An Australian talent show has sparked international outrage after featuring a segment with contestants portraying the Jackson 5, with their faces painted black.
The act, performed by six doctors who dubbed themselves the ‘Jackson Jive’, aired on a reunion episode of the Hey Hey It’s Saturday variety programme in Australia on Wednesday night.
US singer Harry Connick [...]

Lancashire paceman Sajid Mahmood has been welcomed back into the England set-up with a place in the one-day squad touring South Africa, but there is no room for Owais Shah.
Shah has been England’s leading run-scorer in one-day internationals for the past few years and scored a scintillating 98 against South Africa in the ICC Champions [...]

Lancashire have announced the signing of former Worcestershire batsman Stephen Moore on a two-year contract.
The England Lions player, 28, will head to Old Trafford for the start of the 2010 County Championship campaign after choosing to leave New Road at the end of last season.
And Lancs head coach Peter Moores describing the signing as "fantastic [...]

Harlequins have signed hooker Andy Ellis on a two-year contract from Co-operative championship side Barrow Raiders.
The 24-year old has recently been named Championship Player of the Year after leading his side to the league leader’s shield and victory in the Championship’s Grand Final victory over Halifax.
Ellis began his career with Hull KR and played an [...]

The schedule for the Ashes Test series to be staged down under in 2010/11 has been revealed by the ECB and Cricket Australia.
Consisting of the now traditional five Test matches, the series will start at the Gabba in Brisbane on November 25th before heading to Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne and ending at the SCG in [...]

Football legends and Premier League teams have teamed up with the NHS to launch Smokefree United.
The likes of John Barnes, Ian Wright and Gianfranco Zola have joined the virtual club which provides coaching and support to help football fans and players stop smoking.
As well as the advice, footballers and fans who sign up for Smokefree [...]

Comedian and actor Marlon Wayans is reportedly in advanced talks to play comedy legend Richard Pryor in an upcoming biopic.
Eddie Murphy had previously been attached to play the groundbreaking stand-up in Bill Condon’s Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? but left the project after a conflict with Paramount Pictures, which at that point had [...]

A trio of Warrington Wolves stars have signed new contracts with the 2009 Challenge Cup winners to stay until the end of 2012.
Adrian Morley, Ben Harrison and Chris Bridge have all agreed two-year extensions to their existing deals that will see them remain at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
And head coach Tony Smith said he is [...]

The government’s new proposals to stop children buying cigarettes from vending machines would be impossible to carry out pub landlords have claimed.
The health bill, to be debated in Parliament next week, would require bar staff to check people’s ID before operating the vending machines with a remote control.
However, a news survey of pub landlords by [...]

Childhood cancer survivors are less likely to get married, a study has shown.
According to findings in the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention journal, due to the long-term effects of cancer treatment, childhood sufferers are less likely to wed.
Survivors are 20 to 25 per cent more likely to never marry, compared with siblings and the general [...]