LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - Rising like a gleaming splinter of glass into a grey sky, London's tallest building is designed to mirror a dynamic city living ahead of its time.
But for Londoners dwelling in its shadow, the futuristic new skyscraper known as the Shard is more a reflection of their own unease at the city's fast-changing and confusing identity.
Still an empty shell and yet to secure any office tenants, the giant Qatari-funded spire, the highest in western Europe, also stands as a powerful symbol of tough and unpredictable economic times.
Towering 310 metres (1,016 feet) over the south bank of the River Thames, the Shard already dominates London like no other building, its spire sometimes obscured by cloud in the British capital's often overcast skies.
The 95-storey Shard, so called because of its resemblance to a gigantic glass splinter, has yet to be finished but this week marks the completion of its physical exterior. A delegation of Qatar royals has flown in to oversee the coming of age of their 1.5 billion pound creation.
London's skyscrapers are modest compared with those of other financial centres in the Americas, Middle East and Asia. Even the Shard remains lower than New York's Empire State Building, completed more than 80 years ago, and it falls well short of half the height of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.
Moscow's Federation Tower, like the Shard not yet finished, will be the highest in Europe at 360 metres.
But once completed next year, the Shard will boast some of Europe's highest and most expensive flats, their bedrooms and kitchens offering views over a skyline where facades of bygone eras sit alongside the steel and chrome of a new London.
The squalor and extreme poverty of Victorian London, described by novelist Charles Dickens 150 years ago, are long gone. Yet the Shard stands close to some of the city's most deprived areas where unemployment and crime remain rife as Britain endures its second recession of the financial crisis.
For some Londoners, its hulking mass next to London Bridge railway station is intimidating, with many scoffing at its flashiness as an example of wasteful spending at a time of economic and social uncertainty.
"There is nothing for local people in it. Some of the apartments at the top are going to sell for millions of pounds in an area where there is a lot of poverty," said Lee, an office worker in her fifties who lives near the Shard.
"I can see it from everywhere. The best time is when it's raining and the mist goes right all the way up and covers it, and you can't see it. That's the best time."
Rouhman Choudhury, who helps to run local council housing estates, agreed. "It's just monstrous," he said, pointing at the Shard's silhouette looming over a collection of rundown buildings.
"There are similar situations in other parts of London too where you have council estates with poverty and high unemployment. This doesn't seem to help the community in any way. We don't even know what's inside."
British media have given it a chilly welcome, with some calling it an example of the new "oligarchitecture" dominating London. Others see it simply an as eyesore, saying it has ruined views over the mediaeval Tower of London and Baroque St Paul's Cathedral which once dominated the skyline.
"The skyscraper both encapsulates and extends the ways in which London is becoming more unequal and dangerously dependent on hot money," the left-leaning Guardian daily wrote on June 25.
"So, the Shard: it's expensive. It's off-limits. It's largely owned by people who don't live here. And it is the perfect metaphor for what our capital is becoming."
EMPTY SHELL
Designed by Italian Renzo Piano, the Shard is expected to draw rich customers from all over the world but so far it has signed only one pre-let deal with the five-star Shangri-La Hotel and spa.
Insiders shrug off concerns about finding tenants during the recession. " They are in talks. But nothing has been signed yet," said a person with knowledge of negotiations. "On tenants you will start hearing any time now, onwards."
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said the political and economic uncertainty arising from the Arab Spring and the euro zone crisis had driven up foreign interest in investing in prime London property.
"Everybody with money to spend wants to be in London ... If you're a sovereign wealth fund with lots of gas money, you can afford not to require a return next year or the year after," she said. "People either love it or hate it, but I don't see why you shouldn't have iconic skyscrapers in London just because we have lots of lower-rise historic buildings."
Curiously, a January report by Barclays Capital pointed to a correlation between new skyscrapers and hard financial times, saying construction of the Empire State Building and some other landmarks coincided with economic crises.
But some people are more positive. Ken Shuttleworth, an architect and mastermind behind another striking London skyscraper known as the Gherkin, said that the British capital, like any other city, had to evolve. "It's not a museum, it's basically a living, working organism," he said.
