The Clocks Site

Shareholder spring clocks up three more casualties

May 19th, 2012

Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L – news) , Prudential (LSE: PRU.L – news) and Cookson have become the latest companies to feel
investors’ wrath after they suffered huge shareholder revolts over pay.

Investors in Cairn voted overwhelmingly against the pay of its chairman Sir
Bill Gammell and a controversial £1.4m “loss of office”
payment made when he resigned as chief executive. The protest that saw 67pc
of votes cast go against the remuneration report came despite the company
dropping plans to award Sir Bill a multi-million pound success fee for
selling the company’s Indian operation to Vedanta. More than 10pc of
shareholders also voted against Sir Bill’s re-election as chairman.

Sir Bill said: “The board and I fully acknowledge the strength of the
views expressed by our shareholders in some of their voting today. Cairn
endeavours to meet the highest corporate governance standards and is
conscious of its responsibility to ensure best practice and continue an open
dialogue with its shareholders at all times.”

Jeff Harris, chairman of industrial materials group Cookson, suffered a
personal rebuke at the hands of shareholders after his plea to support its
remuneration report was defied. The rebellion came despite the company
announcing long awaited plans to conduct a strategic review which could see
it split in two.

The revolt over pay came days after Mr Harris wrote to investors asking them
to vote in favour of “all resolutions, including the approval of the
directors’ remuneration report”.

His appeal came in response to questions over directors’ share options
totalling £20m. The company’s largest shareholder Cevian, chaired by Labour
peer Lord Myners, was one of the investors that raised the issue. Yesterday
after Cevian, which has a 20pc stake in Cookson, was granted a seat on the
board, it put out a statement backing the company.

However over 31pc of shareholders voted against the company’s remuneration
report with a further 1pc failing to back it.

The members of the company’s remuneration committee also suffered rebellions
with Emma Fitzgerald, Jan Oosterveld, Jeff Hewitt, Peter Hill and John
Sussens all seeing over 13pc of shareholders failing to back their
re-election. It is understood Standard Life (Other OTC: SLFPF.PK – news) was behind the rebellion.

In his letter to shareholders Mr Harris said the company was aware of
criticism but had “undertaken a full review of the issues” and was
satisfied that there was “no reason for it other than the full vesting
of the awards.”

Yesterday Mr Harris said: “The board continues to listen very carefully
to views expressed by shareholders and will be taking these into account
along with the result of today’s vote on the remuneration report, as
remuneration policy is formulated going forward.”

Prudential also suffered at the hands of its investors with 30pc of them
voting against the pay deal it was handing directors. Chairman Harvey
McGrath defended the result, saying the “vast majority” of
shareholders voted in favour of the deal. Prudential paid its directors a
total of £14.6m last year, up from £10.2m in 2010.

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Google clocks biggest giving month

May 19th, 2012

Google — faced with ever-increasing governmental scrutiny of its business and privacy practices — handed out more money last month than any other since it formed six years ago.

In April alone, Google’s political action committee, NetPAC, spread $107,000 in contributions among nearly two-dozen campaign and party committees, according to federal campaign finance records.




The PAC averaged fewer than $44,000 in monthly disbursements during the year’s first three months.

And the increased PAC activity dovetails with Google’s rapidly expanding investments in federal lobbying efforts, with the California-based company posting record expenditures during the year’s first quarter — more than $5 million — and courting former congressional members to join its office in Washington, D.C.

Republicans and Democrats alike benefited from Google’s PAC cash, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee, which each received $15,000.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Assistant Minority Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and several sitting U.S. senators — Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — are among those who received four-figure contributions in April from Google’s PAC.

“A strong PAC enables us to support candidates who share our positions on the issues that are most important to us like encouraging innovation and creating economic opportunity,” Google said in a statement to POLITICO.

Google’s NetPAC also ended April with a large cash reserve — nearly $905,000. That’s significantly more than most PACs typically keep on their books.

Federal PACs are limited to donating $5,000 per election to a political candidate.


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Zimbabwe politician drives off in Ford motor show car, clocks up 800 mile test drive

May 17th, 2012

HARARE, Zimbabwe –  State prosecutors in Zimbabwe say an opposition politician at a Ford Motor Company car show got into the latest model on display and drove it away. He faces car theft charges in court next month.

Court papers made available Wednesday say police arrested 38-year-old Aaron Muzungu, an official of a small opposition splinter group, after he clocked up more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) in the new Ford Ranger. Prosecutors said the politician claimed he was interested in buying the pickup. When he sat in it, the keys were in the ignition.

