An intruder armed with a knife was arrested after scaling a wall and getting into a secure area of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official London residence, police said on Monday. The man was apprehended after he scaled a fence from a road at the back of 10 Downing Street into what officials describe as the building’s outer secure area.
James Blunt’s Goodbye My Lover is the song most requested at British funerals and remembrance services, closely followed by Robbie Williams’s Angels, according to a survey released on Monday. Research for the Bereavement Register found just over a half (51%) of people ask for a specific song be be played at their funeral.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s double strike sunk Newcastle and put Manchester United on top of the English Premiership on Sunday. Solskjaer scored just before and after half-time to claim his first league goals at Old Trafford for over three years and take Sir Alex Ferguson’s side above champions Chelsea on goal difference.
Tiger Woods carded a last-round 67 to win the World Golf Championship event at The Grove on Sunday by eight shots from England’s Ian Poulter and Adam Scott of Australia. Woods was 23-under for the tournament and did not need to extend himself after taking a six-shot lead into the final day.
South African Hendrick Ramaala won England’s Great North Run for the third time on Sunday. Ramaala recorded a winning time of one hour and three seconds after breaking away over the last three miles of the Newcastle to South Shields course to finish ahead of Ethiopian Dejene Berhanu and America’s Dathan Ritzenhein.
Aston Villa maintained their unbeaten start to the season on Saturday by holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw that could cost the champions their place at the top of the Premiership. Villa’s battling display epitomised the resilience they have acquired since Martin O’Neill took over as manager in the close season.
A 35-foot putt earned Tiger Woods a third straight eagle at the 18th hole and ensured the world number one carries a six-shot lead into the final round of the American Express WGC tournament. Hopes the tournament could be revived as a contest rose when Woods’s lead briefly fell to two shots on Saturday, but he battled back to card a 67 for his third round and increase his overnight lead by a shot.
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/ 30 September 2006
A controversial strike by midfielder Gary Speed set Bolton Wanderers on their way to a 2-0 Premier League victory over Liverpool at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. With nearly half an hour gone, Liverpool keeper Jose Reina was judged by a linesman to have carried the ball outside his area before clearing up field. Spaniard Ivan Campo teed up the resulting free kick for Speed to lash home.
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/ 30 September 2006
Tiger Woods is threatening to run away with the World Golf Championship (WGC) event at The Grove, United Kingdom, after adding a second-round 64 on Friday to his course-record 63 on the first day. Woods stands 15-under par after 36 holes, five shots clear of Stewart Cink, whom he beat in a play-off in the last WGC event in Akron, Jim Furyk and England’s David Howell.
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/ 29 September 2006
Former England boss Kevin Keegan said the bung scandal engulfing English football was a storm in a tea cup. Though Keegan managed Newcastle, Fulham and Manchester City in a high-profile career he said he never once came across irregular payments in more than 13 years in management.
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/ 29 September 2006
Jose Mourinho will cross swords with Martin O’Neill on Saturday for the first time since getting the better of the Northern Irishman in a memorable and controversial Uefa Cup final in 2003. Mourinho’s Porto made full use of the game’s black arts on the way to a 3-2 win over Celtic.
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/ 28 September 2006
Controversial Australian umpire Darrell Hair will not officiate in next month’s Champions Trophy in India because of security concerns. Hair was at the centre of a damaging row last month over the ball-tampering allegations against Pakistan that led to the Oval Test against England ending in a farce.
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/ 28 September 2006
A star of Britain’s popular Top Gear car show who was seriously injured in a high-speed crash was airlifted on Thursday to a hospital nearer his home, officials and reports said. The show’s co-presenter, Richard Hammond, was seen laughing and smiling as he sat up on a stretcher while medics brought him to an ambulance helicopter at Leeds General Infirmary in northern England.
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/ 28 September 2006
Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam ul-Haq was cleared on Thursday of ball-tampering but found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute over his side’s refusal to play during last month’s fourth Test against England. After a two-day disciplinary hearing, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that Inzamam would be banned for four one-day internationals (ODIs).
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/ 28 September 2006
England head coach Andy Robinson has said that former skipper Jason Robinson could return to the side before next year’s World Cup in France if the conditions are right. Currently captain of Sale Sharks, Robinson captained England in his final season of Test rugby, but retired a year ago after collecting 35 caps and scoring 22 tries.
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/ 28 September 2006
Holders Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-1 Champions League draw at Werder Bremen while a Didier Drogba hat trick guided Group A rivals Chelsea to a convincing 3-1 win over Levski Sofia on Wednesday. The place to be for excitement, though, was Anfield where Liverpool led Galatasaray 3-0 early in the second half before squeezing home 3-2 in a heart-stopping finale.
