Paul Jewell resigned as manager of Wigan Athletic, the club said on Monday, less than 24 hours after steering them to Premier League survival. Millionaire chairperson Dave Whelan was due to hold a news conference later on Monday when a replacement for the 42-year-old Jewell was expected to be announced.
Britain’s security service MI5 is keen to bring more women on board as it launches a new recruitment campaign this week — the latest stage in a drive to double its size. The domestic spy agency, around 1 800 strong at the time of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, has swelled its ranks to more than 3 000.
Manchester United will parade the Premiership trophy to a jubilant Old Trafford on Sunday but manager Alex Ferguson insists it will be business as usual against relegation-threatened West Ham. The Hammers, one of only three teams to have beaten Ferguson’s men this season, need a point to complete a remarkable escape from relegation.
A statue of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore was unveiled by his widow at the new Wembley Stadium on Friday. Moore, who died of cancer in 1993 aged 51, is fondly remembered for lifting the trophy when England beat West Germany at the former stadium, which was demolished to make way for the new 90Â 000-seater arena that opened this year.
Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday formally endorsed his Finance Minister, Gordon Brown, to become his successor, saying he would make a ”great prime minister”. ”I’m absolutely delighted to give my full support to Gordon as the next leader of the Labour Party and prime minister and to endorse him fully,” he told reporters.
British Finance Minister Gordon Brown on Friday formally announced his candidacy to succeed Tony Blair as prime minister, a day after Blair announced his resignation. Blair on Friday enthusiastically backed Brown’s bid and United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged to maintain strong transatlantic ties.
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann say they are trying to stay positive as they enter the seventh day since their three-year-old daughter disappeared from a resort in southern Portugal. Doctors Kate and Gerry McCann thanked the hundreds of police and volunteers searching for the girl, who detectives fear may have been abducted.
Michael Ballack has no chance of playing in the FA Cup final for Chelsea while central defender Ricardo Carvalho will almost certainly miss the Wembley showpiece against Manchester United on May 19. ”Carvalho 1%, Ballack 0%,” manager Jose Mourinho told Chelsea’s website on Thursday.
Oil prices rose on Thursday despite a United States report showing that stocks of gasoline, crude and distillate fuels all rose, as markets worried about violence in Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer and a leading supplier to the US. Gunmen seized four workers in Nigeria’s southern oil region, officials said on Wednesday.
A British civil servant was jailed for six months on Thursday for leaking an "extremely sensitive" memo detailing talks on Iraq between United States President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Communications officer David Keogh was found guilty at London’s Central Criminal Court on Wednesday.
Chelsea and Manchester United, league champions old and new, produced a strictly mid-table performance on Wednesday in a goalless showdown that came a month too late. The game was downgraded to dead rubber status when United secured the title on Sunday by virtue of Chelsea only drawing 1-1 at Arsenal.
Stylist and fashion guru Isabella Blow, a vibrant and often outrageous presence on the British fashion scene, has died, her husband said. She was 48. Detmar Blow said she died in the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in western England. News reports said she had recently been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
The Scottish city of Glasgow was to formalise in a ceremony on Wednesday its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Hoping to hold the quadrennial games for the first time in its history, Glasgow will face competition from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, which is bidding to become the first African host.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has apologised to Cristiano Ronaldo for comments over his upbringing, the Portuguese winger was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Mourinho reportedly said that Ronaldo was ”ill-educated, disrespectful and immature” after the 22-year-old had said his compatriot could never admit a mistake.
Australia’s Adam Gilchrist did not contravene the rules by using a squash ball in his left glove during the World Cup final, the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) said on Tuesday. ”The incident could not be classed either as contravening the law or as breaching the spirit of the game,” said the MCC.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is presiding over a ”government of the living dead” as his ministers await the sack once he leaves office, the opposition leader scoffed on Wednesday. Conservative chief David Cameron said the government was paralysed while it waited for Blair to quit and his successor to be installed, during rowdy, knockabout exchanges with Blair in Parliament.
