Sapa Ap

It seems this isn't the best time to be an English rugby fan. For one thing, their team just seems to keep losing -- even off the pitch! This week the internet was awash with rugby shirts bearing the ''036'' logo after the English went down by that margin to South Africa last Sunday.

Leading international news agencies on Thursday launched a boycott of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, plunging the event into controversy on the eve of its opening game. Agence France-Presse (AFP), Reuters, the Associated Press, Getty Pictures and the German agency, dpa, said no text, photo or video news on the World Cup would be sent for 24 hours.

An airliner carrying 175 people crashed and burst into flames on Tuesday in São Paulo after landing at Brazil's busiest airport in driving rain. The state governor said all aboard were likely dead. The São Paulo fire department said at least 200 people, including some on the ground, were dead at the scene. There was no immediate news of survivors.

An airliner carrying 175 people crashed and burst into flames on Tuesday in São Paulo after landing at Brazil's busiest airport in driving rain. The state governor said all aboard were likely dead. The São Paulo fire department said at least 200 people, including some on the ground, were dead at the scene. There was no immediate news of survivors.

South Africa continued to dominate swimming at the All Africa Games, winning five out of six gold medals on Friday. Amanda Loots won the women's 50m butterfly in 27,60 seconds, Melissa Corfe the women's 200m freestyle in 2:02,45, and Suzaan van Biljon the women's 200m breaststroke in 2:32,30.

Nobel laureate for literature Nadine Gordimer has become one of just a few South Africans to receive France's highest award, the Legion of Honour.

James Brown, the legendary singer known as the ''Godfather of Soul'', has died in Atlanta, his agent said early on Monday. He was 73. Brown was seen as a crucial figure in the evolution of gospel and R&B into soul and funk. His music also spanned genres such as rock, jazz, reggae and hip-hop.

Freshening up during a long flight to the United Kingdom and the United States won't be easy now that toothpaste, hair gel and other toiletries have been banned from travellers' small, single piece of hand luggage. But the new baggage-restriction laws also pose other concerns for the future of travel.

A huge fire engulfed the cargo section of Istanbul's international Atatürk airport on Wednesday. Black smoke billowed high into the air, television footage showed. The fire caused panic at the airport, and authorities were trying to evacuate hundreds of people from nearby terminals.

The rock gods snatched Grammy history from the comeback queen on Wednesday, as perennial favourites U2 took home five trophies while Mariah Carey had to settle for three. ''If you think this is going to go to our head, it's too late,'' U2 frontman Bono said after winning song of the year for Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own.

John Spencer, who plays vice-presidential candidate Leo McGarry on NBC television's <i>The West Wing</i>, died of a heart attack on Friday, his publicist said. Spencer's work on the show earned him an Emmy Award for supporting actor in a drama series in 2002, as well as a Golden Globe nomination.

James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the starship Enterprise in the original Star Trek TV series and motion pictures who was famously associated with the command ''Beam me up, Scotty'', died early on Wednesday. He was 85. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, a friend said.