Venus sent crashing out by Pironkova June 29, 2010 GIANT-KILLER Tsvetana Pironkova told of her dream come true after sending five-time champion Venus Williams spinning out of Wimbledon. The unseeded Bulgarian put in the performance of her life, returning everything Williams had to throw at her, to come through 6-2, 6-3 in one of the biggest shocks in SW19 history. “It seems like a [...]
Housing market is looking healthier June 28, 2010 THE long upwards run for house prices has ground to a halt. The recent history of UK house prices has confounded many commentators: values plunged when the credit crunch hit, albeit not as much as in the US, then regained over half of their losses over the past year. The present return to stagnation makes [...]
BP boss calms Russian fears June 28, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, the embattled BP chief executive, yesterday launched a campaign to reassure top Russian officials of the group’s stability. Hayward, who met with government figures, is on a charm offensive to reassure the Kremlin over BP’s local operations. A number of concerns have been expressed by the country’s government over the future of the [...]
Serena powers through June 28, 2010 DEFENDING champion Serena Williams overcame a brave performance from 2004 champion Maria Sharapova to blast into another Wimbledon quarter-final. The top seed recovered from a marathon tie-break in the first set to come through 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 against the popular Russian on Centre Court. Williams now plays China’s Na Li in the last eight after [...]
Credit Suisse rejigs its top management June 24, 2010 CREDIT SUISSE has named Eric Varvel as its investment bank chief executive as part of an overhaul of the bank’s executive board. Varvel, who was serving as the unit’s acting chief executive, will officially step into the role next week. He assumed the role last September when it emerged that the investment unit’s chief Paul [...]
Ruthless Williams waltzes into round three June 24, 2010 DEFENDING champion Serena Williams wasted no time in easing her way into the third round round of Wimbledon. The American top seed came close to completing a ‘double bagel’ over Anna Chakvetadze before the Russian finally won her only game, on serve, in game six of the second set. Williams is now on collision course [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 22, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GUINEA THREAT OVER RIO DISPUTE The government of Guinea has raised the stakes in a dispute with Rio Tinto by threatening to strip the mining group of more of its rights to one of the world’s biggest undeveloped iron ore deposits. Officials in Guinea have been angered by what they see as Rio’s [...]
BP’s Hayward to head east June 20, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, BP’s embattled chief executive, is to launch a Russian charm offensive in a bid to calm the nerves of President Dmitry Medvedev over the group’s future. Although the timing of the meeting has yet to be confirmed, Hayward intends to meet with Medvedev to reassure him that BP can survive the liabilities of [...]
White House hits out over yachting race June 20, 2010 THE WHITE House has hit out at BP chief executive Tony Hayward, who was spotted on his yacht just off the Isle of Wight over the weekend. US President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rham Emanuel said that Hayward’s trip was “part of a long line of PR gaffes and mistakes”. He said: “To quote [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 17, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES UGANDA TAX ROW DELAYS HERITAGE SALE OF OIL FIELD Uganda is insisting that Heritage Oil, the UK-listed oil explorer, must agree to pay $360m (£243m) in capital gains tax on the “super profits” it will make on a $1.35bn oilfields sale before it will sanction the deal. Uganda’s energy minister said the government [...]