Sachin Tendulkar was threatening to make England pay for dropping him on 20 as India finished the first day of the third and final Test on 316-4 at the Oval on Thursday. Tendulkar was 48 not out and VVS Laxman 20 not out following an impressive 91 from opener Dinesh Karthik.
Insurer Old Mutual posted a 12% drop in first-half operating profit, missing forecasts as the weak rand and United States dollar and provisions for its US unit dampened the impact of rising sales. South Africa’s largest insurer said on Friday pretax operating profit, on a European embedded value basis, totalled £782-million, below an average forecast of £850-million.
The hourly chimes of Big Ben are to fall silent for a month while maintenance work is carried out on one of London’s most famous landmarks, officials said on Wednesday. Work will include replacing the strike train, which controls the hourly bell and the going train, which operates the clock.
Jose Mourinho believes the team spirit he has forged at Chelsea is strong enough to see his side through the injury crisis that threatens to damage their title challenge. Mourinho could be forgiven if he had given up taking a roll call of his remaining fit players in case another one has joined the growing ranks of walking wounded.
Claims that a Great White shark had been seen off the England’s south-western coast have been exposed as a fake after the holidaymaker who claimed he saw the fearsome creature said it was a sham. Kevin Keeble’s photograph of a menacing-looking fin poking out of the water sparked Jaws mania around the county of Cornwall.
A British woman has had her stereo confiscated after neighbours complained about her blasting out Dolly Parton hits at top volume around the clock. Diane Duffin reportedly made life a misery for people living near her in the Armley area of Leeds, northern England, by playing country and western hits at all hours of the day and night.
McLaren have launched an appeal against the points penalty they were hit with after the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying controversy. McLaren were deducted 15 points due to them in the constructors’ championship and the British team have protested to the FIA via the Motor Sports Association, the governing body for the United Kingdom.
Government investigators found a ”strong probability” on Tuesday that the strain of virus behind an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Britain came from two research labs near the site of the infection. The foot and mouth outbreak poses an immediate threat to Britain’s livestock industry, whose meat exports are worth more than -billion a year.
The doors to the biggest pub in the world swung open on Tuesday as bartenders at the 30th Great British Beer Festival poured the first of 340 000 pints from across the globe. The annual five-day bash, which raises a toast to finelycrafted ales — and hurls bland, fizzy lager straight out with the slops — promises to be the biggest festival yet.
Frank Lampard insists Chelsea will shrug off the injury crisis that threatens to wreck the start of their season. Jose Mourinho’s side are likely to be without a host of stars, including John Terry, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Arjen Robben, when Birmingham visit Stamford Bridge for the Premiership opener on Sunday.
A second herd of cattle in southern Britain has contracted foot and mouth disease, raising fears that the highly damaging animal virus is spreading. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said culling of animals had already begun at the farm, which was within a 10km radius zone set up around a farm where foot and mouth cases were first found last week.
Miner Xstrata announced a -billion offer for South Africa’s Eland Platinum Holdings and met forecasts with a 47% rise in first-half net profit on Tuesday. Swiss-based Xstrata said its R105-a-share cash offer was 14% above Eland’s 30-day volume-weighted average price and that it had secured support from shareholders owning 51% of the South African firm.
There is a good reason for the speculation that has engulfed the future of Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy this summer. After years of being linked with a move to the Premiership, Rovers finally took a punt on the South African star and reaped the rewards, with the powerful forward hitting 18 league goals.
Premier League champions Manchester United beat FA Cup winners Chelsea 3-0 on penalties to win the Community Shield in a shoot-out on Sunday. Stalwart Ryan Giggs gave United a 35th minute lead with a sweetly-struck shot but Chelsea’s new France winger Florent Malouda levelled with a fine solo goal on the stroke of halftime.
Nick Easter scored four tries, his first in Test rugby for England, as the reigning champions began their build up to next month’s World Cup with a record 62-5 defeat of Wales at Twickenham. England, who’d lost 12 of their previous 16 Tests, took an early grip on this game and, at halftime were 22-0 ahead.
Britain moved rapidly to contain an outbreak of foot and mouth, a highly infectious disease that devastated farming six years ago, by isolating a farm west of London on Saturday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown broke off his holiday to return to London and chair an emergency meeting of senior ministers.
