Man City target Pellegrini confirms Malaga exit

Manuel Pellegrini, strongly linked to the vacant Manchester City post, is leaving Malaga at the end of the season, the Chilean announced on Wednesday.

"Professionally, I am living my last hours in Malaga," he said at a function to mark his achievements with the club in a report carried by Spanish Sports daily AS.

He added: "On Sunday I will manage my last game as Malaga coach at La Rosaleda.

UK emergency committee meets over slaying

Britain's national security chiefs met on Thursday as counter-terrorism police investigated the murder of a soldier who was hacked to death in a London street by two suspected Islamic extremists.

The suspects were shot by police after the "appalling" attack and spent the night in hospital under armed guard.

Britain's official Q1 growth confirmed at 0.3%

Britain's economy grew by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of the year, official data showed on Thursday, confirming the initial estimate and the nation's success in avoiding a third recession since the 2008 global financial crisis .

British gross domestic product grew after GDP had fallen by 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

SABMiller profits fall but emerging markets grow

Britain-based brewer SABMiller suffered a drop in annual net profit after exceptional gains the previous year, the firm reported on Thursday but said that underlying performance improved on strong growth in emerging markets.

SABMiller said that profit after tax dropped by 22.0 percent to $3.274 billion (2.55 billion euros) in the year to March 31 compared with the outcome in 2011-12.

Edward VIII bugged by govt before abdication

Britain's Edward VIII was secretly bugged shortly before his abdication as ministers worried about the potential impact of him standing down, documents newly released by the National Archives reveal.

Home Secretary Sir John Simon made the decision that General Post Office (GPO) officials should listen in on the king's phone calls as the crisis over Edward's relationship with American divorcee Wallis Simpson came to a head in December 1936, the papers show.

London attacker vows: 'You will never be safe'

One of the two alleged killers of a British soldier on a street in south-east London on Wednesday explained his actions on an amateur video obtained by the television channel ITV.

The young black man, who is wearing jeans, sports shoes, a jacket and a black hat and holding a bloody kitchen knife and a meat cleaver is filmed approaching the camera.

"We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you unless you leave us alone," he says.

London shares plunge amid panic over China data

London shares opened sharply lower on Thursday as Asian investors panicked in the wake of weak economic data from China.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index plunged 109.11 points or 1.60 percent to 6,731.16 points at 8:38 am after soaring on Thursday to a fresh 13-year high.

Anti-Islamist protests flare following London attack

Police arrested two people as they tried to quell anti-Islamist disorder following the brutal murder in London of a man, believed to be a soldier.

A 43-year-old man was arrested in Braintree, east of London, late on Wednesday after reportedly walking into a mosque with a knife shortly after news broke of the London murder.

London attack 'beyond belief': press

The savage murder of a man believed to be a soldier on a London street in a suspected terror attack was "beyond belief" but will only strengthen Britain's support for its armed forces, newspapers said Thursday.

Two suspected Islamists were arrested following the attack, which happened in broad daylight, but not before they had launched a filmed tirade against Britain's involvement in Afghanistan.

Woman confronted London attackers to deflect danger

A woman who challenged knife-wielding assailants suspected of hacking to death a British soldier in London on Wednesday said she intervened because "it was better having them (the weapons) aimed on one person".

Cub scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, explained in Thursday's Daily Telegraph that one of the men told her they wanted "to start a war in London tonight" when she asked them why they had carried out the attack.

Israel approves 296 West Bank settler homes

Israel has given the go-ahead to build nearly 300 homes in the settlement of Beit El near Ramallah, a spokesman said, in a move likely to spark tensions as Washington seeks to rekindle peace talks.

"The Civil Administration has given the green light for 296 housing units at Beit El, but this is only the first stage of a process before actual construction can begin," he said, speaking on behalf of a unit within the defence ministry which administers the West Bank.

Anti-immigration UKIP breaks through in English polls

The anti-immigration UK Independence Party broke through as a major political force on Saturday following local elections which delivered a bloody nose to Britain's ruling coalition.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said his eurosceptic party could no longer be dismissed as a protest movement as it averaged almost one quarter of the vote in local authority elections in England.

N. Korea rejects South's 'fraudulent' talks offer

North Korea on Friday rejected South Korea's "fraudulent" proposal for talks on restarting operations at a joint industrial zone and challenged Seoul to withdraw all remaining staff from the area.

South Korea on Thursday had given the North 24 hours to agree to formal negotiations on the future of the Kaesong complex, warning of "significant measures" if Pyongyang declined.

