On the day Jonny Wilkinson set a world points record, the England flyhalf was upstaged by opposite number Chris Paterson in Scotland’s upset 15-9 victory at Murrayfield on Saturday. Paterson, a metronome-like place kicker, is on a remarkable run of 30 successful penalties and conversions in a row dating back to the 2007 World Cup.
Rafa Benitez hailed a ”perfect” victory over Newcastle, which sees Liverpool travel to Inter Milan in the Champions League highly confident of finishing the job they started at Anfield three weeks ago. Another inspirational Fernando Torres performance propelled Benitez’s side to a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Newcastle at Anfield on Saturday.
English football’s big guns were shot down in flames on Saturday as Chelsea and Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup quarterfinals in two of the famous old competition’s most remarkable upsets. Between them Chelsea and United have won four of the last five Premier League titles and boast some of the world’s finest players.
Harry Redknapp pulled off a unique FA Cup hat-trick against Manchester United as Sulley Muntari’s second-half penalty sealed a 1-0 victory that sent Portsmouth through to the semifinals for the first time since 1992. Redknapp, who had previously guided Bournemouth and West Ham to FA Cup wins against United, saw his team win at Old Trafford for the first time in 51 years.
Britain’s former prime minister Margaret Thatcher is due to leave hospital later on Saturday, her spokesperson said. The 82-year-old Thatcher was taken to a south London hospital on Friday for precautionary medical tests. ”She has just been given the all clear,” the spokesperson said.
A global equities sell-off gathered speed on Friday as nervous investors were hit by growing United States recession fears, a plunging dollar and record oil prices, dealers said. European markets fell after sharp losses earlier in Asia and overnight on Wall Street following more bad news on the US subprime home-loan crisis.
Oil eased to under a barrel on Friday, but stayed within sight of its record high from the previous session, with a tumbling United States dollar, fund flows and Opec’s (the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) reluctance to pump extra crude providing support.
British spirits group Diageo and Dutch brewer Heineken said on Friday they had agreed to form two new joint ventures in South Africa to combine their drinks businesses and also build a brewery. Diageo, which makes Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky, and Heineken, famed for its lager, said they had teamed up with Namibia Breweries to form DHN Drinks.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter believes that players guilty of deliberately dangerous tackles should be banned from football, the Times reported on Friday. Blatter made the comments in an interview before Saturday’s meeting at Gleneagles, Scotland of the International Football Board.
A new refinery in South Africa is likely to be the only one to go ahead in the short-term from a slew of projects proposed in sub-Saharan Africa, analysts say. Dozens of developments have been announced in recent years in countries including Angola, Nigeria and Zimbabwe but most will stay on the drawing board.
Smokers are more likely to kick the habit if they are told how ”old” their lungs are, a British study found on Friday. The concept of lung age — measured by comparing a smoker’s lungs to the age of a healthy person whose lungs function the same — has helped patients better understand how smoking damages health.
To deliver the longest British budget speech of all time, William Gladstone imbibed a throat-soothing mixture of sherry and beaten egg to help him through a marathon that lasted four hours and 45 minutes. enjamin Disraeli reached for brandy and water to deliver the shortest budget — he took just 45 minutes to plot the path for the nation’s finances.
The price of gold hit a new record on Thursday close to the symbolic $1 000per ounce level as the precious metal was boosted again by the weak dollar, traders said. On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold jumped as high as $991,68 per ounce, beating Wednesday’s record high of $991,47.
Oil prices surged past $105 for the first time on Thursday as traders reacted to a surprisingly sharp fall in United States crude reserves and the plunging US dollar, analysts said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, hit $105,10 per barrel, topping the previous record of $104,95 set on Wednesday.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez hailed Fernando Torres as ”on fire” after the Spanish striker hit his second successive Anfield hat-trick to lift his club into fourth spot on the Premier League table on Wednesday. Torres sentenced West Ham to their second 4-0 defeat in four days after a sizzling performance by Benitez’s side.
AS Roma eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League on Wednesday, beating the nine-time champions 2-1 and sending the Spanish team out of the first knockout round for the fourth season in a row. Chelsea also made it to the quarterfinals, beating Olympiakos 3-0, while Schalke beat FC Porto 4-1 on penalties.
