A London hospital that holds the copyright to Peter Pan has questioned the appropriateness of a series of books that portrays the character Wendy exploring her sexuality. The works, Lost Girls, by graphic novellist Alan Moore, are about three world-famous girl characters.
Pro-hunting campaigners lost their latest legal bid to overturn the ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales on Friday. They had asked the Court of Appeal to rule that the ban infringed European Union trading and employment regulations and breached the European Convention on Human Rights.
The rand fell on Friday to the lowest point against the United States dollar since January 2004, a day after the South African government announced a multi-year record deficit for the country’s current account. In European trade in London, the rand fell as low as $0,1328 — a level last seen on January 16 2004. By early afternoon in London, it stood at $0,1331.
Feeling more happy than usual this particular Friday? You should be, according to a scholar in seasonal disorders at a British university. Cliff Arnall has analysed such factors as outdoor activities, nature, social interaction, childhood memories, temperature and holidays — data gathered over a period of 15 years in interviews with 3Â 000 people around the world.
Britain’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said on Thursday it was investigating ”alleged price coordination” related to the imposition of fuel surcharges within the airline sector and that it had visited British Airways (BA) as part of the probe. BA earlier announced that the OFT and the United States Department of Justice were investigating alleged cartel activity involving it and other airlines.
Chelsea face a tough opening to their bid for a hat-trick of Premiership titles after being handed three potentially tricky fixtures for the start of the 2006-07 season. Flying starts have been a feature of Chelsea’s last two successful campaigns. Last season, Jose Mourinho’s side began with nine straight wins and did not concede a goal in their first six.
Sachin Tendulkar has been tipped for a swift return to the top of world cricket after smashing his way to a century in his first match since undergoing shoulder surgery in March. Suggestions the Indian legend is no longer quite the player he was looked wide of the mark as Tendulkar displayed his full range of shots for the Lashings World XI.
Apparently more at ease with patrol than petrol, blundering London police officers filled up their vehicles with the wrong fuel 150 times last year, the Metropolitan Police Authority said on Tuesday. The gaffes were revealed in its latest figures on driving safety.
Baboons at a British safari park are making a monkey of England World Cup fans by stealing the flags from their cars, the park’s bosses said on Wednesday. The animals have amassed a huge collection of the red-on-white St George’s cross flags at Knowsley Safari Park near Liverpool, north-west England.
The United States Central Intelligence Agency warned the British government in 2003 about one of the suicide bombers who launched attacks in London two years later, according to a new book by a US intelligence specialist. The CIA warned that Mohammed Sidique Khan was that year planning attacks on synagogues on the East Coast of the United States.
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England’s newspapers shrugged off concerns about the national side’s lacklustre World Cup form on Friday as they celebrated qualification for the second round and Wayne Rooney’s return to action. Rooney played only a marginal role in England’s late, late 2-0 win over minnows Trinidad and Tobago in Nuremberg on Thursday.
The British government said on Thursday that it was willing to jail former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said that the decision, which breaks an impasse that has stalled Taylor’s trial, demonstrated ”through concrete action the United Kingdom’s commitment to international justice”.
Amicus, one of Britain’s biggest trade unions, is offering workers tips about how to take time off work to watch World Cup football without damaging their employment prospects. ”So you want to watch the World Cup, but you are meant to be at work when it’s on: can you play away or is the risk of permanent relegation from your job too high?” Amicus said on its website.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday he has given a green light to a transfer of weapons to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s personal security force so it can tackle Hamas. The light weapons, from Jordan, are to enable Abbas "to cope with Hamas", the hard-line Islamist group that leads the Palestinian government, Olmert said.
Fernando Alonso made it seem normal: head to work, go for a little ride in the country, get back home in plenty of time for dinner. Except, he was driving at the British Grand Prix at speeds of up to 325kph, racking up another victory in the Formula One championship on Sunday.
Jamaican Asafa Powell equalled the world 100m record on Sunday, notching a time of 9, 77 seconds to claim victory at the Gateshead Grand Prix. It is the third time the mark has been achieved following Powell’s first clocking in June last year in Athens and American Justin Gatlin’s record-equalling mark set a month ago in Doha.
