Enron sells Wessex Water
Collapsed US energy group Enron has sold Wessex Water, which supplies most of South-West England, to Malaysian utility company YTL for £1.2bn, less than the 1.4bn Enron subsidiary Azurix paid for the company in 1998.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1893000/1893736.stm

Emissions trading launched in UK
The first national market in greenhouse gas emissions opned in London on April 2nd. 'Carbon trading' is widely touted as the market-based solution to climate change, allowing companies to buy and sell emission to meet reductions targets.
Financial Times report:
http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020402001193&query=emissions+trading
Rising Tide - campaign against carbon trading, including links to briefings on how carbon trading works and why it is flawed: http://www.risingtide.org.uk/pages/carbon_action.html

Wart-Mall rules the world!
According to Fortune magazine's Fortune 500 list for 2002, supermarket company Wal-Mart, which owns the UK Asda chain, is now the world's largest company, displacing Exxon-Mobil. Enron snuck in at No. 5, based on figures before its bankruptcy. View the full list at:
http://www.fortune.com/lists/F500/

More tax breaks for big business
In a deliberate leak, Gordon Brown has revealed part of his budget plans early, apparently in an attempt to impress his big-business mates. The plans include tax breaks worth an estimated £500-600m for large companies, includign tax breaks on research and development, sale of large shareholdings and intangible assets. The CBI is reportedly unhappy - they wanted £1bn-worth of breaks.
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT376GK8AZC&live=true&tagid=ZZZPB7GUA0C&subheading=UK

Nanotechnology
Article on the potential risks of nanotechnology from Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (formerly RAFI).
http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=305

Burma Campaign targets Amerada Hess
The Burma Campaign UK is launching a campaign to get US oil company Amerada Hess to shed its 25% stake in Premier Oil, the UK firm involved in building pipelines in Burma.
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pressreleases/280302.html

Tax on air travel
The EU is planning to introduce a distance-linked tax on flights of up to £50 per trip, or a predicted £5-10 for flights within Europe. While this goes only a very short way to cut the current hidden subsidy to air travel represented by aviation fuel's tax-free status, travel companies are already calling it a 'tax on holidays' which would damage people's 'freedom to fly'. Hmmm. The report does not say whether or how the tax would affect air freight.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-256858,00.html