The Kenyan government sanctioned violence following last December’s disputed presidential elections, the BBC alleged on Wednesday, but Nairobi strongly denied the claims. The BBC quoted sources alleging that meetings were held at the official residence of President Mwai Kibaki between a banned militia group and high-ranking government figures.
Northern Ireland’s largest Protestant party scrambled on Wednesday to secure a seamless transfer of power after its firebrand leader, Ian Paisley, announced his departure, drawing tributes from all sides. Paisley said on Tuesday he would step down as Democratic Unionist Party head in May.
Political and economic risks in South Africa are rising, Standard & Poor’s said but added that the country’s BBB+ sovereign credit rating remains safe for now. The ratings agency said divisions within the African National Congress (ANC) as well as its slowing economy were sources of concern, although the country was making progress in addressing its energy crisis.
Britain said on Tuesday it would support a ban on a tour next year by the Zimbabwe cricket team in protest at President Robert Mugabe’s rule, but the decision was up to the sport’s authorities. The BBC’s Inside Sport said the government was looking at several options to stop next year’s tour.
The British government has no plans for a blanket ban on sportsmen from Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s spokesperson said on Tuesday, rebuffing a report from the BBC. The spokesperson said Downing Street had been ”surprised” by the report suggesting that Britain was considering such a ban.
The British government is considering stepping up the pressure on Zimbabwe by banning its athletes from competing in Britain, the BBC has reported. The Inside Sport programme reported that the ban could notably prevent the Zimbabwe cricket team from touring England next year.
Oil eased on Tuesday after it reached a record of almost a barrel in the previous session, buoyed by investor demand for commodities as well as expectations Opec will not increase supply despite high prices. United States light crude for April delivery was down 44 cents at ,01 a barrel by 10.30am GMT, after touching a record high of ,95 on Monday.
Benni McCarthy has moved to end speculation over his future by insisting that he is ready to remain with Premiership outfit Blackburn Rovers for the rest of his career. The South African striker has two years left to run on his current contract at Ewood Park, but has continually been linked with a move away from the club since his arrival in July 2006.
Runaway oil prices roared higher on Monday to strike a record high $103,95 per barrel as traders reacted to the plunging United States dollar amid expectations that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will hold output this week.
Rollercoaster markets may have cooled investor appetites for shares or property, but interest in offbeat investments is booming as a growing number of art and wine funds compete to combine passion with high returns. Downturns typically mean a slowdown in investments, but industry watchers say the credit crunch has left the appeal of ”investments of passion” largely untarnished.
Arsenal left it late to stay top of the Premier League as second-placed champions Manchester United closed to within a point on Saturday. The Gunners were seconds away from being knocked off top spot at the Emirates Stadium when Nicklas Bendtner cancelled out an early Philippe Senderos own-goal to secure a 1-1 home draw against Aston Villa.
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/ 29 February 2008
The price of New York crude oil hit an all-time high point of $103,05 per barrel on Friday owing to record weakness of the dollar, but then fell back, traders said. And the price of gold reached an historic peak of $976,32 per ounce. "This was part of a broad-based commodities run based on the continued weakness of the dollar," said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.
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/ 28 February 2008
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate admitted his side had enjoyed a huge slice of luck after a freakish extra-time winner sent them into the last eight of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Wednesday. Boro had marginally shaded an uninspiring contest but it still took a bizarre own goal by United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny to separate the sides.
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/ 27 February 2008
”The birds were flying around like it was daylight,” said David Alrewas, one of the thousands of Britons woken at night by the most severe earthquake to strike Britain in 25 years. The quake, measuring 5,3 on the Richter scale, according to the British Geological Survey, shook large parts of England and Wales at 1am GMT on Wednesday.
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/ 27 February 2008
Oil powered to a new record above a barrel on Wednesday, closing in on its inflation-adjusted lifetime peak, as an ailing dollar on worsening United States economic data triggered a surge across commodities markets. US crude stood 15 cents higher at ,03 a barrel by 1pm GMT, off its new record high of ,08.
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/ 27 February 2008
Protesters scaled the roof of Britain’s Parliament in a major security breach on Wednesday and threatened further direct action against government plans to expand London’s Heathrow airport. Environmental protesters from the ”Plane Stupid” group scaled the Houses of Parliament.