Bolt forced out of London warm-up by mystery injury - The Independent
The clinical, efficient and unshakeable Germany were fragile
This is Germany. Solid, steady Germany. The team who was set to end the reign of Spain as they built...
London's Shard tower opens with empty floors and flat rents - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Superstar architect Renzo Piano calls the European Union's new tallest building a "vertical city", but when his stunning Shard tower opens on Thursday over London Bridge it will house the equivalent of a whole vacant neighbourhood.
The elongated glass pyramid, built atop a train station in a scruffy neighbourhood near the Thames, will open with 26 floors of vacant office space, and developers have to fill it at a time when rents are at the flattest in at least 50 years.
The Shard's developers are spared from market wrath solely because the building was built with funding by the deep-pocketed royal family of Qatar, rather than a publicly listed firm, said John Cahill, a property analyst at Investec.
"With the Shard's office floors still empty, it would be panic stations if it was a listed developer behind it," he said.
Long gone are the days in London's commercial real estate market when the Foster + Parners-designed 30 St Mary Axe, known as "the Gherkin" because of its oblong shape, opened in the financial district in April 2004 with all floors already let.
The Shard is just one of several skyscrapers now sprouting across London with nicknames that reflect the silhouettes they cast on the skyline. But with a financial crisis having blown in since architects first came up with designs for the "Walkie Talkie" and the "Cheese Grater", lettings have been muted.
Rents for the best offices in London's financial district - the yardstick used by Shard developer Irvine Sellar for the offices at the bottom of the tower - have been 55 pounds per square foot since September 2010, property consultant CBRE (CBG.N) said. That is the longest period of flat rents since its records began in 1960.
"The only reason rents haven't started to fall is the relatively low level of available space at the moment," said Kevin McCauley, head of central London research at CBRE, who expects rents to remain flat for the rest of the year.
The Walkie-Talkie, also known as 20 Fenchurch Street, is being developed by Land Securities (LAND.L) and Canary Wharf Group. The Leadenhall tower - the official name of the Cheese Grater - is being funded by British Land (BLND.L) and the property arm the Ontario, Canada city workers' retirement fund.
NEW MODEL
Developers say a wave of lease breaks and expiries over the next several years will prompt tenants to move into well-appointed new offices.
"Why would you drive around in a 1970s car when you can have a 2012 model?" said Sellar, an entrepreneur who began his career with a clothing store on London's Carnaby Street.
So far, it hasn't worked out that way. Work has halted at the Pinnacle skyscraper on Bishopsgate, which will remain a stump in the ground until a major slice is let. And developers of a neighbouring tower at 100 Bishopsgate say they will only begin once a large tenant is signed up.
If the climate is bothering the Qatari funders of the Shard, they did not say so at an opening event on Wednesday.
"Recovering our investment is a minor thing at the moment," said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud Al Thani, governor of Qatar Central Bank.
The development cost of the Shard, a neighbouring office building called The Place and communal areas around London Bridge train station is about 1.5 billion pounds.
"We have confidence in the London market and a long relationship with London," he said, emphasising that a slowdown was part of a normal economic cycle.
The only tenant so far is the 195-room Shangri-La hotel, which will occupy floors 34 to 52 of the 87-storey tower. S ellar expects the rest of the building to be fully occupied by the end of 2014, conceding it was a long-term view he could take only because of the Qatari backing.
He will have to lure tenants like media and financial firms to venture to the opposite bank of the Thames from the City, the traditional financial district. He says the Shard's location will save commuters who arrive by train from walking across London bridge in the rain. Others are unconvinced.
"A lot of traditional City tenants refuse to cross the river to even have a look," said Simon Wainwright, managing director of property consultancy J Peiser Wainwright. "In a nutshell it's a bridge too far for many," he said.
Sellar scoffed. "That's absolutely ridiculous... We've been very selective as to who can even come and view the building. Just look up the road at Ernst & Young and PWC and you realise you are in the middle of a financial district."
Discussions are underway with tenants for about a third of the office space, he said.
The Qataris, who also London's Harrods department store and the luxury One Hyde Park apartment scheme in Knightsbridge, are not the only rich foreigners buying into London real estate.
