ORLEANS, France - The ECB is exploring ways to directly help small companies as a way to boost the recession-hit eurozone economy directly, said Benoit Coeure, A member of the bank’s executive board. Coeure, speaking at a conference south of Paris, did not say how exactly the policy would ...

LONDON : World oil prices held firm on Friday as investors locked in profits after a strong rally following the European Central Bank's decision to cut interest rates, and at the end of a rollercoaster week that was mostly driven by global economic data, analysts said. The market was also buoyed by ...

LONDON:- Yorkshire batsman Joe Root has been selected to captain the England Lions in their tour match against New Zealand next month, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday. The 23-year-old right-hander is expected to feature for the senior England side in the Test series ...

frankfurt - The European Central Bank will cut its key interest rate, already at an all-time low, at its policy meeting next week and may also unveil new measures to kick-start bank lending to businesses, analysts predict.The ECB's rate-setting governing council is to convene in Bratislava on ...

LONDON Hugh Morris, England's managing director, has confirmed that the ECB has no intention of relaxing its attitude towards the participation of England players in the IPL as it guards the status of its own Test programme in ongoing contractual negotiations for the country's top players. ...

NICOSIA  - Common supervision of European banks, possibly by the European Central Bank, would help restore confidence and protect the financial system, ECB Governing Council member Panicos Demetriades was quoted on Sunday as saying.German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Friday, ...

LONDON - England captain Andrew Strauss was hailed as an “outstanding leader”, as he became only the ninth England player to appear in 100 Tests when leading the side against South Africa at Lord’s on Thursday.The match, also Strauss’s 50th as England captain, was taking ...

LONDON - English cricket chiefs have offered an amnesty to players to report past match-fixing approaches after former Essex bowler Mervyn Westfield pleaded guilty to spot-fixing at the Old Bailey.Westfield, 23, the first player to admit to a corruption charge in a county match, entered a guilty ...

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Commission is seeking far tighter control of national budgets to combat the euro zone's debt crisis, a senior official said on Friday, as the ECB's chief urged rapid action on a euro zone fund for rescuing countries in trouble. With the crisis set to ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France lobbied on Sunday to overcome German opposition to giving the European Central Bank a central role in bolstering the euro zone's bailout fund, arguing it was the only way to draw a definitive line under the widening debt problems. Setting a Wednesday deadline for a ...

NEW DELHI (Agencies) - Taking strong objection to former England captain Nasser Hussains comparison of Indian cricketers to 'donkeys, the BCCI on Monday decided to take up the issue with the English Cricket Board (ECB). Hussain had made the comment after Parthiv Patel misjudged a Kevin Pietersens ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - A huge European Central Bank hint at a rate hike next month jolted markets and highlighted the ECBs predicament faced with rising inflation and a three-speed eurozone recovery. The contrast between financial crises at the periphery and a strong Germany could really make things ...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Bundesbank president Axel Weber confirmed on Saturday he would not be a candidate to head the European Central Bank, blaming resistance in some European countries to his hardline monetarist stance. He also pointed to Jens Weidmann, an economic adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, ...

LAHORE Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has left for England to sort out the legal issues with the English Cricket Board. He rubbished speculations that the PCB was in any kind of battle with the cricket world and the ICC over the suspension of the three players. We have our ...

The England and Wales Cricket Board demanded on Thursday a full and unreserved apology from Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt for his allegations that England players had engaged in match-fixing. Mr Butt has been advised that if a satisfactory response is not received, legal proceedings ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - German central bank chief Axel Weber indicated the European Central Bank would pursue relaxed monetary policies into 2011 while suggesting he might not be a diplomatic ECB head. Weber, a leading candidate to take over as ECB head next year, was quoted by Bloomberg television as ...

MADRID (AFP) - The new number two at the European Central Bank warned on Saturday that ideas for a levy on bank profits, pushed as a way to create a buffer against future crises, need much more work. Portugals Vitor Constancio, who was voted into office last month by leaders of the 16 euro nations, ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank kept its main interest rate at a record low point of 1.0 percent on Thursday, a spokesman said, but financial markets focused on worsening prospects for Greece. Details of a new policy on collateral that eurozone banks put up to get ECB funds were ...

VENICE (AFP) - European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers meeting in Venice kept the ECBs key interest rate anchored at an all-time low point of 1.0 percent, a bank spokesman said on Thursday. In London, the Bank of England also maintained its main lending rate at a record low of 0.50 percent after ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Eurozone private sector lending has nearly stalled, the European Central Bank warned on Friday, posing a threat to what is likely to be a weak recovery from the 16-nation blocs first recession. Growth in loans to the private sector dropped to 0.1 percent in August from a previous ...

LONDON (AFP) - The England and Wales Cricket Board have been told to take a closer look at potential international venues before deciding where to play matches following an investigation into the Twenty20 fiasco against Australia at Old Trafford earlier this month. The decision to abandon the ...

MANCHESTER (AFP) - Australia captain Michael Clarke insisted the umpires were right to call-off the second Twenty20 international against England here at Old Trafford without a ball being bowled. The day/night match was abandoned after two pitch inspections by umpires Peter Hartley and Nigel Llong, ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank renewed on Friday loans of 50 billion dollars (36 billion euros), in what has become a regular effort to keep cash flowing on distressed interbank money markets. The ECB's three-day offer which tides banks over the weekend was met with very strong ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank announced a second one-day loan of 50 billion dollars (billion euros) on Tuesday after an initial auction of 30 billion met with strong demand. The ECB was to provide details on how much interest commercial banks would pay for the loans, along with ...

FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank took major steps Monday to ease chronic tension in interbank money markets, as authorities around the world scrambled to respond to a dogged financial crisis. The ECB and US Federal Reserve decided to double temporary reciprocal currency agreements, or ...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet distanced himself Wednesday from suggestions of a series of interest rate rises in the eurozone ahead of an expected 25-basis-point hike next month. "I did not say that we would envisage a series of increases, I did not say that," ...