London

Britney, Tiger, Gandalf and Madonna will soon join the more usual Peters and Janes in Britain’s playgrounds, while Harry Potter may also drop in, according to a new survey of babies’ names. Other newly fashionable choices include Snoop, after the United States rap star, who may end up hanging out with Reebok and Adidas.

Britain launched a ”Most Wanted” website on Friday detailing the names and pictures of missing child sex offenders. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said the website would include the background and pictures of paedophiles who had failed to comply with regulations requiring them to notify their whereabouts with the police.

Former England skipper Ian Botham expects current captain Andrew Flintoff to lead an Ashes backlash following the sudden departure from Australia of Marcus Trescothick. Somerset opener Trescothick returned home Wednesday after a recurrence of his stress-related illness forced him to quit the Australian tour.

South Africa dropped one place in the latest International Rugby Board world rankings after their defeat by Ireland on Saturday. Australia, who beat Italy, have moved back into third place, pushing South Africa into fourth position. Ireland remain in fifth place, but are just two points adrift of South Africa.

England coach Andy Robinson will remain in charge for the two Tests against South Africa this month despite a seventh successive loss at the weekend. In a statement on Monday, elite rugby director Rob Andrew said Robinson will stay in his post for the two remaining November internationals.

Searching the worldwide web with engines such as Google may also help doctors to diagnose perplexing medical conditions, Australian researchers said on Friday.
”Our study suggests that in difficult cases, it is often useful to google for a diagnosis,” said Hangwi Tang, of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.

Losing weight, cutting down on saturated fats, eating more fibre and exercising can make a difference when it comes to diabetes. Finnish researchers have shown that lifestyle changes not only reduce the odds of high-risk people developing Type 2 diabetes but can also postpone the onset of the illness.

The cost of bringing up children is rising even faster than house prices, with education going up over a quarter in the past year, according to a survey on Friday. The cost of kids has soared 28% in the past four years and 9% in the last year alone — outstripping an 8% rise in United Kingdom property prices.

A tiny Scottish island where residents routinely leave their houses and cars unlocked has suffered its first burglary in living memory after a visiting workman stole £60. The culprit, who was later caught, was fined £400 and ordered to pay compensation to his victim.

The first musical adaptation of Porgy and Bess premieres this week in London, featuring classic jazz songs like Summertime that helped save the Gershwin opera from the critics after it opened in 1935. The story of Porgy and Bess unfolds during a steamy 1930s summer in a black slum in Charleston, South Carolina against a backdrop of murder, drugs, and prostitution.

Management jargon can alienate staff and leave bosses looking untrustworthy and weak, according to a survey published on Monday. Managers who spoke of ”singing from the same hymn sheet” could find themselves singing solo, the survey by Investors in People said.

Feeling Kate Mossed? Fancy a Britney down at the Battle? For those wondering why Brits have suddenly become as baffling as Martians speaking in tongues, help is at hand. A new book reveals all and Duncan Black, who helped to compile Shame About the Boat Race — Modern Guide to Rhyming Slang steers readers through a baffling conversational code.

The 2012 London Olympics could face an additional £1-billion (,89-billion) bill because organisers didn’t include a tax on venue construction in the
original budget. London officials didn’t include value added tax when compiling the £2,38-billion (,51-billion) budget submitted to the International Olympic Committee as part of their bid in November 2004.

Borat, the film starring an obnoxious spoof Kazakh reporter, has put the central Asian nation in the world spotlight, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Britain grudgingly admitted on Saturday. ”Let me admit it: we Kazakhs owe Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat’s creator, a debt,” the ambassador wrote in the Times newspaper.

Aids deaths in South Africa could be cut dramatically, reducing the epidemic to the level of a chronic illness and saving billions of dollars if the country adopted treatment practices followed in the United States, a study has found. ”Much of the financial pain would be felt in the first five to 10 years,” researcher Dr Peter Mazonson told the international AidsMap organisation on Friday.

The saying ”Keeping up with the Joneses” could not have been more apt on Friday as hundreds of Joneses from around the globe headed to Cardiff to set a new world record. Joneses from as far afield as the United States and Australia have travelled to the Welsh capital to beat the current world record for a gathering of people with the same family name.

The British population rose by 500 people a day in 2005 as the number of new immigrants dwarfed the total leaving the country, official figures showed on Thursday. The Office for National Statistics said the net migration total for last year was 185 000, down from 223 000 in 2004.

Europe is facing an obesity epidemic by the end of the decade, which will increase health costs and hamper economic development, health experts said on Thursday. Up to 23% of men and as many as 36% of women in Europe are obese, and one third of children are overweight.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair strutted into the fashion world on Tuesday — then revealed that his attempts to cut a dash in the beachwear range proved a disaster. Blair, normally a man for a sober suit-and-tie combination, lifted the lid on his fashion hell as he attended the opening of the Fashion Retail Academy’s new home in London.

England is being encouraged to bid to stage the 2018 Soccer World Cup. Uefa president Lennart Johansson told BBC radio on Thursday that the 2018 edition will likely return to Europe and that England had a good chance if it submitted a bid. The statement came after a Wednesday meeting with Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and sports minister Richard Caborn.