A British clown has had the smile wiped off his face after being told he couldn’t use balloons in his act because children might be allergic to latex. Barney Baloney said he was told by bosses at a supermarket where he was booked to appear that he should leave his balloons at home because of the potential for allergic reactions.
Manchester United are looking to Carlos Tevez to kick-start their English Premier League title defence as Chelsea seek to keep their winning ways in Wednesday’s second round of matches. United were to throw Argentina striker Tevez into action at Portsmouth in place of injury victim Wayne Rooney.
Rahul Dravid didn’t score a hundred during India’s 1-0 series win against England, and nor did his fellow star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. But far from being disappointed, India captain Dravid was elated after leading his country to only their third series win in 15 tours of England following a draw in the final Test at the Oval on Monday.
Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins scored a vital brace, including a spectacular overhead kick, as Newcastle United opened their English Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win at Bolton Wanderers. Martins’s athletic strike was the eye-catching highlight of a busy and successful weekend for African players as the leading European soccer leagues began their seasons.
Champions Manchester United were held to a 0-0 home draw by 10-man Reading and lost England striker Wayne Rooney to a hairline fracture of his left foot in a wretched start to their title defence on Sunday. Chelsea opened their new Premier League season with a record-breaking 3-2 home win over Birmingham City while Arsenal snatched a late 2-1 victory at home to Fulham.
Chelsea opened their Premier League title bid with a record-breaking 3-2 win over Birmingham City while London rivals Arsenal snatched a late 2-1 victory over Fulham on Sunday. Chelsea, looking to wrest the title back from Manchester United, took the points with a second-half strike from Ghana midfielder Michael Essien.
India took four wickets with the new ball to compound England’s dire position in the third and final Test at the Oval on Saturday. England, at stumps on the third day, were 326-9 in reply to India’s 664 — their record Test innings total against England. That left the home side 338 runs behind and still needing 139 more runs to avoid the follow-on.
Liverpool fired an early warning to their English Premiership title rivals as they made a gutsy winning start to the new season. With manager Rafael Benitez under pressure to deliver the Reds’ first Premiership trophy after spending a small fortune in the pre-season, Liverpool sent a statement of intent to Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
Sebastien Chabal scored a 70th-minute try as France beat England 21-15 in a World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham on Saturday. Number eight Chabal, who had come on as a replacement, piled through three England defenders to clinch the match, leaving Josh Lewsey, Nick Abendanon and Olly Barkley in his wake.
South Africa striker Benni McCarthy appears to be on the mend after being rushed to hospital following a blow to the head during Blackburn Rovers’ 2-1 win at Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Saturday. McCarthy received the blow in the second half and needed five minutes of treatment before being carried off on a stretcher with his neck in a brace.
The co-founder of the British record label that launched the careers of seminal bands including Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays died on August 10 at the age of 57, a hospital spokesperson said. Anthony Wilson announced earlier this year that he had kidney cancer.
Argentine striker Carlos Tevez completed his move to Manchester United on Friday, the Premier League champions said. ”Manchester United is delighted to announce that Carlos Tevez has been registered as a member of its first-team squad by the Premier League,” United said in a statement.
Anil Kumble’s maiden Test hundred all but assured India of a series win over England on the second day of the third and final Test at the Oval on Friday. At the close England were 24-1 in reply to India’s first innings 664, still needing a further 441 to avoid the follow-on target of 465.
British officials said on Friday they were investigating a new suspected case of foot and mouth outside a previously infected area, but the farmer involved said vets were sure his animals were disease-free. Britain’s chief veterinary officer said early on Friday there was a new suspected case outside a 10km surveillance zone.
Authorities in a west of Scotland town have been forced to take drastic measures to stop green traffic lights being vandalised, the <i>Herald</i> newspaper said on Friday, suggesting religion was to blame. The municipal council has put protective wire grilles over every green light in Larkhall, near Glasgow, because vandals have smashed 205 lights since 2004.
Sachin Tendulkar was threatening to make England pay for dropping him on 20 as India finished the first day of the third and final Test on 316-4 at the Oval on Thursday. Tendulkar was 48 not out and VVS Laxman 20 not out following an impressive 91 from opener Dinesh Karthik.
