The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from September 2005

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from September 2005

Is it ever okay to start a forest fire?(THIS MONTH IN ODYSSEY)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... No-brainer, right? Well, what if I said that the answer is, "yes." Scientists have discovered that "prescribing" a burn for certain areas of our natural forest is like prescribing a weekend at a spa for stressed-out parents. The forest and the...

Shell-shocked!(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... It's unheard of, completely unsightly, and it's got scientists... well, shell-shocked! Believe it or not, Owen, a 265-pound baby hippopotamus in Kenya, has adopted Mzee--a wrinkled, 130-year old, male tortoise--as its mother! ...

Sixth sense?(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... If you thought that last scoop was weird, consider this fact: After the great December 26, 2004, earthquake, Sri Lankan wildlife officials found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the massive tsunami. Is it possible that the animals...

Electricity: it's a gas!(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Don't believe it? Just ask the 1,500 cows at Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport, VT. They're not only producing milk but also generating electricity. Here's the scoop. When cow manure is heated, it produces methane gas. "Bottle" that gas and it...

Squishy Titan.(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... On January 14, 2005, after traveling through space for 7-1/2 years aboard the Cassini spacecraft, the Huygens probe successfully touched down on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Once the probe had separated from the Cassini orbiter,...

Nuts to high gas prices!(Science Scoops)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Meanwhile, far from the farm, people living on islands in the Pacific nations have been going coco-NUTS in an attempt to find a decent gas alternative. And it seems as though they've found one--coconut oil! Actually, coconut oil was first...

Now hear this!(Science Scoops)(toxic chemical may make whales deaf)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... You've heard it before (pun intended): One thing leads to another. In this case, a toxic chemical used to prevent barnacles from clinging to ship hulls may cause whales to go deaf. And that, says Joseph Santos-Sacchi, professor of surgery and...

Wildfire.(Cover Story)
September 1, 2005... A gusty wind blows dry air. Wispy clouds float in a brilliant sky. Twigs break and crackle underfoot. This is fire weather." And when it occurs, it leaves everything so dry that a lightning strike can readily ignite a wildfire that will quickly...

Testing the Fire Triangle.(Activity to Discover)
September 1, 2005... We know that a fire needs three things to burn: fuel, oxygen, and heat. But if you take away one side of the Fire Triangle, what happens? Let's find out by using two kinds of fire--a burning match and a candle. Caution: Adult supervision...

Marshmallows, anyone? How to build a safe campfire.
September 1, 2005... Campfires burn brightly thanks to rapid oxidation--the quick combination of oxygen with chemicals from a fuel to produce flames. Let science help you build a good campfire and put it out safely. "You need three basic things for combustion...

The perfect firestorm: what would it be like to have your home threatened by ... or even lost to ... the flames of a wildfire? thousands of Southern California residents found out in Fall 2003.
September 1, 2005... Just before noon on October 21, 2003, a fire broke out in the practice range at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego County, CA. As the threat to surrounding communities grew, fire crews from several agencies gathered to fight it. Two...

Smokejumpers to the rescue!
September 1, 2005... A plane circles Dutch Oven Gulch, ID, at 100 mph. Smokejumper Patrick Withen stands at the open side door of the DC-3, his hands firmly gripping the sides... his heart racing. The plane bounces like a yo-yo from the wind and the turbulence of...

Madison & the mystery fire.(BRAIN STRAIN)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Madison and Dylan are taking a tour of a dark forest with their school science class. In the darkest part of the forest they come upon a mysterious fire. Their tour guide tells them that mystics who feed wood to the fire every day have kept it...

Prescription for a burn.
September 1, 2005... Mr. Forest? This is the Conservation Department. The results of your annual checkup are in. We prescribe a nice, controlled fire to take care of the understory growth in your northeast section How does next Thursday fit into your schedule? ...

Coyote's fire.(Native American tribes )
September 1, 2005... Many Native American tribes including the Navajo and Apache, tell stories of how Coyote stole fire and gave it to people. Coyote tied cedar branches to his tail and sneaked into a dance with the fireflies. During the dance, he lit the tip of...

Up in smoke.(firefighting)
September 1, 2005... I was prepared for the heat. Fires are hot, right? But it's not the heat that makes firefighting so difficult and dangerous. It's the smoke. On my first assignment as a firefighter, at the Salmon River (ID) fire in 1994, I was shocked by...

