Sharon Osbourne looks set to rejoin the X Factor judging panel after securing a £1.5 million deal.

TV bosses finally confirmed Sharon Osbourne will return to The X Factor judging panel to replace Tulisa Contostavlos.

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Leading article: Rambling rose

What is it that is so horrifying about the ageing rock star who just won't hang up his guitar and accept that the final curtain ought to have come down? We don't object to actors coming out of retirement for yet another final performance. Perhaps it is because the rock star is an emblem of youth and sex appeal, so when they return, looking like wrecked pastiches of their former selves, it sends a shiver up our spines, reminding us that we're mortal too.

Digital Digest: 30/08/2010

The Best Of The Web

I'm going on tour with Take That, says Robbie Williams

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Katy Guest: Darling, will you marry me (or maybe not)?

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Robbie Williams will marry his American girlfriend tomorrow, it was reported.

Joan Smith: Ed Miliband may soon be in No 10. Believe it

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Music & Me: James Yuill

The first record I bought was...

Earth, Wind & Fire - Greatest Hits Volume 1 on cassette. It was originally for my sister but i stole it back

Leading article: Back for good?

The fires are re-lit. Take That are back. After 15 years, Robbie Williams has returned to the bosom of the original British boy band. They have even recorded an album of new material that will be released later this year. The pedant would point out that Take That have actually been "back" for a while now. And the string of sell-out concert tours and hit records in recent years would certainly support that case. But, as any longstanding Take That fan would tell you, without Robbie the band were never truly whole.

They're back... Robbie Williams returns to his boy band roots

They split up in 1996 with all the acrimony, bitterness and frozen silences of lovers, breaking the hearts of millions of teenage girls.

Take That and Robbie Williams set for reunion

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Absolute radio host Geoff Lloyd wins commercial award

Absolute Radio host Geoff Lloyd was named presenter of the year at an awards event to honour the cream of commercial radio.

Is the financial future bright for Lancashire?

There is a new stand-cum-conference centre at Old Trafford called The Point. The obvious response on seeing it for the first time in all its dubious, red-blooded glory is: what's the point?

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National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
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Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
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Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
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James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
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Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
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'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

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Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

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Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
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Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

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In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death