Burnell and Barber join Blues July 5, 2011 RUGBY UNION: Dai Young’s former assistants at Cardiff Blues, Gareth Baber and Justin Burnell, have been placed in charge of the team. The move comes in the wake of Young’s decision to take over at English Premiership club Wasps.
Foster banned for two games July 5, 2011 CRICKET: Essex captain James Foster has been banned for two games by an ECB disciplinary panel. Ex-England wicketkeeper Foster, 31, received the punishment after at least five of his players broke various rules over the last year. And in an another unprecedented move, Essex were fined £5,000. Foster was found guilty of showing dissent to umpires [...]
Advertisers snub Murdoch tabloid July 5, 2011 A string of top companies yesterday said they could pull advertising from the News of the World as the phone hacking crisis engulfing the newspaper continued to escalate. Ford said it will not place adverts in this weekend’s edition and companies including nPower, Halifax and Everything Everywhere say they are considering cutting ads in light [...]
Hunt for stats boss in turmoil July 5, 2011 THE search to replace the outgoing head of Britain’s statistics watchdog is in turmoil, City A.M. has learned, after the government’s nominee withdrew her candidacy. Dame Janet Finch, former vice-chancellor of Keele University, was hand-picked by the government to chair the UK Statistics Authority last month – but she failed to convince a committee of powerful MPs [...]
How global progress could be halted July 5, 2011 WHENEVER I get too depressed about the state of the world, I turn to a website called rationaloptimist.com. Its author, Matt Ridley, is the scourge of the neo-Malthusian, doom and gloom pessimists – from the left and the right – who see catastrophes, famines and collapse around every corner. Ridley’s worldview, which draws on his [...]
Ashley in upmarket bid July 5, 2011 MIKE Ashley’s Sports Direct is close to buying an 80 per cent stake in two of Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter’s fashion retail chains, in a deal valued at about £7m. Sports Direct is looking to buy the holdings in USC and Cruise, chains that specialise in higher-end consumer fashion, from Sir Tom’s private equity [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 5, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES RWE CONSIDERS PULLING THE PLUG ON NPOWER On the banks of the River Trent, a new gas-fired power station at Staythorpe represents a £650m investment by Npower, the UK subsidiary of the German utility RWE, in Britain’s energy future. Yet RWE has been reviewing its strategic options, advised by Goldman Sachs, as it grapples [...]
CFTC issues data on oil markets July 5, 2011 The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has released data for commodities including soybeans, cattle and crude oil showing changes in traders’ positions since the beginning of 2009. The reports show the amount of trading that results in daily net position changes. “The data shows that, in many cases, less than 20 per cent of [...]
Burberry faces investor revolt July 5, 2011 Luxury goods retailer Burberry is facing a revolt over executive pay after lobby group Pirc urged investors to vote against remuneration plans. The organisation, which advises pension funds and asset managers, described pay rewards for top executives as “excessive”. Chief executive Angela Ahrendts was paid £5.8m in shares last year, equivalent to nearly six times [...]
North Sea tax raid is revised July 5, 2011 SHARES in North Sea oil and gas firms rallied yesterday after the chancellor performed a partial U-turn on his decision to raid their profits. The Treasury said that it would raise the annual rate of Ring Fence Expenditure Supplement from six to 10 per cent to support firms working in less profitable fields. The change [...]
