Pistorius interview bust-up over relay row September 6, 2011 DOUBLE amputee runner Oscar Pistorius cut short an interview yesterday after taking offence at being asked whether South African track chiefs might view him as “inconvenient” and “an embarrassment”. Pistorius, known as Blade Runner because of his distinctive carbon fibre ‘legs’, became the first Paralympian to win a medal at an able-bodied world championships when [...]
Westwood to spearhead GB’s Seve tilt September 6, 2011 WORLD No2 Lee Westwood will be the biggest threat in a depleted Great Britain and Ireland side bidding to retain the Seve Trophy in Paris next week. The holders have been hit hard by a spate of withdrawals, which will deprive them of four of the world’s top 20 in Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Graeme [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF September 6, 2011 Davies fearful of Steyn’s boot RUGBY UNION: Wales second-row Bradley Davies believes maintaining discipline will be the key to causing a World Cup shock against South Africa on Sunday. Warren Gatland’s side have let the world champions off the hook in their previous two encounters, conceding needless penalties. With Morne Steyn, one of the most reliable [...]
HONG KONG: HSBC CAN COME HOME September 6, 2011 HSBC is being wooed by regulators in Hong Kong, who have assured the bank that it would be welcome if it decided to leave Britain and re-domicile back to its original homeland. City A.M. has learned that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), whose permission HSBC would need to move back to the city state, [...]
Groupon postpones its $750m float as market turmoil mounts September 6, 2011 DISCOUNTING website Groupon has put back its planned flotation amid more US market turmoil and questions from regulators. The $750m (£457m) initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, expected later this month, has been postponed by at least a fortnight as Groupon waits for markets to calm and tackles questions from the Securities [...]
Chancellor Osborne: I am not for turning September 6, 2011 CHANCELLOR George Osborne came out fighting during questioning in parliament yesterday, insisting that he will continue with plans to cut the UK government’s annual deficit. Osborne also rejected calls from Labour’s Ed Balls for another tax on financial sector bonuses — and was quick to make fun of the back-stabbing suffered by Balls at the [...]
Eurozone needs to cut out the rot before it’s too late September 6, 2011 WHEREVER one looks, the signals are bad. The S&P 500 is down 14.5 per cent from its highest point of the year. The Vix, a measure of market turbulence, rose 9.4 per cent yesterday. Bank stocks tumbled everywhere. The Swiss franc went nuts when the authorities took the dramatic step to peg it to the [...]
Banks call on Basel to reconsider rules September 6, 2011 BANKS have called for a rethink from the Basel Committee over its stringent liquidity requirements. The committee yesterday denied that it is preparing to loosen the rules, which will come as bad news to lenders, who say the current rules force them to buy too many government bonds and are too expensive. The British Bankers [...]
RBS: Greek default this year September 6, 2011 GREECE will default in December, according to analysts at RBS, as yields on the sovereign’s short-term debt reached a record yesterday. As Eurozone finance ministers struggled to reach a deal on the collateral they will demand in return for Greece’s second bailout, market interest rates on its two-year debt shot to a new high of [...]
New austerity plan as Italians strike September 6, 2011 ITALY made yet more changes to its proposed austerity package yesterday, hiking VAT and planning a balanced budget amendment as hundreds of thousands of citizens went on strike to protest against the measures. As part of the effort to balance the country’s budget by 2013, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government yesterday said it would up [...]
