TMCnet News
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING(City A.M. (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) UK firm works on windowless plane New technology that could help reduce the weight of an aircraft could soon see windowless planes take to the air. Plastic display screens for use in aircraft cabins are one of several applications of printable electronics that are being developed at the Centre for Process Innovation in Sedgefield in northeast England, part of the government's network of technology centres known as "catapults". Rich seam of interest in UK mining Coal mining is poised for a mini-revival in the UK with Australian investors financing projects close to the border of England and Scotland. Melbourne-based New Age Exploration has been drilling test holes near the Scottish border town of Gretna, where it believes relatively shallow coal seams will produce a viable mine. About 80km away at Whitehaven, West Cumbria Mining, a UK firm with Australian backers, proposes to extract coal that lies mainly offshore. Wickr butts into Wall St conversation Wickr, a cyber security start-up, is in talks with banks and major financial services companies including Markit to create an alternative to Bloomberg instant messaging, just as Goldman Sachs tries to create its own Wall Street chat service. The firm has taken an investment from CME Group, the futures exchange operator, and is working to create an app that will allow both chat and financial transactions between traders. Crime fall hides rise in bank fraud Almost 4m crimes are being left out of official figures, disguising the huge scale of fraud across Britain, according to an analysis by the Office for National Statistics. Inclusion of bank and credit card frauds in the annual Crime Survey for England and Wales would increase the estimated number of annual offences by 50 per cent, taking the crime total from 7.3m to 11m a year. Alcoa cuts losses with plant closure The contraction of the global market for aluminium has gathered pace with the decision by Alcoa, one of the world's biggest producers, to shut down a plant in Sardinia to reduce capacity. German business confidence plunges Germany's businesses are rapidly losing confidence in the prospect of a recovery in the Eurozone, in a further blow to the single currency's biggest economy. Companies' assessment of the business climate is now at a 13-month low, having deteriorated for four successive months, according to a survey of 7,000 firms conducted by the Munich-based IFO think tank. Morrison's success story in Gibraltar Wm Morrison is celebrating the 20th anniversary of what is often regarded as its busiest supermarket - and it's in Gibraltar. US prepares Syria surveillance flights The Pentagon is preparing to send surveillance aircraft, including drones, into Syrian airspace to gather intelligence on Islamist targets, laying the groundwork for a possible expansion of the limited US military air campaign beyond Iraq, senior US officials said. Investor wants Ann Taylor sale An activist investor wants the parent of Ann Taylor to get off the discount rack and sell itself for full price. Engine Capital believes a strategic or private-equity buyer would be willing to pay between $50 and $55 a share for the retailer. (c) 2014 City A.M. |