RFU regret at Grand Slam video leak March 22, 2011 THE RFU has expressed its dismay and regret that an advertisement celebrating England winning the Grand Slam was leaked. The video, made by kit suppliers Nike, shows several players, including Toby Flood, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden, in a series of action clips. The advert, which was leaked on the internet earlier this week signs [...]
Libyan air strikes and Yemen riot hit oil price March 22, 2011 OIL prices continued their upward trajectory yesterday as Libya endured bombings from both Gaddafi loyalists and the UN-mandated military push to enforce a no-fly zone. Muammar Gaddafi’s forces attacked the cities of Misrata and Zintan yesterday, killing dozens, as the dictator attempted to retake rebel strongholds in the west of the country. Gaddafi made a [...]
Murray set for Djokovic clash March 22, 2011 TENNIS: British No1 Andy Murray could meet in-form Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. The 23-year-old, seeded fifth, has been placed in the same quarter of the draw as the man who beat him in the Australian Open final in January. Murray will open his campaign against either Victor Hanescu [...]
Johnson eyes England stay March 22, 2011 RUGBY UNION: England manager Martin Johnson has for the first time intimated he would like to stay on in the job beyond September’s World Cup. His employers, the RFU, are determined to delay any contract negotiations until after the World Cup campaign has run its course, but asked if he wanted to stay on afterwards, Johnson said: “Yeah. [...]
Don’t Push It tops declarations March 22, 2011 HORSE RACING: Grand National winner Don’t Push It heads 74 entries for this years race at Aintree on 9 April. Jonjo O’Neill’s 11-year-old gave multiple champion jockey Tony McCoy an emotional first success in the world’s most famous steeplechase last year, but will be forced to concede weight all round to his rivals this time. The early [...]
Savers hammered as inflation destroys return on investments March 22, 2011 SAVERS will be looking to chancellor George Osborne to give support to personal investments in the Budget today, after the latest inflation figures showed that UK savings accounts are all losing money in real terms. There are no individual savings accounts (ISAs) available that beat February’s 20-year high inflation rate of 5.5 per cent rate [...]
Australian GP future looks safe March 22, 2011 FORMULA ONE: Grand Prix promoter Ron Walker says the future of the Australian GP is safe despite a recent verbal spat between Bernie Ecclestone and Melbourne’s Lord Mayor. With the contract for the Melbourne race, which kicks-off this year’s F1 season on Sunday, is up in 2015, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle voiced his opposition to [...]
Google book plan blocked March 22, 2011 GOOGLE’S plan to publish millions of books online was thrown out by a US court yesterday after the judge said its $125m (£76.4m) a year settlement with authors was invalid. Google had offered to pay writers to settle a class action over copyright infringement, but New York judge Denny Chin said the deal “would simply [...]
Inflation, not cuts, is the real gamble March 22, 2011 THERE is a sword hanging over all of our heads, and it is not chancellor George Osborne’s spending cuts. The real danger is that inflation will remain out of control – and that interest rates will have to surge to shockingly high levels to combat it. What the authorities are hoping for, of course, is [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HSBC PROPOSES PAY SHAKE-UP HSBC is sounding out its shareholders on a proposed shake-up of its executive pay plans, which could see its top bankers unable to sell their stock until retirement. Driven by John Thornton, chairman of the bank’s remuneration committee and a former Goldman Sachs executive, the plans would see top [...]