Princess Diana’s family solemnly marked the 10th anniversary of her death on Friday, with her younger son eulogising her as ”the best mother in the world”. The bishop of London used his sermon to call for an end to the sniping between Diana’s fans and detractors, and a priest who has led an annual memorial said it may now be time to let go.
United States President George Bush will outline reforms on Friday to help struggling subprime mortgage borrowers and his central bank chief will deliver a speech which will be pored over for hints of a looming rate cut. Federal Reserve chairperson Ben Bernanke speaks on ”Housing and Monetary Policy” at around 2pm GMT.
A diamond-encrusted skull art work by British contemporary artist Damien Hirst has been sold for £50-million (about R718-million) to an investment group, a spokesperson for the White Cube art gallery in London said on Thursday. The platinum skull, cast from an 18th-century European man, is coated in 8 601 diamonds.
Camps teeming with frustrated refugees in Sudan’s Darfur region have become militarised and present a danger that cannot be ignored, a United Nations official was quoted as saying on Thursday. The UN’s emergency relief coordinator said the presence of weapons in the camps made for a potentially explosive situation.
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Jonny Wilkinson, in the Hollywood film of his life, would have kicked that World Cup-winning drop-goal against Australia and promptly announced his retirement. After all, how could he top that? But as the England flyhalf has discovered during the last four years, life isn’t always like they tell you it is in the movies.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela on Wednesday announced a giant benefit concert in London next June to promote his 46664 campaign against HIV/Aids. The gig will take place in Hyde Park on June 27 to mark his 90th birthday the following month, Mandela said at the unveiling of a statue of him in London’s Parliament Square.
A frail Nelson Mandela on Wednesday attended the unveiling of his statue opposite Britain’s Parliament in a ceremony recognising him as one of the greatest leaders of his age. Mandela made his way gingerly to the platform for the ceremony, leaning on the arm of his wife, Graca Machel, and waved to an applauding crowd.
Five-time European champions Liverpool beat Toulouse 4-0 to complete their qualification for the group stage of the Champions League on Tuesday. The Reds will be joined in Thursday’s draw for the lucrative group stage by Lazio and Rangers. Lazio won 3-1 at Dinamo Bucharest to round off a 4-2 aggregate victory.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday held private talks in London with former South African president Nelson Mandela, whom he hailed as ”the greatest and most courageous leader of our generation.” The meeting in Downing Street preceded the planned inauguration on Wednesday of a large statue of Mandela in London’s Parliament Square.
Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scorer of the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final, retired from football aged 34 on Tuesday after a long run of knee injuries. Solskjaer confirmed his decision on the club’s website and said: ”I would like to thank the manager, the coaching and medical staff and most of all the supporters.”
HIV has slashed life expectancy in Zimbabwe by up to 19 years for men and 22 years for women but births still outpace deaths, according to the first study to detail how the Aids pandemic has affected the country’s wider population. The study, led by Simon Gregson of Imperial College London, sought to gauge HIV’s impact on Zimbabwe to see if researchers got it right in 1989.
Manchester United won their first game of the Premier League season on Sunday, with Nani scoring his debut goal in a 1-0 victory over Tottenham. Nani’s 68th-minute goal came after a frantic period of play where Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov had two shots saved.
Frank Lampard capped his week to remember by sending Chelsea to the top of the Premier League as former leaders Manchester City were beaten at Arsenal on Saturday. Elsewhere, Birmingham won 2-1 at Derby, West Ham drew 1-1 with visitors Wigan, Everton drew 1-1 with Blackburn and Aston Villa beat Fulham 2-1.
A man pleaded guilty on Friday to driving at 277km/h in a high-performance sports car on a public road, making him the fastest motorist ever caught speeding in Britain. Timothy Brady was caught driving a £98 000 Porsche 911 Turbo in a random police speed check on a trunk road near Abingdon, south central England, in January this year.
European power companies are making billions of euros in excess profits in the European Union’s battle to beat global warming by cutting emissions of carbon gases, and consumers are paying for it, economists say. The electricity generators are given, free of charge, permits to emit millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, but are then charging consumers.
Two major investigations by French and British police concluded that Princess Diana’s death in a Paris car crash was a tragic accident, but 10 years on many remain convinced she was murdered in a sinister plot. The usual suspects cited by conspiracy theorists include Britain’s royal family — because they were unhappy Diana was to marry her lover, Muslim Dodi al-Fayed.
