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/ 11 October 2007
An asteroid is on a collision course with the earth and you have one hour left to live. What would you do in your last 60 minutes? Not surprisingly, the majority of Britons questioned in a survey — 54% — said they would like to spend it either with or on the phone to their loved ones. But the survey also revealed a strong hedonistic streak.
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/ 11 October 2007
Representatives from the world’s major professional tennis associations will meet in London on Friday to discuss the formation of an ”integrity unit” designed to keep the sport free of match-fixing. The meeting comes three days after 18th-ranked Andy Murray became the latest player to speak out about corruption in the sport.
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/ 10 October 2007
English cricketing legend Ian Botham was formally made a knight of the realm by Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday in a ceremony at her official Buckingham Palace residence in central London. Botham, whose career has combined a rare talent on the cricket field with a flamboyant lifestyle off it, was rewarded for his services to sport and to charity in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
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/ 10 October 2007
Brewers SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing have agreed to combine their United States operations to create a business that will have annual sales of ,6-billion and be the second-biggest market player behind Anheuser-Busch. The venture, MillerCoors, will generate around -million of annual cost savings.
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/ 10 October 2007
Demands by African diamond producers are changing the more than a century-old way the diamond industry has operated. Their insistence that they secure a greater portion of the diamond value chain is driving the dramatic restructuring of worldwide rough-diamond supply channels, industry watchdog the World Diamond Centre said on Wednesday.
Darrell Hair on Tuesday dropped his claim for racial discrimination against the International Cricket Council after securing a deal that could lead to the Australian resuming his career as a Test-match umpire next year. A statement said that Hair ”unconditionally” withdrew his allegation of race discrimination by world cricket’s governing body.
All tennis players are aware that some men’s matches are fixed, British star Andy Murray said amid rising concern from tennis officials and betting companies. ”It is pretty disappointing for all the players, but everyone knows that it goes on,” Murray told BBC radio in a report made available ahead of Tuesday night’s broadcast.
Britain is to cut the number of its troops in Iraq to 2 500 by next spring, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday, in a long-expected statement. ”We plan for next spring to reduce force numbers in southern Iraq to a figure of 2 500,” he told parliament’s lower House of Commons.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned on Monday that neither he nor any other senior British government minister will attend a Europe-Africa summit if Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is there. Previously Brown had said he would boycott the December summit, but it has been unclear if Britain could be represented at a lower level.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday said he took ”full responsibility” for the decision not to call an early election, but rejected claims he had run scared from a possible defeat. Brown told an often rowdy news conference that he had instead opted to wait and take a long-term approach before going to the polls.
The global credit squeeze is a "serious crisis" that is not over yet and will have an impact on government budgets, International Monetary Fund (IMF) outgoing head Rodrigo Rato said in an interview published on Monday. IMF managing director Rato said: "Policymakers should not think that the problems will stay at the desk of the bankers."
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Graham Henry will be replaced as All Blacks coach by the end of the year after his highly fancied team crashed out of the World Cup at the hands of France in the quarterfinals. The New Zealand Rugby Union board said on Sunday that a new coaching team should be in place by Christmas, even though Henry and his assistants have contracts until March 2008.
Englishman Nick Dougherty took advantage of a disastrous 16th hole for Ernie Els to claim the biggest win of his career at the Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday. The overnight leader nearly squandered his three-stroke advantage as he bogeyed the opening two holes but he recovered to post a one-under par final round of 71 and finish on 18 under, two shots clear of Justin Rose.
England’s Nick Dougherty will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Dunhill Links Championship after firing a six-under 66 on the Old Course at St Andrews on Saturday. Dougherty, seventh in June’s US Open, has strung together a series of top-10 finishes on the circuit this season.
Manchester United finally found their goal-scoring touch on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Wigan that lifted them top of the Premier League for the first time this season. Cristiano Ronaldo got two goals and Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez also scored to give United 20 points — one more than Arsenal, who hosts Sunderland on Sunday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ruled out an early election on Saturday in what the opposition Conservatives called a humiliating retreat after polls showed his lead over them had evaporated. Brown, who took over from Tony Blair three months ago, had allowed his Labour Party to fan speculation in recent weeks that he would hold an early election.