Shuttleworth drew comparisons between London and the French capital where almost all skyscrapers stand outside the historic centre, including the Defense financial district.
"You can't say it's got to be like it used be in mediaeval times because that's not feasible. Otherwise you end up with Paris, where nothing really happens in middle of Paris and everyone has to go and work out in La Defense," he said.
But what would Dickens say? "I think he would be astonished. Absolutely astonished," said Shuttleworth. "I'm sure if he was here, he'd write a book about the Shard."
(Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by David Stamp and Ralph Boulton)
Source: uk.reuters.com
Sussex’s 2nd XI runners-up in SE t20 finals day - Chichester Observer
Sussex’s 2nd XI were the beaten finalists after beating Essex’s 2nd XI in the semi-final, while England had progressed past Worcestershire’s 2nd XI.
Sussex batted first in the opening game against Essex and scored 166-6 from their 20 overs, with 70 from Matt Machan and 32 from Luke Wells.
In reply, Essex never looked set to chase down the total and a devastating spell of 4-17 from James Anyon accounted for the Essex middle order as they could only make 107-8.
Michael Rippon, following up his first-team debut against Kent the previous night when he took 4-23, was again among the wickets and took 3-22.
The victory meant Sussex would go on to face England Under-19’s in the final following their victory over Worcestershire in the semi-final.
Sussex won the toss and, after electing to bat, scored 156-6 with Wells hitting 53, Harry Finch 28, Devon Endersby 23 not out and Will Adkin 21.
The total was not enough, though, as England won by eight wickets with more than two overs remaining.
Alan Fordham, head of first-class cricket operations for the ECB was in attendance and awarded the man-of-the-match award to Ben Duckett, representing Northants, in the England under-19 side.
Joe Hudson, Arundel Castle club secretary, said: “This was a very successful day, for once – this season – played under pleasant weather conditions. We are pleased to have been able to host the event for the ECB.”
Source: www.chichester.co.uk
'This is the end for Newhaven' – controversial incinerator fires up - The Guardian
You see it as soon as you come over the headland. The 65-metre chimneys rise above the vast silver roofs. The trees around the incinerator will grow eventually, but for now it sits in a scrubby valley of chalk soil, exposed, and still shinily new.
Controversy has dogged the waste incinerator at Newhaven in East Sussex from the start. The small port town itself has a population of just 12,000, but more than 16,000 objections to the plans to locate an incinerator near the town centre were received from the area.
The county council went against popular sentiment and granted permission. Subsequent attempts for a judicial review were rejected, and the decision was chased all the way up to the then secretary of state Ruth Kelly. She ruled in favour. On Wednesday, after more than 10 years of fighting, the incinerator was officially opened.
The new site will be operated by Veolia, which currently owns seven operational incinerators, which they call "energy recovery facilities", with a further site under construction in Staffordshire. The government says incinerator facilities are expanding rapidly across the country, with 23 operating in England and a further 70 sites at various stages of planning and development.
On both sides in Newhaven, however, it seems the long battle over the plant has been neither forgiven nor forgotten. Outside a small group of protesters held up signs reading "What human rights?". One local woman, dropping off a friend, said that she wouldn't be staying. "It's too late, isn't it? I can't bear to look at it." Pauline Miles, 75, has lived in Newhaven for 46 years and said: "This is the end for Newhaven. Our town has been going down and down and we're the dregs now. The health risks frighten me. Why is it in a town? Why not up country somewhere? All those trucks!"
Inside, speaking at the launch ceremony, Peter Jones, leader of East Sussex council, referred angrily to the "voodoo science" peddled by campaigners, and talked of "the triumph of fact-based evidence over wilful ignorance" that has led to the facility opening. "It is a great shame that due to the misleading information, the liberal population of Newhaven just won't engage with this incinerator as they might."
Incinerators take residual waste – whatever is left over after recycling and compost collections – and turn it into fuel, using the rubbish in place of coal or gas to drive turbines and produce electricity.
At Newhaven the rubbish is trucked in from six different local authorities and tipped down chutes into the vast dump. From the control room, you can peer about 40 metres down into the extraordinary landscape of rubbish; it's possible to pick out wheel hubs, crisp packets and apple juice cartons, but much of it is shredded or just rotted and unrecognisable.
