Chelsea skipper John Terry has been appointed as England’s new captain, the Football Association said on Thursday. Terry takes over the armband after David Beckham stepped down from the role in the wake of England’s World Cup quarterfinal defeat on penalties by Portugal last month.
United Kingdom stocks were sharply lower on Thursday as news of a foiled plan to blow up aircraft in mid-flight sent shockwaves through the market, with British Airways (BA) particularly hard hit, along with other stocks tied to the airline and leisure industries. Shares in BA fell 4,8%.
England coach Duncan Fletcher has called Monty Panesar the best finger spinner in the world after the left-armer produced another impressive display against Pakistan. Panesar took 3-39 in the second innings at Headingley and six wickets in the match as the hosts completed a 167-run third Test victory and with it secured an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
United Kingdom police on Thursday foiled a plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight between Britain and the United States, and were holding 21 people after overnight raids, senior officers said. Unconfirmed media reports said anywhere from six to 10 US commercial airliners had been targeted in the plot, which police said had "global dimensions".
Police said on Wednesday that a foiled plot to blow up aircraft flying from Britain to the United States was ”an attempt to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale”. A spokesperson said: ”We believe that the terrorists’ aim was to smuggle explosives on to planes in hand luggage and to detonate them in flight.”
Police in the United Kingdom said on Thursday they have thwarted a plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight using bombs smuggled on in hand luggage. A number of people were arrested in the London area. Britain raised its security-threat level to ”critical”, which means it expects an attack imminently. An immediate ban has been placed on carry-on luggage on planes.
Six-time champions AC Milan and four-time winners Ajax and Liverpool put themselves in a position to reach the group stage of the Champions League on Wednesday. AC Milan edged Red Star Belgrade 1-0, Ajax won 2-1 at Copenhagen, and Liverpool beat Israeli club Maccabi Haifa 2-1 at Anfield.
”We are ready for war,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said, his hair cropped in a buzz cut, but still voicing the arrogance that has won many games — and few friends. ”I don’t care too much about image,” he said. ”I don’t think it’s possible to be loved by everyone. Not in a lifetime and especially not in football.”
An unseemly row was raging in Britain on Wednesday over whether Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister, should be granted a state funeral when she dies. Thatcher (80), who is currently enjoying good health, is generally seen as Britain’s most divisive post-war leader.
British police stepped up a high-profile probe on Wednesday into suspicions that a senior tabloid newspaper journalist and two other men intercepted phone calls from staff close to Prince Charles, heir to the throne. Anti-terrorist officers at London’s metropolitan police are investigating because of the potential security risks to the royal family.
Fantasy author David Gemmell, known for his adventure tales revolving around heroism and leadership, died on July 28, his publisher said. He was 57. Gemmell had quadruple heart bypass surgery two weeks before, and died in the hospital according to his publisher, Transworld Publishers.
England crushed Pakistan by 167 runs on Tuesday to win the third Test and the series after a moment of madness from Mohammad Yousuf and one of magic from Monty Panesar. Pakistan, set 323 to win on the final day, were bowled out for 155 halfway through the afternoon session, giving England their first home win over the tourists since 1982.
Disgraced Tour de France winner Floyd Landis said on Tuesday his positive drugs test was fatally flawed as he continued his media campaign to prove his innocence. The American rider tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone after his remarkable comeback stage-17 victory but claims the test was not carried out correctly.
Though warm and frothy ale is an enduring symbol of Britain, there’s a fight on to save the traditional British pint from being flushed away by a fizzy tide of bland, mass-produced Euro-lager. Real ale, made the time-honoured, natural way, is an endangered species that enthusiasts say is being muscled out of British pubs by international brewing giants.
The British public is getting the chance to vote for their favourite actress to take the lead role of Maria von Trapp when The Sound of Music returns to the London stage in December. Ten remaining candidates will compete to land the part of the singing nun in a series of live televised knock-out rounds.
Global media baron Rupert Murdoch is to launch a free London evening newspaper, to be called thelondonpaper, on September 18, his News International publishing group announced on Monday. The paper will break the monopoly on London evening titles held since 1980 by the Evening Standard.
