Cavendish wins in sprint finish March 17, 2014 CYCLING: England’s Mark Cavendish warmed up for his Milan-San Remo bid by winning the penultimate stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico yesterday. Cavendish pipped Omega Pharma-QuickStep team-mate Alessandro Petacchi in a sprint finish and is set to compete in the Milan-San Remo one-day Spring Classic on Sunday. Spain’s Alberto Contador leads the Tirreno-Adriatico.
Court hears of Pistorius gun order March 17, 2014 ATHLETICS: Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius placed an order for six guns that he then cancelled a month after he shot dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a court heard yesterday. Pistorius denies murdering model Steenkamp on 14 February 2013, arguing that he shot her in his Pretoria home after mistaking her for an intruder.
Stirling hits Ireland to last-ball win March 17, 2014 CRICKET: Ireland batsman Paul Stirling struck 60 off 34 deliveries to help his team clinch a dramatic last-ball victory in their World Twenty20 opener against Zimbabwe in Bangladesh yesterday. Captain Brendan Taylor struck 59 as Zimbabwe posted 163-5, batting first. But Ireland reached their target with seven wickets down, scoring a bye on the final [...]
Russia under fire over Crimea poll March 17, 2014 FOREIGN secretary William Hague last night joined a chorus of disapproval condemning a controversial referendum in the Crimea as a “mockery of proper democratic practice,” even as Russia claimed it had won a 95.5 per cent mandate for it to annex the Ukrainian province. President Obama’s spokesman said “the international community will not recognise the [...]
Vodafone seals £6bn deal to buy Spain’s Ono March 17, 2014 VODAFONE is expected to today announce that it has secured a deal to buy Spanish cable operator Ono with an offer that values the firm at around €7.2bn (£6bn). Ono is the second-largest provider of broadband internet, pay television and fixed services in Spain, a market in which Vodafone has seen a reduction in both [...]
Osborne announces a new garden city for Ebbsfleet March 17, 2014 CHANCELLOR George Osborne revealed yesterday that he will set up an urban development corporation to kickstart the first garden city in 100 years at Ebbsfleet in Kent, a project that will see 15,000 new properties built at the site. Ahead of his Budget statement on Wednesday, Osborne also announced that he will extend the Help [...]
Russia’s Ukrainian grab requires a firmer response from West March 17, 2014 AT THE start of every year, forecasters try to predict what could go wrong over the next 12 months – and every time, they get it terribly, spectacularly wrong. Just three months ago, the big risks were seen to be China, Iran, tapering or Eurozone deflation – of course, one or all of these could [...]
Wishes and predictions for Osborne’s budget March 17, 2014 ■ EY suggests there is little room for the chancellor to make big changes, given the spending constraints he has set for the Treasury, and that the OBR’s adjustments will be small. ■ However, the big four accounting firm expects George Osborne to make a move on the top rate of stamp duty, raising the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 17 March 2014 March 17, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Big banks put forex bonuses on hold Barclays, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland have frozen bonuses across swaths of their foreign exchange trading teams pending internal investigations into possible manipulation of key currency benchmarks. The cash and share bonus suspensions are targeted on the wider team rather than just the traders under [...]
New HS2 boss calls for major changes to plan March 17, 2014 THE NEW head of the controversial High Speed 2 railway has today urged the government to speed up work on the route and build a new northern hub by 2027, six years earlier than the scheduled completion date. After several months reviewing the entire project, HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins has set out his proposals [...]