From here the 15 people who run the entire site use joysticks to control enormous grabbers that mix the rubbish and pick up huge bundles to dump into the furnaces. These run at 1000C, heating water and powering turbines to generate, at capacity, 19MW. By comparison, a large onshore wind turbine can have a capacity of 5MW, while the UK's largest power station, coal-fired Drax, has a generating capacity of 3,960MW.
Campaigners claim numerous problems with incinerators as a solution to the UK's waste problems. Shlomo Dowen, of UK Without Incineration Network believes that incinerators are disastrous in terms of climate, cost and efficiency. "There are far more exciting and useful waste disposal technologies coming through now, and incineration is stifling their development."
He also points out that an incinerator requires a certain amount of waste to keep the furnaces going, so the local community is locked into providing that for 20 years, rather than reducing or recycling.
Richard Kirkman, head of technology at Veolia, sees incineration as currently the most environmentally friendly option. Conceding that waste is a less efficient fuel than coal, he counters that the energy produced is far less carbon intensive, at just 275g of CO2 per KWh. That compares with about 910g from coal, and 390g from gas according to figures from the International Energy Agency. "Things will evolve, definitely. This may not be the best solution in 20 years. But for now, for the next 20 years, this is the right thing to do."
On the growing number of incinerators, a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "It is one among several waste technologies, a combination of which is needed for sustainable waste management. The government is focused on energy outcomes in terms of maximising outputs and not specific technology." The government has a "waste hierarchy", he said, which places incineration above landfill but below re-use and recycling.
The people of Newhaven remain unconvinced. Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat local MP, boycotted the opening ceremony. "This gigantic intrusion into the landscape was forced on the town against the wishes of virtually all its residents by the Tory county council," he said. "It has damaged the landscape and sent out a message that Newhaven is simply a convenient dumping ground for the rest of the county. There is nothing to celebrate."
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Usain vows to be fit for London, despite pulling out of Monaco Diamond League race - Daily Mail
|
Olympic champion Usain Bolt has vowed to fit in time for the Games despite having to pull out of the Monaco leg of the Diamond League later this month.
Bolt suffered two defeats to Yohan Blake in the 100 metre and 200m Olympic trials and has now pulled out of the meet in the Principality.
The Jamaican sprinter has since been spotted taking a flight to Munich in Germany where he is expected to see a specialist for treatment.
Sweating on Bolt: Usain has had to pull out of the meet in Monaco
'Arising from Usain's participation at the national trials in Kingston last weekend where he had a slight problem,
'I've had to withdraw him from the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 20 to give him sufficient time for treatment and time to train and prepare for the Olympics in London,' Glen Mills said in a statement.
But Bolt has quelled any fears he could miss the this summer's showpiece even.
He said: 'I am happy to have earned my spot on the Jamaican Olympic team despite the challenge. I will be in London to defend my titles in the 100, 200 and 4 X 100 metres.
'I want to congratulate my fellow Racers Track Club Members along with the other athletes who made the team. I thank everyone for their support.'
Meanwhile, American great Michael Johnson believes Bolt can lower his 100 metres world record from 9.58 to 9.4 seconds and has also suggested two years is not a long enough ban for drug cheats.
Second best? Bolt was beaten twice at the Jamaica Olympic trials
Johnson said: 'If Usain was to be really focused and committed on cleaning up his technique he could probably run 9.4 seconds but he would have to do some major training and adjustments in the way that he runs.
'I think he can do whatever he wants to do. If he gets to the starting line healthy, at his best, everyone else at their best, he wins every time ... he's that good.'
Johnson, who holds the world and Olympic records over 400 metres, was impressed by Yohan Blake's two victories over Bolt in last weekend's Jamaican trials and believes the 22-year-old is another gold-medal prospect at the London Games that start on July 27.
'Yohan Blake showed he will take advantage when Bolt does not perform at his best.' the American said.
'Bolt now has a legitimate challenger and will need to be at his best in London to defend his Olympic title.'