The son of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was one of a gang of men jailed for stabbing a teenager to death near a London underground station, a British judge revealed on Friday. Faisal Wangita (25) was one of 13 men convicted over the killing of Mahir Osman in January 2006. Osman was stabbed more than 20 times in a feud between rival gangs.
British police were criticised on Thursday over the mistaken killing of an innocent Brazilian man in the wake of the 2005 London bombings, although the head of Scotland Yard himself escaped censure. The long-awaited report found ”serious weaknesses” in police management, and in particular said a top officer misled his boss and the public.
England coach Peter Moores has revealed he is considering asking for the volume on stump microphones to be turned down so his side’s sledging of India batsmen is no longer heard by television viewers. During the ongoing Test series fans tuning in to host broadcaster Sky’s commentary have been able to hear players trying to unsettle opposition batsmen.
Floyd Mayweather Jnr has agreed to come out of retirement to fight Ricky Hatton, the British boxer’s father, Ray, said on Wednesday. Hatton is expected to move up a division from light welterweight for the fight, which will probably be staged on December 8 in Las Vegas, where he beat Jose Luis Castillo in June to retain his IBO title.
British Airways (BA) was hit with almost £270-million in fines on Wednesday as it reached settlements with United States and United Kingdom authorities for price-fixing on fuel surcharges. Archrival Virgin Atlantic Airways blew the whistle on BA last year after individuals at the two carriers discussed proposed changes to fuel surcharges for long flights.
Angry Newcastle supporters have attacked Kieron Dyer’s car and house after the midfielder made it clear he wants to leave the club. The England international was booed when he appeared as a substitute in Sunday’s friendly win over Juventus, and fans then verbally abused Dyer and banged on the windows of his car as he left the ground after the match.
The price of New York crude soared to a record high point of $78,77 per barrel on Wednesday after the United States government said that American crude reserves had tumbled last week. The record smashed the previous all-time high of $78,40 set on July 13 2006.
Reconciliation efforts in countries where children have been press-ganged into fighting wars need to pay more attention to the severe trauma suffered by many of these combatants, German researchers said on Tuesday. The United Nations estimates about 250Â 000 children worldwide are currently fighting in wars — mostly in Africa.
More than 28-million young people met up, camped out and renewed a vow to do their best at sunrise across the globe on Wednesday as the Scouts celebrated their 100th anniversary. As part of the festivities, 40Â 000 young people have gathered in southern England to take part in the 12-day world Scout Jamboree.
Paper producer Mondi said on Wednesday its first-half underlying operating profit rose 46% and expected continued pressure from higher input costs and a weak United States dollar. Mondi, spun off from mining group Anglo American in July, reported half-year underlying operating profit of €243-million.
A lottery winner doubled his share of the jackpot to nearly £1-million after he mistakenly bought two lucky tickets for the same draw, organisers Camelot said on Wednesday. Derek Ladner (57) from Cornwall, and his wife Dawn (60), won with their usual numbers in the mid-week draw, sharing the £2,4-million jackpot with four other tickets.
As Cristiano Ronaldo shielded his eyes from the blinding explosion of flashbulbs, it was clear the Manchester United winger’s transition from pride of Old Trafford to global phenomenon was complete. After a magnificent season in which his dazzling array of feints and flicks bewitched defenders and fans in equal measure, Ronaldo has become one of the game’s new icons.
Formula One’s governing body cast fresh doubt over McLaren’s title hopes on Tuesday by sending to appeal a controversial ruling in a ”spy saga” involving that team and Ferrari. Max Mosley, president of the International Automobile Federation, agreed in a letter to the head of the Italian Automobile Club’s motorsport commission that the matter should go to the Appeal Court.
The price of New York crude oil surged on Tuesday to the highest level for more than one year, supported by market expectations of falling United States energy stockpiles, dealers said. New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, touched ,47.
The end of brutal wars in West Africa and global efforts to halt recruitment have cut the number of child soldiers, but experts say vulnerable children are still forced into battle from Latin American to Asia. Armed with Kalashnikovs and machetes, traumatised children were at the heart of wars in the 1990s in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
India beat England by seven wickets to win the second Test on the fifth and final day at Trent Bridge on Tuesday to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. Resuming on 10 without loss, India needed just a further 63 to achieve their victory target of 73 and England required an astonishing fightback.