The Birmingham Post
Land Rover and Jaguar face devastating EU fines -- up to nearly £17,000 for each car off the assembly lines -- following their sale to Tata Motors next month, under a tough new emissions regime.
Birmingham MP Richard Burden condemned the "illogical" proposals that would penalise smaller manufacturers, as he called for the government to intervene. He won a pledge from ministers to monitor the rules when he raised his concerns in the House of Commons.
Under the new EU rules, it is planned to fine manufacturers unless they meet tough new targets for carbon dioxide emissions. But businesses will be judged by the average level of pollution created by the cars they manufacture. It means Jaguar and Land Rover would escape fines if they were still owned by Ford, which also makes smaller cars with low emissions -- giving it a company-wide average within the EU limits. p1
Plans to partially merge ITV's Central Tonight news programme with its East midlands counterpart could drive viewers away, a media expert said last night.
James Clancy, a media analyst, said ITV might be in danger of driving viewers to other media by covering too wide a geographical area.
The broadcaster caused controversy in September when it announced plans for a single regional news programme covering the Midlands. But it has since partially backtracked, with just the West and East Midlands merging. p1
West Midlands business leaders have given a mixed reaction to Gordon Brown's handling of the economy amid claims his £2.7 billion tax cut plan flouts the tight controls he introduced when he was in charge at the Treasury.
Mr Brown, who yesterday said he hoped there would be a further cut in interest rates, defended his handling of the economy by saying the problems affecting the country were international in origin.
John Lamb, spokesman for Birmingham Chamber, said the Prime Minister needed to offer more help to entrepreneurs if he was to continue enjoying the support of businesses in the West Midlands. p17
A young Birmingham Chamber employee has been recruited to help arts groups achieve their goals.
Arts & Business, the organisation that builds links between the commercial and artistic worlds, has established the Young Professionals on Arts Boards scheme, which puts young business professionals onto the boards of arts organisations.
At just 20-years-old, Joe Rooke, a senior client service executive at Birmingham Chamber, has become the youngest person to take part in this scheme in the West Midlands through his work at the Worcester-based C&T theatre company. p26
Financial Times
The UK's biggest banks are preparing to swap £80-£90 billion of mortgage-backed assets for Treasury bills with the Bank of England -- nearly twice as much as the central bank originally envisaged when it unveiled its scheme to unblock the frozen bank lending market.
According to debt market sources, the banks have approached credit rating agencies about how to structure deals that will receive the triple A rating required for securities that lenders want to swap for Treasury bills that can then be used to raise cash.
The move comes amid signs that lending in the inter-bank market is becoming particularly tight for banks that cannot post collateral to ensure their debt will be repaid. p1
Plans to give an extra 4.5 million parents the right to request flexible working arrangements were attacked yesterday by small-business representatives who claimed companies would struggle to cope.
Business leaders appealed for more time before the legislation was introduced but welcomed the recommendations of an independent review that employers should retain the right to refuse requests. p2
The Times
The speed limit on thousands of residential roads will be reduced to 20mph under government moves designed to cut road deaths by a third over the next decade.
Variable limits will be introduced on main roads near schools, with digital signs ordering drivers to cut their speed to 20mph or less when pupils are arriving or departing.
Cameras that detect a vehicle's average speed will be used instead of road humps to enforce the limit in some of the new 20mph zones. p1
Purists are spluttering over their decanters after a fine wine-maker announced plans for drinkers to take their wine through a straw from small plastic cartons.
The containers, like those used for lunchbox-sized fruit juices, go on sale in supermarkets next month in the latest attempt by the French wine industry to boost consumption among young urbanites.
Produced by Cordier Mestrezat, which had been selling fine wines since 1886, the 25cl product, called Tandem, will arrive in Britain next week at the London International Wine Fair. p5
The Daily Telegraph
Al Qaeda is planning an attack on the Euro 2008 football championships, Swiss police have warned.
Switzerland and Austria, the joint hosts of next month's competition, are now in the centre of a "terrorist danger zone".
Police have been monitoring activity on websites linked to al Qaeda because it was through these that "Osama bin Laden's agents awaken dormant cells".
One site said: "Let's transform the two most secure countries in Europe into hell, like hell in Iraq and Afghanistan." p1
The makers of the Indiana Jones film have made a surprise decision not to throw a lavish party to celebrate its launch at the Cannes Film Festival amid rumours the summer's most eagerly awaited premiere is a disappointment.