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France upset the odds in dramatic style to come from behind and beat tournament favourites New Zealand 20-18 in the World Cup quarterfinal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday. For the All Blacks, 13-0 up as early as the 30th minute, defeat was arguably as devastating as their equally unexpected 43-31 loss to France in the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.
Protests against Burma’s bloody crackdown on dissenters took place in cities around the world on Saturday, with thousands demonstrating in London and smaller gatherings held in Sydney, Stockholm, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere. The coordinated displays of public condemnation followed the violent crackdown by Burma’s junta on thousands of activists in late September.
Hennie Otto moved into a share of the lead with Ernie Els only one behind him, in a solid second round for the South Africans at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews on Friday. Playing the Old Course under blue skies and bright sunshine, Otto posted a bogey-free 67 to share the lead with Peter O’Malley and Nick Dougherty on 11 under.
England’s Steven Webster holds a one-shot lead after the first round of play at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championships, played over three courses at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingbarns on Thursday. The 32-year-old shot an impressive seven-under-par 65 at Carnoustie to take sole possession of the lead heading into the second day’s play on Friday.
Condemning Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is counterproductive and international powers should instead put their weight behind regional diplomatic efforts to unseat him, Tanzania’s president said on Friday. Jakaya Kikwete insisted the diplomatic approach favoured by African leaders ”will pay dividends”.
A 27-year-old Celtic fan who invaded the pitch and slapped AC Milan goalkeeper Dida at the end of a Champions League match on Wednesday made himself known to the club on Thursday and was given a life ban. The unnamed individual was also handed over to the police, who were detaining him in custody in Glasgow, Celtic said in a statement on their website.
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Time has done little to erode the shock and nothing to erase the pain felt in New Zealand after France came back from the brink to win the 1999 World Cup semifinal. A match New Zealand had seemingly won was lost in the most astonishing reverse in the 20-year history of the World Cup.
AC Milan and Liverpool were upset in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Chelsea won 2-1 at Valencia with a late goal from Didier Drogba. Defending champion Milan lost at Celtic 2-1 after a 90th-minute goal from Scott McDonald. After the goal, a fan ran onto the field and made contact with Milan goalkeeper Dida.
It may never be known if Princess Diana was pregnant when she died with her lover, Dodi al-Fayed, in a high-speed Paris car crash, the inquest into their deaths was told on Wednesday. Dodi’s father, Harrods luxury storeowner Mohamed al-Fayed, says the couple were killed in 1997 by Britain’s security services on the orders of Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Diana’s former father-in-law.
A mystery over the unexplained appearance of a string of gargoyle-style stone faces in northern England was solved on Tuesday, when the artist behind them was named. The sculptures, which all have a carved symbol that apparently spells ”paradox” and a riddle, have been left outside homes and businesses.
A Thai chef cooked up fears of a chemical attack in London when fumes from his eye-wateringly hot chilli sauce led to the emergency services being called out. Chalemchai Tangjariyapoon, who works at the Thai Cottage restaurant in Soho, was dry-frying bird’s eye chillies as he prepared a huge batch of nam prik pao.
An inquest into the death of Princess Diana finally opened on Tuesday, 10 years after she and Dodi al-Fayed were killed in a Paris car crash, with her lover’s father still convinced the two were victims of an establishment plot. Mohamed al-Fayed, owner of London’s luxury Harrods store, fought a long legal battle to have the inquest heard by a judge and jury.
Tottenham marked the 125th anniversary of the club’s formation with an extraordinary fightback to earn a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa that may just have been enough to save manager Martin Jol from the sack. Under-pressure Jol had the air of a condemned man as Spurs were left trailing 4-1 with half an hour left to play.
Pickled cows, elephant dung paintings and a transvestite potter — the Turner Prize deserves its reputation as one of art’s most controversial awards. Now art lovers can decide for themselves if the prize rewards pretentious twaddle or cutting edge British art.
Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire, was prevented from umpiring in top-level international cricket so as to appease non-white cricketing countries, it was claimed in the Central London Employment Tribunal on Monday. Hair is suing the International Cricket Council (ICC) for racial discrimination.
Crime is booming in sprawling cities of the developing world but fear of attack outweighs the reality and is further dividing already divided populations, a United Nations agency said on Monday. ”Perceptions are worse than reality,” UN-Habitat’s executive director Anna Tibaijuka said.