18 SEPTEMBER 1999, Page 31

Rover's wooden nickels

PRICING kirs in Avignon this month, I got my timing wrong. The ten-franc kir has returned as the euro resumes its decline. (Germany's elections haven't helped.) Never mind, its friends at the Financial Times are loyal. On Saturday, with stories breaking all around — Portillo, East Timor, the spying granny — the FT knew what to lead on: 'Rover plan to pay in euros for car parts.' Or wooden nickels, I suppose.