Legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones shocked passers-by in central London on Wednesday by performing an impromptu set on a pavement to raise money for a cancer charity.

The 68-year-old thrilled hundreds of people who thronged around him snapping photographs on their mobile phone cameras, as he sang with only an acoustic guitarist alongside him.

WELLINGTON, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - New Zealand author Lloyd Jones, the bookmakers' favourite to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction, said he was disappointed to lose to Anne Enright but saw benefits in not winning.

'I'm a little bit disappointed but I'm not crushed,' Jones told Radio New Zealand from London's Guildhall where the Booker judges opted for Enright's 'The Gathering' over his 'Mister Pip.'

'It was always going to be a bit of lottery.'

LOS ANGELES, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - Sprint queen Marion Jones tumbled from her pedestal with a resounding, if not surprising, crash on Friday. Now US sports fans wonder, could home run king Barry Bonds be next?

Jones became the face of a sport as she pursued an unprecedented five gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she eventually won three golds and two bronze.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - BALCO, the San Francisco lab that peddled performance enhancing drugs to athletes, continues to rock the sports world four years after it became a byword for cheating.

Marion Jones, once the golden girl of US athletics, Friday pleaded guilty to lying to a federal agent about her use of drugs during the investigation of the company that billed itself as a vitamin and nutritional supplement supplier.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones shouldn't wait to be stripped of her Olympic medals, but should return them as a gesture to athletes who didn't cheat, US Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said Friday.

'After years of denying that she used banned substances, Ms. Jones has finally decided to come forward and admit the truth. Her admission is long overdue and underscores the shame and dishonor that are inherent with cheating,' Ueberroth said.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - After years of dodging doping allegations, US track star Marion Jones admitted on Friday that she had taken banned steroids, in a move that could see her stripped of her Olympic medals.

Jones, 31, appeared in a court in White Plains, New York, where she pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to federal agents over her drug use and an unrelated fraud charge, for which she now faces up to 10 years in jail.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Tearful US track star Marion Jones said Friday she had broken the trust of her fans and announced she was retiring from the sport after admitting in court to taking steroids.

'It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you to tell you that I have betrayed ... your trust,' the Olympic gold medal winner told a crowd gathered outside the courtroom in White Plains, New York.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty on Friday to lying about her use of banned drugs to US agents, in a move that could see the American sprinter put behind bars.

Jones, 31, who has dodged doping allegations for years, entered the plea at a US District Court in New York state.

In a statement read out to the court, Jones admitted using the steroid THG, produced by the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) and known as 'the clear,' between September 2000 and July 2001.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - US track star Marion Jones arrived at a US court Friday where she was expected to plead guilty to lying to investigators about her use of banned drugs, in a move that could see the sprinter stripped of her five Olympic medals.

Jones, who has dodged doping allegations for years, told friends and family in a letter obtained by the Washington Post on Thursday that she intended to plead guilty during the court appearance at White Plains in New York state.

WASHINGTON, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - President George W. Bush is saddened by news US track star Marion Jones was expected to plead guilty to lying to investigators about her use of banned drugs, the White House said Friday.

The 31-year-old sprinter could be stripped of five Olympic medals won in 2000 in Sydney.

'I talked to him about it this morning, he was saddened by the news, he's long been concerned about the issue of steroids use. He, in the 2004 State of the Union, dedicated time to it,' said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, referring to Bush.

NEW YORK, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - US track star Marion Jones was expected to plead guilty Friday to lying to investigators about her use of banned drugs, in a move that could see the sprinter stripped of her five Olympic medals.

Jones, who has dodged doping allegations for years, told friends and family in a letter obtained by the Washington Post on Thursday, that she intended to plead guilty during the court appearance later Friday in New York state.

WASHINGTON, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - The US military should cut its presence in Iraq to look less like an 'occupying force' but Congress should not impose a withdrawal deadline, retired Marine General James Jones said Thursday.

In an independent report that gave a dismal appraisal of Iraq's security forces, Jones told Congress that the heavy US military presence especially in Baghdad gave the wrong impression to Iraqis.

SYDNEY, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Australian Rugby Union chief John O`Neill lashed out at ex-Wallabies coach Eddie Jones Thursday for helping South Africa in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup.

O`Neill, who returned to rugby this year after a stint heading Australian football, said he could not understand why Jones joined the Springboks for a training camp in Cape Town this week.

'It`s not something you would expect of a former Australian coach,' O`Neill told Sydney`s Daily Telegraph.