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Monthly Archives: January 2012
MINI Baker Street And Bayswater
British-born automotive brand Mini has unveiled two London-themed special edition models to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The MINI Baker Street and MINI Bayswater will hit showrooms around the world in spring this year, with distinctive designs which play on London areas for a brand still renowned for its historically British styling.
Both feature exclusive interior and exterior design, with the Mini Baker Street boasting V-shaped hood stripes and a gray roof and the Bayswater finished in bright blue metallic paint work.
Inside, the Baker Street will feature a new gray lining and stitching, as well as an accessory pack which brings air conditioning, an on-board computer, a leather steering wheel, front foglamps, a lighting package and height adjustment for the front passenger seat.
The Bayswater model, a more sporty variant, is delivered with 17-inch light-alloy wheels and features black trim in the cockpit to match the hood design, as well as stainless steel pedals and the same accessory pack as the Baker Street.
It will be offered as a Mini Cooper SD, the top-end sports variant of Mini’s range which produces 143 hp using a six-speed manual gearbox.
Prices will start from £16,365 (€19,660) for the Baker Street and £18,565 (€22,300) for the Bayswater, according to reports.
Record Diesel Prices Expected After Refinery Goes Into Administration
Motorists have been warned to expect record diesel prices after the UK's largest independent oil refinery went into administration, putting 1,000 jobs at risk.
The Coryton refinery, in Essex, stopped supplies after its parent company, the Swiss-based oil refiner Petroplus, announced it was insolvent.
Administrators who took over the plant said on Tuesday that they hoped to resume deliveries following discussions with the facility's largest customer, BP, the former owner of the site. However, the AA and petrol retailers warned that the cost of diesel could reach a new high due to disruption caused by the closure.
At 142.21p a litre, diesel is less than 1p away from the record 143.04p set in May last year. "It is fairly certain it will pass that record," said an AA spokesman, adding food prices could rise in consequence. "Diesel is the fuel that powers our road hauliers, so if the price of diesel goes up it is passed on to the customer and then the consumer."
Coryton supplies around 20% of the fuel used across the south-east of England, including London, and energy analysts fear a prolonged shutdown could hit supplies in the region.
The joint administrator of the UK operations at Petroplus Refining, Steven Pearson of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said talks with its key customer BP were going well. "We have got a good, constructive dialogue going on, and I am confident that we will get products into the market as soon as possible."
Refined products including jet fuel are still being produced at Coryton, but are not currently being shipped because customers had dealt with Petroplus rather than the UK operation. PwC is seeking new supply deals with those customers.
Petroplus has been brought to its knees by factors including high crude oil prices, which have put pressure on a sector already struggling with low margins, and a capacity glut with the emergence of super-refineries in Asia.
There are concerns for the jobs of more than 1,000 people who work at the site and a sister facility in Teesside. Pearson said no workers had been laid off and he expressed hopes that the business would be sold with the workforce intact. "It is a big site, it is important and we will look at all options for restructuring it. I am optimistic that we can save it," he said.
BP uses Coryton to supply 180 petrol stations and has secured alternative supplies, including the Essar Oil refinery in Ellesmere Port. A BP spokesman said there were "no immediate supply issues" for the group.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change also played down fears of a petrol shortage, as hauliers represented by the Unite trade union began a week long strike. "There are contingency measures in place and there are other sources of refined product that suppliers can find," it said a spokesperson.
Petroplus went into administration after failing to persuade creditors to extend deadlines for loan repayments.
Richard Howitt, MEP for East of England, said the firm's collapse could have a devastating effect on the local community and hit petrol stations in the area.
"Supplies across London and the south-east could be affected, and I have been told this could impact on the Olympics," he told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday. Fuel consumption is expected to jump this summer when London hosts the Games.
News of the Coryton closure came as around 80 fuel tanker drivers at the Wincanton road haulage firm started a week-long walkout before dawn on Tuesday. The drivers, who are contracted to work for ConocoPhillips, are protesting about changes to their pay and working conditions.
Chris Kingshott, Wincanton's managing director for manufacturing, said the stoppage could affect petrol supplies.
