London

Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera said on Tuesday it has received a videotape showing the slaying of a woman believed to be British hostage Margaret Hassan. Jihad Ballout, Al-Jazeera spokesperson, said the station received the tape a few days ago but was not sure of its authenticity.

More than 25% of married couples in Briton have lost one or both of their wedding rings since tying the knot, according to a survey released on Tuesday. Researchers found that 15% of brides had lost their original wedding ring, with one in 10 grooms also admitting to losing the traditional symbol of eternal love and commitment.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s personal organisation to spearhead development activities in Africa issued a call on Thursday for massive international cooperation to assist the continent. In an interim report, the Commission for Africa produced a lengthy list of areas needing action, ranging from fairer trade to concerted efforts to end conflict.

An English duchess has received official permission to grow cannabis plants, opium poppies and hallucinogenic mushrooms as part of a poison garden in the grounds of her stately home, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday. The British Home Office said the licence is ”extremely rare”.

”Molecular gastronomy” — the act of transforming the kitchen into a scientific tasting cauldron — has made its mark in Britain with a young English chef who has taken the top restaurant honours in the country. The technique results in such foods as ”liquid ravioli” and snail porridge.

Fancy a bit of bhaji? You’ll need a big bite to put away the biggest fried onion ball in the world, which set a record on Friday weighing in at an astounding 84kg, event organisers said. The big bhaji — a fried and breaded South Asian snack — swells to a diametre of 86cm, the organisers said.

A one-room beach hut overlooking a picturesque bay on the coast of south-west England has sold for £100 000, a British newspaper said on Tuesday. The 2,4m by 4,2m brick chalet on Southbourne Beach in Bournemouth, Dorset, has no more than one room and no toilet, the Daily Telegraph reported.

A British plane enthusiast has put his vintage nuclear bomber up for sale on the internet auction site eBay. ”Vulcan bomber XL391 (complete with engines). Your chance to own a piece of aviation history,” reads the advertisement posted by flying instructor Brian Bateson.

The venerable <i>Times</i> newspaper of London ended more than two centuries of tradition on Saturday when its last edition in broadsheet format appeared, to be replaced by a smaller, narrower newspaper that does not want to be called a tabloid. From Monday, the paper will appear in its "compact" format.

Oil prices bounced higher on Friday following two days of sharp declines that came on the heels of rising inventories of crude in the United States and a move by China to cool its economy. Prices rose ahead of the weekend as traders sought to protect themselves in the event of a supply disruption before Monday.

Actress Helen Mirren. who has starred in the Prime Suspect television series for more than a decade, was named naturist of the year on Friday by Britain’s main nudist group. British Naturism said Mirren was selected from among ”a number of well-known celebrities who have made their love of a naturist lifestyle public”.

A British former MP left bankrupt and publicly disgraced just three years ago has recouped much of his riches by exploiting his notoriety in the world of show business, a report said on Friday. Neil Hamilton, who was left with debts of £3-million in mid-2001, has now bought a million-pound manor house.

Humans are not alone in suffering from stress-related illnesses, a team of British veterinarians reported Wednesday: their pet cats can be affected too. A team from Edinburgh University found that the presence of another pussycat in the same house, moving home or the arrival of a new member of the household can produce anxiety conditions.

The BBC, the world’s biggest public broadcaster, is to cut almost a quarter of its 28 000-strong workforce, in the biggest shake-up in its 82-year history, The Times newspaper in London said on Monday. A BBC spokesperson said the staff losses quoted in The Times are ”all purely speculative at this point”.

<i>Star Trek</i> star William Shatner and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Dave Navarro are among thousands who want to fly on Virgin’s proposed commercial space flights, company chief Richard Branson said on Friday. Branson said more than 7&nbsp;000 people have registered their willingness to pay the R1,3-million fare.

Like the career of its subject, London’s latest musical began in a blaze of publicity, set tongues wagging and ended, prematurely, in disgrace. Oscar Wilde: The Musical opened on Tuesday at the 500-seat Shaw Theatre. It closed the next day after receiving excoriating reviews and selling just five tickets for its second performance.

Prince Harry was involved in an early-morning scuffle with a photographer outside a London nightclub on Thursday, the palace said, revealing the photographer had received a cut lip in the fracas. The photographer reported the incident to the police and said he was considering whether to make a formal complaint.