The British government moved on Monday to ban for the first time two Islamist militant groups based in Britain under new laws prohibiting the glorification of terrorism, officials said. Home Secretary John Reid named the outlawed groups as al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect, Home Office officials said.
British prosecutors said on Monday that they had ”insufficient evidence” to charge police officers with any crime for shooting to death a Brazilian man they mistook for a suicide bomber last year. However, the Crown Prosecution Service said London’s Metropolitan Police will be prosecuted as a whole under health and safety laws for the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Michael Owen will return to the United States in six weeks’ time to undergo a second knee operation, the player said on Monday. The Newcastle striker, who ruptured a cruciate ligament in England’s World Cup group clash against Sweden in Germany, must wait for the swelling in his knee to go down before he undergoes a second bout of surgery.
England were ill prepared for the World Cup and will not win the trophy until the Football Association undergoes radical changes, said an Englishman who has lifted the top prize in rugby. ”The FA need to take a long hard look at themselves. Do they even know what has to be done?” said former England rugby coach Clive Woodward.
Pakistan paid a high price for a series of dropped catches as unbeaten hundreds from Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood put England in a strong position on the first day of the first Test at Lord’s on Thursday. At stumps England were 309-3 after Cook, dropped three times, and Collingwood, missed once, both scored their second Test centuries.
A half-smoked cigar enjoyed by Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s war-time prime minister, was sold at auction on Wednesday for £365 (about R4 800). Churchill had been puffing on the cigar when he arrived for a meeting in Blackpool, north-west England, on October 14 1950.
‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello, what’s all this, then? Police are telling booze-fuelled British women to wear nice knickers and wax their bodies, newspapers reported on Thursday. The latest attempt by the police to get hip with the kids is aimed at hammering home a responsible drinking message to irresponsible young women.
More than 100 000 knives, including machetes, meat cleavers and axes, were handed over to police during Britain’s five-week knife amnesty which ended last month, the country’s Home Office said on Friday. Another 12 645 were handed over in Scotland.
Independent music labels, who have seen their market share come under pressure in the last decade as the industry goliaths merged, have struck back. After a lengthy court battle, a European court surprised just about everyone by annulling the European Union’s approval of the 2004 Sony BMG merger, which created the world’s second-biggest music company.
Oil surged to a record high above a barrel on Thursday on renewed worries over supply from major exporter Nigeria and as conflict between Israel and Lebanon heightened international tensions. Prices also rose as the Iran nuclear row headed back to the United Nations Security Council and North Korea walked out of talks with South Korea.
The aerospace industry will be in sharp focus next week when one of its biggest shows opens near London amid a crisis at the European group Airbus that has helped boost the standing of United States rival Boeing. The Farnborough International Airshow comes as Airbus is caught in a storm of bad publicity after revealing production problems in June.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa to join the G8 to secure multilateral deals on trade, climate change and Iran, The Guardian newspaper said on Thursday. The British premier reckoned that the first fruits of closer engagement could be a break of the logjam in the ailing Doha round of world trade talks.
The tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu is the happiest country on Earth, according to a study published on Wednesday measuring people’s well-being and their impact on the environment. Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica and Panama complete the top five in the Happy Planet Index, compiled by the British think tank New Economics Foundation.
Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is looking forward to playing a major role in the four-Test series against England starting at ”home of cricket” Lord’s on Thursday. Kaneria, who has played county cricket with great success for Essex, hopes he can take his form in English conditions with him to Lord’s and follow in the footsteps of Australia leg-spin great Shane Warne
<i>The Financial Times</i> newspaper said on Wednesday it was to slash up to 50 jobs as it tried to restructure its editorial operations. The British business daily is seeking to integrate better its editing, reporting and production for the <i>FT</i>’s print and online operations.
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Italy’s Marco Materazzi called Zinedine Zidane a ”son of a terrorist whore” just before the France captain gave him a brutal headbutt in the World Cup final, Britain’s top forensic lip-reader says. The Times newspaper hired Jessica Rees, whose skill has seen her summoned as an expert witness at criminal trials, to study a tape of Sunday’s match.
