Avram Grant believes Chelsea and Manchester United should decide the destiny of the Premier League title with a winner-takes-all play-off if both teams finish level on points after Sunday’s dramatic finale. United will pip Chelsea to the title on goal difference if the leaders win at Wigan and Grant’s side beat Bolton at Stamford Bridge.
Two South Africans who overstayed their British visas were jailed for life on Friday for the murders of two men strangled during a series of violent muggings. Gabriel Bhengu (27) and Jabu Mbowane (26) will be deported after serving life sentences. The two had entered Britain legally, but their visas had expired by the time they carried out the killings.
The price of New York crude oil soared above $126 per barrel on Friday, lifted by speculative demand amid concerns about tight global energy supplies, analysts said. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, spiked as high as $126,20 in London trading hours.
The price of New York crude oil surged past $125 per barrel on Friday, lifted by speculative demand amid concerns about tight global energy supplies, analysts said. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, spiked as high as $125,98 in early afternoon London trading.
World oil prices hit a fresh record high point close to $125 per barrel on Friday, extending this week’s record run after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries insisted the market was well-supplied and driven by speculators. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, spiked to an historic $124,73 per barrel.
From screaming skulls and headless horsemen to murdered brides and phantom farmers, English folklore is full of spine-tingling ghost stories. Terrified witnesses speak of seeing ghostly armies marching through the fog, spirits searching for hidden treasure and bells ringing from ruined churches.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay says restaurants should be fined if they serve out-of-season fruit and vegetables. ”I don’t want to see asparagus in the middle of December. I don’t want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home-grown,” he said.
A British company developing a non-stick chewing gum that can be easily removed from pavements and shoes has raised £10-million (-million) to help bring its product to market. Revolymer’s new Clean Gum is the result of polymer research at the University of Bristol, where the company was created as a research spin-out in 2005.
Lonmin, the world’s third-biggest platinum producer, posted a 63% jump in first-half underlying earnings per share (EPS) on Thursday on strong platinum prices. Lonmin said EPS, excluding movements in the value of a convertible bond, rose to 132,5 cents for the six months to end March from 81,5 cents in the same period a year ago.
Britain’s network of security cameras has been ”an utter fiasco”, failing to cut crime despite billions of pounds being spent on it, a senior detective was quoted as saying on this week. Britain has the most surveillance in the world, according to civil liberty groups and security experts.
Lewis Hamilton has told his critics to be patient with him and not expect him to achieve too much at an early stage of his career. The 23-year-old McLaren driver opened his second season in Formula One well with a big win in Australia, but he has struggled in the races since then and has fallen nine points behind Kimi Raikkonen in the drivers’ standings.
Avram Grant believes Chelsea were a fading force before he took over and led his team to within touching distance of a Premier League and Champions League double. When Grant replaced Jose Mourinho as Chelsea manager in September, the Israeli claims he found a club in danger of imploding.
Oil set a new record high of a barrel on Tuesday, the latest spurt in an advance that has seen prices double over the past 12 months. Supply disruptions in Nigeria, where a strike and attacks by militants has hit production, have helped boost a market that is nervous about any threats to supply.
A web security firm said on Tuesday it had tipped off banks and police after finding a trove of stolen business and personal data amassed on a server. Finjan said it had notified the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and more than 40 financial institutions about the discovery of the so-called ”crimeserver”.
Veteran rockers Queen, along with Razorlight and Simple Minds, will top the bill at an Aids benefit concert in London next month to mark Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, organisers announced on Tuesday. Precisely 46Â 664 tickets will go on sale for the three-hour gig in Hyde Park on June 27, which is in support of the former South African president’s 46664 campaign against HIV/Aids.
Avram Grant has promised Manchester United a fight to the very finish after his Chelsea side beat Newcastle to ensure the English Premier League title race will go right down to the wire. A hard-fought 2-0 win at St James’s Park on Monday stretched Chelsea’s impressive unbeaten league run to 20 games to set up a tense last day of the season on Sunday.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking to make popular concessions in a bid to win back support for his beleaguered Labour government after its drubbing in last week’s local elections. Labour ministers and backbenchers continued to voice support for the prime minister despite the worst local election results for the party in 40 years.
