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.

This is a big year for Ballinhassig. Not alone will they endeavour to regain their senior hurling status but they will also play their first games in their new development at Ballinaboy.

The boss of Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer, is to step down with immediate effect, the company said today, as shareholder anger claimed the scalp of another City executive.

The chief executive of AstraZeneca has quit after the company announced a sharp fall in profits.

Worrying economic data in the US and Europe overshadowed encouraging corporate results today and halted the recent recovery in world markets.

A near-$30 billion (€22.8bn) bid for Shire could emerge as the standout deal in the European pharmaceutical sector this year, a highlight for bankers in a market otherwise likely to be dominated by bolt-on acquisitions.

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.

Eight drug companies have agreed to create a pool of patented information to spur new research into 21 tropical diseases and conditions, UN officials have said.

Portlaoise (Laois) 2-21 Mattock Rangers (Louth) 0-2

A French-designed Christmas tree lighting up Dublin's O'Connell Street this year will offer a beacon of hope amid the recession, it was claimed today.

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

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

TRALEE’S Denis Dunworth has been named in the An Post Sean Kelly Development squad for the traditional Pauline Sugrue/Ras Mumhan 4-Day International Cycle Race over the Easter weekend.

Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney has made six changes in personnel to his side for tomorrow's All-Ireland SFC first round qualifier against Limerick (Gaelic Grounds, throw-in 7pm).

A total of seven players have withdrawn from the Louth senior football panel ahead of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

Tyrone 1-12 Louth 1-7

Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca today announced it is to acquire one of the UK’s biggest biotechnology groups in a deal worth £702m (€1bn).

Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney has brought his big guns back in for tomorrow's NFL Division Two semi-final against Limerick (Newbridge, throw-in 3pm).

IT’LL be a dream come through for Ballinhassig when the boys in blue run out onto the hallowed turf of Croke Park tomorrow for the final of the All-Ireland club intermediate hurling championship against Dicksboro of Kilkenny.

The London market suffered a sharp sell-off this afternoon in spite of bid speculation adding more than £1 billion to the value of British Gas owner Centrica.

The new boss of AstraZeneca today said the drugs giant must do more to bolster its product pipeline in the wake of a number of high-profile set-backs in clinical trials.

BRITISH stocks including AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithkline rose as the drugmakers announced better-than-expected earnings.

A bumper batch of company results prompted the FTSE 100 Index to test new three-year highs today.

Cloyne 5-8 Carbery 1-8

Education Correspondent

FUNDRAISERS are helping an Irishman, who was left in a coma after an attack in the United States, pay for his expensive medical care.

AN EXPERT group has called for immediate action to ensure the health system tracks seriously disturbed persons like David Brennan who murdered his baby nephew hours after he refused to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

Goalkeeper Peter Trevors and wing-forward Dan Gordon will make their championship debuts for Down in their Ulster football clash with Donegal on Sunday.

A 20-year-old Louth man has been found guilty but insane for the murder of his infant nephew.

A murder trial jury has retired to consider its verdict in the case of David Brennan, the 20-year-old man accused of murdering his infant nephew.

The trial judge in a case of a Louth man charged with murdering his infant nephew today complained that the law on insanity in Ireland is rooted in the 1800s and that the legislature has been slow to change it.

A 20-year-old Louth man accused of the murder of his infant nephew told gardai that he had strangled the child before trussing him up with rope and dropping him off a railway bridge into the water below, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

A Co Louth man today pleaded not guilty to the murder of his infant nephew in Drogheda, almost two years ago, when he was arraigned at the Central Criminal Court.

Louth manager Paddy Clarke has seen his panel become heavily depleted through injury ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland Football Championship losers series match against Tipperary in Clonmel.