Hala’ufia handed lengthy ban February 8, 2011 RUGBY UNION: London Irish forward Chris Hala’ufia has been banned for eight weeks for a dangerous tackle on Northampton Saints’ Shane Geraghty during an LV= Cup match last month. Hal’ufia pleaded guilty before an RFU disciplinary panel and now won’t be eligible to play again until 6 April.
Republic too good for sorry Wales February 8, 2011 FOOTBALL: New Wales boss Gary Speed began his reign as manager with a disappointing Nations’ Cup defeat against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin. Wales were undone with second half strikes for Darren Gibson and Damien Duff in the space of seven minutes. Kevin Fahey scored the third from a free-kick.
New Barca contract for Guardiola February 8, 2011 FOOTBALL: Barcelona boss Josep Guardiola has agreed a new contract with the Spanish champions. The deal will take Guardiola, appointed in 2008, through to the end of next season.
OLYMPIC PARK LIFE: TOTTENHAM UNVEIL PLANS FOR NEW STADIUM February 8, 2011 TOTTENHAM have released images of how they hope the Olympic Stadium will look if they win the fight to take over the venue after the London 2012 Games. Spurs, who are vying with Premier League rivals West Ham for the £537m venue, and their bid partner, the entertainment giant AEG, hope to rebuild the stadium [...]
London Stock Exchange in merger deal February 8, 2011 THE LONDON Stock Exchange (LSE) has agreed a merger with Canada’s TMX Group to create one of the world’s biggest market platforms. The merged company will have a market capitalisation of £4.3bn, making it the seventh-biggest exchange in the world and the largest in terms of number of companies listed. The London Stock Exchange has [...]
City slams tax raid on banks February 8, 2011 GEORGE Osborne’s shock move to hike his special tax on banks’ balance sheets was slammed by institutions and economists yesterday. They warned it would exacerbate the uncertainty hanging over the sector, making it harder for banks to budget, and constraining their ability to lend. The rate hike means the financial sector will have to pay [...]
CBI: UK must cut its deficit February 8, 2011 THE government must persevere with plans to cut the UK deficit, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said yesterday, ahead of today’s launch of its economic forecast. “You cannot underestimate the calming effect of ‘Plan A’,” commented Ian McCafferty, the CBI’s chief economist. A ‘Plan B’ of fiscal relaxation could harm confidence and damage the [...]
The economics of perpetual motion February 8, 2011 WOW. This government has finally cracked it. It has rewritten the laws of economics: there is now such a thing as a free lunch, the elusive El Dorado pursued so assiduously since time immemorial. I’m talking about George Osborne’s special tax on the balance sheets of large banks operating in London, hiked by another £800m [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 8, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BRUSSELS URGED TO END BIG FOUR DOMINANCE Four international accountancy networks have taken the unusual step of jointly calling for changes to the audit market in Europe and arguing that regulatory intervention is needed to dilute the power of the profession’s biggest operators. BDO International, RSM International and Grant Thornton International, the world’s [...]
Furse heads trading probe February 8, 2011 THE former head of the London Stock Exchange, Dame Clara Furse, has been appointed to head a government study into high-frequency trading. The Treasury sponsored investigation led by the government office for science aims to explore the future challenges posed by computer generated trading. High-frequency trading caused concern following the “flash crash” in the US [...]
