Evans guides GB to Davis Cup victory February 12, 2012 GREAT BRITAIN overcame the absence of world No4 Andy Murray to secure a 3-2 Davis Cup victory over Slovakia following Dan Evans’s thrilling five-set victory over Martin Klizan at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena. Without Murray, currently training in Florida after his Australian Open semi-final defeat last month, Leon Smith’s squad were severe underdogs in this Europe/Africa [...]
Sarries Goode fortune is bad news for Wasps February 12, 2012 SARACENS closed the gap at the top of the Premiership to three points after Alex Goode’s 17-point haul secured a narrow 22-17 win away at London rivals Wasps. Second-from-bottom Wasps have now lost seven consecutive Premiership matches but the losing bonus point they earned yesterday means they hold a nine-point advantage over rock bottom Newcastle. [...]
Wales hunting Triple Crown at HQ February 12, 2012 WALES (27) vs SCOTLAND (13) WALES coach Warren Gatland toasted his team’s maturity after they went top of the Six Nations table and set up a Triple Crown meeting with England at Twickenham. Two tries from Leigh Halfpenny, whose expert kicking saw him finish with 22 points, and another from wing Alex Cuthbert on his [...]
Ennis and Chambers on song February 12, 2012 Jessica Ennis equalled her personal best to win the 60m hurdles at the indoor UK Trials and Championships in Sheffield, while Dwain Chambers won his fifth 60m title. Former heptathlon world champion Ennis, who won in a time of 7.95 seconds, said: “I’m really pleased. It shows winter training has gone well and I’m looking [...]
Zambia complete fairytale win February 12, 2012 Zambia won their first Africa Cup of Nations title by beating favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. The match finished 0-0 after Chelsea’s Didier Drogba skied a penalty in normal time, while Arsenal’s Gervinho missed the decisive spot kick in an epic shoot-out.
Westwood thwarted by Spaniard February 12, 2012 Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello beat England’s Lee Westwood and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher by a single shot to win the Dubai Desert Classic. US Open champion Rory McIlroy finished fifth.
Treasury to scrap Project Merlin lending targets February 10, 2012 The UK government will not extend a deal with banks requiring them to meet fixed lending targets to businesses, scrapping the ‘Project Merlin’ scheme designed to assist the economic recovery. Since the financial crisis of 2007, many smaller firms not able to raise funds on capital markets have found it difficult to borrow to finance [...]
US trade deficit widens February 10, 2012 The US trade deficit widened by 3.7 per cent to $48.8bn in December, official figures showed. That was up from a $47.06bn figure for the month earlier. Imports rose 1.3 per cent to a record $227.56bn. Meanwhile US exports edged up by 0.7 per cent, buoyed by the weak dollar.
Greeks strike in face of austerity cuts February 10, 2012 Greek workers are once again striking against their state’s austerity measures – just hours after eurozone finance ministers said Athens needed to make more cuts to convince them to release a financial bailout. Before they release more aid, Greece’s financial backers have demanded parliamentary ratification of the new austerity package this weekend, the identification of [...]
Lloyds beats lending targets February 10, 2012 Part-nationalised British bank Lloyds said it had beaten targets laid down by the government for lending to small businesses, as authorities keep the country’s banks under pressure to lend out more to boost the faltering UK economy. Last year, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government struck a deal with the major British banks known as “Project [...]