"This strike, which we believe to be wholly unnecessary, could create significant disruption for road users and fuel retailers," he said.
Petroplus has debts of $1.75bn (£1.1bn) and was forced to seek insolvency protection after its lenders froze its credit lines, leaving it unable to access fresh borrowing. As well as Coryton, it operates refineries in Germany, France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Union leaders at the Unite union said they were hopeful that Coryton, which was sold by BP in 2007, could keep operating.
"Because of its strategic position within the UK, I am confident that the plant is going to get a buyer," said the Unite national officer, Linda McCulloch.
The Petroplus chief executive, Jean-Paul Vettier, admitted that the company's collapse would have serious repercussions for its workforce and the communities in which it operates.
"We have worked hard to avoid this outcome, but were ultimately not able to come to an agreement with our lenders to resolve these issues given the very tight and difficult European credit and refining markets," he said.
Martyn Ward, commercial director of Palmer and Harvey, which supplies wholesale goods to UK garages, warned that Petroplus's collapse would hit "already struggling" independent petrol stations.
Smaller New 5p And 10p That Will Save Treasury £8million A Year
The Royal Mint is rolling out new-sized 5p and 10p coins from this month which are slightly thicker (older coins pictured). A significant number are expected to be in circulation by April.
They're designed to save the Treasury around £8million a year.
But that may be little comfort to consumers as they wrestle with the Royal Mint’s new 5p and 10p coins – because chances are they won’t fit parking meters or vending machines.
The steel coins, which are gradually being introduced from the beginning of the year, are a fraction thicker than the old copper and nickel ones.
Ticket Resale Site To Be Relaunched
London 2012 will relaunch their Olympic ticket resale site this afternoon but the public will not be able to buy the newly available tickets until April.
The computer problems which saw the site suspended two weeks ago has led to organisers changing their plans.
Instead of the public being able to buy the tickets on a first-come, first-served basis when they become available, London 2012 will now buy back any unwanted tickets over the next two weeks from 3pm today and then sell them again from April.
Organisers will not confirm how the tickets will be re-sold until closer to the time.
LOCOG commercial director Chris Townsend said: "We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of our ticketing resale platform.
"We made a commitment to our customers to give them a safe, secure and legal way of selling Olympic and Paralympic tickets which they are no longer able to use.
"We are delivering on that commitment, and will buy any tickets that customers are no longer able to use at face value until February 3.
"Every ticket we purchase from the public will be offered back to the public from April. We believe this system – purchasing the tickets back from customers now, and offering them again from April, will result in a better customer experience for everyone.
"Our main objective has always been to provide a platform for people to resell their tickets in a safe, secure and legal way. This is the right solution, at the right time given we also have test event tickets on sale currently."
The re-sale site failed to cope with demand on the first day it was launched and caused frustration to tens of thousands of people who tried to buy tickets that appeared to be available but had not been removed from the system.
Organisers asked Ticketmaster to come up with a solution but the new system will see re-sold tickets made available at the same time as the 1million 'contingency' tickets that will go on sale from April, rather than being sold to the public now – and risking another failure of the system.
A London 2012 spokeswoman said: "Our main objective has always been to provide a platform for people to resell their tickets in a safe, secure and legal way. This is the right solution, at the right time given we also have test event tickets on sale currently.
"The platform is there to help people resell tickets in a safe, secure and legal way, recognising that we asked people to commit a long time before the Games and that circumstances may change."
Is Mobile Phone Insurance Worth It?
With mobile phone theft soaring, should you add yours to your household insurance or go for standalone cover? We scan the market for the best policies.
For many years Guardian Money has warned of the pitfalls of buying mobile phone insurance, which can be pricey and often has more get-outs than an escape artist.
Claims can be turned down for any number of reasons – such as if you fail to report the loss within 24 hours, or if the theft in the street was not accompanied by an actual threat of physical violence. Phones taken from schools or from public spaces, often including public transport, are rarely covered … and so on.
This led us to conclude in the past that mobile phone insurance wasn't worth the money, especially when handset costs weren't that high.
