It's hard to pigeonhole Canadian singer Al Spx, aka Cold Specks, in the usual generic slots. She calls what she does “Doom Soul”, which almost covers the elements of soul, folk and darkling indie in the single “Blank Maps”, where hammer dulcimer and cello carry her soulful delivery of the typically quixotic sentiment “I am a goddamn believer”.

Roy Hodgson responded to one question yesterday about his decision to select John Terry for his Euro 2012 squad and leave out Rio Ferdinand with mild exasperation that the subject was attracting such a lot of attention. "There are 23 men in the squad, we're preparing for the future, and yet we're discussing one man until the cows come home."

England manager's optimism turns to frustration as he is asked to defend his central selection but says that the Chelsea captain has assured him he needn't have any concerns

Notebook

A muffled blast from the past

A muffled blast from the past

Outlook In the early hours of yesterday morning the management of National Australia Bank did more to improve the image of British bankers at the stroke of a pen than if the entire corps of London's financial PR industry had forsaken the habits of a lifetime and decided to do some real work, as opposed to prospecting for clients over lunch.

Off he went with a trumpety-trump, narrowly avoiding disaster as he stormed through a car park.

Hapless Big League pitcher McAllister is about to have a very strange day.

An elephant called Baby bolted from a circus in southern Ireland on Tuesday, causing some alarm to customers in a coffee shop where keepers caught up with the runaway.

London will deliver "the greatest show on Earth" at this summer's Olympics and Paralympics, Prime Minister David Cameron promised today as he welcomed inspectors from the International Olympics Committee (IOC) on their final inspection visit before the Games begin.

Time Lord casting news - Rebecca Armstrong wishes they'd think outside the Tardis

Tycoon father joins chorus of disapproval after photos emerge of pair with dead leopard and elephant

David Cameron was accused tonight of deploying “smoke and mirrors” to avoid imposing an immediate ban on wild animals in travelling circuses.