Police said security at the show was lax and Ford’s local agents played live music and held a cocktail party.

Ford brought the first motor vehicle to colonial-era Zimbabwe a century ago.

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Synchronized Clocks

May 17th, 2012

Many organisms exhibit circadian rhythms—internal biological clocks that regulate daily changes in metabolism, physiology, and behavior. But from fungus to fruit flies to humans, no common clock genes or proteins had been identified among species. Now, for the first time, researchers have identified a metabolic protein active in the circadian rhythms of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes.

The finding, published online today (May 16) in Nature, suggests that, contrary to prior belief, circadian clocks may share a common ancestry. Additionally, since the cyclical changes occur in a metabolic protein that cleans up reactive oxygen species, the authors propose that sensing and responding to the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere 2.5 billion years ago could have driven the evolution of circadian rhythms.

“What’s powerful is that it suggests that somehow all these organisms have circadian rhythms of their metabolism that weren’t obvious before,” said P. Andrew Karplus, a biologist at Oregon State University who was not involved in the study. Still, he noted, while the identified protein is a strong marker of a metabolic circadian rhythm, there is no evidence that it is the cause of that rhythm. “The big question is, what is the origin [of the rhythm]? How is this happening?”

For the last 20 years, researchers, studying primarily Drosophila, have identified numerous genes and proteins that fit a common model: a transcriptional-translational feedback loop, whereby genes are transcribed then translated into proteins, which accumulate until they reach a threshold that triggers transcription to shut off, all occurring in approximately 24-hour cycles. This model had become the basis of circadian rhythm research.

But last year, Akhilesh Reddy and colleagues at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom demonstrated that at least one component of the circadian clock machinery is not involved in transcription—a family of antioxidants called peroxiredoxin proteins, which mop up excess hydrogen peroxide in the cell in 24-hour oxidation-reduction cycles linked to metabolism. Reddy’s team found that the proteins, which are found in virtually every organism, exhibit circadian oscillations in human, mice, and marine algae cells.

“We seemed to have found that these [eukaryotic] organisms had these rhythms, so we decided to look further into bacteria and archaea,” said Reddy. In the most recent study, his team examined peroxiredoxin oxidation rhythms in Synechococcus elongatus, a freshwater cyanobacteria, and Halobacterium salinarum, a marine aerobic archaeon. Each organism was kept at constant light and temperature for 48 to 72 hours, during which time the researchers periodically took samples to see whether the peroxiredoxins were oxidized or not. Sure enough, in both species, the proteins showed robust oxidation oscillations that followed a 24-hour cycle.

A bacterial peroxiredoxin protein<span>Wikimedia Commons, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Peroxiredoxin.png>Tim Vickers</a></span>

The team also examined the link between previously identified clock mechanisms and peroxiredoxin, and found that when known clock genes are mutated in Drosophila and Arabidopsis, peroxiredoxin cycles continue uninterrupted. This suggests that both components—traditional transcription-translation loop factors and peroxiredoxin—work independently to generate the circadian rhythms of an organism.

Because no shared clock mechanisms had previously been identified among different domains of life, scientists proposed that circadian rhythms evolved independently multiple times. “But why reinvent the wheel that many times? It just didn’t make any sense,” said Reddy. He had long suspected that circadian rhythms may share a common molecular origin, and the fact that all three domains of life share peroxiredoxin cycles supports this idea. For example, circadian rhythms may have evolved as cells adapted to early environmental cycles of energy supply (sunlight) and the subsequent cycles of oxidative stress.

But the evolution evidence is not convincing, said Karplus. “The peroxiredoxin proteins do not appear to be driving anything or presumably interacting with the clock proteins,” he said. “They just happen to be there as a readout of metabolic activity.”

But thanks to the new finding, peroxiredoxin can now be used as a marker to look for circadian rhythms in other, less well-studied species. “For the first time, we’ve found a commonality to look at circadian rhythms in any organism,” said Reddy.

The findings may also have more practical applications, he added. In the future, researchers may be able to target peroxiredoxins using small molecules to disrupt the circadian rhythms of pathogenic bacteria, for example, or to enhance the rhythms of crop plants to help them grow more efficiently.

R.S. Edgar et al., “Peroxiredoxins are conserved markers of circadian rhythms,” Nature doi:10.1038/nature11088, 2012.