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/ 27 September 2006
Gay rights campaigners have pressed Manchester United midfielder to apologise after he allegedly made a homophobic comment to the referee during his club’s 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League. The 31-year-old former England international is alleged to have made the remark after receiving a yellow card from referee Frank De Bleeckere in the 10th minute of Tuesday’s clash in Lisbon.
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/ 27 September 2006
American tycoon Randy Lerner has completed his takeover of Aston Villa after taking control of 90% of the shares in the English Premiership club. Lerner is expected to exercise his right to compulsorily purchase the remainder as soon as possible. The American officially became chairperson of the club last week in place of Doug Ellis.
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/ 27 September 2006
Inzamam ul-Haq arrived at The Oval in London on Wednesday for the start of a hearing where the Pakistan captain will answer disciplinary charges arising from his role in the team’s unprecedented forfeit of the fourth Test against England at the south London ground last month. Inzamam has been accused of ball-tampering, as captain, and bringing cricket into disrepute.
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/ 27 September 2006
Sir Malcolm Arnold, the first British composer to win an Academy Award, died on September 23 at the age of 84 after a short illness, his carer said. Arnold, who won an Oscar for the music to Bridge on the River Kwai in 1958, died in a hospital in Norfolk county, eastern England, after suffering from a chest infection, said Anthony Day, Arnold’s companion and carer for 23 years.
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/ 27 September 2006
Striker Raul Gonzalez ended his 11-month scoring drought for Real Madrid in a big way. Injured for much of last season, Raul scored twice in Real Madrid’s 5-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday in the Champions League to become the tournament’s all-time scoring leader with 53 goals.
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/ 27 September 2006
Arsene Wenger believes Thierry Henry needs to start using his head before he can fulfil his true potential. Henry claimed his 50th goal in European football when he opened the scoring with a superbly taken header in Arsenal’s 2-0 Champions League win against Porto at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
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/ 26 September 2006
British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged followers on Tuesday to put aside squabbles over who succeeds him and focus on winning the next election in an emotional farewell speech to his party. Blair defended the centrist policies he has followed in nine years in power but said the party had to face up to challenges such as climate change, organised crime and terrorism.
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/ 26 September 2006
Will the spending needed to prevent global warming cost the world more than just sitting back, or even enjoying the possible financial benefits of a hotter planet? Economists are divided over that cold financial calculation in the week ahead of a major report on the issue to be presented to ministers of the world’s leading nations.
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/ 26 September 2006
Newcastle assistant manager Kevin Bond became the first casualty from last week’s BBC documentary alleging corruption in English football when he was sacked on Tuesday. The 49-year-old has hinted he intends to sue the BBC but that did not save him from being axed by Newcastle chairperson Freddy Shepherd.
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/ 26 September 2006
Shane Warne believes that Australia’s defeat in England last year has proved the ideal catalyst for coach John Buchanan’s ageing side ahead of the latest edition of the Ashes. Warne returns to his Melbourne home this week after a season in English county cricket as captain of Hampshire, and will build up to November’s first Test in Brisbane by playing for Victoria.
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/ 25 September 2006
British Finance Minister Gordon Brown showered Tony Blair with praise on Monday, seeking to dispel doubts of a rift between the two as he staked his claim to succeed the prime minister. In a make-or-break speech to the Labour Party annual conference, Brown said it had been a ”privilege” to work alongside Blair, whom he called ”the most successful ever Labour leader and Labour prime minister”.
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/ 25 September 2006
Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted he almost quit the club during the summer. The Portugal international became a hate figure for England fans after winking to his bench following his club-mate Wayne Rooney’s sending off for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho during the World Cup quarterfinal.
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/ 25 September 2006
Everton maintained their unbeaten start to the English Premier League season with a 1-1 draw on Sunday at Newcastle. Tim Cahill scored the equaliser in the 40th minute with a header off a cross from Mikel Arteta. ”It was a brilliant game. We worked really hard after going behind to a dubious goal,” Cahill said. ”Overall, a draw is probably a fair result.”
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/ 25 September 2006
British clinics treating couples with fertility problems are suffering from a major sperm shortage after the authorities lifted donor anonymity in April last year. A BBC television investigation said that 50 of the 74 clinics that responded to questioning had either insufficient sperm or none at all. The country as a whole has about 85 such clinics.
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/ 22 September 2006
The co-presenter of Britain’s hugely popular <i>Top Gear</i> car show was Friday moved out of intensive care, two days after a high-speed crash during filming for the programme, officials said. Doctors said 36-year-old Richard Hammond’s condition was improving after the accident, which occurred when he was driving a rocket-powered dragster on Wednesday.
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/ 21 September 2006
A presenter on the BBC’s Top Gear motoring programme was seriously ill in hospital on Thursday after a high-speed crash while filming the show, the broadcaster said. Richard Hammond (36) had been driving a jet-powered car capable of reaching 480kph before the accident in northern England.