Insurer Old Mutual posted a 12% drop in first-half operating profit, missing forecasts as the weak rand and United States dollar and provisions for its US unit dampened the impact of rising sales. South Africa’s largest insurer said on Friday pretax operating profit, on a European embedded value basis, totalled £782-million, below an average forecast of £850-million.
The hourly chimes of Big Ben are to fall silent for a month while maintenance work is carried out on one of London’s most famous landmarks, officials said on Wednesday. Work will include replacing the strike train, which controls the hourly bell and the going train, which operates the clock.
Jose Mourinho believes the team spirit he has forged at Chelsea is strong enough to see his side through the injury crisis that threatens to damage their title challenge. Mourinho could be forgiven if he had given up taking a roll call of his remaining fit players in case another one has joined the growing ranks of walking wounded.
Claims that a Great White shark had been seen off the England’s south-western coast have been exposed as a fake after the holidaymaker who claimed he saw the fearsome creature said it was a sham. Kevin Keeble’s photograph of a menacing-looking fin poking out of the water sparked Jaws mania around the county of Cornwall.
A British woman has had her stereo confiscated after neighbours complained about her blasting out Dolly Parton hits at top volume around the clock. Diane Duffin reportedly made life a misery for people living near her in the Armley area of Leeds, northern England, by playing country and western hits at all hours of the day and night.
McLaren have launched an appeal against the points penalty they were hit with after the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying controversy. McLaren were deducted 15 points due to them in the constructors’ championship and the British team have protested to the FIA via the Motor Sports Association, the governing body for the United Kingdom.
Government investigators found a ”strong probability” on Tuesday that the strain of virus behind an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Britain came from two research labs near the site of the infection. The foot and mouth outbreak poses an immediate threat to Britain’s livestock industry, whose meat exports are worth more than -billion a year.
The doors to the biggest pub in the world swung open on Tuesday as bartenders at the 30th Great British Beer Festival poured the first of 340 000 pints from across the globe. The annual five-day bash, which raises a toast to finelycrafted ales — and hurls bland, fizzy lager straight out with the slops — promises to be the biggest festival yet.
Frank Lampard insists Chelsea will shrug off the injury crisis that threatens to wreck the start of their season. Jose Mourinho’s side are likely to be without a host of stars, including John Terry, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Arjen Robben, when Birmingham visit Stamford Bridge for the Premiership opener on Sunday.
A second herd of cattle in southern Britain has contracted foot and mouth disease, raising fears that the highly damaging animal virus is spreading. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said culling of animals had already begun at the farm, which was within a 10km radius zone set up around a farm where foot and mouth cases were first found last week.
Miner Xstrata announced a -billion offer for South Africa’s Eland Platinum Holdings and met forecasts with a 47% rise in first-half net profit on Tuesday. Swiss-based Xstrata said its R105-a-share cash offer was 14% above Eland’s 30-day volume-weighted average price and that it had secured support from shareholders owning 51% of the South African firm.
Premier League champions Manchester United beat FA Cup winners Chelsea 3-0 on penalties to win the Community Shield in a shoot-out on Sunday. Stalwart Ryan Giggs gave United a 35th minute lead with a sweetly-struck shot but Chelsea’s new France winger Florent Malouda levelled with a fine solo goal on the stroke of halftime.
Nick Easter scored four tries, his first in Test rugby for England, as the reigning champions began their build up to next month’s World Cup with a record 62-5 defeat of Wales at Twickenham. England, who’d lost 12 of their previous 16 Tests, took an early grip on this game and, at halftime were 22-0 ahead.
Britain moved rapidly to contain an outbreak of foot and mouth, a highly infectious disease that devastated farming six years ago, by isolating a farm west of London on Saturday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown broke off his holiday to return to London and chair an emergency meeting of senior ministers.
The son of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was one of a gang of men jailed for stabbing a teenager to death near a London underground station, a British judge revealed on Friday. Faisal Wangita (25) was one of 13 men convicted over the killing of Mahir Osman in January 2006. Osman was stabbed more than 20 times in a feud between rival gangs.
Do you ever regret getting that tattoo? People often do — and then discover that removing it is a long, slow, often expensive and sometimes painful process, the results of which are by no means guaranteed. But thanks to Professor Edith Mathiowitz of Brown University in the United States, you might never need to again.