Afghan Taliban hold Turks after helicopter lands: officials

Taliban insurgents have seized eight Turks and an Afghan from a civilian helicopter which made an emergency landing in bad weather in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

The incident happened after the Turkish helicopter landed on Sunday evening, said Rais Khan Sadeq, deputy police chief of Logar province south of Kabul.

"Security forces found the helicopter but the nine people were not in it. They are taken by the Taliban," Sadeq told AFP.

London braces for mass 'party' for Thatcher's death

Police were braced on Saturday for a mass 'party' staged by opponents of Margaret Thatcher in London's Trafalgar Square to celebrate the former British prime minister's death.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the authorities were prepared for potential violence, after trouble erupted at several impromptu street celebrations earlier in the week.

North Korea, Syria dominate G8 talks in London

G8 foreign ministers including US Secretary of State John Kerry held a second day of talks in London on Thursday with the crisis on the Korean peninsula and the Syrian conflict topping the agenda.

After a dinner late Wednesday, the ministers from the Group of Eight industrialised nations held formal talks on Thursday likely to be dominated by North Korea's expected missile launch.

Cyprus launches probe into causes of financial ruin

Cyprus authorities on Tuesday launched a judicial probe into how the island was pushed to the verge of bankruptcy before having to agree a crippling eurozone bailout.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades called on the three-judge commission -- George Pikkis, Panayiotis Kallis and Yiannakis Constantinides -- to investigate himself and his family members as a "matter of priority" and with "extra vigour".

Cyprus weighs new bailout plan as meltdown looms

Cyprus was on Thursday fine-tuning a "Plan B" aimed at securing a eurozone bailout that the European Central Bank warned should be adopted by the weekend to avoid a banking meltdown on the debt-hit island.

As President Nicos Anastasiades huddled with political party leaders over the revised plan, Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned in Brussels the crisis poses a "systemic risk" that threatens to ricochet through the eurozone.

World leaders head to Rome for pope's inaugural mass

World leaders arrived in Rome ahead of an inauguration mass for Pope Francis who receives compatriot President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina on Monday in his first meeting with a head of state.

The first pontiff from Latin America had testy relations with Kirchner when he was Buenos Aires' archbishop, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, particularly over gay marriage and abortion laws.

Holocaust survivor Stephane Hessel dies at 95

Best-selling French writer, veteran diplomat and concentration camp survivor Stephane Hessel, whose work inspired protest movements worldwide, has died at the age of 95, his wife announced Wednesday.

The German-born Hessel, who became a naturalised French citizen in 1939 and was a prominent Resistance figure during World War II, died overnight Tuesday, Christiane Hessel-Chabry told AFP.

Kuwait Airways signs deal with Airbus to buy 25 planes

Kuwait Airways Co. signed a deal with Airbus to buy 15 A320neo and 10 A350-900 planes with options for 10 more, five from each category, chairman Sami al-Nasef said on Thursday.

"We have signed a letter of acceptance with Airbus to buy 15 A320neo and 10 A350-900," Nasef told a news conference, adding that KAC has an option to buy five additional planes from each category.

Delivery of the A320neo will start in 2019 while the others will be delivered in 2020, Nasef said.

Food banks brace for new influx of Britain's poor

As the first visitors arrive at St. Luke's church in south London, pushing empty shopping trolleys and carrying plastic bags, it is clear they haven't come to worship.

Twice a week, this place functions as a food bank serving up physical rather than spiritual sustenance to the increasing numbers of Britain's poor.

Obama's minimum wage pledge divides economists, business

President Barack Obama's pledge to raise the minimum wage by 24 percent has divided economists and businesses who warn it could threaten recent improvements in jobless numbers.

Obama has stated that his administration plans to increase the existing minimum hourly rate from $7.25 to $9, vowing to press ahead with the initiative despite the sequester budget crisis.

France set to cut 2013 growth forecast

The French government will reduce its forecast for growth of the economy this year from 0.8 percent, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday.

When asked by a journalist on RTL radio if the figure would be 0.2-0.3 percent, Fabius replied that "it's around this figure", having previously recalled that the forecast had first been 1.2 percent, and then 0.8 percent.

French firm Spanghero in spotlight over horsemeat bill

French company Spanghero was billed for 42 tonnes of low grade horsemeat, a newspaper reported Thursday in a revelation that casts doubt on the firm's claim to have never knowingly bought or sold the product at the centre of a Europe-wide food fraud scandal.

