In the papers today - Wednesday 20 August

...Tim Parker, the private equity magnate appointed as Mr Johnson's first deputy mayor with a brief to shake up City Hall and take over the crucial chairmanship of Transport for London (TfL), stood down after Mr Johnson said he would chair the transport body himself - The Independent

A property developer has resorted to quoting a gloomy Bob Dylan lyric to describe the state of the commercial market in Britain. Brixton chief executive quoted lines from the folk singer's 1967 song 'All Along the Watch Tower' in Brixton's half-year results to encapsulate the "apocalyptic" outlook for the sector: "none of them along the line know what any of it is worth" - Daily Telegraph

Another of Boris Johnson's senior aides resigned yesterday leading to renewed questions over the leadership of the mayor of London. Tim Parker, the first Deputy mayor and the man lined up to be chairman for Transport for London (TfL), stepped down less than three months after being appointed - Daily Telegraph

Boris Johnson's administration in the capital suffered a severe blow yesterday when Tim Parker, the most senior member of his team, quit abruptly, only weeks after taking up his post. In the latest staffing controversy to engulf the Mayor of London, Mr Parker - a City executive with a slash-and-burn reputation - resigned as first deputy mayor and chief of staff - The Times

Labour yesterday claimed Boris Johnson's mayoralty in London was "in complete disarray" after the resignation of a third senior member of his administration. Tim Parker, a prominent businessman and former board member of the Audit Commission, said he was stepping down because he did not think Johnson needed a full-time first deputy mayor. He also resigned as chairman of Transport for London (TfL), although he will stay on as a member of the board and will continure to serve Johnson as an unpaid adviser - Guardian

Venezuelan officials backed by National Guard troops seized control of cement plants owned by Mexico's Cemex SAB after failing to agree on terms for nationalising the facilities after the deadline for talks expired at midnight on Monday - Guardian

A personal luxury train used by Saddam Hussein is to be put back into service next month. The 23 carriage train will ferry passengers from Baghdad to the southern city of Basra. The late Iraqi dictator used the French-built train only once, in the late 1970s - Guardian

For between $2.9m and $20m (£10m), celebrities can buy a flat in a new luxury apartment building billed by developers as paparazzi-proof. The Carlyle Residences, a 22-storey crescent-shaped tower due for completion next year on an upmarket stretch of Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard, boasts round-the-clock patrols by "Israeli-trained VIP" security guards and private lifts that open directly into flats - Guardian

Fire ravaged a 19th century palace, housing the upper chamber of Egypt's parliament yesterday, with flames bursting through windows as helicopters scooped water from the nearby Nile to try and douse the blaze - Guardian

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