The nature o that challenge is no secret

It all came to an end in 1997, when Woolworth's in America was orced by competition to close all its stores. rank Woolworth's granddaughter, the multimillionairess Barbara Hutton, built Win ield House in Regent's Park, naming it a ter her grand ather. She sold it to the US go ernment or $1, and it is now the residence o the US ambassador in London.KruppNow part o the ThyssenKrupp AG conglomerate, the name Krupp is synonymous in Germany with steel. The company was ounded by riedrich Krupp in 1811, and his son Al red, known as the Cannon King, began producing weapons in the 1840s. During the irst World War, Krupp was criticised or selling arms to both sides, but a ter Hitler came to power in 1933, it became the centre or German rearmament. A ter the Second World War, Al red Krupp was tried or war crimes and con icted o using sla e labour. He regained control o the business in 1953 until his death in 1967.Sarah Birke.

And now or someone completely di erent: Katie Couric! That is how the CBS E ening News might ha e kicked o on Tuesday night when the a orementioned made her debut as the irst woman to become the solo anchor o a network news programme in the United States. Instead, she smiled and said simply, "Hi e eryone, I'm ery glad to be with you tonight." ortunately, Tuesday was a bit o a dud in news terms, sa ing Couric rom any breaking-story mayhem. There was e en time to punt a anity air exclusi e photograph o Tom Cruise's not-so-new baby, Suri. But as e eryone was per ectly aware, the only news that mattered was Couric hersel . The hype ahead o Tuesday's newscast, painstakingly pumped by a network desperate to re i e its lagging news di ision, had lasted or i e months, e er since Couric abandoned the perch she had occupied or 15 years as co-host o Today, a ratings-rich break ast show o er at NBC. Her ame in this country is such that e en a change o hairstyle can prompt large tabloid headlines. Her expression o joy at inally being in the chair or the big irst night was doubtless sincere. A ter so much anticipation - not to mention the wide ad ertising o an annual salary o $15m (?8m) - she was surely anxious to pro e that she was up to the challenge.The nature o that challenge is no secret.

Couric is being asked to bring some o the casual perkiness or which she is so well known into the CBS newsroom while at the same time summoning the gra itas that Americans or decades ha e come to expect rom their e ening anchors. By the reckoning o most critics yesterday, she seems so ar to be pulling it o .It was or this reason that the oice o Walter Cronkite introduced Couric to iewers as the opening music aded. Mr Cronkite, a ormer CBS anchor, is a national treasure and the quintessence o serious-news deli ery. It is also why her irst segment was a highbrow report by a oreign correspondent, Lara Logan, wearing a burka as she tra elled through Taliban-held territory in A ghanistan.