England made it two wins from two in Sri Lanka with an impressive fourth-innings chase only marred by concerns over Ravi Bopara's fitness and Ian Bell's form.

I was in Manchester last night, on an intensely private matter. Oh, all right, I was at a football match. Anyway, I was staying at the city centre hotel where I am a regular visitor. In the relatively short time I have patronised this establishment, it has changed names – and, I assume, ownership – three times, and in its latest incarnation it went from a hotel with a short, memorable name – just four letters – to one with a cumbersome, Americanised moniker – three words, 18 letters.

China's national treasure, the giant panda, will become even more precious if one businessman succeeds in using its dung to grow organic green tea which he intends to sell for more than £125 a cup.

Monty Panesar and James Anderson shared the wickets in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad as England took control of their warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board XI in Colombo.

Michael Stafford, better known by his stage name Maverick Sabre, is in the middle of his set when a fight breaks out.

Out of America: The torturous campaign for the Republican nomination is leaving the frontrunner battered

Indigenous people have been at war with the Aussie establishment for generations. But an army unit that prizes their skills is now fighting the age-old prejudices

Who wouldn't like the sort of mates Stella McCartney has? I don't mean Gwyneth and Rihanna (although I bet they're a right laugh), but pals who are altogether more, you know, useful. "I have a nanny, though I find that word jarring," Stella said in a recent interview. "I tell her: 'I just want to call you a friend'."

Kids these days, what do they know? Luke Blackall on the disappearance of everyday skills

An 84-year-old woman will turn back time tomorrow as she celebrates her 21st birthday.

Inside Westminster

Time was when a rock star wasn't an authentic rock star unless he or she drove a pink Cadillac into a hotel swimming pool, or appeared on stage in a foul-mouthed, drunken mess or, at the very least, insisted on a rider that every pack of Smarties in the dressing room had the blue ones removed.

A woman who spent three months in a coma with a crippling brain illness is celebrating the publication of the debut novel she had completely forgotten that she was writing.

A woman who spent three months in a coma is due to see the debut novel she had completely forgotten she was writing appear in print.