Overseas buyers have invested 15.8 billion pounds in London offices since 2010, 64 percent of the total, CBRE said. Middle Eastern investors accounted for 11 percent, or 2.8 billion pounds. And foreign ownership of the City financial district stands at 52 percent, Development Securities (DSC.L) said.
"Clearly the recent appreciation of Sterling has had little effect on overseas investor's views that central London is providing both good value and a safe haven," said Simon Barrowcliff, a CBRE executive director.
But the next wave of investors do not appear to be putting so much money into skyscrapers. Ken Shuttleworth, the architect who led the team behind the Gherkin while at Foster + Partners, said no plans for London skyscrapers were crossing his desk.
"In the current economic climate, we are basically only working on skyscrapers in the Far East," he said.
(Reporting by Tom Bill)
Vauxhall plugs in with the Ampera; ¦ Vauxhall has electrified the motoring world with the new Ampera. Dave Moss reports - Electric Light & Power
THE Vauxhall Ampera sets out to address the one really worrying practical issue that has been troubling electric car designers since the first such vehicles appeared 100 years ago - the driving range possible from available battery technology is relatively limited.
Two main approaches to this problem have emerged: Nissan and Renault offer "all-electric" rechargeable battery powered cars with zero emissions but relatively limited range: recharging is needed at intervals typically around 100 miles.
Honda, Toyota, Peugeot and Citroen have taken a hybrid approach, where onboard technology decides whether electricity and either petrol or diesel does the work - and in what proportions.
Such vehicles range compares well with conventionally fuelled cars, accompanied by lower - but not zero - average emission levels, and usefully improved fuel consumption.
Vauxhall's Ampera explores another avenue: electricity always powers the wheels, and the car can routinely be driven on electricity alone with a range of perhaps 50 miles.
Approaching this point, the driver's niggling "range anxiety" associated with electric-only vehicles is completely avoided - by a so-called "range extender". This 1.4-litre petrol engine simply drives a generator, and, automatically when the 16kWh lithium-ion battery pack is discharged - or on driver selection if required - the combination seamlessly powers the car's twin electric motors, boosting its battery-only range to perhaps 360 miles in total.
Travel is thus never limited to the electric-only distance: the range-extending petrol engine allows driving to continue, or a start to be made, at any time, without delay - whatever the state of battery charge.
Vauxhall quote startling European Test Cycle fuel economy figures: they show the Ampera is capable of 235.4mpg, with emissions of just 27g/km - far better than any conventional car or existing hybrid, with zero emissions and consumption when running on batteries alone.
Dependent on vehicle usage, fuel costs should thus be modest overall, while zero VED, no London congestion charge and significant reduction in company car tax are other important benefits.
Just 24 specialist Ampera dealers have been appointed to cover Britain, but Vauxhall says a comprehensive customer support package is available to owners. Free collection and delivery is promised for scheduled service, warranty and repair work, and the company's usual lifetime warranty will apply, but with an eightyear, 100,000 mile battery warranty. Servicing requirements are hardly unusual: the Ampera requires an intermediate service at 20,000 miles or annually, and a main service every two years or 40,000 miles.
Vauxhall anticipates service and maintenance costs will be around 15-20 per cent less than typical mid-size vehicles, since the car's battery and electric drive system are almost maintenance-free.
Further peace of mind is offered through a special Customer Charter, which includes a named contact at the company's HQ, able to provide information and support outside dealership operations.
SET against the range limitations imposed by current "pure electric" cars, Vauxhall's Ampera appears a more practical all-rounder.
It is conventionally packaged, but avoids the technological complexity of the hybrid approach favoured by some makers using a "range extending" petrol engine instead. This drives a generator which continues powering the vehicle's electric motors when the battery pack, rechargeable only from the mains, is discharged.
Pure electric or range-extending modes are driver selectable, so battery power can be conserved for specific driving conditions, but progress in both modes is ultra smooth.
With practice petrol engine operation is just detectable, but remarkable general mechanical refinement overall is slightly spoilt by ever-varying road surface noise, and some quite distant pothole bumpy-thumpy noise also audible.
