NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL ENJOYS THE SUN August 30, 2010 Revellers at Notting Hill carnival enjoyed the sunshine yesterday after a damp start to the celebrations on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of people descended on West London for the 46th carnival, which the Metropolitan Police said “went smoothly and to plan”.
Weather delays BP spill efforts August 30, 2010 EMBATTLED oil major BP will delay the removal of a failed blowout preventer on top of its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well because of bad weather, the top US official overseeing the oil spill said yesterday. “We are in a weather hold right now,” coast guard admiral Thad Allen said, pointing out that seas [...]
Weather fears push up wheat August 30, 2010 Western European wheat markets extended gains yesterday as adverse crop weather in the southern hemisphere and harvest rain in Germany reinforced concerns about global supply in the wake of a severe drought in Russia. Benchmark European futures in Paris broke resistance levels to hit new three-week highs, while Germany’s cash market set a 28-month peak [...]
MOSS SAYS GOODBYE TO TOP SHOP August 30, 2010 SUPERMODEL Kate Moss has designed her last range for high street giant Top Shop. The catwalk beauty has pulled out of her long-standing relationship with Sir Philip Green’s chain. The final collection, which is set to launch in October, will be Moss’ 14th for the chain, although she may still design individual items occasionally.
Merkel calls on Bundesbank to dismiss director August 30, 2010 GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel is urging Bundesbank to review whether one of its board members should remain at the bank after comments he made about immigrants and Jews caused a political storm. Merkel lashed out at comments made by Thilo Sarrazin, who joined Bundesbank’s board last year, and said the bank should dismiss him. Sarrazin, [...]
Sanofi digs in for long siege of Genzyme August 30, 2010 GENZYME boss Henri Termeer has barely had time to catch his breath. Less than three months ago, the chief executive of the largest biotechnology specialist in Massachusetts saved his skin by settling a prolonged tug-of-war with activist investor Carl Icahn. Icahn, a tough character with a record of forcing management changes at portfolio companies, had [...]
Deal could cause unwanted side effects August 30, 2010 THE FRENCH must be returning from their month-long summer sojourn, because Sanofi-Aventis’ long-awaited bid for US-based Genzyme is finally upon us. Sanofi’s timing probably has more to do with pesky patents than the vagaries of continental holidays, however. Last week, the French drugmaker failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop the approval of generic versions [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK August 30, 2010 FIVE City brokers headed down to 1 Lombard Street on Friday lunchtime for a sumptuous seasonal feast of roast grouse. They whetted their appetites with scallops, foie gras and carpaccio of beef, before moving on to main courses of the aforementioned grouse, lobster and an entire suckling pig. Somehow, they also managed to fit in [...]
CITY CRIMS REFUSE TO STEAL BIKES ON DEMAND August 30, 2010 BETWEEN BoJo’s bikes and the craze for cycling to work, two wheels are very much in vogue. So it makes sense to take out insurance for your new mode of transport, right? Wrong. Not if a new campaign by insurer Aviva is anything to go by. Britain’s biggest insurer was so sure it was offering [...]
Taxpayer set to earn £30bn from bailouts August 30, 2010 THE government is set to make almost £30bn from its emergency bailout of British banks, according to new research out today. At the time of the bailout, some observers predicted the taxpayer would end up nursing losses of around £850bn. But The Banker magazine says a combination of recovering profits, rising equity markets and fees [...]