Cast members of MTV’s Jersey Shore ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange Photograph: Richard Drew/AP You could cut the anticipation with a meat cleaver this morning as traders on the New York Stock Exchange paused to watch a well-bronzed crew ringing the market’s opening bell – the cast of the reality [...]

Bricklayers working in Hatfield. The construction industry took a big hit from the recession and expects the outlook to get tougher. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian It was a bright, sunny day when 19 senior executives, each representing one of the government’s biggest suppliers, trooped into Admiralty House off Whitehall to meet the Cabinet [...]

Tony Hayward’s departure will be announced tomorrow Photograph: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, is to leave the company, bowing to pressure over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the aftermath of which has become America’s worst environmental disaster. Hayward’s departure, to be announced tomorrow, follows months of speculation on [...]