The firefighter's toolbox.
September 1, 2005... We see them on TV all the time. That army of yellow-shirted firefighters, heading to work with what seems like nothing more than simple garden tools. In the early days of fighting wildfires, people battled fire with damp feed sacks and any tool...

Eyeing fire from the sky: high-tech information systems are providing a remarkable new "vision" for battling wildfires.(satellite imaging)
September 1, 2005... The raging inferno in front of you looks like a thousand flickering lights--and yet the "fire" you are watching is pure information, on a computer screen. What you are seeing is a satellite imaging plot of a forest fire that is burning as we...

"Big Ed" Pulaski: wildland firefighting legend.
September 1, 2005... EDITOR'S NOTE: This fictional account is based on a true story. Today, firefighters around the world remember Ed Pulaski not only as the legendary hero of the "Big Blowup of 1910" that burned 3,000,000 acres and took 85 lives, but also as the...

Bears & Beemers.(Short Story)
September 1, 2005... The smell of the forest was an indescribable mixture of the misty scents of November, and something dangerous and acrid. She was running. The ground beneath her feet was uncomfortably warm, and she could hear the heavy rustle of her...

Don't miss the Fall Sky!(sky charts)
September 1, 2005... The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the moon) as it appears at 7:30 p.m. (your local time) on Sept. 15. Useful all month, the chart (except for planet positions) is also accurate for 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 and 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 30....

Asteroid watch!(Zoom Into Astronomy)
September 1, 2005... On the next clear night, go outside and observe the visible stars and planets and the moon, if it's visible. In addition to these objects, there is another group of celestial bodies in our solar system, circling our sun. These objects are...

Five nights of the harvest moon!(StarGazing with Jack Horkheimer)(Cartoon)
September 1, 2005... GREETINGS, GREETINGS, FELLOW STARGAZERS. READY FOR THIS MONTH'S HARVEST MOON? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TRADITIONALLY, THE FULL MOON CLOSEST TO THE FIRST DAY OF FALL WAS CALLED THE HARVEST MOON. BUT THE HARVEST MOON ASLO INCLUDES THE...

Pit power.(Melanophila acuminata detects forest fires)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... First on the scene at forest fires is often Melanophila acuminata, a tiny member of the jewel beetle family (Buprestidae) with a taste for scorched wood. These creatures can detect a 25-acre forest fire more than seven miles away. They rush...

"Go" fight a fire.(board games analysis)
September 1, 2005... What could playing a 2,500-year-old board game from Japan and fighting a raging forest fire possibly have in common? Strategy. Master our game of Go, and you might be able to stop a wildfire in its tracks. Go is Japan's oldest and most...

Profits slide no bar to William Hill buyback.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 5--William Hill today promised investors a payout of between [pounds sterling]200 million and [pounds sterling]300 million through a share buyback over the next 18 months. Britain's second-biggest bookie,...

Ryanair soars past BA in race for passengers.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Robert Lea Sep. 5--British Airways, which for years thrived on trumpeting itself as "the world's favourite airline", has been hit by perhaps the ultimate ignominy -- being overtaken in size by the upstart Irish budget airline...

Jobs axed as DIY sector feels High Street gloom.
September 5, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 5--The gloom on Britain's High Streets has spread to the DIY sector as the axe is brought down on up to 1300 jobs. Travis Perkins, owner of the Wickes chain of DIY stores, has already shed 735 jobs over the...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Mickey Clark Sep. 5--SCOTTISH POWER LIT UP AS SPECULATORS EYE TAKEOVER: Spotting the next takeover target is the new game in the Square Mile for City speculators, who were out in force again today. Interest this time focused on...

Soaring oil price takes its toll of service sector.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 5--Britain's dominant service sector slowed last month as soaring oil prices pushed up costs at the fastest rate in four months. The closely watched CIPS purchasing managers' index slipped to 55.2 in August,...

Tesco and Asda set for [pounds sterling]200 million battle over 90 stores.
September 5, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 5--Britain's two biggest supermarket chains, Tesco and Asda, are set to go head-to-head in a battle for scores of new High Street stores. They are circling 90 former Littlewoods sites being sold by Primark...

UBS picks up [pounds sterling]2.5 billion in fourfold sell-off to Julius Baer.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 5--UBS has sold three private banks and a hedge fund management business to Swiss bank Julius Baer in a deal worth Swfr5.6 billion ([pounds sterling]2.5 billion). The deal is the reverse of the speculation...