However, with the latest smartphones – particularly Apple iPhones – now costing around £600 to replace, we have had to reassess. A quick look on internet chatrooms shows there is huge interest in finding a cheap way to insure smartphones, but no one appears to have come up with a stand-out policy.
The simplest way to cover a handset is to buy your phone network's own policy. But these can be very expensive. Buy an iPhone 4S from Vodafone, and its Cover Me insurance costs £12.99 a month, or almost £312 over a two-year contract. Orange charges a similar £12 a month.
A cheaper option is to buy cover from one of the plethora of firms now offering to insure smartphones. Away from the big-name retailers, two of the best-known are Foneguard and TalkCover, and they offer insurance from £5.33 and £6.66 a month respectively for iPhones. Again there are plenty of exclusions, and in the case of TalkCover, there's an excess of £100 for an iPhone claim.
Undoubtedly the cheapest option is to add the phone to your home insurance, usually as a "possessions outside the home" extra. This could cost as little as £30 a year, and there will be other benefits.
You need to check the excess on the policy – again, it could be £100. However, you should weigh up how likely you are to claim. Contents insurance now gives significant no-claims discounts, meaning your premium could shoot up if you make a claim. You may take the view that you would rather not have your iPhone tangled up with your home insurance.
The best option we have found is Barclaycard's Gadget Insurance. You don't need to be a card carrier to insure the latest iPhone for £5.99 a month, or just under £72 a year. A BlackBerry costs £1.49 a month, and an iPad, £4.88. There's a £50 excess for iPhones, other smartphones and iPads, and while the policy has several notable caveats, it isn't quite as full of exclusions as some. It includes accidental damage. As with any policy, make sure you go through the small print.
If you have had a good or bad experience with Barclaycard's insurance or think there's a better policy out there, email money@guardian.co.uk
Lastly, follow these simple precautions to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of theft:
• Watch out for people on bikes and mopeds, and don't use your phone if someone could whizz by and grab it.
• Don't check your phone as soon as you leave a tube or train station – leave it a while, or walk into a shop.
• Don't text and walk – you will be less aware of what is happening around you.
• If you're talking outside, stand with your back against a wall so no one can come up behind you.
• Register your phone and other property at immobilise.com – it can help recover your property and capture thieves. You will need your phone's IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, which you can find by typing *#06# into your phone.
For tips on preventing personal theft, go to the Met police's factsheet.
AA Calls For Inquiry Over Cost Of Diesel
Motoring organisations around Europe are to step up their campaign for an investigation by Brussels into market manipulation by financial speculators and energy companies as the cost of diesel at Britain's pumps nears record levels.
The AA said it would meet its counterparts on the continent early next month to find a way of easing the burden of rising fuel costs on hard-pressed consumers.
"There is a lack of transparency in the fuel market, which is of major concern to all of us. We are anxious to understand how the price of European petrol can be $1,200 per metric tonne in 2008 and again in 2011 and yet oil prices are 10% to 15% cheaper," said a spokesman for the British motoring group.
Figures released on Thursday showed the price of diesel on the forecourts was 142.07p – less than 1p below its highest-ever average level of 143.04p – at a time when crude oil prices have plunged from $147 a barrel in 2008 to $123 in April last year and now to $111.
Rising fuel costs are bad for the wider economy, driving up the price of food and other commodities.
Growing public anger over petrol prices is likely to increase the week after next when Shell, one of the biggest petrol suppliers in the UK, will announce fourth-quarter profits of nearly $5bn (£3.2bn).
Large oil companies argue that they earn little profit from forecourt sales and make the vast bulk of their money out of "upstream" oil production. They point out that most of the petrol price is tax.
The AA says it is difficult to know whether it is oil companies, refiners or investment banks and other financial speculators that are to blame for the disparity in different energy prices and their relation to supply and demand.
"This is why we need the European commission to investigate," said the AA spokesman. "It is unclear – and yet in the US, Australia and south-east Asia there is published information on all this that makes it easier to see what is happening. Is it the middlemen who are doing the damage here? We have no way of proving it."
