London Walk for Muscular Dystrophy - Market Wire
LONDON, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 30, 2012) - On Saturday, June 16th London will be moving its muscles to make an impact in the fight against muscular dystrophy. The community will be joining together for the annual London Walk for Muscular Dystrophy to support over 50,000 children, teens and adults who are affected by neuromuscular disorders in Canada.
Leading the London event will be this year's Walk Ambassadors, the Fritz family, who know first hand how important this community event is to families affected by muscular dystrophy. "As a family, we enjoy showing our support for each other and our friends. We enjoy the community involvement, meeting other families who understand our journey, fears and concerns," says Diane Fritz, whose son Bryce was diagnosed with CMT-X at the age of six.
Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of progressive muscle disorders that weaken the muscles that control body movement. These disorders can have devastating effects, resulting in the loss of most abilities we take for granted. Over time, many people with neuromuscular disorders are unable to walk, speak or ultimately breathe. For some, the disorder is fatal.
The Walk for Muscular Dystrophy is "an opportunity for the community to come together and support those affected by neuromuscular disorders at the local level." describes Stacey Lintern, Muscular Dystrophy Canada Ontario Executive Director. The Walk is a fun-filled, fully accessible event the entire family can enjoy, regardless of fitness level. The event will include activities for kids, food and refreshments, and a prize raffle.
Proceeds from the event support various programs including funding equipment and support services for individuals and families faced with financial hardships, information and advocacy initiatives that highlight the needs of those living with neuromuscular disorders, and fund research to one day find a cure. All of Muscular Dystrophy Canada's programs are made possible by donations. The organization receives less than one percent in government funding.
Festivities will be taking place on Saturday, June 16th at Gibbons Park in London. Participant registration begins at 10:00am and the walk, wheel and roll begins at 11:00am.
To take part in the London Walk for Muscular Dystrophy or for more information, please visit www.muscle.ca/walk.
London close: Stocks drop on Spanish worries - Life Style Extra
- Eurozone economic sentiment slips
- Miners fall on euro, Chinese concerns
London's blue-chip index closed near its intraday low on Wednesday as ongoing concerns over the Eurozone, and particularly Spain, sank global equity markets.
"Spain has taken centre stage again today. Ongoing concerns over the country's banking system are forcing investors to re-adopt a risk-off approach," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. In fact, some analysts, like Matthew Lynn from Strategy Economics, are saying that Spain is more likely to leave the euro before Greece.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has today denied press claims that it has been sticking its nose into Spain's affairs and advising on the southern European country's plans to inject 19bn into the stricken lender Bankia. Nonetheless, the central bank may have unwittingly muddied the waters a bit further when it later ammended a rectification to a subsequent clarification.
Also dampening sentiment today was the news that the governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Angel Fernndez Ordez, has announced that he will resign on Sunday, June 10th, instead of waiting for his term to expire on July 12th.
Further complicating matters, ECB data today revealed that the retail and corporate deposits in Spanish banks declined from 1.656tn to 1.624tn in April, a fall of 1.9% month-on-month compared with a slight rise the month before.
Before the close in London, Spain's 10-year bond yield was 21.2 basis points (bp) higher at 6.658%, while Italy's was up 17.2bp at 5.938%. Italy sold 5.73bn in five- and 10-year debt this morning, short of its maximum 6.25bn target and at higher borrowing costs than at the last auction.
In other news, the European Commission's economic sentiment index fell from 92.9 to 90.6 in May, well below the 92.0 figure expected by analysts. Sentiment now stands at its lowest level since October 2009.
FTSE 100: Resource stocks track commodity prices lower
Commodity futures dropped sharply today after the Chinese government said that it does not intend to introduce additional economic stimulus measures, in direct contrast to recent market chatter. Oil prices were also pressured lower on speculation that US stockpile data (to be released tomorrow) will show that inventories rose to their highest levels since 1990 last week. Mining peers ENRC, Vedanta, Kazakhmys, Rio Tino and Antofagasta were suffering heavy losses by the close.
Risk aversion was also dampening the financial sector with banking peers Lloyds, RBS, Barclays and HSBC firmly in the red, joined by insurance groups Aviva, RSA and Standard Life.
Several stocks on the Footsie were also falling after going ex-dividend - trading without the right for their latest dividend payouts - including National Grid, Capital Shopping Centres Group, Marks & Spencer and AMEC. AMEC, the engineering and project management group, also announced this morning that it has acquired a Brisbane-based consulting, engineering and technical services business to expand its Environment and Infrastructure service offering in Australia. ??
Natural gas giant BG Group dropped after saying that it is to sell its stake in to gas-fired power generation plants in the Philippines as part of its planned release of $5bn of capital over the next two years. ??
Leading the upside were the utilities stocks, benefitting from their defensive characteristics during a 'risk-off' session. Severn Trent was the best performer despite pre-tax profits falling 38% in the year to the end of March; the group announced a special dividend and said it forecast no water restrictions for customers this year.
FTSE 250: Essar surges late on
India-focused energy group Essar Energy soared in the last ten minutes of trade after it noted media reports regarding an Indian ministerial coal block meeting. The company's coal block at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh state rumoured to be among those to have been provisionally approved by the Group of Ministers for Stage 1 Forest Clearance. While the company assured that not final decision has been made by the Indian Cabinet, it said that the approval would allow it to enter and clear the coal block areas.