Defending world champion Fernando Alonso blew away his opposition on a windy day at Silverstone to take his fifth win of the season in the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Spaniard Alonso (24) led from start to finish to give Renault their first Silverstone win as a constructor since 1983.
Global stock markets advanced on Friday as bargain hunters snapped up shares after a turbulent week of sharp losses, the result of concerns about rising inflation and interest rates. European stock markets recovered some ground on Friday, following Thursday’s massive sell-off, and after a steadier overnight performance on Wall Street.
Michael Schumacher hopes to complete a German sporting double in the British Grand Prix on Sunday. The seven-time world drivers’ champion lags 21 points behind Fernando Alonso in the drivers’ championship following the Spaniard’s fourth win of the year in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Church of England said on Wednesday it had proved a hit with football fans seeking divine intervention to help England win the World Cup after putting a prayer for the team on its website. The church said it had scored more than 4 000 hits on the prayers section of its wbsite after posting the prayer last month for the likes of England captain David Beckham and his teammates.
The Times newspaper, aiming to increase its online audience by supplying video news clips, said on Tuesday it planned to launch an internet television service this week. Third-party providers will initially provide news clips for the new service, Times TV, which plans in the longer term to encourage its readers to contribute newsworthy videos, the British daily said.
About 200 hooligans ordered to hand over their passports by May 30 have failed to do so, the British Home Office announced on Monday. The order was given to stop known troublemakers heading to Germany for the World Cup but several have ignored the order.
There’s not many bowlers in the world who can take eight wickets in an innings and have that performance rated only somewhere among their top 10. On Monday it looked as though Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan might become only the third bowler in cricket history to take all 10 wickets in an innings — after former England spinner Jim Laker and India legspinner Anil Kumble.
The diamond industry has promised much but done little to end the illegal trade in so-called blood diamonds, which fund wars in Africa, the British non-governmental organisation Global Witness said on Monday. Elements of the diamond industry ”continue to trade in conflict and illicit diamonds, while the rest of the industry turns a blind eye,” it said.
Muttiah Muralitharan took eight wickets, including all of England’s top seven, as Sri Lanka won the third and final Test by 134 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday to level the series at 1-1 with more than a day to spare. The 34-year-old offspinner, in what could be his final Test in England, finished with figures of 8-70, including a spell of 8-26 in 105 balls.
London’s emergency services responded poorly to the July 7 suicide bombings by relying on outdated communications, lacking medical supplies and failing to track thousands of survivors, an official report said on Monday. The London Assembly’s July 7 review committee said that the most striking failure was the lack of planning to care for thousands of survivors.
Sri Lanka believe the stage is set for legendary offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan to skittle out England at Trent Bridge and salvage a draw from the series. In what could be the 34-year-old’s final Test in England, Sri Lanka left the hosts needing to beat their previous Trent Bridge record successful fourth-innings victory chase of 284-6.
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It was D-day for England’s World Cup squad on Monday as they prepared to set off for Germany on a mission that they hope will end with skipper David Beckham raising high the trophy in Berlin on July 9. Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men will have one final training session on home soil before they fly to their base camp in the Black Forest resort of Baden-Baden.
Chelsea signed teenage Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel from Norwegian club Lyn Oslo on Friday, although most of the reported £16-million transfer fee will go to Manchester United. The Blues and United have been in a long legal battle over the future of the 19-year-old star.
When David Beckham went shopping during a break in England training this week, he was ”kidnapped” in a prank by a teammate and then mobbed by hundreds of fans when he got to the store — just another day in the fishbowl life of one of the world’s most recognisable soccer players.
A group of eight Westerners — six British, one American and one Canadian — were kidnapped on Friday while working on an offshore oil rig in Nigeria, the platform’s owners said. A group of people climbed on board the Bulford Dolphin facility off Nigeria’s southern coast at about 4am local time and seized the employees.
European stocks rose on Friday, recovering part of recent losses as investors seized on news that the New York Stock Exchange Group was to acquire the pan-European stock market Euronext. The $10-billion (€7,8-billion) cash and stock deal, announced overnight in New York, will create the first trans-Atlantic securities market.