No gear changing is apparent, though twin electric motors can deliver 150 horsepower when required, providing brisk performance, with easy overtaking and first class steady-speed cruising ability.
The Ampera is a sleekly styled, midto large-size hatchback with generousenough 301 litres of boot space and entirely adequate room for passengers - though the battery pack steals space, restricting the car to just four seats.
Perhaps understandably it is not a sportingly dynamic drive: handling is competent and tidy, while plenty of grip allows distinct progress to be made, but keener drivers will find only modest handling inspiration.
The car is happiest and most comfortable rolling with the flow, when occupants can mull over the rather uneasily avant-garde interior, neatly executed and fully trimmed, but understandably lacking the sophisticated elegance and well-heeled ambience exuded by conventional 30,000+ cars. The driver faces one of two multi colour, multi function screens, both capable of delivering sometimes complex graphic displays.
Thankfully, information of greatest importance to the driver is very clearly presented, but finding some functions - and assimilating the data presented - can take time.
Add in a central fascia area featuring 22 touch sensitive buttons, and the resulting layout doesn't appear especially ergonomic. The wheel is sensibly sized, and main controls are easily found at the multi-adjustable driving position, where the vast glass area ensures good visibility.
The test car's Electron specification featured a comprehensive trip computer, front and rear park assist with rear camera, cruise and dual zone climate controls, alloy wheels, and a comprehensive safety spec with stability control.
Keyless entry and ignition, alarm and immobilisation, satellite navigation, hard disc drive and Bose loudspeaker system were included, plus leather trim, heated seats, automatic lights and wipers - and plenty more.
The Ampera has an undeniably initial high price, but comes with strong financial incentives - and is hardly market-comparable on cash outlay alone.
Its range-extending approach neatly sidesteps the worrying difficulty of modest range suffered by today's electric-only cars - while still promising useful electric vehicle capability - with potential for noticeably less fossil fuel consumption than hybrid designs.
It's a specialist car, for drivers who yearn less for luxury, and more for its unique attributes, perfectly epitomising that old phrase: pay your money, take your choice.
at a glance Model: Vauxhall Ampera Electron Price: 33,995 ( after Government 5,000 plug-in grant taken into account) Engine: Electric, 86ps Performance: 0-62mph in 8.7 seconds, top speed 100mph Fuel economy: 235mpg CO2: 27 g/km
London 2012: No Wales sanction for Olympic four - BBC News
Aaron Ramsey and his Wales team-mates will face no repercussions over their involvement in the GB Olympic team, the Football Association of Wales has said.
Ramsey, Craig Bellamy, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor have defied the FAW's wish by agreeing to play at London 2012.
The FAW oppose Team GB, fearing it could threaten Wales' independence.
But chief executive Jonathan Ford said: "We've always made it very clear, we're not going to put any sanctions on any players."
Former Wales captain Ryan Giggs takes the Welsh contingent in the 18-man GB squad to five, selected alongside Bellamy as one of three players allowed over the age of 23.
Gareth Bale was also set to be involved but a back injury has prevented the Tottenham Hotspur winger from taking part.
The four involved face the possibility of another kind of sanction, though, as suspensions from red cards not served during the Olympics will be carried over to the next competitive Wales game.
With no players selected, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be unaffected for their World Cup qualifiers in September, while no English player in the Olympic squad featured in Roy Hodgson plans for Euro 2012.
That leaves Ramsey, Bellamy, Allen and Taylor treading a disciplinary tightrope as they aim for an Olympic medal.
Ford added: "It was always their decision. They knew where we stood.
"Ultimately they were able to make the decision themselves and let's just hope they come back to us fighting fit for our World Cup qualifiers in September."
Wales begin preparations for those World Cup qualifiers in August with a friendly against Bosnia-Hercegovina in Llanelli on 15 August, four days after the men's Olympic final at Wembley Stadium
Chris Coleman's men will welcome Belgium to Cardiff on 7 September in the opening qualifier for Brazil 2014, before facing Serbia away four days later.
Ford said he wished the Welsh players well at the Olympics but said the tournament, which includes a Great Britain team for the first time since 1960, would never come near to the prestige of international football's two major events.