Energy support services firm Cape jumped after announcing that a new Chief Executive will join the firm at the end of June. Joe Oatley will become Group Chief Executive and comes from Hamworthy, a global engineering business serving the oil and gas industry. ??
Food wholesaler Booker Group rose after saying it is to buy Makro UK, a subsidiary of the huge German retailer Metro, in a combined share and cash deal. Booker says the transaction will enable it to become the "UK's leading wholesaler to caterers, retailers and small and medium sized enterprises." ??
Ex-dividend stocks on the second-tier were trading lower; these included Britvic, Daily Mail & General Trust, Marston's, Cable & Wireless Communications and Intermediate Capital.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,706.00p +2.52%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 275.00p +0.62%
Next (NXT) 3,013.00p +0.37%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 508.50p +0.20%
International Power (IPR) 414.30p +0.07%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 677.00p +0.07%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 642.00p 0.00%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 434.60p -6.58%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 940.50p -5.38%
Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 307.70p -4.94%
BG Group (BG.) 1,224.00p -4.64%
National Grid (NG.) 650.00p -4.48%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 680.00p -4.29%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,542.00p -4.16%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,801.00p -4.14%
CRH (CRH) 1,121.00p -4.11%
Amec (AMEC) 975.00p -3.94%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Essar Energy (ESSR) 141.80p +21.93%
Booker Group (BOK) 87.00p +9.99%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 64.25p +4.05%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 763.00p +3.39%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 733.00p +3.31%
Cape (CIU) 238.00p +3.25%
Dignity (DTY) 836.50p +1.83%
Synergy Health (SYR) 813.00p +1.82%
London & Stamford Property (LSP) 107.80p +1.41%
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 76.95p +1.18%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 27.29p -15.25%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 289.90p -9.24%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 244.60p -7.45%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 98.00p -6.67%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 361.70p -6.46%
Lonmin (LMI) 706.00p -5.93%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 205.60p -5.90%
Northgate (NTG) 168.00p -5.83%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 138.60p -5.71%
Heritage Oil (HOIL) 121.00p -5.62%
BC
London 2012 Olympics: best of British food? Locog are taking the tea and biscuit - Daily Telegraph Blogs
Best of British not on offer in copious amounts on the Olympic Park
For some time now London Olympic Games organisers have been insisting that food at the London Olympics would be the best of British.
There were visions of high tea, Sunday roast, Beef Wellington, steak and kidney pie, Cornish pasty, fish and chips, Eton Mess all washed down with a nice hot cup of tea, or a pint of ale.
But it’s not to be, sadly.
The scale and complexity of feeding hundreds of thousands of people at speed means the London 2012 Olympic Games threatens to be like every other recent Games before it: a poor convergence of the expensive and the pedestrian.
Most spectators might accept the higher prices if the quality and consistency was apparent, but if the catering at the Olympic test events were a taster then prepare to be underwhelmed.
The Olympic Park offerings were bland and overpriced, with only the tucker on offer at Horse Guards Parade – where the beach volleyball will be played – the only exception.
Let’s look at the expense first. Locog released its pricing card on Wednesday and immediately the chief executive Paul Deighton was on the defensive, claiming the cost was similar to those found at other major sporting events and the premium was justified because "their temporary nature are often more expensive than the high street".
He forgot to mention the Games’ food suppliers don't pay rent. Or perhaps they do – it’s called 'sponsorship'.
So how much more expensive is it to queue at Olympic Park, rather than bring in food to the Olympic Park from the Local Sainsbury's?
The cost of a 500ml bottle of water (£1.60), an Innocent orange juice (£2.50), a blueberry muffin (£2.50), some oats with maple syrup (£2.20) and a gourmet cheese sandwich (£3.80) at the Olympic Park will cost £12.60 in total.
The same five items from the Sainsbury's en route to the train station cost £5.69.
But I can't bring my four-pack of Heineken 330ml beers (£4.49 for the lot) to the Olympics as they will be confiscated by security.
I would be forced, therefore, to shell out £4.20 for one small bottle at the Olympic Park. Forget ale, unless you happen to be at Lord’s – the archery venue – where it will be available, but only from unmarked taps.
The line at the supermarket might be too long, so consider the High Street alternatives. Olympic coffee priced at £2.60 is £2, and Olympic Coca Cola costing £2.30 is £1.60. At Pret A Manger the water is 95p. At Upper Crust the tea is £1.65.
Next, consider the lack of variety – the very spice of life – as English poet William Cowper famously said.
"We have gone to great lengths to find top quality, tasty food that celebrates the best of Britain," insists Deighton.
The menu – and this comes from the sample provided by the organisers because the whole list is too big and complex to release in its entirety, apparently - is as follows: Singapore noodles; chicken wings; pizza; penne pasta; and chicken burrito. There is Coke and Heineken to drink.
Best of British? No wonder McDonald’s has built its world's biggest restaurant on the Olympic Park capable of seating 1,500.
0 Responses to "London Walk for Muscular Dystrophy - Market Wire"
Post a Comment