British rider William Fox-Pitt has predicted "a test of athleticism" when the world's top eventers go for Olympic gold at Greenwich Park next year.

Ahead of his defence of the Hickstead Derby title tomorrow on Skip Two Ramiro, Guy Williams got into the winning habit by triumphing in the Hickstead Master's Challenge yesterday on Titus.

Many moons ago, I spotted a fourth impression of this short, sharp-toothed novel in a Gloucester Road charity shop. I had often heard talk of 'Lady Into Fox', first published in 1922, only 91 pages long and consisting of just the one chapter, but had never before laid eyes on it. I snapped up the slim volume immediately, feasted on its wood engravings and demolished it during a train trip to the South Coast. It pleased me in particular that a previous owner of my copy, a not inappropriately named Janet Leeper, had pencilled her name inside and added the date 5 November 1945, which just happens to be the day I was born.

An inquisitive fox was discovered living the high life at the top of the UK's tallest skyscraper.

Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors today, the US military said, marking the first time US citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years.

Some of Britain's brightest and most bankable names took to the catwalk yesterday as London Fashion Week continued with collections from Dame Vivienne Westwood, Mulberry and Matthew Williamson.

Fair play to Ron Delnevo, whose reaction to what must be the biggest nightmare of any chief executive who does what he does is best described as phlegmatic. Mr Delnevo runs Bank Machine, an independent operator of ATMs, and one of his cash machines has just gone badly wrong. Police were called to the machine in Dundee after a large crowd formed, anxious to take advantage of the fact it was paying out double the amounts users were asking for. "If the people using the ATM see it as a bit of fun, so be it," Mr Delnevo said.

It was only a small drama, but it encapsulated many of the downsides – and occasional upsides – which the hard winter weather presents to our wildlife.

A disabled farmer arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after shooting two burglars raiding a cannabis farm on his property that he did not know existed has been cleared after a three-month investigation.

Shooting badgers in parts of Britain affected by bovine tuberculosis, which is proposed as a control technique, may be harder to carry out humanely than ministers realise, says the RSPCA.

There is a meeting on the fringe of the conference this morning which is fated to be sparsely attended, and not just because it is at 8am. It will be gathering of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting. Yes, that word is "against".