World Europe News | World News Headlines - Yahoo! Singapore News

Paper smuggles fake bomb into London Games park

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:21:05 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - A newspaper embarrassed the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games on Sunday by disclosing it had smuggled a fake bomb past two security checkpoints into the London complex housing the sporting festival's main stadiums. The best-selling Sun newspaper conducted the stunt on Friday, at the end of a week-long pre-Olympics military exercise that saw a warship sail up the River Thames and plans announced to put missiles on rooftops near the Games venue in east London. ...

Chelsea lift FA Cup as Di Matteo magic does the trick

Sun, 06 May 2012 05:37:41 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea's remarkable turnaround since Roberto Di Matteo took over as interim coach has taken them to the brink of a cup double after they beat a disappointing Liverpool side 2-1 with goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba on Saturday. Their victory at Wembley Stadium in a match they dominated for the first hour keeps the London side's momentum going for what could be an even greater triumph in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in two weeks' time. ...

UK demands Argentina apologise for Falklands ad

Sat, 05 May 2012 01:19:04 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain demanded an apology from Argentina on Friday, accusing it of exploiting the upcoming Olympic Games for political purposes by broadcasting a "tasteless and insulting" TV advert that reasserted its claim to the disputed Falkland Islands. The offending advert shows an Argentine hockey player training in the Falklands - the contested archipelago in the South Atlantic which the two countries fought over in 1982 - and exercising on the steps of a war memorial to British soldiers. ...

UK puts missiles on London rooftop to guard Olympics

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:27:16 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's military has told residents of an upscale apartment development near the Olympic Park in east London it is installing a missile battery on top of a tower within their housing complex to defend the 2012 Games this summer. The site is one of a number around the capital the army is considering as bases for surface-to-air missiles to protect the London games from an aerial attack, the Ministry of Defence said. ...

UK politicians warn sponsors over Bahrain Grand Prix

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:33:16 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of British politicians has warned Formula One sponsors that they risk damaging their brands by supporting the Bahrain Grand Prix, arguing the race should have been called off because of political turmoil in the Gulf Arab nation. Anti-government protesters are planning "days of rage" in the run-up to Sunday's race, part of a 20-race circuit that generates annual revenues of $2 billion. ...

London enters final straight for 2012 Games

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:30:37 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - London entered the final straight in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics during a wet and windy spring day on Wednesday with celebrations across the world to mark the 100 days' countdown to the Games. The day began at Kew Gardens where London organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe helped plant one of 40 oak trees which will be installed around the country to recognise Britain's role in the birth of the modern Olympic movement. ...

London's weekend warriors get a night in the ring

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:46:03 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Marno Herinckx is bruised and bloodied after a particularly vicious pummelling in a hot, floodlit boxing ring. But Herinckx is no battle-hardened prize-fighter. He's one of a number of white collar London office workers who have spent the last few months training to box and tonight is fight night. "It's like every moment was frozen in time. It was like fight or flight," Herinckx told Reuters after his bout. ...

Skulls, sharks and polka dots in Damien Hirst show

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:39:36 +0800

There are pickled sharks and polka dots, cigarette butts, flies and butterflies.

United destroy Wolves to move clear

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 02:06:53 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United ruthlessly ripped apart 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers to stroll to a 5-0 victory on Sunday and move four points clear at the top of the Premier League. Newcastle United beat Norwich City 1-0 in the day's other game, Papiss Cisse's superbly taken early goal keeping the north-east club sixth in the table. Manchester United also scored early through defender Jonny Evans and the floodgates opened following the sending-off of Wolves defender Ronald Zubar before halftime. ...

UK experts find 7th-century teen buried in her bed

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:52:02 +0800

Archaeologists excavating near Cambridge have stumbled upon a rare and mysterious find: The skeleton of a 7th-century teenager buried in an ornamental bed along with a gold-and-garnet cross, an iron knife and a purse full of glass beads.

Row rages over defence missiles at Shooter's Hill

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 05:09:18 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - A British lawmaker has hit out at defence ministry plans to install surface-to-air missiles in his constituency during the Olympics, saying it was appalling sites like Shooter's Hill had been selected without consultation. Britain announced in December it would consider installing missiles to protect London's Olympic Park against airborne attack as part of security measures for this summer's Games. ...

Cameron defends Dow sponsorship of Games

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:25:04 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) -Prime Minister David Cameron has defended Dow Chemical's sponsorship of the Olympic Games in the face of Indian anger over the company's link to a deadly gas leak in Bhopal in 1984. In an interview with Indian broadcaster CNN-IBN, Cameron described Dow as a reputable company and said it would be very sad if India decided to boycott the Games in London this year. ...

