BP board to discuss chief executive Hayward's future



BP's board will discuss the future of the company's chief executive, Tony Hayward, tomorrow as speculation mounts that he will be forced to step down within days. The discussions would focus on the timing of Mr Hayward's departure rather than on whether he would stay with the company, Reuters reported today, citing unnamed sources. Meanwhile, London media reported today that a weekend of detailed negotiations over Mr Hayward's severance package would be followed by an announcement on the chief executive's future, possibly within the next 48 hours.

"It now appears almost certain that he will announce his departure ahead of BP's half year results on Tuesday," The Daily Telegraph newspaper said. "It is now thought to be widely agreed by the BP board that it is only with Mr Hayward's departure that the company can draw a line under the Gulf of Mexico disaster and plan for the future," it added. On Saturday, a BP spokesman rejected earlier newspaper reports that Mr Hayward was preparing to step down.

"We are announcing our results on Tuesday. Tony Hayward is the chief executive of BP. He has the full support of the management and the board," the spokesman said. A consensus of analysts' estimates suggests that BP made almost US$10 billion (Dh36.67bn) in profits in the first six months of this year, despite spending about $4bn to date on efforts to stop crude flowing from its damaged Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico and clean up the worst oil spill in US history. Nevertheless, the company, which potentially faces tens of billions of dollars in liabilities, may record a $25bn pretax loss for the second quarter.

@Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae

The Little Things

Directed by: John Lee Hancock

Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto

Four stars

Company Profile

Company name: Big Farm Brothers

Started: September 2020

Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur

Based: Dubai Investment Park 1

Industry: food and agriculture

Initial investment: $205,000

Current staff: eight to 10

Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5