Ponting puts Ashes revenge ahead of Twenty20 career September 7, 2009 AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting yesterday announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket in order to prolong his glittering career. The 34-year-old will remain as Australian Test and one-day skipper but has decided to step aside from the shorter form of the game in order to enhance his chances of returning to England to break his Ashes [...]
Regulators agree tough new rules on banks’ capital levels September 7, 2009 A GLOBAL committee of top regulators has agreed on a raft of strict rules that will dictate how much banks have to hoard in capital reserves and how much they can borrow. The Basel Committee has agreed tough new regulations to prevent banks from building up giant levels of debt in a bid to prevent [...]
RUGBY UNION IN BRIEF September 7, 2009 Bath trio fail in ban appealsFORMER Bath co-captains Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett yesterday failed in their attempt to have their nine-month bans for missed drugs tests overturned. The pair were suspended for failing to undertake tests when Bath launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct by a number of players. Both have since resigned [...]
City attacks Osborne over bonuses veto September 7, 2009 HIGH-PROFILE City figures including British Bankers’ Association chief executive Angela Knight yesterday hit out at shadow chancellor George Osborne’s suggestion that regulators should strip bankers of their bonuses this year. The man who most commentators expect to be the next chancellor of the exchequer said yesterday that regulators should axe bonuses in the banking sector [...]
City sweating on Tevez and Robinho for Arsenal clash September 7, 2009 MANCHESTER CITY could be without big-money buys Robinho and Carlos Tevez for Saturday’s crunch clash with Arsenal. Eastlands boss Mark Hughes had already resigned himself to losing winger Robinho, who picked up a thigh injury in Brazil’s World Cup qualifying victory with Argentina on Saturday night. But Hughes was then dealt a double blow when [...]
Kenny handed nine-month ban for failed drugs test September 7, 2009 REPUBLIC of Ireland international goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has been handed a nine-month ban from all football after failing a drugs test. The Sheffield United shot-stopper was found to have traces of banned substance ephedrine present in his urine following a routine test after the match with Preston in May. Kenny, 31, was suspended by the [...]
TfL secures 1bn loan from EIB to help fund Crossrail September 7, 2009 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) has secured a £1bn loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance 40 per cent of its contribution to the Crossrail project, it will say today. “For the EIB to agree to the loan facility provides international recognition of Crossrail’s importance and is a further milestone in the delivery of [...]
Barclays in PPI ban row September 7, 2009 BARCLAYS yesterday launched a legal appeal against a Competition Commission decision to ban the sale of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) alongside financial products. Barclays told the Competition Appeals Tribunal that a point-of-sale ban was not justified by the evidence and also argued that the scope of the definition of PPI imposed by the Commission is [...]
Kraft’s Cadbury bid sparks a flurry of FTSEmerger hopes September 7, 2009 THE leading share index notched back up towards the 5,000-points mark yesterday, after a proposed bid for Cadbury by Kraft raised hopes of a more general pick-up in merger activity and lifted banks and commodity shares. The FTSE 100 rose 1.7 per cent to a close of 4,933.18, up 81.48 points, as it came close [...]
European stocks near 11-month high September 7, 2009 EUROPEAN shares closed higher yesterday, led by UKchocolate giant Cadbury which soared 38 per cent following a £10.2bn bid approach from US company Kraft Foods. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 1.4 per cent to 975.90 points, just 0.3 per cent away from an 11-month closing high. The European benchmark index has [...]