Robin Millard

The doors to the biggest pub in the world swung open on Tuesday as bartenders at the 30th Great British Beer Festival poured the first of 340 000 pints from across the globe. The annual five-day bash, which raises a toast to finelycrafted ales — and hurls bland, fizzy lager straight out with the slops — promises to be the biggest festival yet.

Author JK Rowling was to lead the cast of <i>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</i> down the red carpet in London on Tuesday for the film’s much-anticipated official world premiere. Excitement was building ahead of the star-studded London event, with thrilled fans expected to pack into Leicester Square for a glimpse of their heroes.

Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour party suffered major losses on Friday in local elections and risked losing control of Scotland, but averted the crushing defeat polls had predicted. Blair, due to make an announcement on his resignation next week, saw his ruling party face a fight to remain the largest party in the Scottish Parliament.

Madonna, Genesis, Bon Jovi and The Police will top the pop megastars rocking the world against climate change in seven concerts across the globe on July 7, organisers say. More than 100 acts will perform in the giant, 24-hour Live Earth concert relay spanning Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York.

Though warm and frothy ale is an enduring symbol of Britain, there’s a fight on to save the traditional British pint from being flushed away by a fizzy tide of bland, mass-produced Euro-lager. Real ale, made the time-honoured, natural way, is an endangered species that enthusiasts say is being muscled out of British pubs by international brewing giants.

A videotaped message from the grave by one of the London suicide bombers was broadcast on British television on Thursday as the country braced for the painful first anniversary of the July 7 attacks. Shehzad Tanweer’s statement came as Britain prepared to remember the victims of the bombings, an atrocity that woke the nation.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be forced into naming the day he will step aside if Thursday’s key local elections go any worse than predicted for his scandal-hit Labour Party. Experts predict that after nine years in power, Blair’s centre-left party is set for a pounding at the polls.

Troubled British supermodel Kate Moss got sympathetic words on Friday after she apologised following allegations of cocaine abuse that saw her high-profile catwalk career crumble around her. British cosmetics giant Rimmel, which has featured Moss in its advertising since 2001, welcomed her statement late Thursday, offering the 31-year-old some hope of at least holding on to her lucrative deal with them.

The arrested fugitives from the botched July 21 London bomb attacks faced an intense grilling as police were congratulated on Saturday for seizing all four suspects in a massive international manhunt. Dramatic raids in London and Rome left the alleged bombers in police custody.

"It’s election fever!" yells Captain Beany, the bright orange superhero hoping to be Britain’s first elected baked bean. For many, Britain’s general election campaign has been downright dull. But the man once voted Britain’s fourth-best eccentric is putting a stop to all that by standing for Parliament.