A British couple recognised as having had the world’s longest marriage ever recorded are celebrating their 80th anniversary on Wednesday, and revealed the secret to wedded bliss as never letting arguments fester. Or, as 105-year-old Percy Arrowsmith put it more succinctly, the regular use of two words: ”Yes, dear”.
Kevin Pietersen has been given an opportunity to make the most of the absence of his Ashes rivals by starring for England in the triangular one day series with Australia and Bangladesh. Hard-hitting Pietersen came to prominence by scoring three hundreds during England’s 4-1 winter one-day series defeat in South Africa.
When rock star Bob Geldof named his new aid concert Live 8, everyone knew who the real audience would be. And when he timed the five simultaneous concerts for July 2, just days before the G8 summit to be held at Gleneagles in Scotland, he removed all doubts that the audience would not be the millions who would attend or watch the concerts, but eight leaders in a Scottish retreat.
Irish musician Bob Geldof on Tuesday outlined plans to stage a follow-up spectacular 20 years after the 1985 Live Aid concert, in order to draw world attention to global poverty and debt. The event, called Live 8, will be held in London’s Hyde Park, with other concerts being staged in Philadelphia, Paris, Rome and Berlin.
One of Britain’s least-known yet most dangerous sporting events took place on Monday with a lower-than-usual toll of injuries. Only three people broke bones during the annual cheese-rolling race at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire, central England, where competitors pelt recklessly down a steep slope in pursuit of a large, round cheese.
An adolescent running away after a furious row with his father is nothing unusual. Unfortunately, if you’re a four-year-old colobus monkey, you can’t just telephone for a lift home later once tempers have cooled. The rare black-and-white colobus male is still on the loose after escaping from his enclosure, reports said on Tuesday.
Britain’s servicemen and -women have been ordered to remember to put underwear on when getting measured for new uniforms to avoid embarrassing their tailors, the ministry of defence said on Monday. Tailors complained about military personnel turning up to be fitted for their uniforms without wearing any underpants.
Big Ben, the world-famous clock tower at the Houses of Parliament in London, stopped late on Friday night, and nobody is quite sure why, officials said on Saturday. The 147-year-old timepiece — one of the most reliable in the world — stopped at 10.07pm, then started again, then stalled a second time at 10.20pm.
Three British men sparked a full-scale air and sea search after going for late-night swim and forgetting where they left their clothes on the beach, eventually going back to their hotel without them, police said on Sunday. Lifeboats and a rescue helicopter were scrambled at Skegness, a seaside resort in eastern England.
Staring through the bottom of an empty glass in a bar might not seem like the obvious moment to consider becoming a priest, but it could become the norm under a novel recruitment scheme hatched by the British Catholic Church. The country’s Catholic hierarchy is to print advertisements seeking new priests on beer mats.
British police expressed scepticism on Sunday over a report that the mute piano virtuoso found wandering on an English beach last month could have belonged to a rock band in the Czech Republic. More than 1 000 people have responded to an appeal for information that could help in identifying the mysterious pianist.
A British airline is targeting a growing market in pet travel by launching a special frequent flyer scheme for jet-setting dogs, cats and other animals. Thus far, four dogs and a cat have been signed up to Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Paws reward scheme since it was launched earlier this month, a spokesperson for the airline said on Friday.
London’s smallest apartment, a converted storage closet measuring just five square metres, has found a tenant for £585 pounds (about R7 000) per month. Gordon Blausten of the Bruten and Company real-estate agency said the "tiny but trendy" apartment packs in kitchenette, shower and wardrobe under a loft bed.
It is a sight to make the average toddler weep with horror: a billboard not only stating categorically that Santa Claus does not exist, but also condemning him as a tool of consumerism. But following an initial ban, the poster — the work of a Scottish art student — was unveiled in Glasgow on Friday.
HSBC staff in Britain were to strike in their thousands on Friday in a dispute over pay and the biggest walk-out against a leading bank here for more than eight years, union officials said. The global banking giant, which saw 2004 pre-tax profits soar 37% to ,61-billion, said it expected most of its 1 500 branches to remain open.
