Exiles opener for Leinster June 9, 2009 RUGBY UNION: Heineken Cup champions Leinster will begin their title defence next season in a pool which includes London Irish, Scarlets and Brive. Runners-up and Premiership champions Leicester face Ospreys, Clermont Auvergne and Viadana in Pool 3, while Harlequins and Sale line up in Pool 5 alongside Toulouse and Cardiff Blues. Northampton are in Pool [...]
Queen’s doubles exit for Murray June 9, 2009 TENNIS: British No1 Andy Murray and Australian Lleyton Hewitt went down 6-4, 6-3 to Lucasz Kubot and Oliver Marach in the men’s doubles of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s last night. Murray opens his singles account against Andreas Seppi, of Italy, today as the No1 seed. World No2 Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Halle [...]
Government housing data provides further cause for market optimism June 9, 2009 THE DEPARTMENT of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was yesterday the latest to announce improving data for the UK housing market. Between March and April there was a rise of 1.1 per cent in the prices index of properties bought, putting the price of an average UK house at £189,215, compared to £187,193 a month [...]
PAKISTAN EASE THROUGH June 9, 2009 PAKISTAN secured their place in the World Twenty20 Super Eights with a comfortable 82-run victory over England’s conquerors, the Netherlands, at Lord’s. Targeting 175-5, the Dutch collapsed to 93 all out with leg-spinner Shahid Afridi (pictured right) posting 4-11. In the later game, South Africa beat New Zealand by just one run in a low-scoring [...]
Nadal: I’ll give 200 per cent to be fit for Wimbledon June 9, 2009 WORLD No1 Rafael Nadal admitted yesterday he faces a battle to recover from a knee injury in time to defend his Wimbledon title. Nadal pulled out of this week’s Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club because of the problem, which tests have revealed to be tendonitis in both kneecaps. The Spaniard has little more than two [...]
Summer of strikes looms at BA as job cuts look certain June 9, 2009 BRITISH AIRWAYS’ (BA) chief executive Willie Walsh sought to soft-peddle its staff’s strike threats yesterday, saying an agreement would be reached with unions. But the airline boss refused to rule out jobs losses. The news comes as the ailing airline looks to axe over 2,000 jobs, as it tries to weather the financial storm. “It’s [...]
Dutch defeat was inspiration June 9, 2009 IT’S not often you can take positives from an embarrassing defeat against the Netherlands in a major international competition, but you could argue that England’s fate last Friday actually lit the touchpaper for the entire World Twenty20 tournament. As we have already seen with the Netherlands beating England and Ireland waltzing through to the Super [...]
Lions call for Jones after Ferris blow June 9, 2009 COACH Ian McGeechan last night stepped in to ease the pain of a double injury blow by drafting Wales captain Ryan Jones into his British and Irish Lions squad. McGeechan’s plans suffered a setback after Stephen Ferris and Leigh Halfpenny pulled up in training with fresh injury concerns yesterday, just hours before tonight’s tour match [...]
Lloyds closes C&G outlets June 9, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group is to withdraw its Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) brand from the high street in a move that will see the bank wield the axe over up to 1,660 staff as it streamlines in the wake of its takeover of HBOS. The bank said it would close all 164 branches of C&G within [...]
Texas lifts Nasdaq but Dow stays flat June 9, 2009 THE Nasdaq rose yesterday after an improved outlook from Texas Instruments lifted technology stocks, but gains on other indexes were limited as plans by big banks to repay government bailout funds raised concerns whether the move would help the economy recover. Shares of Texas Instruments jumped 6.4 per cent to $21.03 after it raised its [...]