West Bromwich Albion were promoted to the English Premier League after two seasons away as champions of the second-tier Championship following a 2-0 win away to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday. Stoke City, who haven’t played in English football’s top flight since 1985, also gained automatic promotion after finishing runners-up after a goalless draw with Leicester City.
Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was taken to hospital after an incident at a west London hotel, police sources said on Monday. Ambulance crews and police were called to the Knightsbridge hotel on Sunday afternoon, from where Gascoigne voluntarily went to hospital where he was being assessed.
Everton missed the chance to confirm a place in next season’s UEFA Cup when they were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. Nicklas Bendtner headed the only goal after 77 minutes at the Emirates stadium against a stubborn Everton side who needed just a draw to guarantee finishing fifth.
Manchester United took a huge step towards retaining their Premier League title when they beat West Ham United 4-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday after playing more than half the match with 10 men. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice while Carlos Tevez and Michael Carrick both scored against their old club as United moved on to 84 points with one match to play.
Britain’s Labour Party suffered its worst local election defeat on record and lost control of London on Friday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink his strategy to avoid losing the next national poll. Conservative Boris Johnson, a journalist-turned-lawmaker prone to gaffes, wrested the prized post of London mayor from Labour’s maverick Ken Livingstone.
What has been billed as the biggest exhibition by British graffiti artist Banksy will open to the public on Saturday in a railway tunnel near Waterloo train station in central London. Called The Cans Festival, the show features works by artists from around the world, and visitors are invited to join in.
Manchester United face a test of nerves against West Ham United in their penultimate Premier League match on Saturday at 11.45am GMT, knowing Chelsea are ready to pounce if they slip up. United’s 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge last weekend means the two Champions League finalists are level on 81 points.
Cristiano Ronaldo been voted footballer of the year by the English Football Writers’ Association, completing a double after receiving the same accolade from his professional peers last week. It is the second season in succession that the 23-year-old Portugal winger has received both of English football’s most prestigious individual awards.
Senior Labour figures said on Friday the party needed to re-engage with voters after it suffered a drubbing in local elections while delighted Tories said they were on course to win the next general election. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party was on course to lose around 200 council seats — around a quarter of the party’s councillors.
A claim by the senior United Nations official in charge of humanitarian relief that up to 300Â 000 people have died in Darfur, western Sudan, since fighting erupted there in 2003 has reignited controversy over whether mortality figures are being deliberately inflated, or understated, for political reasons.
Madeleine McCann’s parents said on Thursday they believe their daughter is still alive, a year after she disappeared while on holiday in Portugal. In an interview with the BBC, Kate and Gerry McCann said they thought she may have been abducted from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve last May.
The scale of losses and the economic fallout from the global credit crunch may not be as bad as feared and subprime losses could end up costing less than half market forecasts, the Bank of England said on Thursday. The central bank is still concerned about the consequences of the credit crisis but Deputy Governor John Gieve said conditions could stabilise soon.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his popularity plunging and his reputation for economic competence under fire, faced his first electoral test on Thursday since taking over from Tony Blair in June. The local council seats up for grabs in England and Wales, alongside a high-profile clash to pick the next mayor of London, were last contested in 2004.
Didier Drogba sent Chelsea to their first Champions League final and got revenge on Rafa Benitez as his double strike clinched a 3-2 win against Liverpool in Wednesday’s semifinal second leg. Drogba had given Chelsea the lead in the first half at Stamford Bridge before Fernando Torres sent the tie into extra-time.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez stoked up a row over Didier Drogba’s theatrics after refusing to retract his claims that the Chelsea striker is a diver. Benitez angered Chelsea boss Avram Grant by revealing he showed his defenders a video dossier of Drogba exaggerating fouls before last week’s Champions League semifinal first leg.