Katrina to hurt GDP as petrol prices soar.
September 7, 2005... Sep. 7--U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow now expects Hurricane Katrina to trim 0.5 percent from GDP growth this year. "It would seem to make sense to think that we could see loss of GDP growth rate in the quarters ahead of half a percent...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
September 7, 2005... Sep. 7--PURCELL'S ALLY QUITS MORGAN: Morgan Stanley director Michael Miles, an ally of former chief Philip Purcell, has resigned from the board as new chairman and chief executive John Mack continues to stamp his mark on the investment bank....

Overseas bright spot but sales still slide at Dixons.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 7--High Street electrical chain Dixons today reported yet another drop in UK sales, offset only by a strong performance from overseas businesses. The 7 percent fall in like-for-like sales in the UK in the past...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Anthony Hilton Sep. 7--FUND MANAGERS PLAY A POOR GAME: When the marketing hype for PartyGaming was in full swing just before its float in June, this column said the shares were grossly overpriced because the public's love affair...

Inflation fears point to MPC rates 'hold' verdict.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 7--Interest rates, on hold for a year, were trimmed by a quarter-point to 4.5 percent by the Bank of England's monetary policy committee last month. The MPC's nine members meet again today and Jane Padgham looks...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Mickey Clark Sep. 7--POKER-FACED CITY RELUCTANT TO UP PARTYGAMING STAKES: Attempts at restoring the battered reputation of online poker player PartyGaming met with only limited success today as the price rallied just 4p to 109p on...

BAE Systems profits soar after Ministry of Defense deal.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Robert Lea Sep. 7--All guns are blazing at sprawling armaments giant BAE Systems, which today reported soaring profits and a renewed commitment to keeping its 20 percent stake in European aircraft maker Airbus. Chief executive...

Key director quits troubled Wembley stadium project.
September 7, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 7--The troubled Wembley Stadium development has been thrown into further confusion with the shock departure of the man responsible for the completion of its state-of-the art roof. Multiplex, the company...

More face charges in tax shelter scandal at KPMG.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Bill Condie Sep. 7--Another 12 people are to be charged in the KPMG tax shelter scandal, according to a US prosecutor, speaking as eight former partners of the accounting firm appeared in court to deny charges in the case. An...

ITV beats ad slump as new channels kick in.
September 7, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 7--ITV bucked a drop in advertising revenues on its main ITV1 channel in the first half to deliver results far ahead of the City's expectations today. Chief executive Charles Allen declared: "ITV has rapidly...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
September 8, 2005... Sep. 8--400,000 JOBS UNDER THREAT IN WAKE OF KATRINA: Hurricane Katrina could cost the US more than 400,000 jobs and cut GDP growth by 1 percent to just 2.7 percent, the Congressional Budget Office believes. The cut is twice that predicted by...

Rentokil bidder dangles [pounds sterling]630m cashback bait.
September 8, 2005... Sep. 8--Sir Gerry Robinson set out his trap for royal ratcatcher Rentokil Initial today, announcing plans for a reverse takeover by his bid vehicle Raphoe Management. The proposal put to Rentokil's board today will lead to the...

Watchdog warns banks of threat from cheap loans.
September 8, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 8--Britain's banks face a growing threat as they continue to lend cheaply in an economic environment that is becoming more uncertain, John Tiner, head of the Financial Services Authority has warned. Speaking...

EBay 'has Skype in its sights'.
September 8, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 8--Internet auction business eBay is reportedly in talks to buy Skype, the two-year-old internet telephony phenomenon, for up to $3 billion ([pounds sterling]1.6 billion). Skype, which has attracted almost 50...

Sales on the slide at MFI.
September 8, 2005... Sep. 8--Furniture group MFI today warned that its sales in Britain have slumped. MFI said like-for-like sales dropped 15 percent since the end of June. The group blamed the decline on the retail malaise as consumers hold off buying big-ticket...

Intercontinental plans to bolster its chain by 500.
September 8, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 8--Hotel management giant InterContinental Hotels today set an ambitious target to add another 500 hotels to the 3500 it currently runs by the end of 2008. New chief executive Andrew Cosslett said: "We plan to...

Interest rates held but bank 'must be vigilant'.
September 8, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 8--Business groups welcomed the Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates on hold today, but said more cuts would be needed if the UK economy deteriorated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Responding...

MoD sites sale to spark [pounds sterling]1bn building bonanza.
September 8, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 8--Developers are circling a sell-off of up to six military sites around London which should trigger a [pounds sterling]1 billion-plus housebuilding bonanza. The Ministry of Defence wants final offers in the...