Le Parisien newspaper published a bill dated January 4 that was made out to Spanghero and printed on the headed paper of Draap Trading, the Dutch-run, Cyprus-based intermediary which sourced meat in Romania for Spanghero.

German business confidence hits 7-month high

Germany, Europe's top economy, appears to have put the worst of the region's debt crisis behind it, data showed Friday, with business confidence rising to its highest level in seven months.

The Ifo institute's closely watched business climate index for Europe's top economy rose to 104.2 points in January -- its highest reading since June -- from 102.4 points a month earlier.

Greek ex-minister rapped over Swiss account

A former Greek socialist minister can be prosecuted for failing to declare a Swiss bank account, a case related to a broader tax scandal plaguing the government, lawmakers have decided.

A parliament committee on Wednesday authorised judicial authorities to investigate Yiannos Papantoniou for failing to declare the sum of 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million), the state-run Athens News Agency reported on Thursday.

Tesco sales grow at fastest rate tree years

Supermarket giant Tesco said on Thursday that sales rose at the fastest pace for three years during the Christmas and New Year trading period, triggering a turnaround in fortunes for the firm, Britain's biggest retailer.

Tesco, which has struggled in recent times both in its main market Britain and abroad, said sales at its British stores open more than 12 months rose 1.8 percent in the six weeks to January 5 compared with sales in the equivalent period one year earlier.

Amazon gets $252 mn tax bill from France

France has demanded $252 million in back taxes from Amazon, it emerged on Tuesday, increasing the pressure on the online retailer over its controversial corporate structure in Europe.

Amazon is in dispute with the French authorities over the amounts involved and is ready to take legal action if necessary, the company says in a document filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The document has been posted on the US stock market regulator's website.

BAE Systems maintains profit outlook after merger collapse

British arms maker BAE Systems maintained its profit outlook for the year, a day after announcing the collapse of a proposed mega-merger with European aerospace giant EADS.

"As indicated previously, modest growth in underlying earnings per share is anticipated for 2012," BAE said in a trading update, released on Thursday.

Historic black theater rises from the ashes in Washington

Ella Fitzgerald has given concerts there. So have Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, James Brown, and Miles Davis.

The Howard Theatre, the first concert hall for blacks, is reborn this week from its ashes, more than a century after it opened in Washington DC.

Woody Allen's film premiere rekindles 'Dolce Vita' Rome

US director Woody Allen on Friday premiered his latest film "To Rome With Love" in which he stars alongside Penelope Cruz, rekindling some "Dolce Vita" glamour from the movie heyday of the Eternal City.

"It's like no other city. It's extremely exotic!" Allen told reporters at a press conference in a luxury hotel in the Italian capital alongside fellow stars Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Oscar-winning comedian Roberto Benigni.

Assange TV show to be aired next week

The first episode of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's new TV interview show will be broadcast on Tuesday on Russia Today and online, the whistleblowing website said on Friday.

WikiLeaks remained tightlipped on the identity of Assange's interviewee in the first of the 12-episode weekly series entitled "The World Tomorrow".

Cult cartoonist Crumb gets museum honours

His LSD-inspired heroes, rampant sex and frontal assaults on political correctness made comic artist Robert Crumb an icon of US counter-culture, but why on earth, he wonders, put his work on show in a museum?

Crumb's cult universe, from hippy-era characters like "Fritz the Cat" to his cartoon take on the Bible, is on show -- uncensored -- until August at Paris' Museum of Modern Art, hosting the largest-ever retrospective of his work.

Cult cartoonist Crumb gets museum honours

His LSD-inspired heroes, rampant sex and frontal assaults on political correctness made comic artist Robert Crumb an icon of US counter-culture, but why on earth, he wonders, put his work on show in a museum?

Crumb's cult universe, from hippy-era characters like "Fritz the Cat" to his cartoon take on the Bible, is on show -- uncensored -- until August at Paris' Museum of Modern Art, hosting the largest-ever retrospective of his work.

Green Day to release album trilogy

US punk rockers Green Day are to release a trilogy of albums over a four-month period starting later this year, they announced Thursday.

The records, to be called "Uno," "Dos" and "Tre," will go on sale in September, November and next January, and will be follow-ups to their Grammy-winning 2009 hit album "21st Century Breakdown."

Green Day to release album trilogy

US punk rockers Green Day are to release a trilogy of albums over a four-month period starting later this year, they announced Thursday.

