London

A painting by British wartime leader Winston Churchill sold for £612 800 (,2-million) at auction on Monday, a new record for the part-time artist and about three times the pre-sale estimate. View of Tinherir was painted in 1951 in Marrakech, Morocco, and given two years later to United States General George Marshall.

Chelsea dropped two points at home on Sunday, needing an 84th-minute equaliser from Michael Essien to earn a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League. The draw gives Manchester United an eight-point lead at the top of the standings, but with one more game played than Chelsea.

England have not benefited from winning the World Cup and must appoint former South Africa coach Nick Mallett to get back on track, according to the architect of their 2003 triumph. ”It is personally shattering for me to say this, but winning the World Cup was the worst thing that ever happened to the England team,” Clive Woodward said in the Sunday Times.

Members of the Barmy Army travelling supporters’ group which follows the England cricket team have put the spice back into the Ashes series by ordering a curry delivery from back home to go all the way out to Australia. Staff at the Bombay Nights Indian restaurant in Bath, south-west England, were bowled over when they received the order from a curry-starved English fan watching the Ashes series against Australia.

Yoko Ono has called for the anniversary of John Lennon’s death to become a worldwide day of forgiveness but said she could not yet absolve her husband’s killer. ”Every year, let’s make December 8 the day to ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable,” she said in full-page newspaper advertisements.

Seven staff at a London hotel visited by Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko shortly before he fell ill have been found to have been exposed to low levels of radiation, public health officials said on Thursday. But the Health Protection Agency underlined that the health risks were low.

Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko is prepared to quit Premier League champions Chelsea after struggling to come to terms with the English game. Shevchenko (30), who transferred from AC Milan during the close season for £30-million, told the Daily Mirror his game did not suit Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

A small but severe tornado hit a residential area of north-west London on Thursday, injuring six people, ripping roofs off homes and tearing down walls. Television footage showed a trail of destruction in Kensal Rise, with trees uprooted and cars damaged by falling debris. Tornadoes are very rare in British cities.Local resident Daniel Bidgood was in his house when the tornado, which he said was about 20m, smashed his windows.

Britain’s prime minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown pledged on Wednesday to use faster economic growth to fund a £36-billion rise in education spending to help the nation compete with India and China. Throwing down the gauntlet to opposition Conservative leader David Cameron, Finance Minister Brown set out the priorities for his likely premiership.

Robbie Keane came off the bench to fire Tottenham back into the top half of the Premiership table with a long-range late winner against Middlesbrough. Keane’s 84th-minute strike secured a 2-1 win for Spurs after Boro’s German defender Robert Huth had cancelled out Dimitar Berbatov’s volleyed opener just after the break.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame accused France on Wednesday of actively supporting the 1994 genocide in his country when 800 000 people were slaughtered. Kagame rejected French claims that he was involved in the death of a former leader — an event widely regarded as the trigger for the genocide — and accused Paris of fuelling the mass killing.

Researchers are creating a global malaria map to tackle the killer disease by pinpointing the areas where it strikes most often. The map, the first in 40 years, is designed to spot mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite and determine where they are likely to infect people so the best control and treatment strategies can be implemented.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted on Monday there was no rift between himself and captain Thierry Henry. Henry, who faces several weeks on the sidelines with a sciatic nerve problem, was reported to have stormed out of training on Friday after learning he would not play against Tottenham.

Prime Minister Tony Blair opted to keep a British nuclear arsenal well into the 21st century on Monday, saying the government planned to order new nuclear-armed submarines to replace its existing fleet. But in a concession to dozens of legislators in his Labour Party who oppose spending billions of pounds on a new nuclear-weapons system, Blair said Britain would cut its nuclear warheads by 20%.

Barcelona are on the verge of creating an unwanted European Champions League record — they need victory against Werder Bremen on Tuesday to avoid being the first defending champions not to reach the knockout stages. Bremen only need a point from the match at the Nou Camp to join English champions Chelsea from Group A in the next round.

An Italian contact of poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko said he believed both were targeted with a radioactive substance because of secrets they shared. Mario Scaramella said on Saturday urine tests showed he had received a potentially lethal dose of polonium 210, the rare radioactive isotope that killed Litvinenko.

Arsene Wenger has hit back at critics of his youth-orientated policies with a robust defence of his record after a decade in charge of Arsenal. ”I’m responsible, I do the job and I do it like I want to do it,” Wenger tetchily insisted in response to a broadside from former Gunners boss George Graham.

British scientists probing the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko said on Friday a second man had been poisoned by radiation. Media reports said the man was an Italian he met at a London restaurant. ”We are confirming that one further person … has been found to have a significant quantity of polonium 210 in their body,” a spokesperson for the Health Protection Agency said.

The ”scandal” of poverty and Aids must be resolved by the international community, British Finance Minister Gordon Brown wrote in a special edition of the Independent, dedicated to World Aids Day, on Friday. Brown said that while the ”potential and promise of developing countries like those of the African continent is enormous … there are many challenges ahead, none more so than the impact of Aids”.