Londoners spurn 'rainy day' savings.
September 8, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 8--London faces a savings crisis, experts warned today. New figures show the proportion of income saved by Londoners fell to its lowest for a year over the summer, while fewer are regularly putting money away. ...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
September 8, 2005... Byline: Mickey Clark Sep. 8--Saturday is St Leger Day at Doncaster. The oldest of British horse-racing's five Classics also marks the day when stock market punters increase their trading activity. "Sell in May and go away, return again...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
September 8, 2005... Sep. 8--IT WASN'T JUST THE GOVERNMENT that felt John Humphrys' ire in his June speech to PRs, now the subject of a row. The BBC presenter was apparently paid [pounds sterling]12,000 for his services and gave a clue as to why he needed the...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
September 9, 2005... Byline: Anthony Hilton Sep. 9--PUZZLE OF THE SCOTPOWER SACKINGS: It is a recognised hazard in politics that the sacking of a colleague can weaken the person wielding the axe, but it is much less common in business. Dismissing Sir...

Heathrow strike takes toll on BAA.
September 9, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 9--The Gate Gourmet airline catering dispute and a follow-on one-day strike by baggage handlers combined to knock BAA passenger numbers at Heathrow last month. About 180,000 fewer people, or 3 percent, passed...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
September 9, 2005... Sep. 9--AGA WARMS TO OVERSEAS TASK AS PROFITS STACK UP: Cooking and homewares group Aga is looking to its international operations for growth as British consumers tighten their belts. Healthy commercial sales helped lift pre-tax profits 16...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
September 9, 2005... Sep. 9--YOU HAVE TO ADMIRE the brass neck of Sir Gerry Robinson. Under the terms of his reverse takeover of Rentokil, the ex-Granada chief and presenter of I'll Show Them Who's Boss stands to get a 1.8 percent stake worth [pounds sterling]53...

Green looks to the future with a makeover for Bhs.
September 9, 2005... Sep. 9--Billionaire retailer Philip Green has unveiled the new look for his Bhs department store chain. The design, using a dark green fascia not unlike the old Marks & Spencer one, was unveiled at the group's new store in Nuneaton,...

Centrica in profit blow warning as energy prices rise.
September 9, 2005... Byline: James McLean Sep. 9--Spiralling energy prices on global markets today forced gas and electricity supplier Centrica to lower its profit expectations. Centrica said the rising costs of buying gas in global markets meant returns...

London's house prices display a contrast.
September 9, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 9--It was a tale of two housing markets in London last month, as mainstream property suffered further price falls while the top end continued to climb. Estate agent Haart said the average price of a home in...

Easynet heads for the black.
September 9, 2005... Sep. 9--Broadband Internet provider Easynet is on course to move into profit next year, having upped its capital spending to launch several new services this year. The group's revenues rose 12 percent to [pounds sterling]77.1 million in...

London insurers put out Katrina distress signals.
September 9, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 9--The ill winds from Hurricane Katrina blew a chill through the insurance sector today as London-listed Alea put itself up for sale and Goshawk said it needed to raise money to help bolster its finances. ...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
September 9, 2005... Byline: Sarah Marks Sep. 9--BID TALK AND PROFITS SHOCK GIVE CENTRICA TWO-WAY PULL: Centrica found itself in a two-way pull today, buoyed first by rumours that Russian gas group Gazprom could mount a bid and then rocked by news that profits...

Somerfield tired of waiting for the bid queue to move.
September 9, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 9--Supermarkets chain Somerfield has told two potential bidders it is fed up with the months of waiting and wants to bring things to a "prompt conclusion." It is seven months since Baugur triggered the bid...

Trade gap swells in wake of VAT fraud distortion.
September 9, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 9--Britain's trade gap ballooned in July, more than reversing the previous month's sudden narrowing caused by VAT fraud, writes Jane Padgham. Official data showed a deficit of [pounds sterling]5.1 billion in...

Thameslink day-trip slump hits Go-Ahead.
September 9, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 9--The July London bombings have caused a sharp fall in the number of day trippers using the Thameslink Brighton-Bedford service to visit the capital. The boss of Thameslink operator Go-Ahead Group, Chris...

Smaller firms are still coining it.
September 11, 2005... Byline: Jenny Little Sep. 11--Cash is still king for business with smaller firms handling [pounds sterling]28 billion in coins and notes every month. Despite claims that cash is losing out to electronic payments, many small and...