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Global Watches and Clocks Industry

May 15th, 2012

NEW YORK, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Global Watches and Clocks Industry

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0552743/Global-Watches-and-Clocks-Industry.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Furniture

The global outlook series on Watches and Clocks provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers a rudimentary overview of the industry, highlights latest trends and demand drivers, in addition to providing statistical insights. Regional markets briefly abstracted and covered include United States, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and others. The report offers a compilation of recent mergers, acquisitions, and strategic corporate developments. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 234 companies worldwide.

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 1A Primer 1Table 1: World Watch Market (2009): Percentage Market ShareBreakdown of Leading Players 1Luxury Watches – Market Expanding at an Impressive Rate 2Table 2: Global Luxury Watches Market (2011): PercentageMarket Share Breakdown of Leading Players 2Luxury Watches Segment – Innovation is Order of the Day 2Vintage Watch Market – Still Going Strong 2Sport Watches Grow in Popularity 3Digital Watches Continue to Maintain Share 3Switzerland: Leader in Watch Production 3Asia – A Buoyant Market for Swiss Watches 3Shift in Preference from Quartz to Mechanical Watches 3Increasing Consumer Awareness Drives Watches & Clocks Market 4Price: A Key Attribute 4The Demand and the Competition 5Electronic Gadgets Pose A Serious Threat to Wrist Watches 5Clocks Market: Outlook 5Table 3: Global Clock Market by Geographic Region – AnnualSales for the Years 2010 through 2015 in US$ million for US,Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Middle Eastand Latin America 6

Table 4: Global Clock Market by Geographic Region: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Dollar Sales for 2011 and 2015 for US,

Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Middle East

and Latin America 7

Watches Market: Outlook 7

Table 5: Global Watches Market by Geographic Region – Annual

Sales for the Years 2010 through 2015 in US$ million for US,

Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Middle East

and Latin America 8

Table 6: World 5-Year Perspective for Watches by GeographicRegion – Percentage Breakdown of Dollar Sales for US, Canada,Europe, Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Middle East and LatinAmerica 9Other Key Statistical Findings 9Table 7: Global Watch Production (2011): Percentage Breakdownof Production Value by Product Type 9