Some unfamiliar names could reach this season’s 32-team group stage of the Champions League. Some of Europe’s powers, including last season’s runners-up Arsenal, six-time champions AC Milan and 2005 champions Liverpool, face tough opposition in the final qualifying round for the Champions League.
A woman who fought a court battle to win back five valuable paintings by Gustav Klimt taken from her heirs by the Nazis will sell the remaining works from her collection after the first fetched a record -million. United States-based Maria Altmann, niece of the Bloch-Bauers who originally owned the paintings, has hired Christie’s to handle the sale of works.
Hundreds of Britons are being urged to attend what is being branded as Europe’s first ”Masturbate-a-thon”, a leading British reproductive health-care charity said on Friday. Marie Stopes International said it expects up to 200 people to attend the sponsored masturbation session in Clerkenwell, central London, on Saturday.
Global mining giant Anglo American plans a bonus dividend of -billion and a big share buy-back programme, it said on Friday after delivering bumper first-half earnings from record metals prices. Anglo American said net profit surged 60,1% to ,943-billion in the six months ended June 30 from the equivalent figure in 2005.
England and Bath flyhalf Olly Barkley was arrested by police using CS (violence controlling) spray after a fight in which a man suffered a broken jaw. Devon and Cornwall police confirmed on Thursday that the 24-year-old was detained by them along with two other men in the seaside town of Newquay, north Cornwall on the weekend.
Andrew Flintoff is planning to regain match fitness well before the first Ashes Test against Australia, which starts at Brisbane’s Gabba ground on November 23. The 28-year-old England all-rounder, the man selectors want to captain the team in Australia, underwent surgery on his problem left ankle last week.
The new Wembley Stadium, which was supposed to be finished for this year’s FA Cup final, may not even be ready to stage the showpiece game in 2007. The Australian construction firm heading the £757-million project said the first major event at Wembley was almost a year away.
Steve McClaren wasted no time in distancing himself from Sven-Goran Eriksson. ”I’m going to do it my way,” McClaren said on Tuesday as he officially took over as England’s 11th national soccer coach. He assumed control exactly a month after England were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the World Cup by Portugal, ending Eriksson’s five-and-a-half year tenure.
Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink faces an FA charge over claims he made about former club Chelsea in his autobiography. Hasselbaink, who joined Charlton earlier this month from Middlesbrough, alleged Chelsea had made illegal bonus payments to players following the win against Arsenal in their Champions League quarterfinal in April 2004.
It’s unlikely to occur by swallowing a pill or donning a special cloak, but invisibility could be possible in the not-too-distant future, according to research published on Monday. A theoretical physicist at St Andrews University in Scotland believes the most plausible example is the Invisible Woman, one of the superheroes in the ”Fantastic Four”.
Graeme Hick is currently considering his future after Worcestershire announced on Monday they had offered him a new contract for the 2007 season, which would allow the former England batsman to extend his prolific career with the Midlands county.
The United Kingdom will eventually have to bury its growing pile of nuclear waste deep underground, but urgently needs somewhere to safely stash it in the meantime, a government-commissioned study said on Monday. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management called for a nationwide search for a suitable site for a vast, underground nuclear-waste dump.
Monty Panesar and Stephen Harmison again proved a lethal combination for Pakistan as England won the second Test by an innings and 120 runs with more than two days to spare. The duo, who took 19 out the 20 wickets to fall (the other was a run-out), dismissed Pakistan for 222 in their second innings after England had piled up 461-9 declared.
Battering one another with a dead eel has been a favoured old tradition in one British town for decades, but a new ban has curtailed the fishy fun and sparked local anger, British newspapers reported on Saturday. "Conger cuddling" has been staged annually in Lyme Regis on the southern English coast for 32 years to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity.
Alastair Cook and Ian Bell both scored their second Test hundreds in as many matches as England built a commanding lead against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Friday. At stumps Pakistan were 12-0 for in their second innings, a deficit of 330, after England had declared their first innings on 461-9 with Bell 106 not out following left-hander Cook’s Test-best 127.
Music television is the endangered species of the pop world, and is learning the hard way that it must adapt to the internet age, or die. Britain’s Top of the Pops, the world’s longest-running weekly music show, will be declared extinct on Sunday when it is broadcast for the last time on BBC.