping down as chairwoman of Paramount Pictures. But...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 3--BIG QUESTION NOW FOR MARKETS: What happens to Wall Street in the next few months following America's Presidential election obviously matters to investors, but what happens to the dollar matters a great deal...

UK tour operator MyTravel warns bondholders over restructuring plans.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Jim Armitage Nov. 3--MyTravel today threatened to slash bondholders' stake in the company from 8 percent to just 2 percent, unless they agree to the current 1.3 billion pounds restructuring plans. The troubled tour operator is...

Sweaty palms at UK-based papermaker De La Rue over 'oily finger' votes.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Steve Hawkes Nov. 3--Britain's De La Rue is hoping the Oily Finger does not become the next Hanging Chad if lawyers have to pore over the millions of votes cast in the US Presidential election. It owns US-based Sequoia Voting...

London-based telephone company's retail revenue surges 22.5 percent.
November 3, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Nov. 3--Phones group Carphone Warehouse today promised a "huge Christmas and a bumper year for mobiles" with customers spoiled for choice on handsets. Founder and chief executive Charles Dunstone said: "The...

UK-based FirstGroup on track to pull in profit from train station.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Jim Armitage Nov. 3--Radical plans to increase the frequency and length of trains into Paddington next month should trigger massive growth in revenue at FirstGroup. Chief executive Moir Lockhead said a new three-hour trip from...

UK, U.S. economies face bumpy ride ahead, analysts say.
November 3, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 3--As financial markets celebrated President Bush's apparent re-election to the White House, analysts said the US and British economies face a bumpy ride in the coming months as they grapple with America's...

Airbus set to trounce Boeing on plane sales.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Robert Lea Nov. 4--Airbus is poised to thrash arch-rival Boeing this year in the cut-throat battle to supply the world's airlines with commercial jets, the European manufacturer's parent company said today. Eads, the...

Evening Standard, London, Jim Armitage column.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Jim Armitage Nov. 4--BRINGING ONLINE AGENTS TO BOOK: I vowed never to use Lastminute.com again. Booking a hotel for a romantic weekend in Madrid, I thought I'd try to put the package together online. It was all so easy and cheap I...

Bank of England keeps rates on hold again after house prices fall.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Jane Padgham Nov. 4--The Bank of England left interest rates on hold for the third month in a row today following news of the biggest fall in house prices for four years. As had been widely expected in the City, the Bank's...

Asian tycoon's family holds tight to stake in UK bank Standard Chartered.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Jake Lloyd-Smith Nov. 4--The owners of the largest block of shares in emerging markets lender Standard Chartered have rebuffed comments from the bank's chairman that they have no intention of selling the prized 13.5 percent stake....

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
November 4, 2004... Nov. 4--TRADER TALK fund manager Peter Webb's Unicorn Asset Management has picked up 200,000 shares in logistics group TDG at 236 pence to take its holding to 1.8 million or 2.2 percent of the 188 million pounds company. TDG was in merger talks...

British punters will not have lengthy wait for Bush bet winnings.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Angus McCrone Nov. 4--Many British gamblers are nursing heavy losses on the American election after getting on the wrong end of spectacularly volatile prices on George W Bush and John Kerry during Tuesday night. However, there...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
November 4, 2004... Nov. 4--Life is not too tough for Tony Murtagh, the man savaged for brokering a 5750 pounds loan for a couple that grew into a 384,000 pounds debt. Murtagh, who runs the Mortgage Group, saw the debt wiped out by a judge who said the debt...

Banking giant Credit Suisse warns of muted growth prospects.
November 4, 2004... Byline: James Rossiter Nov. 4--European banking giant Credit Suisse today warned of little growth in the financial services industry over the coming six months. Third-quarter net income from the Credit Suisse First Boston investment...

Rising residential energy costs spark anger, call for review in U.K.
November 4, 2004... Nov. 4--Soaring residential energy costs -- Powergen's price rises put 133 pounds a year on the average household electricity and gas bill -- have led to renewed calls for investigations into the power market. Recent probes by Ofgem into...

Asia stakes lead wish-list of British equity, investment trust firm.
November 4, 2004... Nov. 4--The new chief executive of 3i today declared that its growth capital division, which takes minority stakes in businesses, will to be the company's fastest expanding unit. One of Philip Yea's first moves on arrival was to shift...

Bush victory brings relief for Halliburton shareholders.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Bill Condie Nov. 4--Halliburton shareholders have shaken off the shadows of a raft of investigations into their company's practice in Iraq to embrace a new four-year term of George Bush and Halliburton's old boss Dick Cheney in the...

CEO of UK hedge fund to collect half-year dividend.
November 4, 2004... Nov. 4--Man Group chief executive Stanley Fink will collect a 637,000 pounds half-year dividend after the London-listed hedge fund manager upped its interim payout on the back of a leap in profits. The payout to investors, a 30 percent rise...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
November 4, 2004... Byline: Anthony Hilton Nov. 4--A POSITIVE NOTE FROM EQUITABLE: Equitable Life, the troubled insurance group, today launched an offer to buy in up to 260 million pounds of its bonds. Nothing unusual in that -- it is the kind of deal firms...