2. PRODUCT OVERVIEW 10

Clock 10

Clocks in Ancient Times 10

Sundials 10

Hourglass, Candle Clocks, and Incense Sticks 10

Water Clocks 10

Modern Clocks 10

Analog Clocks 10

Digital Clocks 11

Auditory Clocks 11

Mechanism of a Clock 11

Power Source 12

Oscillator 12

Controller 12

Counter Chain 12

Indicator 13

Synchronized or Slave Clocks 13

Watches 14

Classification by Price 14

Mass Market Watches 14

Middle Priced Watches 14

Upper Priced Watches 14

Luxury Watches 14

Classification by Function 15

Types of Watches 15

Clock-Watches 15

Pocket Watches 15

Wristwatches 16

Types of Wristwatches 16

Mechanical Watches 16

Digital Watches 16

Electric Watches 16

Other Types of Wristwatches 16

Quartz Watches 16

Specialty Watches 17

Movement of a Watch 17

Types of Movements 17

Mechanical Movements 17

Electronic Movements 17

Types of Displays 17

Analog 17

Digital 18

Power Sources 18

Parts of a Watch 18

Dial 18

Hands 18

Crown 19

Bezel 19

Crystal 19

Case 19

Strap 19

Features and Functions of Today’s Watches 19

Calendar 19

Dual Time Indicator 19

Chronograph 20

Moon/Sun Indicator 20

Water Resistant 20

Shock Resistant 20

Anti-Magnetic 20

Evolution of Clocks 20

Evolution of Mechanical Clocks 20

Evolution of Astronomical Clocks 21

In Medieval Times 21

Evolution of Watches 22

Industry Background and Development 22

Electronic Watches Mark End of Dominance of Old-Line Watchmakers 23

Development of the Quartz Crystal Clock – A Significant Step 23

Seiko Markets the First Quartz Wall Clock 23

The Industry in the Early 1990s 24

The Industry in Late 1990s 24

The Industry in the Early 2000s 24

Role of Digital Technology 24

Watches with Automotive Brands 25

Changes in Technology 25

Timex’s Indiglo Brand of Watches 25

Watch with Palmtop Computer/Data Processor 25

Distance Recording Watch from SunTime 25

Piquot Meridien’s Volantis Line of Watches 26

Channels of Distribution 26

Branding in the Watches Market 26

Retail Chains 26

3. RECENT INDUSTRY ACTIVITY 27

4. PRODUCT INNOVATIONS/ INTRODUCTIONS 33

A REGIONAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE 54

1. THE UNITED STATES 54

Market Scenario 54

Table 8: Fashion and Sports Watch Market in the United States

(2011): Percentage Share Breakdown of Retail Dollar Sales by

Distribution Channel 54

US Customers More Inclined Towards Platinum Watches 55

After-Sales Service and Grey Market – A Big Challenge 55

Fashion Statement 55

Liking for Jewelry Watches Cuts Across the Genders 55

Holiday Seasons Witness Maximum Sales of High-End Watches 55

Women Go for Technically Advanced Watches 55

Untapped Luxury Watch Segment in the US Offers Potential 56

Add-on Gadgets Set the Pace 56

Purchasing Trends of Watches 56

Counterfeit Watches 56

Trend in Clocks Market 57

Theme Clocks 57

Role of 4 P’s in Market Development 57

2. JAPAN 58Overview 58Segmentation 58Table 9: Japanese Market for Watches (2011): PercentageBreakdown of Shipments by Product Type 59Japanese Luxury Watches Segment 59

3. EUROPE 60

Watches Market: Outlook 60

Table 10: European Current & Future Analysis for Watches by

Country/Region – Breakdown of Annual Sales in US$ Million for

France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, and Rest of Europe

for years 2010 through 2015 60

Table 11: European 5-Year Perspective for Watches byCountry/Region: Percentage Share Breakdown of Dollar Salesfor France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, and Rest ofEurope for years 2011 & 2015 61Clocks Market: Overview 62Table 12: European Current & Future Analysis for Clocks byCountry/Region – Breakdown of Annual Sales in US$ Million forFrance, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, and Rest of Europefor years 2010 through 2015 62

Table 13: European 5-Year Perspective for Clocks by

Country/Region: Percentage Share Breakdown of Dollar Sales

for France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, and Rest of

Europe for years 2011 & 2015 63

Market Highly Fragmented 63

Large Scale Retail Outlets Monopolize Distribution Network 64

Focus on Select Regional Markets 64

Russia 64

Switzerland 65

Swiss Watch Makers Intend to Bring “Swiss made” Label Under

Intense Scrutiny 66

Risks Faced 66

Softness of the Current Definition 66

Need for New Definition 66

Luxury Watches 67

Export Scenario 67

4. ASIA-PACIFIC 69Market Overview 69Brief Description of Select Markets 69China 69Industry Highlights 69Trends in the Chinese Watches & Clocks Market 70Imported Watches Dominate the Watch Market in China 70Swiss Watches Highly Popular 70China’s Tax on Luxury Watches Might Affect Swiss Imports 70Hong Kong Could Seize the Opportunity 71Taxes Do Not Deter the Luxury Segment Consumer 71Local Brands Not Far Behind 71Small Brands – Imported and Local – Migrate to Small Markets 71Trends in Buying 71Chinese Tourists – A Key Consumer Segment 72China Leads in Clock Supply in the World 72Chinese Watchmakers Go Digital 72Low End Clocks Might Need to Make an Exit 72Own Brands Account for a Sizable Share of Exports 72WTO and Chinese Market 73Market Overview 73Watch Market 73Demographics 74India 74Overview 74Development of the Indian Watch Industry 74Market Scenario 75India – A Lucrative Market for Luxury Watchmakers 75High Imports 75Hong Kong 76Overview 76Hong Kong Timepiece Industry – Overview 76Industry Trends 77Timepiece Manufacturers Face Strong Competition from Handphones 77Fashion Brands Enter the Fray to Drive the Watches Market 77Hong Kong Manufactures and Exports for Global Brands 77Luxury Watch Market to Soar with Increased Consumption Taxin Mainland 78OEM Base 78Internet: Positive Impact on Sales 79Singapore 79Taiwan 79Sports Watches Gaining Popularity 79Thailand 80GLOBAL DIRECTORY

To order this report:Furniture and Decoration Industry: Global Watches and Clocks Industry

More  Market Research Report

Check our  Industry Analysis and Insights

Nicolas Bombourg

Reportlinker

Email: nicolasbombourg@reportlinker.com

US: (805)652-2626

Intl: +1 805-652-2626

 

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Restoring life to aging clocks a rare profession

May 15th, 2012

AUBURN — There’s something about a grandfather clock’s low “tock … tock” that speaks to Patrick Rohman.

