Unilever has raised its stake in Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever but fallen short of the 75% threshold it had originally targeted. 

In a professional career spanning almost two decades, Simon "Smudger" Smith has played for over 67 clubs and has reinvented himself time and again, from poacher to holding midfielder, centre-back to goalkeeper.

Zippy, the yellowish-brown glove puppet who was loud and sought to be the centre of attention in Rainbow, gained a cult status that went beyond the pre-school children's programme's 25-year history.

My earliest food memory… Prawn cocktail. My mum would make it as a treat, and she always used to sprinkle prawn cocktail crisps on it, too – that was about as gourmet as it got [in our house].

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has issued a plea for public donations – of Marmite and peanut butter.

Seventeen years is rather a long time. 1995 saw the release of Braveheart, the collapse of Barings Bank and the departure of Robbie Williams from Take That. Perhaps less notably, it was also the last time Investec did not believe Unilever shares were worth snapping up – until now.

The current focus on the racecourse is rightly on the Cheltenham Festival, which starts three weeks tomorrow, and beyond that the Grand National. But between the two great jumping meetings comes the start of the domestic Flat turf season, and one familiar weighing-room name will be absent this year. Richard Hills, first jockey to Hamdan al-Maktoum, yesterday confirmed his retirement, intending to end his 33-year career after the Dubai World Cup at the end of next month.

My earliest food memory...

My earliest food memory...Marmite sandwiches on sliced white bread. I used to press the bread down to the thickness of a coin, and I remember that really lovely transformation of texture from fluffy white bread to something quite dense and getting that little salty hit in the middle.

The consumer goods giant Unilever has been labelled a "modern day Scrooge" after it scrapped the Christmas party, hampers and bonuses for factory staff who staged its first UK strike yesterday.