United Kingdom

A British man died in a high-speed accident because he allowed his seven-year-old son to steer, a coroner’s inquest ruled. Peter Mourier (50) of Kingshill, encouraged his son David to lean over and steer the car as it traveled at 110kph on a motorway in western Britain on March 4.

Real Madrid have warned they will not let Michael Owen go on the cheap as the England striker tries to negotiate a return to the English Premiership. Newcastle have already had a club record bid, believed to be £16-million, accepted by the Spanish giants. However, Owen has admitted he would prefer to rejoin Liverpool.

Mourners who paid their last respects to a British war veteran were stunned to see him strolling through the town shortly after the funeral, newspapers said on Tuesday. Friends of the former bus driver travelled from far and wide to attend the cremation after reading the death notice of a Frank Hughes in a local newspaper.

The annual World Bog-Snorkelling Championships celebrate their 20th year on Monday when competitors don the flippers in one of Britain’s most bizarre sporting events. The championships take place in Llanwrtyd Wells, central Wales, Britain’s smallest town.

Britain will join an international alliance to confront United States President George Bush and salvage as much as possible of an ambitious plan to reshape the United Nations and tackle world poverty next week. The head-to-head in New York on Monday comes after the revelation that the US administration is proposing wholesale changes to crucial parts of the biggest overhaul of the UN since it was founded more than 50 years ago.

The London Zoo unveiled a new exhibition on Thursday — eight humans prowling around wearing little more than fig leaves to cover their modesty. <i>The Human Zoo</i> is intended to show the basic nature of human beings as they frolic throughout the August bank holiday weekend.

A racing pigeon belonging to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has been missing for more than a month ahead of a big race, a spokesperson said on Friday. Pigeon-fanciers feared the young bird may be flocking about with common pigeons — or, worse, have been eaten by a sparrowhawk.

Internet shoppers will get a chance to add an unusual item to their wardrobe: the flamboyant swan dress worn by Icelandic singer Bj&ouml;rk, which will be auctioned for charity next month. The quirky dress is among more than 150 celebrity fashion items that will be up for grabs on auction site eBay.

People in England and Wales are more likely to commit suicide on a Monday than on any other day of the week, a tendency consistent with data from other countries, Britain’s Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. A review of 34 935 suicides found that about 17% of the deaths occurred on Mondays.

A senior US military officer on Wednesday predicted that al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq will move to the ”vast ungoverned spaces” of the Horn of Africa once conditions in the country get too tough for them. The warning came from Major General Douglas Lute, director of operations at the US’ central command. ”There will come a time when Zarqawi will face too much resistance in Iraq and will move on,” he predicted.

Frank Lampard scored twice for Chelsea in their 4-0 win on Wednesday over West Bromwich Albion, putting the defending champions at the top of the league standings. Also, Thierry Henry and Pascal Cygan each scored two goals in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Fulham; Bolton beat Newcastle 2-0; and Blackburn and Tottenham drew 0-0.

Liverpool have been branded ”morally wrong” by Bolton after admitting they want to take Greek midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos to Anfield. The European champions have gone public on their interest in the right-sided player and have even held preliminary talks with his current employers.

A life-size statue of Prince Diana and Dodi Fayed, who died together in a Paris car crash in 1997, will soon be displayed at Harrod’s department store in central London, owner Mohamed al Fayed said on Wednesday. The work shows the couple holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes beneath a soaring albatross.

Newly installed security alarms at the British royal family’s summer estate in Scotland are going off ”day and night” thanks to the peregrinations of seven Indian runner ducks. The ducks — named Arabella, Antoine, Parsley, Sage, Rose, Mary and Thyme — were acquired by Prince Charles as environmentally friendly, free-range pest controllers around Birkhall, his getaway within the Balmoral grounds.

Britain was due on Wednesday to unveil a list of ”unacceptable behaviour” aimed at forcing the deportation of Islamic radicals in the wake of last month’s deadly London bombings. The measures come as a newspaper reported the bombs used in the July 7 London attacks were manually activated by button-like devices.

October 13 is being declared Peel Day to celebrate the life and legacy of trail-blazing British Broadcasting Corporation disc jockey John Peel, who died suddenly last year at the age of 65, the public broadcaster announced. Gigs will take place across Britain in as many venues as possible, and organisers hope Peel Day will become an annual event.

An independent police complaints panel said on Tuesday it will finish a report into the fatal London shooting of a Brazilian man wrongly suspected of being a suicide bomber by the end of the year — but the findings will not be published until all other proceedings linked to the death of Jean Charles de Menezes are completed.