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London Firm Wins Cash Prize For Euro Exit Plan - Sky.com
London-Based Consultancy Wins 'Euro Exit' Prize
Updated: 3:21pm UK, Thursday 05 July 2012
Below is a summary of the winning Capital Economics submission:
If member states leave the Economic and Monetary Union, what is the best way for the economic process to be managed to provide the soundest foundation for the future growth and prosperity of the current membership?
• The most realistic scenario for euro break-up is that one or more of the weaker peripheral countries will leave the euro-zone, introduce a new currency which then falls sharply, and default on a large part of their government debt. Other forms of break-up are possible but the analysis of these will involve the same issues, albeit, in the case of strong countries leaving, often with the signs reversed. Accordingly, our analysis centres on the departure of a single weak member, and we then note any instance where the issues and conclusions need to be modified for other forms of break-up.
• It will not be possible to be open about preparations to leave for more than a very short period of time without precipitating damaging outflows of money which could cause a banking collapse. Accordingly, preparations must be made in secret by a
small group of officials and then acted on more or less straightaway.
• Given the short time from announcement to implementation, it will not be possible to have new notes and coins available immediately when a country exits the euro. This is unfortunate, but it is not as serious as is often imagined. The authorities should
allow euro notes and coins to continue to be used for small transactions. But straight after the decision to leave the euro has been announced, they should commission new notes and coins to be produced as soon as possible.
• In order to facilitate the convenient use of euro notes and coins, to help to maintain price transparency and to boost confidence in the new regime, we recommend that the new currency, say the drachma, is introduced at parity with the euro.
Accordingly, where a price used to be 1.35 euros, it would now be 1.35 drachmas.
Of course, the drachma would be free to fall on the foreign exchange markets and indeed it is vital that it should do so.
• We reckon that if any or all of the weaker members of the euro-zone left, their currencies would depreciate by something like 30-50%. This would add another 10% to consumer prices, or even more, which, spread over two years, would cause the annual rate of inflation to rise by roughly half this figure. But international experience suggests that such a spike can be short-lived and inflation can then return to something like its previous level.
• Just before departure, some form of capital controls will be essential, including at least closure of the banks. But after departure, capital controls should be avoided and, if used, should be withdrawn as soon as possible.
• The government should redenominate its debt in the new national currency and make clear its intention to renegotiate the terms of this debt. This is likely to involve a substantial default – perhaps sufficient to reduce the ratio of debt to GDP to 60%.
But the government should also make clear its intention to resume servicing its remaining debt as soon as practically possible.
Roger Bootle
Managing Director
• In order to restore confidence further, we recommend that the exiting country immediately announces a regime of inflation targeting, monitored by a body of independent experts, adopts a set of tough fiscal rules, outlaws wage indexation, but
announces the issue of index-linked government bonds. The government should also continue with structural reforms designed to increase the flexibility of product and labour markets.
• The national central bank of the exiting country should stand ready to inject liquidity into its own banking system, if necessary by quantitative easing. The monetary authorities should also announce their willingness to recapitalise the banks
if necessary.
• The authorities should provide as much clarity as possible on the legal issues, including the status of the exiting country’s membership of the European Union and the impact on international contracts currently denominated in euros. EU approval
would also be needed for any capital controls, but this would have to be sought retrospectively. All of this would require close cooperation with other EU member states and institutions, including countries in the Northern core.
• At the same time, to minimise the risk of contagion to other countries that might otherwise wish to remain within the euro (and whose interests are best served in the long-term by doing so), the Northern core may need to accept faster progress
towards full fiscal and political union.
• Domestic economic policy may also have to adapt. Indeed, policymakers in the Northern core should have more freedom once they are no longer constrained by the need to set an example for weaker countries that have left. Since the value of the euro
would rise, the Northern core would initially suffer from a loss of domestic demand, although it would enjoy a lower inflation rate. This combination would give it the incentive to undertake measures to boost domestic demand, especially through monetary policy and structural reforms.
• Such a rebalancing of the economy away from reliance on net exports would be in the interests of the whole of the current membership of the euro-zone, as well as countries outside it.
• Overall, our analysis has revealed a series of very tricky issues which any exiting country would need to face. But all of these difficulties can be overcome.
Source: news.sky.com
Who has done that on his face ??
- Red Devil47, northwich Cheshire, 05/7/2012 15:53
Report abuse