Prince Harry completes first major tour for queen

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:39:35 +0800

Say goodbye to the party prince; say hello to the queen's secret weapon.

England cling on to seal dramatic Paris win

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:01:35 +0800

PARIS (Reuters) - England's young team plundered three tries and held off a furious French fightback to seal a dramatic 24-22 Six Nations victory in Paris on Sunday. England stunned their hosts with early tries by Manu Tuilagi and Ben Foden to lead 14-9 at halftime and France got to within two points before flanker Tom Croft ripped through the French defence for the decisive score. ...

Sharples replaces injured Strettle

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:34:17 +0800

PARIS (Reuters) - Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples has replaced the injured David Strettle in the England team to face France in the Six Nations championship at the Stade de France on Sunday, a team spokesman said on Saturday. Strettle has been ruled out of the game because of chest pains following a sternum injury he picked up against Italy in Rome. "It's been a whirlwind 24 hours. I was back in Gloucester and had a call. I got the call to fly out yesterday," Sharples told reporters at the team's hotel in the outskirts of Paris. "I didn't officially find out until this morning. ...

Games planners seek to dispel traffic fears

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:29:43 +0800

LONDON (Reuters) - Olympic organisers sought on Tuesday to reassure Londoners that the city's traffic would not grind to a halt because of measures designed to speed the journeys of athletes and officials going to Games. The roads around London are relatively narrow and clogged at the best of times and some sceptics fear that transport could prove the biggest problem during the July 27-August 12 Games. Transport problems at the 1996 Olympics in the U.S. city of Atlanta led to critical headlines around the world. ...

Museum robbed at Greece's Ancient Olympia

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 06:17:30 +0800

Two masked gunmen stormed into a small museum at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southern Greece on Friday, smashing display cases with hammers and making off with dozens of antiquities up to 3,200 years old, authorities said.

Arab Spring shot wins World Press Photo award

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:17:12 +0800

Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda won the 2011 World Press Photo of the Year award Friday for an image of a veiled woman holding a wounded relative in her arms after a demonstration in Yemen.

Prince Harry qualifies as Apache helicopter pilot

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:36:42 +0800

Britain's defense ministry says Prince Harry has qualified as an Apache attack helicopter pilot, graduating as the best co-pilot gunner in his class after 18 months of training.

Italian islanders worry about their future

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:28:24 +0800

Residents of the Italian island of Giglio held a strategy meeting Monday as fears mounted about threats to the environment and their prized tourism industry from the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship lying off the coast.

UN panel urges world at Rio to launch energy fixes

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:38:42 +0800

A high-profile U.N. panel headed by the presidents of Finland and South Africa hopes to spark an "ever-green" energy revolution later this year in Brazil using a general roadmap it presented Monday on how world leaders could wean the world off fossil fuels.

Up to 10 months to remove capsized cruise ship

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:59:33 +0800

The cruise ship that capsized off Italy's coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said Sunday, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations.

Topless protesters detained at Davos forum

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:17:10 +0800

Three topless Ukrainian protesters were detained Saturday while trying to break into an invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders to call attention to the needs of the world's poor. Separately, demonstrators from the Occupy movement marched to the edge of the gathering and engaged in a brief standoff with police.

France: Ex-head of breast implant firm charged

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:12:38 +0800

French authorities have filed preliminary charges against the former head of a now-defunct company accused of supplying potentially faulty breast implants affecting thousands of women.

French breast implant firm's former execs arrested

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:30:26 +0800

Police in pre-dawn sweeps Thursday arrested two top former executives of the now-defunct French company at the center of a breast implant scandal affecting tens of thousands of women worldwide.

Vatican defends transfer of official

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:01:48 +0800

The Vatican on Thursday defended its transfer of a top official to Washington after he exposed alleged corruption in the awarding of Holy See contracts.

Ex-head of French breast implant maker arrested

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:49:42 +0800

The former head of a French company at the center of a breast implant scandal affecting tens of thousands of women worldwide was arrested along with his former deputy Thursday in southeast France, officials said.

Chanel takes off with blue-sky thinking

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:17:26 +0800

It was blue-sky thinking for Karl Lagerfeld, as he treated guests to a luxury jet-set experience in Chanel's spring-summer collection on the second day Tuesday of haute couture week.

2 more bodies found, fuel removal to begin on ship

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:18:09 +0800

Nudged gently by the tides off Tuscany, the capsized Costa Concordia has been deemed stable enough on its rocky perch for salvagers to begin pumping fuel oil from its giant tanks as early as Tuesday.

2 more cruise bodies found, oil pumping to begin

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:59:53 +0800

Salvage experts can begin pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship as early as Tuesday to avert a possible environmental catastrophe and the ship is stable enough that search efforts for the missing can continue, Italian officials said.