By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday limited the extent to which former Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice president Fabrice Tourre can argue that he was acting on the advice of company lawyers in his defense against charges that he misled investors. The ruling could be another setback for Tourre ahead of his trial on July 15, after the judge earlier this month rejected his argument that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should narrow its case against him. ...

By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on Wednesday when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran's nuclear programme. The Bank Mellat case and 50 more like it pending at the European Union's General Court have cast a cloud over the future of EU sanctions and alarmed Washington, which relies on European support to throttle Iran's links to the global economy in hopes of getting it to curb its disputed pursuit of nuclear power. ...

By Manuela D'Alessandro MILAN (Reuters) - Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine on Wednesday for hiding hundreds of millions of euros from the Italian tax authorities. The design duo, who are nearly as famous as the stars they dress, were not present in court in Milan and will lodge an appeal against their conviction on charges that they have always denied. "We will read the reasons for the verdict, and we will appeal," said Massimo di Noia, one of the pair's defense lawyers after the hearing. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulator will on Thursday say capital holes at Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays account for more than 90 percent of a 25 billion-pound ($39 billion) shortfall, the Financial Times said. The shortfall was based on estimates at the end of 2012, and the Bank of England said in March about half the total amount it identified was already covered by projected capital accumulation plans. Analysts say no banks are expected to need to issue new equity. ...

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- The San Francisco 49ers have signed defensive end Justin Smith to a two-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through the 2015 season.

Related: Full coverage, entry lists for SonomaSonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., 1.99 miles, road course, asphalt surface, 12 turns.Toyota/Save Mart 350, 3 p.m. ET, Sunday, June 23. TV: TNT (coverage starts at 2 p.m. ET), Radio: PRN The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma was held June 11, 1989 -- won by Ricky Rudd at a speed of 76.088 mph. Jeff Gordon leads the series with 12 top-five finishes at the track. Gordon also leads the series in top-10 finishes at Sonoma with 16. ...

Chael Sonnen has twice faced UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, and twice he has fallen short.

UFC fighter Hector Lombard is making the move to welterweight.

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is looking to recruit computer geeks in its ongoing efforts to protect Windows PCs from attacks, offering rewards of as much as $150,000 to anybody who helps identify and fix major security holes in its software. Microsoft unveiled the rewards program, one of the most generous in the high-tech industry to date, on Wednesday as it sought ways to prevent sophisticated attackers from subverting new security technologies it has introduced in the latest versions of the Windows operating system. ...

By Euan Rocha and Peter Henderson BURLINGTON, Ontario (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada is relying on a rebound in businesses confidence to drive the economy's return to health, the central bank's new chief, Stephen Poloz, said on Wednesday in a speech that revealed no clear leanings on monetary policy. In his first speech after taking over as governor on June 3, Poloz said there were signs that business confidence is improving as export demand builds and he said what Canada needs now is "stability and patience". ...