Tony Blair is expected to set a date for his resignation as British prime minister when he makes an announcement about his future on Thursday. Blair, who notched up 10 years in power last week, is expected to stay as prime minister and Labour Party leader until a successor can take over at the end of June or early July.
Charlton were relegated from the Premier League after losing 2-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. They follow already-relegated Watford through the trap door to the second division, leaving West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United to scrap it out to avoid joining them.
Deflated and leg-weary, Chelsea host Premier League champions Manchester United on Wednesday in a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final on May 19. Chelsea’s hopes of securing a third successive league title ended at the weekend, their pursuit of Alex Ferguson’s side brought to a halt by London rivals Arsenal.
Canada’s Thomson Corporation is in talks to buy Reuters Group for about £8,8-billion (,6-billion) to create the world’s biggest news and financial data company. Under the terms of the proposed deal Reuters investors would get 352,5 pence in cash and 0,16 Thomson stock for each share, worth 697 pence a share.
Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders, arch-foes during decades of bloodshed, launched a new power-sharing government in the British province on Tuesday aiming to put a final end to violence. Hard-line Protestant cleric Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness took a pledge of office as first minister and deputy first minister.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday that history would decide whether peace in Northern Ireland or the war in Iraq would be the outstanding part of his legacy. Blair, who is expected to announce his resignation plans this week, hailed the restoration of self-rule in Northern Ireland, which the province hopes will finally bury sectarian violence.
Human rights group Amnesty International accused Russia and China on Tuesday of breaching a United Nations arms embargo by letting weapons into Sudan, where they are used in ”grave violations” of international law. Amnesty said it was ”deeply dismayed” by the flow of arms allowed by China and Russia, both members of the United Nations Security Council.
Newcastle United confirmed on Monday that coach Glenn Roeder has resigned and the club has started the search for his successor. The 51-year-old former defender ended his 15 months in charge on Sunday one day after the 2-0 home loss to Blackburn Rovers in the Premiership, but there was no official confirmation until Monday.
Homeowners near a safari park in Britain have come up with a novel product for scaring away unwanted birds that are nesting on their roofs: the pungent-smelling faeces of lions and tigers. Homeowners are resorting to the measure because animal-protection laws forbid them from removing or damaging nests.
In an era when records, money or the cult of celebrity have driven many athletes to prolong their careers long after they have passed their peak, Kim Clijsters proved there is more to life than being a professional athlete. Not since Swedish great Bjorn Borg turned his back on the sport in 1982 aged just 26 has a top player walked away from tennis at such a young age.
Manchester United won the Premier League for the first time in four years on Sunday as 10-man Chelsea, needing victory to keep the title race alive, could only draw 1-1 at Arsenal. The result, coming a day after United beat Manchester City 1-0, left Alex Ferguson’s side seven points clear of Chelsea with two games remaining.
News and financial data provider Reuters said on Friday it had received a takeover approach, sending its shares up almost a third, with Canadian publisher Thomson widely touted as the mystery suitor. The Financial Times later reported on its website that Reuters looked set to endorse an offer from Thomson.
Manchester United took a giant step towards the Premier League title when they beat Manchester City 1-0 in a one-sided local derby on Saturday to open up an eight-point lead over defending champions Chelsea. United have 88 points with two matches to play which means Chelsea, on 80 points with three matches to go, must win at Arsenal on Sunday to keep alive their now slim hopes.
Almost two-thirds of consumers have used one of the growing band of financial price comparison websites, but what kind of service are they receiving? Around 64% of people have logged on to one of these internet supermarkets and a similar proportion are likely to do so in future, according to a survey.
An English municipal councillor held on to his seat after the election was decided by the toss of a coin, the BBC reported on Friday. Christopher Underwood-Frost tied with Liberal Democrat John Birkenshaw after each polled 781 votes for the ward of West Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, eastern England.
Financial news and information provider Reuters Group said on Friday it had received a takeover approach from an unidentified suitor, sending its shares up more than 25%. Earlier, traders reported speculation of a 600-pence-a-share bid from Canada’s Thomson Corporation or Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.