Tony Hayward steps into chairman role at resource giant's annual meeting

Mr Bond, we've been expecting you. The ambush that greeted Sir John Bond in a small Swiss theatre was every bit as dramatic as the assaults his namesake superspy has faced over the years.

Sir John Bond was today ejected as chairman of FTSE 100 mining giant Glencore Xstrata, only minutes before he was due to run its first annual meeting following the $67 billion (£44 billion) merger.

Forty miners have died in two separate coal mine explosions in south-western China, authorities said.

News that the world’s top platinum producer has bowed to union pressure and slashed the number of job cuts it planned has left investors worried about the future of the industry.

Shares in Glencore Xstrata shot up 4 per cent on the newly formed commodities empire’s first full day of trading as a single entity.

UK Coal, Britain's biggest coal miner, is in talks with creditors to stay solvent and save up to 2,000 jobs amid claims its could go into voluntary liquidation after a blaze forced the company's largest mine to close.

Peter Hambro's gold miner Petropavlovsk was glistening close to the top of the mid-tier index yesterday when the previously plummeting gold price rallied, reaching its highest in more than a week. The IMF said central banks are buying gold again and its price responded after tumbling the sharpest for 30 years last week.

Shares in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) jumped by  26 per cent yesterday after a consortium of key shareholders in the Kazakh miner announced they were considering an offer for the company.

Hanged, paraded, punched and spat on before finally being set alight – cheered on by the jeering crowd.

Traditional Welsh respect for the dead has ensured that few have an appetite for public protest

It was the ancient Greek sage Chilon of Sparta who is recorded as first coining the phrase “do not speak evil of the dead”, 2,600 years ago.