Bruce predicts curtains for the transfer window February 4, 2010 SUNDERLAND boss Steve Bruce believes the transfer window will be scrapped when a player eventually challenges the system in court as a restraint of trade. Bruce succeeded in pushing through a loan deal for Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari despite missing the Monday deadline, but said the episode might otherwise have provided a test case. [...]
Britain crash to Austrians February 4, 2010 TENNIS: Great Britain’s Fed Cup team saw their promotion hopes dented as Austria opened up an unassailable 2-0 lead in their Group D tie in Portugal. Anne Keothavong’s first match back after six months out with a knee injury ended in a 6-2, 6-2 defeat by Patricia Mayr, while Elena Baltacha lost 6-3, 6-3 to [...]
Mayweather to take on Mosley February 4, 2010 BOXING: Undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr will take on WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley in a Las Vegas showdown on 1 May. Both fighters will undertake Olympic-style drug testing before the fight – similar to the conditions which scuppered Mayweather’s bout with Manny Pacquiao earlier this year. Mayweather said: “This is for the fans as I [...]
Hiedfeld named reserve driver February 4, 2010 FORMULA ONE: Nick Heidfeld has been named as reserve/test driver for the all-German Mercedes team. Hiedfeld, 32, steps down from racing after 10 years with the Prost, Sauber, Jordan, Williams and BMW Sauber teams. He lines up as back-up to Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg and said: “While I would of course have preferred a [...]
ECB holds interest rate at 1pc low February 4, 2010 The European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates at a record low of one per cent yesterday and reaffirmed its view that the eurozone’s economic recovery would be modest and uneven this year. All 86 economists in a recent Reuters poll had expected the ECB to keep rates unchanged this month and only two had [...]
US jobless and productivity rise February 4, 2010 The number of US workers filing for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but productivity in the fourth quarter rose. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 480,000 in the week ended 30 January, the Labour Department said yesterday. In another report, the department said non-farm productivity grew at a [...]
IMF chief hints at early exit February 4, 2010 Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French politician who heads the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yesterday said he might cut short his tenure, stoking speculation he wants to run in France’s 2012 presidential election. His term as managing director of the IMF expires in October 2012, several months after the election, which means the Socialist veteran would have [...]
Shell sees its profits plunge February 4, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell posted a 75 percent fall in fourth-quarter profits to $1.18bn (£720m) yesterday as falling output and depressed refining and natural gas businesses took their toll. Oil prices recovered in the quarter but gas prices were much lower than in the same period a year earlier, while refining margins collapsed to their lowest [...]
McIlroy shares Dubai lead February 4, 2010 GOLF: Defending champion Rory McIlroy is in a six-way tie for the lead after the opening day of the Dubai Desert Classic. The Northern Irishman shot a four-under-par 68 to share the lead with Welshman Stephen Dodd, Edoardo Molinari, Jeev Milkha Singh, Alexander Noren and Charl Schwartzel. England’s Paul Casey is a shot off the [...]
BP sells French petrol outlets to Delek in £157m transaction February 4, 2010 BP has sold its French retail business for €180m (£157m) to Israeli conglomerate Delek Group, the latest move by a major oil company to reduce exposure to low-margin fuel retailing. BP said yesterday it had entered exclusive talks with Delek’s European unit, after receiving an offer for its 416 French petrol stations. The sale also [...]
