WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
LANSLEY TAKES NURSES’ MEDICINE
A contrite Andrew Lansley promised nurses a larger role in the commissioning of healthcare after the Royal College of Nursing passed the first vote of “no confidence” in a health secretary in its history. Attending a “listening” exercise with 65 nurses on the fringe of the RCN’s annual congressl, Lansley repeatedly apologised for his failure to communicate the government’s reforms effectively.
REGIONS LOSE OUT IN FIRE SALE OF LAND
Ministers were accused of “outrageous” bias towards London after the government put up for sale about £35m of land and property in the English regions owned by regional development agencies. At the same time it confirmed that those in the capital would be kept in the public sector.
HALF OF LAW FIRMS EXPECT TO LOSE WORK UNDER TESCO LAW
About half of law firms have lost or expect to lose work to non-legal competitors in radical reforms that will make the UK legal market one of the most deregulated in the world, according to a new study. The Legal Services Act, which comes into effect in October, will allow law firms to raise fresh capital by floating on the stock market or to form new business structures by bringing in as partners non-lawyers such as accountants.
AMERICAN LOOKS TO SPIN OFF EAGLE SUBSIDIARY
American Airlines is moving towards a spin-off of its regional airline unit as it tries to reduce costs, but opposition from its pilots threatens to disrupt the process.
In June 2010 American said it was looking to divest its American Eagle subsidiary, reviving a plan first broached in 2007 but discarded as the recession took hold.
THE TIMES
JAPAN DOWNGRADES ITS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AFTER TSUNAMI
The floundering government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan bowed to the inevitable today and cut its official assessment of the Japanese economy for the first time in six months due to the recent natural disasters. The Cabinet Office’s April report said that while Japan’s economic situation had been improving before the March 11 earthquake, it had since “shown weakness”.
MARKETS LOOK FOR THE NEXT BIG THING AT ITV AS COWELL STANDS BY THE EXIT
The City’s connoisseurs of popular culture preoccupied themselves with The X-Factor — more precisely, with the likely severity of any adverse effect on ITV’s share price should reports prove accurate and Simon Cowell leaves its highest-rated show.
The Daily Telegraph
RIO TINTO STRIKES GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE IN LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS
There is still more than a year until the Olympics, but one FTSE 100 company has already struck gold with the London Games. Rio Tinto, the mining group, has agreed a deal with 2012 organisers to supply the metal for the Olympic medals. Tom Albanese, chief executive, said it is a “special job” for the company.
BURBERRY LAYS ON MOTHER OF ALL PARTIES TO LAUNCH BEIJING STORE
The 21,500 sq ft sound stage at Beijing Television Centre hosted almost 1,000 guests for fashion label Burberry’s showcase-cum-celebration featuring Keane’s first performance in China. The rational for the showcase was clear. Spending on luxury goods in China is forecast to grow from £6.2bn in 2009 to £17bn by 2015, and Burberry wants a big slice if that.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
RWE SEES ENOUGH GAS TO FILL NABUCCO PIPELINE
There is more than enough natural gas to fill the Nabucco pipeline that is expected to transport gas from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Austria through Turkey, and the consortium isn’t considering downsizing the project, one of the venture’s partners RWE said in an interview yesterday.
EU PATENT FILINGS REACH RECORD IN 2010
he economic recovery has increased patent filings to record levels, the European Patent Office said yesterday. The EPO, a Munich-based alliance of the European Union’s 27 members and 11 neighboring nations, received 235,000 filings in 2010, up 11 per cent from 2009, and the highest number ever in the organization’s 34-year history.