Flintoff to play for local club March 2, 2011 CRICKET: Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to come out of retirement to play for humble club side Penwortham. The 33-year-old retired due to injury last September, but is keen to play alongside his brother Chris for the team based near Preston who compete in the Moore and Smalley Palace Shield Competition.
Three sent off in Old Firm clash March 2, 2011 FOOTBALL: Rangers had three players sent off as they lost an ill-tempered Scottish Cup fifth-round replay 1-0 against Celtic. Steven Whittaker was the first to go for a second booking, Madjid Bougherra got his second caution for a foul on Kris Commons and El Hadji Diouf’s dissent meant a second caution for the forward after [...]
Murdoch in deal to buy all of BSkyB March 2, 2011 NEWS CORP’S buyout of BSkyB is set to be given the go-ahead this morning after it agreed to spin off the loss-making Sky News Channel, thereby avoiding a lengthy Competition Commission investigation. News Corp is expected to retain its current 39.1 per cent minority holding in Sky News while buying out 100 per cent of [...]
Northern Foods war heats up March 2, 2011 Chicken tycoon Ranjit Singh Boparan has been forced to extend the deadline on his £342m offer for Northern Foods after just 23 per cent of the firm’s shareholders other than himself accepted the bid by yesterday’s cut-off. The delay gives rival Greencore and its adviser Barclays Capital two more weeks to prepare a counter-offer in [...]
Steve Jobs returns to unveil the new iPad 2 March 2, 2011 APPLE surprised critics yesterday when its talismanic leader Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance to unveil the latest version of its iPad tablet computer. Despite being on medical leave, Jobs took to the stage in San Fransisco, saying: “We’ve been working on this product for a while – I didn’t want to miss this one.” [...]
Saudi danger pushes oil up March 2, 2011 OIL prices soared again following continued unrest in Libya and on fears over contagion in Saudia Arabia. Brent crude futures in London hit almost $118 a barrel yesterday before falling back a dollar, while WTI in New York rose to about $102.41. News of an airstrike in Libya near an oil terminal spurred worries, causing [...]
Time to tackle our terrible tax code March 2, 2011 AMAZINGLY, the world’s fastest talker can speak 637 words aloud a minute. Yes, seriously. The record-holder is a Londoner called Steve Woodmore, who has featured repeatedly in the Guinness Book of Records. Tolstoy’s War and Peace comes in at a hefty 1,204 pages; it would therefore take 12 and a half hours for our record-holder [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES US OIL PRODUCTION REVIVES US oil production last year rose to its highest level in almost a decade, thanks to an increase in the use of “unconventional” extraction techniques. As a result, analysts believe the US was the largest contributor to the increase in global oil supplies last year over 2009, and is [...]
FSA salary up 22pc in five years March 2, 2011 Salaries at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have risen 22 per cent over the past five years, new figures reveal. Britain’s financial watchdog has paid the higher wages in order to increase the quality and quantity of its supervisors and enforcers, as pressure to adequately supervise the City intensifies. Data released by the FSA shows [...]
CME chief cool on merger deal March 2, 2011 CME Group chief executive Craig Donohue is cool to the idea of buying a large options exchange like CBOE Holdings and insisted yesterday that the exchanges operator remained focused on its existing growth strategy amid a rash of industry mergers. He said: “The option markets are difficult, we generally don’t like to get involved in [...]
