Ashley Cole’s future at Arsenal is still in doubt after the England left-back, already involved in an approach to Chelsea, refused to commit himself to Arsenal for next season. ”It’s just hard for me to say at the moment,” he said after Arsenal’s FA Cup semifinal victory over Blackburn in Cardiff.
Jonny Wilkinson has vowed to make the British Lions tour of New Zealand in June. ”I’ll be there,” he told The Daily Mail on Monday. Lions coach Clive Woodward has put the England flyhalf, who has not played international rugby since his drop goal gave England World Cup glory 17 months ago, on stand-by.
A British grandmother scared a burglar away by hurling a garden gnome at the intruder who was consequently arrested by police, reports said on Friday. Sixty-nine-year-old Jean Collop was woken early on Tuesday morning by the sound of an intruder on the roof of her home in Wadebridge, Cornwall.
It was one of those heartwarming Lassie moments. Lacey the golden Labrador survived a 30m fall down a cliff when her friend Sheena, a black Labrador, raised the alarm, coast guards in Wales said on Tuesday. Lacey became trapped after slipping down a rocky slope near South Stack, in Holyhead, north Wales, on Monday.
Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister, has made a rare public appearance for her beloved Conservative Party — at a glitzy London lap-dancing club. Thatcher (79), toting her trademark handbag, turned up on Sunday at Stringfellow’s for a Tory fund-raising event ahead of the May 5 general election.
Britain has imposed a year-long ban on delivering first-time visas to Nigerians aged 18 to 30, citing a backlog of applications, most of which are rejected. From Monday, Nigerians seeking to travel to Britain for the first time will be asked to ”postpone their plans until 2006”, the British Foreign Office said.
Tim Cahill scored two goals on Sunday to lead fourth-place Everton over Crystal Palace 4-0 and help West Bromwich Albion move out of the Premier League’s relegation zone for the first time in five months. Cahill scored in the 47th and 55th minutes at Goodison Park. He first sent a rising volley into the net and later headed in another goal.
James Vaughan became the latest teenager to be feted at Goodison Park when his goal in a 4-0 win against struggling Crystal Palace established the 16-year-old as the youngest English Premiership goal-scorer. And his goal also saw him become Everton’s youngest scorer, supplanting Wayne Rooney, now at Manchester United.
A wedding day is always special, but for British couples getting married on Saturday at the Windsor Guildhall, their nuptials had an added sprinkling of second-hand royal glamour. Three weddings took place after Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles tied the knot inside the 17th-century civic building.
Britain’s Prince Charles wedded Camilla Parker Bowles on Saturday, turning his true love into a duchess and formalising an on-off relationship that has endured for more than three decades. The private civil ceremony and televised religious blessing drew a cheering crowd of 20 000 into the streets of Windsor, west of London.
A British grandmother who baked cannabis-laced cookies as a treat for friends and neighbours in her rural village was spared jail on Friday after a judge said he did not want to make her ”a martyr”. Patricia Tabram prided herself on her cannabis snacks as well as casseroles and soups containing the banned drug, the court had been told.
The mounting public belief that this weekend’s British royal wedding is jinxed was further bolstered on Thursday by the news that the ceremony is to face yet another setback — unseasonably wintry weather. Temperatures in Windsor forecast to dip below freezing the night before, bringing a distinctly chilly start to the lunchtime event.
England captain David Beckham and pop-star wife Victoria have won planning permission to finish a two-storey playhouse for their three children, their local council said Thursday. They were granted the go-ahead for the ‘Wendy House’ on condition that it ”shall not be used for permanent habitable occupation”.
Scientists have developed a new cheap and convenient malaria pill that could boost the success of the fight against the disease, which kills nearly two million people a year in poor countries, experts said on Thursday. Between 350-million and 500-million people get sick with malaria every year, the World Health Organisation estimates.
It’s a short walk from Windsor Castle to the city’s Guildhall, where Prince Charles will marry Camilla Parker Bowles on Saturday, but clearly a step too far for Queen Elizabeth II. The mother of the groom won’t be at the unprecedented civil service — a conspicuous absence that has had the press buzzing since February.
