Brownlee back on Olympics track June 24, 2012 Alistair Brownlee is back in contention for an Olympics triathlon title following World Series victory in Kitzbuhel, Austria. “This was very important,” said Brownlee, 24. “It couldn’t get any better, could it, really?”
McCOLGAN FOLLOWS MOTHER’S OLYMPIC LEAD June 24, 2012 BRITISH steeplechaser Eilish McColgan yesterday booked her place at London 2012, 24 years after her mother Liz won silver at the Seoul Olympics. McColgan triumphed at the national trials, where long-jumper Shara Proctor and pole-vaulter Holly Bleasdale clinched qualification for the Games with new British records.
Ratings slashed on global banks June 21, 2012 BRITISH banks were among 15 global financial institutions hit by a sweeping set of downgrades from rating agency Moody’s late last night. Barclays’ credit rating was cut two notches, while HSBC and RBS each had a notch knocked off their ratings. In a separate but concurrent announcement, Lloyds also had its rating downgraded by one [...]
Businesses back return of O-levels June 21, 2012 BUSINESS groups last night welcomed the news that education secretary Michael Gove wants to drop GCSEs and bring back traditional O-level exams in an attempt to boost academic rigour. “Businesses have steadily lost confidence in the ability of the education system to deliver young people who are ready for the world of work,” said Adam [...]
Spain needs up to €62bn to save struggling banks June 21, 2012 INDEPENDENT auditors said yesterday debt-laden Spanish banks would need up to €62bn in extra capital to enable them survive the economic crisis. The result of the independent audit of Spain’s banks put the gap in their finances at between €16bn and €62bn – similar to the €50bn calculated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two [...]
Cameron must back Gove for the sake of Britain’s children June 21, 2012 FOR the first time in living memory, Britain has a government that is on the brink of delivering huge improvements to the state education system. Michael Gove, the secretary of state, has a masterplan: he wants to axe GCSEs, replace them with much tougher O-Levels, introduce an alternative vocational qualification and sweep away the national [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 21, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS suffers blow over branches deal Royal Bank of Scotland is set to receive up to £300m less than it expected for a package of branches it is selling to Santander UK because the business has failed to hit a number of targets outlined in the deal. A sharp deterioration in the economy [...]
ECB may scrap credit ratings on Eurozone debt June 21, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank is discussing a medium-term plan to scrap rating rules on Eurozone sovereign bonds and instead set their value when used as collateral in lending operations on its own internal assessment, central bank sources said yesterday. The discussions come as Spain braces for a downgrade from small rating firm DBRS, which without [...]
UK rejects European pension plan June 21, 2012 Britain rejected EU pension plans in the strongest terms yesterday, with minister Steve Webb vowing there will be “no compromise on Solvency II.” Webb described the rules as “pointless,” and “catastrophic,” as they would effectively mean the end of final salary pension schemes and cost UK firms hundreds of billions of pounds. The plans are [...]
Greece may be dropped from MSCI June 21, 2012 Crisis-racked Greece has become the first country to face the threat of relegation to emerging market status from the elite league in MSCI’s equity indices, although the index provider said yesterday any such move is unlikely before 2014. Analysts say that any downgrade would likely happen only if Greece exits the euro, a scenario the [...]