Pat Rohman works on the internal working parts of a clock at his Minot Avenue business, Rohman Clockworks, in Auburn Friday. Rohman is one of the few people in Maine who repairs clocks.

Pat Rohman inspects the cog of a clock at his Minot Avenue business, Rohman Clockworks, in Auburn Friday. Rohman is one of the few people in Maine who repairs clocks.

Parts from a clock litter the workbench of Pat Rohman in Auburn.

“It’s kind of like a heartbeat,” the 57-year-old clock repairman said.

Clear out the dead spiders. Clean the gears and springs. Restore the oil. Life returns.

In his career, Rohman guesses that he’s worked on 2,000 clocks, from century-old, 10-feet-tall grandfathers to ceramic clocks that look small enough to fit on a wrist. He figures he has been unable to fix only a dozen or so.

“It’s the challenge of the thing,” he said. “I like to get them running again.”

His shop, Rohman Clockworks, seems surrounded with swinging pendulums and ticking machines. They include stately mantle clocks, precise regulators and whimsical cuckoos.

Their repair is an increasingly rare specialty.

Part of the reason is cheap, battery-operated clocks housed in mass-produced plastic cases with little machinery inside. The coin-sized motors are powered by AA batteries rather than weights or wound springs.

The other reason is time itself.

Repairing a single small clock can take half a day. Fixing a grandfather clock can take a day or more. His work might cost as little as $60 or grow to $250.

However, in most cases people understand and pay. They bring in their dusty old clocks and he listens to the stories of where they came from and how they once worked.

“There’s a lot of sentimental value,” Rohman said.”I don’t know if the baby boomers are keeping them alive or not, but it’s good for me.”

Clocks have fascinated Rohman since he was a kid. He grew up moving around, the son of a Navy man. After getting his bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Maine, he was studying for his master’s in Vermont when he got a job selling antiques in a secondhand shop. The dealer, also a clock repairman, closed the antique shop but kept fixing clocks.

Rohman spent two years apprenticing.

“I’m a tinkerer,” said Rohman, who would leave clocks to work on cars. He even earned a two-year mechanic’s degree and fix innumerable cars before he went back to clocks, eventually opening his modest shop on Minot Avenue in Auburn. He’s been there for five years.

“It’s the variety,” Rohman said. “It’s not like working on cars where it’s all pretty much the same stuff. And to hear the history of these clocks from the people who come in. They tell you, ‘My great-grandfather brought this over from Germany or whatever. The cases are unique.

“And they’re lovely to look at and listen to.”

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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Coldplay fans watch the clocks for Mylo Xyloto tour

May 13th, 2012

Visa Entertainment is giving Coldplay fans the exclusive opportunity to buy tickets first to their highly anticipated New Zealand leg of their Mylo Xyloto Tour.

Visa cardholders can get tickets to Coldplay’s concert in Visa Entertainment’s exclusive pre-sale, from 12pm noon Thursday 17 May until 5pm Saturday 19 May, or until presale tickets sell out. Pre-sale ticket details are available at www.visaentertainment.co.nz

Tickets for the general public will go on sale from 9.00am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99 from www.ticketmaster.co.nz.

Undeniably the world’s biggest band, Coldplay are now happy to announce the details of a very special stadium show on the Mylo Xyloto tour in New Zealand.

This will mark the first time the 7-time Grammy Award winners have toured New Zealand since the overwhelming success of their 2009 Viva La Vida tour.

Since their debut in 2000 with the global smash hit Yellow, off the equally successful album Parachutes, Coldplay have taken the world by storm with album sales in excess of 55 million and a slew of nominations and awards, including picking up their seventh Brit Award for Best British Group at this year’s ceremony.

With the release of their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay have again experienced huge success in New Zealand with the album approaching double platinum sales. The band’s new single, Princess of China, which features guest vocalist Rihanna has just been released to radio in New Zealand. Princess of China is available on iTunes now and is sure to follow the success of Paradise, their double platinum selling, #3 charting single.

Supporting Coldplay in New Zealand will be The Temper Trap and The Pierces.