"I'm pretty damn sure there's no player that would give up the Fifa World Cup winners' medal or a Uefa European Championship winners' medal for an [Olympic] gold medal," he said.
"I'm pretty damn sure that's the pinnacle of our sport and that's unfortunately something that will always stay."
London 2012 Olympics: 22 days to go - live blog - The Guardian
The 24-hour news channels don’t seem to be showing David Cameron’s Olympics speech.
However, I’ve got a copy, so here are the key points:
In a rare compliment to the Labour government, he says:
There’s a lot to be proud of when it comes to these Olympic and Paralympic Games. The bidding team and the last government did a great job winning them for Britain, and a great job getting them off the ground. The government I lead picked up the baton and kept up the pace.
He warns that the London transport network is going to be stretched:
However well prepared we are, some things will come as a surprise. For example, the crowds and strain on our transport system, for which we will all have to make allowances.
He says the inspiration for the legacy of the games should be the Great Exhibition of 1851, “when the personal drive of one man, Prince Albert, created South Kensington, a new quarter of the capital that became a home to art, science and technology. London 2012 needs to match that - and it will.”
He talks about the financial benefits the Olympics have already brought:
Forty-six thousand people worked on the Olympic Park during construction. UK-based companies have won more than £6.5bn worth of contracts. And 75% of every pound spent on Olympic construction has gone towards regeneration.
As for the future, six of the eight major venues now have new “operators”, and the other two (one of them the Olympic Stadium) “will follow this year”.
Talking about the sporting legacy of the games, Cameron says: “We’re putting £1bn into youth sport, including a massive expansion of after-school clubs for children who don’t think sport is for them.” (The government was criticised by headteachers, Olympic sportspeople, Labour, young people and others in 2010 after Michael Gove announced that the education department would no longer fund the £162m-a-year school sport partnerships. Two months later Gove backtracked and said he had found £112m to keep the system going.)
The Games will be “great” for the economy he says. “We shouldn’t see them as an expensive luxury in tough times.”
Because we have built the solid foundations for a successful games, we are able to focus our efforts on making sure they are a boost for Britain. It’s what I’ll be devoting my energy to. Making sure that we turn these games into gold for Britain. Our inspiration for this should be the Festival of Britain in 1951, which was a showcase of national enterprise and innovation. Now, as then, we need to drum up business for Britain. Sell Britain to the world on the back of British success. No other country in the world has the chance to put on this show and profit from it in the next few years.
Cameron says he is hosting a global investment conference and 17 global business summits during the Games.
I am confident that we can derive over £13bn benefit to the UK economy over the next four years as a result of hosting the games. I am certain that when you add in the benefits from construction the total gain will be even greater.
He closes by saying: “These are Britain’s Games, Britain’s opportunity and Britain’s moment. We’ve got to make the most of them - and we will.”
The Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace. Photograph: Philip Henry Delamotte/Dominic Winter Auctions/PA Lomond Audi dealership sold to national giant Lookers for £15m - scotsman.com
Hugh McMahon, the former mechanic who founded Scottish Audi dealer Lomond Motors 14 years ago, has sold the business for £15 million to national operator Lookers.
Andy Bruce, managing director of Lookers’ motor division, told The Scotsman that the Lomond brand would be retained, along with its workforce of around 350 people, although McMahon has left the business following the deal.
The acquisition of Lomond, which has branches in Ayr, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling, expands the group’s position in Scotland, where it already operates under the Taggarts brand.
Bruce said: “The Lomond business is one that we’ve long admired. It’s an area we’re familiar with, as Taggarts operate in Glasgow and Motherwell.”
News of the deal came as industry figures showed continued growth in car sales last month, driven by strong demand north of the Border.
The Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA) said a total of 16,694 new cars were registered in Scotland last month, a 9.3 per cent hike over June 2011. That compares with a rise of 3.5 per cent for the UK as a whole.
SMTA chief executive Douglas Robertson said the number of private buyers had risen almost 10 per cent over the past six months.
Ford and Vauxhall remained the most popular marques, with Vauxhall’s Corsa topping the sales chart in Scotland last month, although it was nudged into second place by the Ford Fiesta in the overall UK rankings.