Goalkeeper Paul Robinson’s place in the England squad was being questioned by the British press on Thursday after he gifted Germany an equaliser in a friendly at Wembley, which the visitors won 2-1. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard put England ahead in the ninth minute but a bad mistake by Robinson gifted Schalke striker Kevin Kuranyi an equaliser in the 26th minute.
Organisers of a race in Scotland have taken out a £1-million insurance policy against attack by or sighting of the fabled Loch Ness monster. Transport operator FirstGroup said in a statement that its policy with insurers Royal & Sun Alliance would pay out should "Nessie" emerge from the murky depths of the vast watercourse and/or attack one of the competitors.
Rob Styles has apologised to Liverpool after admitting on Monday that he made a mistake in awarding a penalty to Chelsea during their 1-1 draw at Anfield at the weekend. Styles also caused confusion by appearing to issue a second yellow card to the Blues’ Michael Essien.
World Cup 2010 chief Danny Jordaan defended South Africa’s safety record in hosting major sporting events on Monday, arguing that not one fan or athlete had been affected in 13 years. He claimed that rising tourist numbers indicate there are no major safety issues about which to be concerned.
Formula One veteran David Coulthard has revealed how he suffered from an eating disorder as a teenager. The 36-year-old Red Bull Racing driver developed bulimia as he battled to keep his weight down for racing. The Scot, who is nearly 1,83m tall, now weighs 72,5kg, but his weight dropped as low as 57kg.
World stock markets roared higher on Monday after last week’s slump, but analysts warned of further turmoil for share prices owing to lingering concerns about borrowers’ failure to repay United States home loans. The London and Paris main indices jumped by about 1% in morning trade after Tokyo’s market closed up 3%.
Manchester City edged defending champions Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday, giving Sven-Goran Eriksson his third straight shut-out in three matches as a Premier League manager and a two-point lead at the top of the standings. Brazilian midfielder Geovanni, one of Eriksson’s eight pre-season signings, scored the winning goal in the 31st minute.
Watford’s bid for a quick return to the English Premiership was off to a good start as they defeated Sheffield United 1-0 on Saturday to extend their 100% record. West Bromwich cruised to a 2-0 home win against Preston and Plymouth drew against Ipswich, among other matches.
Captain Brian O’Driscoll is set to miss Ireland’s opening match of the World Cup next month after suffering a fractured sinus during a warm-up match in France, the Irish Rugby Union said on Friday. The 28-year-old centre was taken to hospital for X-rays with a suspected broken right cheekbone after receiving a punch an hour into the 42-6 victory over Bayonne on Thursday.
Sheffield United announced on Thursday they plan to sue West Ham for the cost of their relegation from England’s Premier League. The Yorkshire side have already failed in their High Court bid to force new Premier League disciplinary action against West Ham over the Carlos Tevez affair but now plan to take a new course of action.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson admitted Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card was the last thing he needed as Chelsea opened a four-point lead over their title rivals. Ferguson said the dismissal for a head-butt was all Ronaldo’s fault as the champions were held 1-1 by Portsmouth at Fratton Park, United’s second draw in their two games so far this season.
Andriy Voronin scored two minutes before half-time, and five-time winners Liverpool won 1-0 at Toulouse on Wednesday to move a step closer to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League. Voronin fired a rising shot from 20m after collecting a headed pass from Peter Crouch.
Economists said on Wednesday that turmoil on global stock markets is likely to persist but ruled out a catastrophic crash in share prices that would hit consumers and their pension funds. The JSE ended in the red again on Wednesday as United States markets failed to give the local bourse direction.
World oil prices swirled higher on Wednesday as traders looked to stormy weather that could threaten energy facilities in the United States Gulf of Mexico. Market participants were also awaiting the latest update on crude reserves in the US. New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, rose to $72,56 per barrel.
A British woman who scooped the EuroMillions lottery jackpot of £35,4-million was said on Wednesday to be a £16 000-a-year postal worker. Newspaper reports said Angela Cunningham, who is said to be in her 40s with a 14-year-old son, paid £1,50 for a lucky dip ticket for Friday’s draw but did not know she had won until Monday.
Everton scored three first-half goals to win their second straight English Premier League match on Tuesday, winning 3-1 at Tottenham to hand Spurs their second consecutive loss. Goals by Leon Osman and Alan Stubbs in the final eight minutes of the first half led Everton to victort, who also won their season-opener at home against Wigan 2-1 on Saturday.