Water chiefs back drive for engineers.
September 11, 2005... Byline: Chris Dyke Sep. 11--Hurricane Katrina underlines the value of flood defence engineers in the most vivid way imaginable, highlighting a shortage of specialists in this country. Now the Environment Agency has stepped in with...

Savings interest is eaten away.
September 11, 2005... Byline: Jo Thornhill Sep. 11--Most of us fail to consider the effect of inflation when choosing a new savings account, according to Government-backed National Savings & Investments. NS&I has launched a campaign to promote its tax-free...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
September 12, 2005... Sep. 12--NIKKEI CELEBRATES AS KOIZUMI WINS ELECTION: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock Average hit a four-year high today after the landslide election victory of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The Nikkei finished above 12,850 for the first time since...

Bigger Bovis Homes find fewer buyers.
September 12, 2005... Byline: James Rossiter Sep. 12--Sales of four- and five-bedroom houses have fallen off a cliff at Southern housebuilder Bovis. The slowdown reduced first-half profits by a third and Bovis warned of more margin erosion to come as it...

EBay pips Murdoch in Skype auction.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 12--EBay is paying up to $4.1 billion ([pounds sterling]2.2 billion) for Skype, the fast-growing free internet phone calls service. The online auction giant beat Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which was reported...

ABF sees more gain in Littlewoods sites.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 12--Associated British Foods has decided the [pounds sterling]409 million deal to buy 120 Littlewoods stores from the Barclay brothers was a better deal than it thought. It has increased from 25 to 40 the...

Evening Standard, London, Anthony Hilton column.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Anthony Hilton Sep. 12--It is interesting to see the name of Peter Williams, the former chief executive of Selfridges, among the runners and riders tipped to be the next finance director of High Street chemists chain Boots. My...

Cautious buyers take toll on Bovis profits at housebuilder.
September 12, 2005... Sep. 12--Bovis Homes plunged by almost a third in the first half of the year as sales of new homes fell dramatically. Bovis sold 1089 homes compared with 1302 last year and many of them were smaller, cheaper properties. Earlier this...

Insurers tot up the cost of Katrina.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Nick Goodway Sep. 12--Lloyd's of London insurers were today set to tell the market's bosses what they believe the extent of their claims for Hurricane Katrina could be as fears grow that the disaster may prompt the largest claims...

Fears grow as insurers tot up hurricane toll.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Robert Lea Sep. 12--Fears over the size of the hit to the Lloyd's of London insurance market from Hurricane Katrina grew today as two of its most exposed syndicates admitted their estimated losses will be more than [pounds...

Evening Standard, London, market report column.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Mickey Clark Sep. 12--City speculators were out in force again today, driving shares of bid target Scottish Power sharply higher. The electricity utility was the best-performing blue-chip company, climbing 17 1/4p to 572 3/4p...

NYMEX in with a shout as open outcry returns.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Robert Lea Sep. 12--They were the finger-waggling, arm-jerking, loud-jacketed, hard-working, harder-drinking epitome of the 1980s City boom -- and now they are back. When the International Petroleum Exchange closed its trading...

High Street gloom deepens with record sales slump.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Jane Padgham Sep. 12--A triple whammy of Ashes fever, fine weather and lingering anxiety after the London bombings were today blamed for a disastrous fall in High Street sales in the capital last month. Figures from the London...

Evening Standard, London, business briefs column.
September 13, 2005... Sep. 13--FORMER KPMG CHIEF EUGENE O'KELLY DIES: Eugene O'Kelly, the former chief executive of accounting firm KPMG, has died at his New York home aged 53. O'Kelly took over at KPMG following the tax shelter scandal that brought the firm to its...

BP to raise $1Bn in US unit float.
September 13, 2005... Byline: Bill Condie Sep. 13--Oil giant BP is to float its US petrochemical subsidiary Innovene, hoping to raise as much as $1 billion ([pounds sterling]548.7 million) and value the firm at $8 billion. Innovene did not say how many...

Evening Standard, London, City Spy column.
September 13, 2005... Sep. 13--BUDGET AIRLINE OPERATOR Dart -- it runs Jet2.com -- is transferring from a main listing to AIM. Hardly earth-shattering news, but it has thrown up a crazy anomaly in the Government's rules on Peps and Isas. Dart is in OK shape --...

Persuasion is SCL'S weapon.
September 13, 2005... Sep. 13--A new British company which aims to defeat an enemy by persuasion rather than force, has taken the second-largest floor space at the Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) arms show in London starting today. Strategic...