Coldplay

Mylo Xyloto Tour

With The Temper Trap and The Pierces

Saturday, 10 November, 2012

Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland

Tickets on sale from 9.00am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99

www.ticketmaster.co.nz

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Coldplay Fans Watch the Clocks for Upcoming Mylo Xyloto Tour

May 13th, 2012

Coldplay Fans Watch the Clocks for Upcoming
Mylo
Xyloto Tour

Advance
tickets available through Visa
Entertainment
 
Auckland, New
Zealand, 13 May 2012 – Visa Entertainment is
giving Coldplay fans the exclusive opportunity to
buy tickets first to their highly
anticipated New Zealand leg of their Mylo Xyloto Tour.

 
Visa cardholders can get tickets to
Coldplay’s concert in Visa Entertainment’s exclusive
pre-sale, from 12pm noon Thursday 17 May until 5pm Saturday
19 May, or until presale tickets sell out. Pre-sale ticket
details are available at www.visaentertainment.co.nz

 
Tickets for the general public will go on sale
from 9.00am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99 from
www.ticketmaster.co.nz. 

 
Undeniably the world’s biggest band, Coldplay
are now happy to announce the details of a very special
stadium show on the Mylo Xyloto tour in New
Zealand.
 
This will mark the first time the 7-time
Grammy Award winners have toured New Zealand since the
overwhelming success of their 2009 Viva La Vida
tour.
 
Since their debut in 2000 with the global
smash hit Yellow, off the equally successful album
Parachutes, Coldplay have taken the world by storm with
album sales in excess of 55 million and a slew of
nominations and awards, including picking up their seventh
Brit Award for Best British Group at this year’s ceremony.

 
With the release of their fifth studio album, Mylo
Xyloto, Coldplay have again experienced huge success in New
Zealand with the album approaching double platinum sales. 
The band’s new single, Princess of China, which features
guest vocalist Rihanna has just been released to radio in
New Zealand. Princess of China is available on iTunes now
and is sure to follow the success of Paradise, their double
platinum selling, #3 charting single.
 
Supporting
Coldplay in New Zealand will be The Temper Trap and The
Pierces.
 
Coldplay

Mylo Xyloto
Tour
With The Temper Trap and
The Pierces
 
Saturday, 10 November,
2012
Mt Smart Stadium,
Auckland
Tickets on sale from 9.00am (local
time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99
www.ticketmaster.co.nz

 
Visa Entertainment offers all Visa Credit, Debit
and Prepaid cardholders some of the world’s best
entertainment offers including exclusive concert and theatre
ticket presales, film screenings and promotions, plus
opportunities to win money-can’t-buy entertainment prizes!
Visa cardholders can sign up for free at www.visaentertainment.co.nz. 

 
The Coldplay presale is the latest in a host of
offerings from Visa Entertainment, including ticket presales
for Lady Gaga, Ronan Keating, Meat Loaf, Walking with
Dinosaurs, Bon Jovi, John Mayer, Pearl Jam, Simon and
Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton
John and INXS. 
 
For Coldplay tour information and
more entertainment offers go to www.visaentertainment.co.nz. 

 
For tour information visit www.chuggentertainment.com

 
ENDS

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Taxi clocks £1,800 Greenway fines

May 11th, 2012

10 May 2012
Last updated at 11:36 ET







A private hire taxi driver has clocked up £1,800 in fines after being caught by the new bus lane cameras in Edinburgh.

The driver was caught 30 times in the two weeks since the new cameras were installed in the city’s Greenways.

Edinburgh City Council said it would not waive the fines despite the city’s black cabs being allowed to use the lanes for free.

The driver topped a table of 82 persistent Greenways offenders.

Another private hire driver was also caught 13 times in the two weeks since the £60 fines were enforced, meaning a £780 bill.

While another three private hire car were caught seven times, a further three six times each and one was clocked five times.


‘Ordinary cars’

Only buses and black cabs are allowed to use the capital’s Greenways in a bid to encourage commuters to use them rather than private cars.

An Edinburgh City Council spokesman said: “Bus use in Edinburgh is now around 35% higher than when bus lanes were first introduced in the mid 1990s and their success relies on ensuring only a limited number of vehicles can use them.

“Private hire cars (PHCs) are currently not allowed in the bus lanes and allowing them access would undermine their effectiveness.

“Other reasons include possible confusion among the motoring public as many PHCs look like ‘ordinary’ cars and this might encourage other motorists to use the lanes.

“There are also no restrictions on the number of PHCs in the city unlike black cabs whose numbers are controlled by the council.”

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Woman clocks up Dh134,000 in traffic fines

May 11th, 2012

DUBAI – A UAE national woman has topped the list of traffic violation fines for the first quarter of the year, racking up a total of Dh134,040 in just four months.

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