WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
MAD MEN PARENT EYES STARDOM
The dapper, hard-drinking, advertising executives of Mad Men made the show one of the big television hits of recent years. Now Mad Men’s parent company is vying to be a star on the stock market. Shares in AMC Networks will begin regular trading on the Nasdaq today, following the company’s spin-off to shareholders of Cablevision, a major US cable operator.
QUEEN TO PROFIT FROM INCOME SHAKE-UP
A mood of austerity may be stalking Britain, but the champagne is still flowing at Buckingham Palace thanks to a government plan to put the queen on what might be seen as profit-related pay. George Osborne, the chancellor, has proposed to do away with government grants to the royal household.
SOUTHERN CROSS ALARM BELLS WENT UNHEEDED
Warnings were issued to the health department more than two years ago that Southern Cross, the financially troubled care home operator, faced severe problems, but it failed to intervene. Documents seen by the Financial Times show regulators were concerned about the group’s financial arrangements as well as the quality of its care as early as February 2009.
CONCERN AS TURKISH GROWTH HITS 11 PER CENT
Turkey has outpaced China with first-quarter annualised economic growth of 11 per cent, but its red-hot economy is proving more of a headache for policymakers than a cause of celebration. The data, showing quarter-on-quarter growth of 1.4 per cent driven mainly by consumer spending, will fuel doubts over the central bank’s unorthodox attempts to cool the economy by limiting banks’ lending, rather than raising interest rates.
THE TIMES
PLANNING RULES PAVE THE WAY FOR A GREEN BELT HOUSING BONANZA
Large tracts of countryside will be developed under new planning guidance that could trigger a building boom by weakening environmental safeguards. Developers will find it easier to get permission to build housing estates, offices and retail parks in the green belt, under the plan to revive the economy by creating a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”.
NOW WE’RE COOKING: BIOFUEL FLIGHT CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF
It may yet go down in aviation history as the launch of the deep-fat flyer. Chips are seen as an essential part of many holidays in Majorca, but one operator hopes to make the oil that fries chips an integral ingredient of the fuel burnt to fly the holidaymakers there.
The Daily Telegraph
GOOGLE SEES INSANE DEMAND FOR INVITES TO ITS GOOGLE+ SOCIAL NETWORK
The search giant rolled Google+ out to a small cadre of users on Tuesday, much as it did when it launched its Gmail email service, but what was intended as a “limited” launch turned into a frenzy for invitations. Each user was given around a dozen invitations to pass on to friends and family, in order to test the social networking capabilities of the site.
SALLY BERCOW FEELS WRATH OF CARPETRIGHT’S LAWYERS
Sally Bercow, the Speaker’s wife, has been threatened with legal action by Carpetright, one of Britain’s biggest retailers, after she suggested the company was “going under”. Her incorrect remarks came as part of a message she posted on Twitter to her 25,000 followers.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
KODAK’S STOCK PLUNGES ON ITC RULING
Eastman Kodak’s shares plunged nearly 20 per cent late Thursday, after the International Trade Commission delivered a mixed verdict on the company’s patent fight with Apple and Research in Motion. The International Trade Commission reversed parts of an earlier ruling in Kodak’s patent fight against the two companies and sent other parts of the ruling to be reviewed by a judge.
CHRYSLER CITES 35 PER CENT DROP IN LABOUR COST
The average cost of union labor at Chrysler Group fell to $49 an hour in 2010 as a result of cost-cutting deals with the United Auto Workers union, the company said on its web site. That represents a reduction of 35% since 2006, according to figures posted by the auto maker.