There were 614 Audi models sold in Scotland during June, a year-on-year rise of about 4 per cent.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said there were 189,514 new registrations across the UK in June, taking sales for the first half of the year to 1,057,680, a 2.7 per cent rise on January-June 2011.
The SMMT believes sales will reach 1.95 million by the end of the year – just ahead of last year’s 1.94 million total.
Chief executive Paul Everitt said: “Despite domestic and international economic concerns, UK motorists are responding positively to new products and the latest fuel-efficient technology.
“The industry has performed better than expected in the first half of the year and we will now need to work hard to sustain growth.”
There was a 47.8 per cent rise in sales of alternatively-fuelled vehicles last month, while diesel sales also rose and have accounted for 51.2 per cent of total sales in the first half of 2012.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, described the figures as “encouraging”, but he warned that the motor industry still faces very challenging conditions.
He said: “Consumers are under major pressure from muted earnings growth, high unemployment and a need for many to deleverage.
“Furthermore, consumer confidence is still very low compared to long-term norms.”
Glasgow-based Lomond made a pre-tax profit of £700,000 last year. Net assets at the firm, which also distributes trade parts for the VW Group in Edinburgh and Glasgow, stood at £5.3m as of December 2011.
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Print this pageContracts exchanged for £400m Battersea Power Station - Out-Law
The joint venture company has confirmed that it plans to implement an approved master development plan for the Battersea site, which includes proposals for around 3,500 new homes. It was drawn up by architect Rafael Vinoly.
The Grade II listed former power station is situated on the south bank of the River Thames and is within the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area. The 39.1 acre Battersea Power Station is the last significant piece of prime central London remaining for redevelopment, said Knight Frank and Ernst & Young Real Estate Corporate Finance, joint sales advisers for the scheme.
Wandsworth Council has previously granted approval for masterplan that Vinoly prepared for the redevelopment of the Station. The approved scheme comprises 3,500 private and affordable homes; 160,000 square metres of new office space; 56,000 sq m of retail space and 9 hectares of public realm. The plans also include proposals for two new London underground stations, which would extend from the Northern line.
"The plan includes a sustainable mixed development comprising residential and commercial units while the power plant with its chimneys will be conserved and preserved," BPHCL said. "The Gross Development Value of the 15 year project is expected to be approximately £8 billion."
"The construction of the Northern Line extension is fundamental to the success of this regeneration project. As such we intend to actively support Transport for London and Wandsworth Council in their efforts to implement and make this essential infrastructure a reality" said Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, chief executive of S P Setial.
The Battersea Power Station site is identified as an Opportunity Area in the London Plan, which is an area that London Mayor Boris Johnson has identified as having the potential to accommodate a substantial number of new jobs and homes. The Mayor's planning framework for the area, which includes part of neighbouring Vauxhall, predicts that up to 16,000 new homes and 25,000 new jobs will be created as the site is developed.
London police arrest six terrorism suspects - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Five men and a woman suspected of preparing terrorist attacks were arrested during early morning police raids across London on Thursday, police said.
Police said the operation was not linked to the Olympics, which start in London on July 27, but was part of a planned intelligence-led operation.
A security source said the London arrests were related to international Islamist militancy and were made at an early stage of plotting. It was not clear if any targets were identified.
During the raids, a 29-year-old man was arrested on a street in west London while the others, aged between 18 and 30, were detained at residential addresses in east and west London.
A 24-year-old man was tasered by police with a stun gun during the operation by armed officers but did not require hospital treatment.
Police said the six were arrested on suspicion of the "commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism".
Detectives were searching eight homes in east, west and north London, and one business address in east London.
In a separate and apparently unrelated incident, armed police closed both carriageways of a motorway near Britain's second biggest city, Birmingham, after reports of a man acting suspiciously on a coach heading for London.
British security forces are on high alert for any signs of trouble ahead of the Olympics. Seven years ago this week suicide bombers killed 52 people in a string of coordinated attacks in London.
The motorway incident proved to be a false alarm. Police said they did not consider it to be a counter-terrorism situation and they were not treating anyone as suspect.
(Reporting by Tim Castle and Phil Noble, Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison Williams)
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