Crunch talks between the British Broadcasting Corporation and trade unions began on Thursday in a bid to divert another strike at the world’s largest public broadcaster next week over plans to axe almost 4 000 jobs. Thousands of journalists and technicians at the BBC will stage a 48-hour walkout from Tuesday if the meeting breaks down.
Britain is suffering a sense-of-humour failure, with laughter levels three times lower now than 50 years ago and nearly half of all adults unable to enjoy at least one big guffaw a day, research showed on Tuesday. Money worries, relationship woes and political concerns were among the reasons given for the collection of grim faces.
<i>Crazy Frog</i>, a super-annoying cellphone ringtone that everybody loves to hate, looks set to hit number one in the British singles chart this weekend. German dance duo Bass Bumber’s take on <i>Crazy Frog</i> has been outselling Coldplay’s new single by four to one in music retailer HMV’s outlets.
Sensitive diplomatic talks over Iran’s nuclear programme appear doomed to failure, a leading think-tank said on Tuesday on the eve of crucial negotiations between European foreign ministers and Iranian officials in Geneva. Britain, France and Germany hope to persuade Tehran to scrap its uranium-enrichment programme.
United States billionaire Malcolm Glazer said on Monday he plans to take Manchester United off the London Stock Exchange as early as June 22, putting the world’s richest soccer team into private ownership. Glazer also moved on Monday to buy out remaining shareholders of the team.
A medical conference in Glasgow has heard that whisky can protect the drinker against cancer. ”Research has shown that there are even greater health benefits to people who drink single malt whiskies,” said doctor Jim Swan, adding that single malts — the more exclusive and expensive whiskies — ”have more ellagic acid than red wine”.
Brown and grey are babies’ least favourite colours, while blue, red, purple and orange are favourites. The Surrey Baby Lab surveyed 250 babies to check their response to colour. ”It’s a myth that newborn babies are colour-blind. They can see colour, but it does develop over the coming months,” said Doctor Anna Franklin.
Sol Campbell could miss out on the FA Cup final for the second time in three years as Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger weighs up leaving the England defender out of his starting line-up against Manchester United. Campbell, who missed the 2003 final due to suspension, has just returned to the side after a three-month injury absence.
Commuters who suffer through the swelter of summer in the London Underground have been full of ideas about how to cool the trains, but none has managed to present a workable plan, the transport company said on Thursday. The London Underground had offered a £100 000 (R1,1-million) prize for the best plan.
It was a surprising image: a spear-toting primitive man pushing something very like a shopping cart. Perhaps less surprisingly, this bit of "cave art" had been placed in the British Museum by a prankster. The spoof was claimed by Banksy, the self-styled "art terrorist" who has previously placed fakes in galleries.
British authorities said on Wednesday they have received more than 500 calls to help them identify a mystery piano player who was found wandering on an English beach last month, but have still not found out who he is. The young, blond-haired man was found soaked to the skin but fully dressed in an elegant black suit.
The rate of global computer software piracy fell marginally last year, but its cost jumped because of overall growth in the software industry and the devaluation of the dollar, according a report released by the United States Business Software Alliance on Wednesday. The rate of piracy slowed to an average of 35% around the world in 2004.
England fullback Ashley Cole put his personal problems aside on Tuesday to insist his Arsenal side can win Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester United despite the absence of star striker Thierry Henry. The France international was ruled out on Monday after he suffered a recurrence of an old injury during the 7-0 thrashing of Everton.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has warned FA Cup final opponents Arsenal that his side will have no inferiority complex, despite being cast as the underdogs. ”One thing’s for sure, we are certainly not afraid of them,” the Scot told the official Manchester United magazine.
A British hospital has asked for help from the public in determining the identity of a distressed man who has been unable to utter a word since being found on a beach more than a month ago and who has turned out to be a piano virtuoso. The man was found soaking wet on the beach, dressed in a smart black suit and tie.
Goats, camels and village farmyards might not seem like traditional wedding presents, but all this could change under a novel gift-giving plan unveiled on Thursday by the British charity Oxfam. Couples getting married can ask guests for a charitable donation to be made to communities in 70 countries.
Angry fans of Manchester United were threatening massive protests on Friday after United States tycoon Malcolm Glazer neared success in his bid for the celebrated English football team, a takeover supporters say is unwanted and will saddle the club with massive debt.