Kyoto protest beaten back by inflamed petrol traders:

WHEN 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail. What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.

Quality. My favourite part:

“Sod off, Swampy.”

From a mate:

Brilliant! The crusties invaded the LIFFE trading floor about 6-7 years ago when I worked there… It was hillarious - there were two escalators leading up to the trading floor and the guards legged it up and put the escalators in reverse. The protestors had to run up a Gladiator style travelator with hundreds of traders standing at the top waiting to take a crack at them. I still remember the email from the chairman of LIFFE thanking Gripper and ‘Mad’ Jim for leading the charge…

Oh, then we photocopied 50 quid notes and started throwing them out of windows for the crusties to fight over. Ah, happy days…

Could be going off in HK later this year.

The A380 was unveiled yesterday.

Europe’s leaders gathered in an enormous hanger outside Toulouse to greet the Airbus 380, the world’s largest airliner. Weighing 560 tonnes when loaded and capable of carrying 555 passengers on flights of up to 15,000 kilometres, the new Airbus is a muscular symbol.

Some photos here.

I’m liking Branson’s chat:

Branson said he would seat only 500, thereby leaving him more room for larger stand-up bars than on current Virgin flights, a beauty parlour, a gaming area and up to 35 double bedrooms.

The Virgin A380 double beds would provide privacy for passengers and “lots of room to innovate”. The extra space would enable couples to join the mile high club and get intimate in the skies, added Branson.

He said: “You can do it on a cruise ship, you can do it at home, why can’t you do it in the air? If you are on honeymoon and as long as you are not disturbing other passengers, why not?”

Branson said his staff have a policy of not banging on lavatory doors if it is suspected that a couple are getting amorous on the other side.

There are more air miles in circulation than dollars, euros, pounds or yen.

By the end of 2004, almost 14 trillion frequent flyer miles had been accumulated worldwide, worth between 1p and 6p apiece.

According to a new analysis by The Economist magazine, the global stock is worth more than $700bn (£370bn), more than all the US dollar bills in circulation, and streets ahead of Britain’s £42bn of notes and coins.