Reigning PFA Players’ Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez has committed his future to Leicester by signing a new deal with the Premier League champions.

I know your man Baz Ashmawy has that whole 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy thing all sewn up with his poor – but game, it has to be said – mother Nancy being asked to undertake all sorts of hazardous adventures for the benefit of television viewers and having the gizzard frightened out of her on the altar of entertainment.

West Ham had their recent poor disciplinary record laid bare again on Thursday as both defender James Collins and manager Slaven Bilic were sent off in a 2-2 draw with Astra Giurgiu.

Prepare to enjoy festival coverage in higher definition than ever before. The Dutch Brava Media group is launching its Festival 4K channel, which is now available for TV distributors around the world.

Ronny Deila believes the rigours of the Scottish Premiership stands his Celtic side in good stead for their crucial Europa League clash with Salzburg tonight (8.05pm, live on BT Sport 1, Setanta Ireland).

Pfizer dampened investors’ expectations of a renewed bid for AstraZeneca yesterday by signing a major cancer drug deal with Germany’s Merck, reducing the US firm’s need for Astra’s products.

Ronny Deila wants his Celtic side to maintain a lead with a lot more conviction.

A piece of Brazilian magic denied Celtic early qualification for the Europa League group stages as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Astra Giurgiu in a fog-bound stadium in Romania.

Celtic suffered a blow when sickly striker Anthony Stokes was sent home ahead of the club’s flight to Romania ahead of their Europa League clash with Astra Giurgiu.

Celtic 2 Kilmarnock 0

Celtic 2 Astra Giurgiu 1

Celtic 1 Dinamo Zagreb 0

AstraZeneca’s stock has been rising for two weeks on growing expectations the British pharmaceutical firm will re-engage in merger negotiations with Pfizer after the partial expiration of a cooling-off period.

Celtic’s chief executive Peter Lawwell has given Ronny Deila a vote of confidence and insists the Parkhead club have to "keep the head" as their new manager finds himself under fire.

Hopes for Pfizer’s apparently doomed attempt to take over AstraZeneca flickered back to life today on a report that one of the largest shareholders in the UK firm had urged it to engage in talks.

The chairman of AstraZeneca said yesterday he saw no prospect of a deal with US drugmaker Pfizer before a deadline of next Monday set under UK takeover rules, or any likelihood of that deadline being extended.

Pfizer turned up the pressure on AstraZeneca today as the US drugs giant prepares to face a grilling from MPs over its £63bn (€77bn) takeover plan.

Britain’s AstraZeneca has urged its shareholders to take no action over the approach by US drugmaker Pfizer and said, yesterday, it remained confident in its independent strategy.

US drugs giant Pfizer today publicly disclosed details of a multi-billion pound bid approach for UK rival AstraZeneca.

There have been 12 planning permissions and alterations to grants of planning at the Forest Hill development — one of a select, very small handful of new home sites that have managed to stay open, building and selling, during the downturn.

World markets rallied higher today after the boss of the European Central Bank pledged to do “whatever it takes” to keep the euro together.

A pledge from the boss of the European Central Bank to do “whatever it takes” to keep the euro together washed world markets with a wave of optimism today.

The former boss of pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca has waived his entitlement to a 2012 annual bonus and has been denied performance-related share awards for the last two years, it emerged today.

Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca said today that it will axe 7,300 jobs by the end of 2014 as part of a fresh round of cost savings.

A successful Spanish bond auction and strong German economic data eased fears over the eurozone crisis and drove world markets higher today.

A construction firm boss says the completed stock in Cork is equivalent to just three months normal demand, writes Tommy Barker

Shares pressure in the retail sector weighed on the FTSE 100 Index today as a mixed session on Wall Street also hit stocks.

Astra’s Forest Hill development in Carrigaline, Co Cork, is attracting huge buyer interest.

BUILDER Stephen McCarthy’s company Astra Construction does exactly what he says he does on the large advertising billboard, entering his home turf of Carrigaline.

The London market closed at its highest level since June 2008 today as Prime Minister Gordon Brown finally fired the starting gun on the general election race.

The FTSE 100 Index strode towards the 5800 mark today on renewed US recovery hopes, but eyes were focussed firmly on the political battle ahead after the Prime Minister confirmed the general election date.

Standard Life bucked a slide for the FTSE 100 Index today after cheering investors with its latest sales figures.

Standard Life shares jumped more than 3% today after the insurer's sales figures for the final quarter of 2009 outstripped expectations on London's trading floors.

Another 8,000 jobs are to be slashed across AstraZeneca’s global operations under a sweeping job cuts programme that has already seen 12,600 roles axed, the drugs giant said today.

Berlin: Carlsberg, the world’s fourth-biggest brewer, said it would scrap four brands in Germany and focus on the north of the country, where the market is less crowded.

A swine flu vaccine windfall worth $152m (€102m) contributed to a leap in third quarter profits at UK drug giant AstraZeneca, the group revealed today.

The FTSE 100 Index ended the last session before Christmas on a losing note today amid more bleak news for the retail sector.

The FTSE 100 Index was on the back foot today amid more bleak news for the retail sector in the run-up to Christmas.

Drugs giant AstraZeneca today upped its earnings guidance for the year after reporting a better-than-expected hike in third quarter profits.

The local crew of Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) won the Fastnet Rally for a third time following their 55-second victory on the West Cork Hotel sponsored and Skibbereen based seven stage rally today.

Drugs giant AstraZeneca was today celebrating its latest victory in the battle to protect its most valuable medicines from cheaper, unauthorised copies.

Blue-chip big guns Tesco and AstraZeneca led a revival today as the London market broke a five-day losing streak.