The British political establishment last week embarked on its four-yearly quest for the support of 44-million voters in the 2005 general election in a mood of barely concealed anxiety about what the campaign may hold. Speaking in Downing Street, Prime Minister Tony Blair said: ”It is a big choice, a fundamental choice and there is a lot at stake.” Labour have pledged to ”fight for every seat and every vote.”
Police in the western English village of Lyneham said on Friday they were investigating complaints made over an article entitled ”Pope Snuffs It” on a spoof village website. The website — www.lynehamvillage.co.uk — ran a story that began with: ”Fancy a new job?? The Vatican is now looking for a new Pope now that the current one has snuffed it”.
A British grandmother who baked cannabis-laced cookies as a treat for friends and neighbours in her rural village was spared jail on Friday after a judge said he did not want to make her ”a martyr”. Patricia Tabram prided herself on her cannabis snacks as well as casseroles and soups containing the banned drug, the court had been told.
With a change of regime at the Vatican, many are praying for a progressive pope to be appointed. The time is right to move forward on two of the most vexing issues for the laity — contraception and abortion. This is a highly sensitive area but the chance to change the Vatican’s stance could come from new discoveries in embryology.
The mounting public belief that this weekend’s British royal wedding is jinxed was further bolstered on Thursday by the news that the ceremony is to face yet another setback — unseasonably wintry weather. Temperatures in Windsor forecast to dip below freezing the night before, bringing a distinctly chilly start to the lunchtime event.
England captain David Beckham and pop-star wife Victoria have won planning permission to finish a two-storey playhouse for their three children, their local council said Thursday. They were granted the go-ahead for the ‘Wendy House’ on condition that it ”shall not be used for permanent habitable occupation”.
Scientists have developed a new cheap and convenient malaria pill that could boost the success of the fight against the disease, which kills nearly two million people a year in poor countries, experts said on Thursday. Between 350-million and 500-million people get sick with malaria every year, the World Health Organisation estimates.
It’s a short walk from Windsor Castle to the city’s Guildhall, where Prince Charles will marry Camilla Parker Bowles on Saturday, but clearly a step too far for Queen Elizabeth II. The mother of the groom won’t be at the unprecedented civil service — a conspicuous absence that has had the press buzzing since February.
Chelsea stayed on course to win their first Champions Cup despite the absence of manager Jose Mourinho, and AC Milan moved closer to their seventh European title with victories in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday. Frank Lampard scored two goals to help Chelsea beat Bayern Munich 4-2.
Liverpool scored with a pair of early volleys to beat Juventus 2-1 in a Champions League quarterfinal match that commemorated the Heysel Stadium tragedy nearly 20 years ago. Sami Hyypia scored the first goal from the left side in the 10th minute. In another quarterfinal match, PSV Eindhoven came back to draw 1-1 with host Lyon.
It has already suffered a royal snub, planning gremlins and a last-minute postponement. Now, the British are being asked to bet on the next mishap to hit the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. The cheeky offer from a firm of bookmakers came after the wedding was put back by a day to Saturday to avoid a clash with the funeral of the pope.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ending weeks of speculation, announced on Tuesday a general election for May 5 that he hopes will give his Labour Party a third straight term in power. ”I’ve just been to Buckingham Palace to ask the queen to dissolve Parliament,” Blair told reporters and TV crews outside his Downing Street residence.
A red-faced BBC apologised on Friday for requesting an interview with Bob Marley, the Jamaican reggae legend who died 24 years ago. BBC Three, one of the public broadcaster’s digital TV channels, sent an e-mail to the Bob Marley Foundation saying it wanted to do a documentary about his hit song "No Woman No Cry".
Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, said on Sunday he has been denied a visa to rejoin his family in the United States, calling it a result of his guilty plea involving a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. He said the rejection by US visa authorities means that his family will instead relocate to Europe.
Newcastle United were dragged into the gutter on Saturday when midfield stars Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were sent off for fighting each other in an amazing St James’ Park encounter. Meanwhile, Thierry Henry was banging in a hat-trick to help Arsenal leapfrog Manchester United into second place in the Premiership.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is convinced Ashley Cole will stay at the club and extend his contract despite the attempts of London rivals Chelsea to prise the England fullback away from Highbury. Chelsea were alleged to have made an illegal approach for the 24-year-old at a meeting in January.
