GM's Vauxhall announces new Astra at UK plant - Yahoo Finance
LONDON (AP) -- General Motors' Vauxhall plant in northern England will build the company's top-selling Astra vehicles, the automaker said Thursday — a relief for U.K. politicians who had lobbied its American owner to keep the plant open.
The announcement comes after workers at the Ellesmere Port plant, near Liverpool, overwhelmingly backed a job deal which turned the factory into a 24-hour-a-day operation, a key cost-cutting measure pursued by parent company GM Europe.
GM Europe lost $700 million in 2011 and has been struggling to turn around its Opel and Vauxhall brands. It had been feared the company would close the Ellesmere Port facility in favor of consolidating production elsewhere — such as its headquarters in Ruesselsheim in Germany or Gliwice in Poland.
In a separate announcement, Opel said that the Ruesselsheim plant would switch to producing other models.
GM's announcement — which comes with a 125 million pound (nearly $200 million) investment and 700 extra jobs — is a break for leaders such as British Business Secretary Vince Cable, who fought to keep the British plant open.
Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking from the northern city of Manchester, called the decision "a fantastic vote of confidence."
"The U.K. government gave this its full backing. The unions supported the necessary changes. The workforce has responded magnificently. It is a British success story," he said.
Cable, who at one point traveled to the U.S. to plead the plant's case, told BBC television that no financial inducements were offered to General Motors Corp. to keep the U.K. facility open, saying the move underlined that Britain is "a good business environment for the motor industry."
Production of the new car is due to begin in 2015, with at least 160,000 vehicles scheduled to be produced every year.
London 2012 Olympics venues: Velodrome and BMX Circuit - Daily Telegraph
Hosting: Track cycling, BMX, Paralympic track cycling
Schedule:
Track Cycling: Aug 2 – Aug 7
BMX: Aug 9 – Aug 10
Paralympic track cycling: Aug 30 - Sep 2
Capacity: 6,000
Fact: Sir Chris Hoy was involved in the design process of the Velodrome.
Post games: a new mountain bike course and road-cycle circuit will be added to develop VeloPark for local community, sports clubs and top athletes.
Test event: Feb 17-19, 2012: Cycling (Track), UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic
Transport: Stratford (National Rail, London Underground, DLR), West Ham (London Underground, National Rail)
London firefighters 'used as locksmiths' - BBC News
Firefighters in London are being called out nearly every hour to rescue people who have locked themselves in or out of a building or vehicle.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said in the last three years, it has been called out to nearly 22,000 incidents of this type each day.
The brigade said it has been called out to people trapped in cemeteries, toilets and cupboards.
It estimated this costs taxpayers more than £500,000.
In the period 2009-11, the brigade was called to:
- 2,287 incidents where people were locked in
- 1,613 incidents where people were locked out
- 1,409 incidents involving babies or children being locked in cars or homes
- 276 adults and 176 children locked in toilets
- 12 people locked in cemeteries
- 14 people locked in cupboards
- A woman stuck in a fridge and a man shut in a freezer
- A person locked in the luggage area of a coach
- A person locked in a crematorium with a child
- A person stuck in a recycling bin
LFB said it wanted to reduce these types of callouts, saying locksmiths should be called instead unless somebody's life is at risk.
On Tuesday, the force will tweet about every locked in or out incident that its crews are sent to.
'Finished at pub'Dave Brown, head of operations, prevention and response, said: "We get called to an absurd number of non-emergency incidents involving people who have locked themselves in or out of their homes.
"We've even had people call 999 to ask if we can come round and let them into their homes, but then ask for the fire engine to arrive at 11.30 once they've finished at the pub."
He added: "If it's obvious to our crews that it's not an emergency, we won't help and people may well find themselves left out in the cold."
Steffan George, from the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA), said: "In most situations, a locksmith should be with you within an hour.
"It's always advisable to contact a qualified and inspected locksmith, such as those vetted by the MLA.
"I'd even suggest storing the phone number of a local locksmith in your mobile in case you ever need it."
Ukraine Olympic official resigns in wake of London 2012 ticket scandal - The Guardian
One of Ukraine's leading Olympic figures has resigned after he was filmed offering London 2012 tickets for sale on the black market.
Volodymyr Gerashchenko, the 66-year-old general secretary of the Ukraine National Olympic Committee (NOC), has quit but said he will co-operate with the independent investigation commission that was launched last week.
The Ukrainian NOC president, Sergey Bubka, said: "The Ukraine National Olympic Committee takes accusations very seriously and that is why we have acted so swiftly to address the recent BBC reports."
Gerashchenko, the head of Ukraine's NOC since 1997, was filmed by BBC London News offering to sell 100 tickets worth several thousand pounds to an undercover reporter posing as a ticket tout. Legislation brought in since London won the vote to host the Games in 2005 makes it a criminal offence to sell Olympics tickets on the black market, with a fine of up to £20,000 for each offence.
Gerashchenko was filmed telling the undercover reporter: "I understand you're a dealer – that's why for me, you are priority number one, the top, the person, in case we have extra tickets to contact you, we contact you." The official also asked to be paid in cash for the tickets.
London 2012 Olympics venues: North Greenwich Arena - Daily Telegraph
Hosting: Artistic gymnastics, trampoline, basketball, wheelchair basketball
Schedule:
Artistic Gymnastics: July 28 – Aug 7
Trampoline: Aug 3 – Aug 4
Basketball: Aug 8 – Aug 12
Wheelchair basketball: Aug 30 - Sep 8
Capacity: 20,000
Fact: In June 2008, the London auditions for the fifth series of The X Factor were filmed at the arena
Post games: will continue in its existing state as music and exhibition venue.
Test event: Jan 10-18, 2011: Gymnastics (Artistic, Trampoline, Rhythmic), Olympic qualifier
Transport: North Greenwich (London Underground), Charlton (National Rail)
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