The records, to be called "Uno," "Dos" and "Tre," will go on sale in September, November and next January, and will be follow-ups to their Grammy-winning 2009 hit album "21st Century Breakdown."

Historic black theater rises from the ashes in Washington

Ella Fitzgerald has given concerts there. So have Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, James Brown, and Miles Davis.

The Howard Theatre, the first concert hall for blacks, is reborn this week from its ashes, more than a century after it opened in Washington DC.

Tim Roth to chair parallel Cannes jury

British actor and director Tim Roth is to head up the jury at the Cannes film festival's parallel section for up-and-coming talent next month, organisers said on Thursday.

Backed by a jury of artists, journalists and festival directors, Roth will pick the best among around 20 films competing for the "Un Certain Regard" prize at the Riviera festival that runs May 16-27.

Tim Roth to chair parallel Cannes jury

British actor and director Tim Roth is to head up the jury at the Cannes film festival's parallel section for up-and-coming talent next month, organisers said on Thursday.

Backed by a jury of artists, journalists and festival directors, Roth will pick the best among around 20 films competing for the "Un Certain Regard" prize at the Riviera festival that runs May 16-27.

Italian athletics great Mennea dies

Italian athletics great Pietro Mennea, the gold medal winner in the 200m at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, has died according to ANSA news agency.

Mennea was pronounced dead in a Rome hospital Thursday morning following a long battle with an as yet unnamed incurable disease. He was 60.

Wheelchair tennis star Vergeer retires

Dutch wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer announced her retirement on Tuesday after an astonishing unbroken run of 470 wins spanning more than 10 years.

"A special day: officially stopping tennis," Vergeer, 31, wrote on the micro-blogging, without elaborating on her reasons for retiring.

Vergeer, who won four Paralympic tennis singles gold medals and three golds in doubles, was scheduled to hold a press conference at 1200 GMT at the ATP Rotterdam Open.

Warner guides Australia to 137-3

Big-hitting opener David Warner played a lone hand as Australia reached 137 for three in the first T20 international against Sri Lanka at Sydney Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

Warner scored 90 off just 62 balls, blasting five fours and three huge sixes on a difficult batting wicket.

Adam Voges was the next highest scorer with 25, while Nuwan Kulasekara was the pick of the bowlers with 1-21 from his four overs.

Wenger hopes to add to Chelsea's home sickness

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal can exploit the uncomfortable relationship between Rafael Benitez and Chelsea's supporters when the Gunners head to Stamford Bridge for Sunday's crucial London derby.

Chelsea interim boss Benitez, already a hate figure at the Bridge following his time with rivals Liverpool, has been unable to win over his club's fans since arriving as successor to the popular Roberto Di Matteo in November.

All Blacks beat Argentina to remain unbeaten

The All Blacks beat Argentina 21-5 in a Rugby Championship third round match at Westpac Stadium here on Saturday.

The All Blacks, who led 6-5 at half-time, remain unbeaten in the championship.

Olympics 'not looking good', admits injured Radcliffe

British veteran Paula Radcliffe admitted on Sunday that her participation in the Olympics marathon "was not looking good" as she struggles to overcome a foot injury.

The 38-year-old had been reported as about to pull out of the Games, but she insisted that she will test the injury one more time before making a decision.

Pietersen ponders England one-day return

Kevin Pietersen has said there is still a chance he could play 'white ball' cricket for England again despite retiring from limited overs internationals.

However, the South Africa-born batsman -- who remains a Test cricketer -- said it would need a drastic change to England's packed schedule for him to consider a return to one-day and Twenty20 matches for his adopted country.

John Terry in court for racism trial

Chelsea and England defender John Terry arrived in court on Monday for his trial on charges of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a football match last year.

Terry, 31, is accused of a racially aggravated public order offence following the emergence of video footage which appeared to show him abusing the Queens Park Rangers defender, who is mixed race, during a Premier League match in October 2011.

Waratahs hold off Force in Super 15 rugby

The New South Wales Waratahs overcame a spirited second-half fightback by the Western Force to eke out a 23-18 win in their Super 15 clash on Friday.

The Waratahs, yet to lose in Perth, appeared set for an easy win when they led 17-3 early in the second half, after tries from Tom Kingston in the 31st minute and Dave Dennis in the 42nd.

Balotelli still has Man City future: Mancini

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini insists Mario Balotelli still has a future at Eastlands despite his controversial antics.

Mancini had appeared to suggest that Balotelli's City career was finished after the Italian striker was sent off in last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Arsenal.