Kevin Pietersen has told England’s novice bowlers to ”stand up and be counted” as the team prepares for its Test series against Pakistan. England head into Thursday’s first Test at Lord’s on the back of seven straight defeats against Sri Lanka — one in a Test match, one Twenty20 and five one-day international reverses — and with several key players out of action because of injury.
Never mind breakfast at Tiffany’s. One step inside ”Bejewelled by Tiffany 1837-1987”, a retrospective of the iconic New York jeweler, and most visitors will want to stay for lunch as well as dinner. Most of the 200 sparkling pieces now on display in London are from Tiffany’s own collection, with a few on loan from private individuals.
A South African whose short story offered a child’s view of life under apartheid has won this year’s Caine Prize, organisers of the award for African writing said on Monday. Mary Watson’s Jungfrau explores family dynamics from the perspective of the young daughter of a committed teacher in late apartheid South Africa.
Britons, famous the world over for queuing, waste four days, or 96 hours, each year waiting in line, according to results of a study released on Monday. But far from being polite in the process, more than 40% admit to having lost their cool, with the airport check-in queue cited as the most hated by 65% of the respondents, the ICM poll for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines suggested.
The government was expected Tuesday to herald a new era for nuclear power in Britain alongside a greater reliance on renewable sources when it releases a review of the country’s energy needs. But the long-awaited report will likely trigger an angry response from environmentalists because any support for cleaner power, such as solar or tidal energy, will be overshadowed by the nuclear references.
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Zinedine Zidane’s World Cup final assault on Marco Materazzi was provoked by a ”very serious” comment made by the Italian defender, according to the French playmaker’s agent. Zidane (34) floored Materazzi with a butt to the chest in the second half of extra-time in Sunday’s final and was sent off, missing a penalty shoot-out.
Algeria’s security forces continue to detain and torture prisoners secretly, Amnesty International said on Monday in a report ahead of the Algerian president’s trip to London. It said Algeria’s intelligence agency, the Department of Information and Security, is using the war on terror as an excuse to perpetuate torture and ill-treatment.
Defence Secretary Des Browne was expected to announce details on Monday of promised reinforcements for the 3Â 300 British troops in Afghanistan whom he admits are facing an "energised" Taliban. Browne revealed last week that commanders in the restive southern province of Helmand had asked for more troops.
Roger Federer performed one of the most clinical demolition jobs ever witnessed on centre court as he crushed Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman to move within one match of a fourth Wimbledon title. The Swiss needed just one hour and 17 minutes to complete a 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 victory with a flawless, almost surgical, display of precision tennis.
South African President Thabo Mbeki led the tributes to Percy Sonn, who was named as the new president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday. ”The ICC was the first international sports body to recognise a democratic South Africa through the membership of the United Cricket Board of South Africa in 1991,” said Mbeki.
Britain fell silent for two minutes on Friday in memory of the victims of the London bombings, as its top police officer warned that the threat of more outrages has ”palpably increased” in the year since then. It was the worst terrorist to date attack on British soil, as well as Europe’s first experience with a suicide bombing.
The four British Muslims who carried out the London bombings a year ago remain to this day remarkable for having been, in many ways, unremarkable. Their extremist views were little known, and their violent intentions even less so. Britain was mourning their lethal handiwork on Friday.
Britain will fall silent on Friday to remember the 52 people who died and hundreds more who were injured when four suicide bombers blew themselves up on London’s public transport system exactly a year ago. A day-long series of prayers and commemorative events has been planned to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.
Justine Henin-Hardenne is one victory away from a career grand slam. Henin-Hardenne defeated fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to reach the Wimbledon final and close in on the one major title missing from her collection. She will face Amelie Mauresmo on Saturday, who beat Maria Sharapova 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insisted on Thursday he expects Ruud van Nistelrooy to return to Old Trafford for pre-season training. Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy (29) has been linked with a move away from the English Premiership club after losing his place in the United team towards the end of last season.
Rafael Nadal shrugged off a controversial doping storm to move closer to a dream Wimbledon title clash against Roger Federer with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 semifinal victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen on Thursday. The 20-year-old Spaniard became the first French Open champion to reach the last four here in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999.