Fans of hit television drama series <i>24</i> can soon become agent Jack Bauer in a "brand-new day" of the show: a PlayStation2 game developed with the help of the <i>24</i>’s writers, musicians, stars and producers. The countdown has begun to the release of <i>24: The Game</i>.
An African bishop has announced that he will not accept more than 000 of funding to help Aids victims in his area because it comes from an American diocese that supported the election of a gay bishop two years ago. In a statement released to an American conservative Episcopalian website, Nzerebende announced: ”South Rwenzori diocese upholds the Holy Scriptures as true word of God.”
Necessity is the mother of invention and this is especially true when it comes to party people. A new innovation being launched at the Glastonbury rock music festival will allow revellers to party right through the night without disturbing the neighbours.
Forget about natural disasters. In Britain, you’re more likely to get your knickers in a knot. There are other perils, including insidious scorpions, nasty hornets and wicked rats. Your house is no haven either…with people hospitalised from accidents in their beds, mainly caused by cigarettes or faulty electric blankets.
Oxford, the heaviest crew in Boat Race history, won the 151st edition of the event on the River Thames on Sunday. The crews were neck-and-neck for the first mile or so before the Dark Blues pulled away for a convincing win over Cambridge. It was the third win in four years for Oxford.
More than half of British people have no idea why Easter is celebrated, a survey revealed on Wednesday. Just 48% of about 1Â 000 adults questioned for the Reader’s Digest magazine poll correctly answered the resurrection of Christ.
Five years ago, investors were told there was unlimited money to be made out of the dotcom revolution — and that was true, until the point where there were no longer more buyers than sellers. The market reached that point in March 2000 and, since then, the Nasdaq has lost 60% of its value and millions of small investors have suffered.
A British factory worker who managed to send a complicated 25-word SMS on his cellphone in just 48 seconds has gained entry into the Guinness Book of Records, it was announced on Tuesday. Scotsman Craig Crosbie earned the crown for being the world’s fastest SMSer during a competition in London.
A giant, puma-like cat is feared to be on the loose in one of London’s leafiest suburbs after a man was attacked in his own garden, police said on Tuesday. Police were called to a house in Sydenham Park in the early hours of Tuesday morning after the man saw a cat-like creature about the size of a Labrador dog roaming in his garden.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, the world’s biggest public broadcaster, announced plans on Monday to cut 3 780 jobs so as to save hundreds of millions of pounds in what it termed its ”toughest period” in memory. The figure amounts to 880 more cuts than the 2 900 the BBC announced when it first disclosed a massive reorganisation and modernisation overhaul in December.
Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 on Sunday to return to fifth place in the English Premier League and move within four points of their fourth-placed cross-town rival. Also on Sunday, Birmingham beat local rival Aston Villa 2-0 with goals from Emile Heskey and Julian Gray, while Southampton moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough.
A British man was cleared on Friday of murdering his father after a court accepted his excuse he was sleepwalking at the time, a highly unusual defence seen just a handful of times in the country’s legal history. Jules Lowe was facing life imprisonment for killing his 83-year-old father in a savage beating at their house in Manchester.
Chelsea edged closer to their first title in 50 years with a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, and Manchester United and Arsenal also won in the fight for second place. Newcastle couldn’t continue their European form, drawing 1-1 with Portsmouth. Also, Manchester City lost 2-1 at Tottenham.
Jamie Noon’s try hat-trick was the centrepiece of England’s 43-22 victory over Scotland as the world champions finished the Six Nations by retaining the Calcutta Cup in London at Twickenham on Saturday. But the victory was a sorry consolation for the fact they finished fourth in the table.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is planning to cut 1 500 jobs in news and programmes in a second wave of staff cuts, according to reports on Friday. The corporation’s governors are believed to have approved the cuts, expected to lead to savings of around 200-million pounds (-million).
Twenty years after a group of publishers gathered to discuss how to get African ideas on the West’s agenda, a gathering at the British Parliament offered a measure of how much the publishers have accomplished. This week in London, journalists, lawmakers and African hands came together for the launch of the latest offering of the African Books Collective.