Chelsea stayed on course to win their first Champions Cup despite the absence of manager Jose Mourinho, and AC Milan moved closer to their seventh European title with victories in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday. Frank Lampard scored two goals to help Chelsea beat Bayern Munich 4-2.
Liverpool scored with a pair of early volleys to beat Juventus 2-1 in a Champions League quarterfinal match that commemorated the Heysel Stadium tragedy nearly 20 years ago. Sami Hyypia scored the first goal from the left side in the 10th minute. In another quarterfinal match, PSV Eindhoven came back to draw 1-1 with host Lyon.
It has already suffered a royal snub, planning gremlins and a last-minute postponement. Now, the British are being asked to bet on the next mishap to hit the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. The cheeky offer from a firm of bookmakers came after the wedding was put back by a day to Saturday to avoid a clash with the funeral of the pope.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ending weeks of speculation, announced on Tuesday a general election for May 5 that he hopes will give his Labour Party a third straight term in power. ”I’ve just been to Buckingham Palace to ask the queen to dissolve Parliament,” Blair told reporters and TV crews outside his Downing Street residence.
Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer was fined six weeks’ wages — about £210 000 (R2,4-million) — on Monday for fighting with teammate Kieron Dyer on the pitch during a Premier League game. The two players received red cards for fighting during Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Aston Villa at St James’ Park.
Panic briefly gripped Windsor after Prince Charles postponed his wedding by 24 hours to Saturday but organisers and hoteliers managed to juggle their plans and now expect an even busier day. Britain’s future king and his partner, Camilla Parker Bowles, altered the date on Monday to enable Charles to attend the pope’s funeral on Friday.
A red-faced BBC apologised on Friday for requesting an interview with Bob Marley, the Jamaican reggae legend who died 24 years ago. BBC Three, one of the public broadcaster’s digital TV channels, sent an e-mail to the Bob Marley Foundation saying it wanted to do a documentary about his hit song "No Woman No Cry".
Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, said on Sunday he has been denied a visa to rejoin his family in the United States, calling it a result of his guilty plea involving a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. He said the rejection by US visa authorities means that his family will instead relocate to Europe.
Newcastle United were dragged into the gutter on Saturday when midfield stars Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were sent off for fighting each other in an amazing St James’ Park encounter. Meanwhile, Thierry Henry was banging in a hat-trick to help Arsenal leapfrog Manchester United into second place in the Premiership.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is convinced Ashley Cole will stay at the club and extend his contract despite the attempts of London rivals Chelsea to prise the England fullback away from Highbury. Chelsea were alleged to have made an illegal approach for the 24-year-old at a meeting in January.
Fans of hit television drama series <i>24</i> can soon become agent Jack Bauer in a "brand-new day" of the show: a PlayStation2 game developed with the help of the <i>24</i>’s writers, musicians, stars and producers. The countdown has begun to the release of <i>24: The Game</i>.
Steven Gerrard and David Beckham struck as England remained on course to qualify for next summer’s World Cup finals with a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan at St James’ Park on Wednesday. But the win could not disguise a disappointing night for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side, who insisted on making heavy work of defeating the group-six minnows.
Wayne Rooney was once a 12-year-old football fan who wanted to be Michael Owen. But, just seven years on, he will be with Michael Owen as the pair look to continue their flourishing England strike partnership in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier in Newcastle at St James’ Park against minnows Azerbaijan.
England striker Michael Owen said on Monday that he has nothing left to prove to his Real Madrid teammates. The former Liverpool striker scored one of England’s goals during their 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Northern Ireland at Old Trafford at the weekend and said he is happy with his contribution this season for the Spanish giants.
Forget about natural disasters. In Britain, you’re more likely to get your knickers in a knot. There are other perils, including insidious scorpions, nasty hornets and wicked rats. Your house is no haven either…with people hospitalised from accidents in their beds, mainly caused by cigarettes or faulty electric blankets.
Necessity is the mother of invention and this is especially true when it comes to party people. A new innovation being launched at the Glastonbury rock music festival will allow revellers to party right through the night without disturbing the neighbours.
More than half of British people have no idea why Easter is celebrated, a survey revealed on Wednesday. Just 48% of about 1Â 000 adults questioned for the Reader’s Digest magazine poll correctly answered the resurrection of Christ.