Both Shell and BP have sold off their key refineries in Britain but new owners such an Ineos and Petroplus have had financial problems, with the latter currently running its Coryton refinery in Essex at half capacity to save cash.
Meanwhile, motorists are facing further cost increases, with the AA warning that the average annual comprehensive insurance premium stands at £971.40 – up 5.4% on October and 15.3% on last year.
The rising cost of motoring will put more pressure on the government to delay further tax rises on petrol and diesel. Quentin Willson, a former Top Gear presenter and a leading light in the FairFuelUK campaign group, said in a blog: "The battle for affordable fuel has only just begun and FairFuel is the only gladiator in town. George Osborne wants another duty rise later this year. I'm determined that's not going to happen."
World Largest Qur’an Unveiled In Afghanistan
A calligrapher worked for five years to create the world's biggest Qur'an in a bid to show the world that Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage and traditions have been damaged but not destroyed by 30 years of war, it has been revealed.
The Qur'an with pages measuring 2.28 metres by 1.55 metres, has been certified as the world's largest by the Afghan ministry of Haj and religious affairs, according to the Kabul cultural centre that houses it.
The previous claim to the title was for a copy unveiled last year in Russia's Tatarstan region.
The Afghan Qur'an weighs 500kg and its 218 pages of cloth and paper, bound inside an embossed leather cover made from the skins of 21 goats, cost over £300,000 to create.
Mohammad Sabir Khedri, the master calligrapher behind the project, worked with nine students on a design that combines gold script with millions of tiny colourful dots, forming highly symbolic decorations around the giant pages.
"I wanted to use as many tasteful colours as possible to make this holy book look beautiful," he said, standing beside his enormous creation in a room built specially to house it.
Khedri not only created the masterpiece, he managed to keep it a secret for over two years. It was finished in 2009, but the binding and room to house it were not ready until the start of 2012, when it was finally unveiled.
The Qur'an is housed in a cultural centre originally founded in the 1980s, and once home to 50,000 books, a medical centre, and schools for Afghan crafts such as carpet weaving.
"The cultural centre is proud that it provided this opportunity for an Afghan artist to actually show his talent to the world … We have Afghan people who show the positive aspect of Islam," Naderi told Reuters.
The giant Qur'an was her father's dream and a project he devoted himself to for years, Naderi said.
"Writing the Qur'an is a privilege, and … of course if you can make the biggest Qur'an everyone wants to do it, because they want to show the feeling they have, the biggest feeling inside their heart," Naderi said of the project.
But as a devout Muslim, Khedri said he would welcome ceding his moment in the spotlight to an even larger Qur'an made by someone else.
"I will be happier if someone else makes a bigger Qur'an. It is serving Islam," he said with a smile.
Wii U Confirmed For Second Half Of 2012
Nintendo of America has insisted that the Wii U will definitely be out at some point between June and the end of the year, with more information promised on the new console before E3.
Spiced Cream Dory
Serves 4
Marination time: 2 hours 30 minsCooking time: 10 mins
Ingredients
- 640g cream dory, cut lengthwise into 2.5cm-thick strips
- salt, to taste
- 150ml lemon juice
- 6g yellow chilli powder
- 150g ginger-garlic paste
- 20g pommery mustard
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4g turmeric powder
- 10g fresh coriander leaves, chopped
- 100g Japanese breadcrumbs, mixed with 15g crushed coriander seeds and a pinch of black sesame seeds
- oil, for deep frying
- saffron chilli mayonnaise and salad, to serve
- 400g fried potato wedges, sauteed with curry leaves
Preparation
1. Marinate fish fillets in a mixture of salt, lemon juice, yellow chilli powder and ginger-garlic paste for 30 minutes.
2. Mix together pommery mustard, egg, turmeric powder and coriander. Add fish along with the marinade, mix and set aside for 2 hours. 3. Remove fish from marinade and coat with breadcrumb mixture. Deep-fry over medium heat until fillets are golden brown and cooked. Set aside. 4. Serve fish on a bed of saffron chilli mayonnaise, salad and potato wedges.
SJ POST 