United Kingdom

Planning inspectors are being asked to resolve a dispute over the site of a statue honouring South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela in London’s Trafalgar Square. The Greater London Authority, on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Statue Fund, wanted the 2,8m bronze statue to stand on the north terrace of the British capital’s most popular piazza.

A first draft of Beatles song I’m Only Sleeping leads a flurry of pop memorabilia up for grabs at Christie’s in London next week, the auction house said on Thursday. Christie’s is auctioning more than 230 lots of rare recordings, instruments and clothes on Wednesday, with John Lennon’s draft lyrics for I’m Only Sleeping expected to fetch in excess of £200 000.

The governments of Britain and Iraq insisted on Wednesday that recent tension over a British army operation in Basra will not have an adverse effect on relations. Speaking at a joint news conference with British Defence Secretary John Reid, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari described the events in Basra as ”regrettable”.

Soaring ticket prices, saturation television coverage and stifling tactics are all being blamed for a sharp drop in attendances at English Premiership matches over the first month of the season. Nine of the 17 teams that were in the top flight last season have seen spectator numbers drop in the opening weeks of the current campaign.

Arsenal centre-back Sol Campbell is targeting an England return after marking his Premiership comeback with both goals in a 2-0 victory against Everton on Monday night. ”I want to be in,” he said. ”One of my main goals is to play for England, but also Arsenal. That’s why I’ve been working hard, and I’m getting better and better.”

A man attempting to walk the length of Britain stark naked for a second time was arrested once again — seconds after walking out of jail, police revealed on Monday. So-called "Naked Rambler" Stephen Gough (46) was stopped by officers as he left the gates of Edinburgh’s Saughton prison on Friday.

An elderly couple stranded by the rising tide off the British coast stunned coast guards by not only refusing to be rescued, but hurling abuse at a helicopter crew that attempted to winch them to safety, officials said on Saturday. The unnamed pair were spotted being forced to shelter in a cove on cliffs after the tide came in.

A billion dollars has been plundered from the coffers of Iraq’s defence ministry, seriously affecting the government’s ability to combat the insurgency, London’s Independent newspaper reported on Monday, citing the Iraqi finance minister.

Ron Atkinson, manager of Manchester United when they opened the 1985/86 season with ten victories and still finished fourth after being hit by a string of injuries, sees no one to match Chelsea’s huge world-class squad this season. ”Chelsea have such a big squad that it will take something major to disrupt them,” he said.

British supermodel Kate Moss Friday faced stinging new allegations of drug abuse as cosmetic giants and leading fashion houses were reported to be considering the future of her contracts. The London Times and a string of popular newspapers said the career of the 31-year-old model from Croydon, near London, was now on the line.

Meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a Downing Street reception the day after his heroic innings helped win the Ashes back for England will be a highlight of cricket hero Kevin Pietersen’s career — if only he could remember it, the South African-born batsman revealed on Thursday.

Wayne Rooney’s ejection for sarcastically applauding a referee was a red card waiting to happen. The talented but volatile teenager was sent off playing for Manchester United in a 0-0 Champions League tie at Villarreal on Wednesday. It’s the same sort of petulance he showed playing for England in last week’s stunning 1-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Northern Ireland.