Meanwhile, George Lucas, the film's writer and executive producer, has given interviews aimed at lowering audience expectations.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be shown on Sunday -- 19 years after Harrison Ford last hung up his fedora after the initial trilogy. But let's be honest, even a 'bad' Indiana Jones movie will still be a million times better than most of the films that come out this year. p3
The Guardian
Gordon Brown has sanctioned a last-ditch move to secure a deal over the proposed increase in the period of detention without charge to 42 days after he decided he would rather compromise with Labour's rebels than risk a further loss of authority by being defeated on the issue.
Despite repeated claims he is willing to lose and be right, the Prime Minister has despatched his chief whip, Geoff Hoon, to broker an agreement that would prevent a damaging split inside his party. p1
President George Bush provoked a major political row during his visit to Israel last night with an apparent attack on Barack Obama in which he compared the Democratic candidate's offers to talk to Iran to appeasement of Hitler.
Bush made his most pointed intervention to date in the forthcoming presidential contest during a speech to the Knesset when he warned against talking to terrorists and radicals in the Middle East.
In the campaign itself, the Republican candidate John McCain bowed to anti-war sentiment by setting a date for withdrawal of US forces from Iraq in 2013 in an attempt to boost his chances of winning the White House. p17
The Independent
Foreign rescue teams are joining the search for earthquake survivors as China reached out to its neighbours to cope with the aftermath of its most devastating earthquake in three decades.
As the death toll in Sichuan province was officially predicted to reach 50,000 yesterday, there were warnings it could rise significantly higher now that rescue workers have cleared the way to the remote areas of the epicentre where entire towns collapsed in the 7.9 magnitude earthquake. p1
The Russian government has warned Manchester United and Chelsea fans heading to next week's Champions League Final in Moscow that it will not tolerate a repeat of the mob violence that followed Rangers' UEFA Cup Final defeat on Wednesday.
The Glasgow side's fans were condemned by police for going on the rampage in Manchester following their team's 2-0 defeat by Zenit St Petersburg. The scale of the trouble has forced the city council to scrap plans to show the Champions League Final on large screens. p9
Daily Mail
Barclaycard was branded "grossly irresponsible" for urging customers to take out cash on their credit cards.
Britain's biggest credit card company is sending letters to thousands tempting them with "instant cash".
It suggests they use the money to pay for "a cup of coffee or your daily paper". To prompt them further, the company says their cash withdrawal limits have been raised.
What the letters do not say is that interest starts piling up at a rate of 27.9 per cent the minute cash is withdrawn from an ATM. p1
Hay fever is increasingly being caused by pollen spread by diesel cars, a study has found.
Worsening traffic congestion is adding to the problem with 'urban hayfever' affecting 60 per cent of city dwellers.
The pollen attached itself to the heavy exhaust particles from diesel cars which are particularly adept at carrying it into airways, according to scientists. p27
PA City Round-up
The FTSE-100 index at 8:45am was up 30.7 at 6282.5.
The pound at 9am was 1.9487 dollars compared to 1.9491 dollars at the previous close.
The euro at 9am was 0.7952 pounds compared to 0.7948 pounds at the previous close.
Brent Crude Oil was $121.25 a barrel compared to $121.86 at the previous close.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil was $124.12 compared to $124.22 at the previous close.
CITY BA: British Airways will report annual results today after one of the most difficult years in the airline's history.
MONEY Fixed: Homeowners refinancing their mortgage face the highest fixed-rates deals since the start of the decade, it was reported today.
CONSUMER Water: Water and sewerage markets could be opened up to competition under recommendations announced today by regulator Ofwat.
UN Economy: The United Nations said today the world economy was "teetering on the brink" of a severe downturn and would grow by only 1.8 per cent this year.
ENVIRONMENT Flights: Almost nine out of 10 top UK companies hope to cut the amount of business flights they take over the next decade, according to research by conservationists.
Companies due to report today include:
Finals: British Airways
Interims: Holidaybreak
Trading update: Avis Europe
AGMs: Charter, Galiform, Home Retail, Ladbrokes, Premier Foods, SMG, UTV Media
THIS DAY IN...
1929 The first Academy Awards presentation was held.
1983 The first wheel clamps were introduced in Britain.
2001 John Prescott was hit by an egg while campaigning in Rhyl. So he thumped the man who threw it.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
Janet Trough, 'Wee Jimmy Krankie', 61; Pierce Brosnan, actor, 55; Roy Hudd, comedian, 72.
That's it for today... back Monday!