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Is Rosie the world's oldest donkey? The average lifespan for a donkey is 25-30 years, whereas Rosie is believed to be 54. A donkey year counts as three, so she is the human equivalent of 162 years. Rosie lives in Belper, Derbyshire with her owner Lesley Manger. The record for the oldest...

England have quashed rumours that they will pull out of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India for security reasons. There were rumours that security chiefs feared that the England team would be a target for Pakistani extremists in the Games in Delhi. This would be the first time in the...

Graeme Swann produced bowling figures for second innings of 5-54 and for the whole match of 9-164 as England emphatically completed an innings victory against South Africa in Durban, England's first victory in that city since 1964. South Africa posted a first innings total of 343, but England...

England have replied strongly in the First Innings against South Africa on the Second Day of the Second Test in Durban. South Africa made 343 in their First Innings, which would have been a slightly smaller score had England not been frustrated in taking South Africa's last wicket. England's...

Dover Castle, on the coast of Kent looking out into the English Channel, was originally built by the Anglo-Saxons, but it was taken over by the Normans after their successful invasion of England in 1066. The Normans burnt much of it to the ground, but William the Conqueror then added new...

For most of us, Christmas is about spending time with the family, opening presents and letting the children leave some mince pies and milk on the bannister on Christmas Eve night for Father Christmas. But for others, Christmas is something entirely different. British soldiers in Afghanistan...

If you're the Queen and it's Christmas, eating a box of Roses or Quality Street just won't do. What you want is chocolate that's fit for a Queen. Several small boxes of dark chocolate, made to a secret recipe, were delivered to Buckingham Palace for Christmas. World famous chocolate makers...

Meet the English Defence League (EDL), an English Nazi group, made up mostly of football fans, whose aim is to oppose the spread of Islamism, Sharia Law and Islamic extremism in England. The size of its membership is not known but is probably around 500. Members wear balclavas, hoodies and...

We've seen Manchester United's Eric Cantona kung-fu kicking a Crystal Palace fan (1995), a young David Beckham somehow scoring from the halfway line against Wimbledon (1996), the Brentford goalkeeper injuring himself after colliding with a dog which wandered onto the pitch (1970), and the...

You may think that many of the symbols of Christmas have been around for centuries, but, in fact, many of them have much more recent origins. Father Christmas himself was only invented in 1935 for a Coca-Cola campaign. Before that, it was mainly St Nicholas who was the personification of...

Anybody would be forgiven for thinking they had somehow travelled 2000 years back in time and ended up in the Middle East and discovered that there WAS room at the inn after all and you were witnessing the arrival on Earth of God in human form. When, in fact, you'd still be in the present day in...

The Queen will pay tribute to Britain's Armed Forces in her annual Christmas speech - broadcast on TV - tomorrow after they suffered their worst fatality rate this year since 1982. And, in the Commonwealth's 60th year, the Queen will also use her annual address to urge its member states...

A hound the world in 80 days: Meet Oscar "Phileas Fogg" Lefson, a dog without equal Most dogs would be content to go for a little run around on a playing field fetching large sticks, or just nip down to the nearest off-licence with their owner to get the day's newspaper and a pint of milk...

Britain may be under two feet of snow, a freezing wind may be blowing in straight from the Urals via Scandinavia and the weathermen are laying the odds on this being the start of the next Ice Age, but that hasn't stopped Prince William sleeping on the sub-zero streets of London. The future...

North Americans (but nobody else) may poke fun at the supposed bad teeth of the British (though we can retaliate by poking fun at how fat North Americans are), but an OECD report has found that the British not only have better teeth than the Americans but they actually have the best teeth in the...

A parchment bound in leather and kept under lock and key may prove the theory that Shakespeare was a secret Catholic. An exhibition at the Venerable English College, the seminary in Rome for English Catholic priests, has revealed cryptic names in its guest books for visiting pilgrims...

It's an annual tradition for various pagans, hippies and druids to gather at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer and winter soltices (except when it was closed to the public between 1985 and 2000) and is one of the world's oldest celebrations. So no wonder they were embarrassed after turning up...

The BBC has released a trailer of its new re-make of the Day of the Triffids. The two-parter, to be screened over the Christmas period, stars comedian Eddie Izzard, Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, her real-life mother Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox. Cox plays Dennis Masen, a scientist whose...

England have shown great character after battling to a well-earned draw against South Africa in sweltering Pretoria. South Africa posted a good score of 418 in the First Innings. England then replied with a First Innings total of 356, meaning that SA's lead after the First Innings was just 62...

Along with eating loads of turkey, stuffing your face with Christmas pudding, watching Doctor Who, drinking too much mulled wine, arguing with the in-laws, listening to the Queen's Speech, falling asleep during the Christmas Day movie and spending Boxing Day at your grandparents', finding out...