England beaten on penalties again
England players react after their loss to Portugal in the penalty shootout during their World Cup quarter-final match in Gelsenkirchen July 1, 2006. England went out of the World Cup 3-1 on penalties after their quarter-final with Portugal ended 0-0. England lost skipper David Beckham to injury just after half-time and Wayne Rooney was sent off after 62 minutes for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho. They battled on bravely for the rest of normal time and extra-time with 10 men to take the game to a shoot-out. But Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed to end their hopes and Sven-Goran Eriksson's reign. England's World Cup 2006 Trail more...

Agassi farewell to Wimbledon
Twenty years of Wimbledon magic came to an end when Andre Agassi said goodbye to Centre Court on a quiet but dignified note, losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4. Giving away 16 years to the 20-year-old Spaniard, Agassi was gradually worn down after a gruelling opening set played in extreme heat. Having closed the match with his 18th ace, Nadal praised his opponent as “one of the best players in history, he is unbelievable.” Agassi, ever eloquent, thanked the crowd, scribbled a few autographs, and departed to a standing ovation. Saturday 1st July 2006

14 days of rain in four hours
DOZENS of people arrived at work to find their livelihoods under water. Corridors were flooded under two inches of water and more had seeped into offices, ruining stock, machinery, computers and floors after a night of torrential rain. Manhole covers across Swindon were forced open as the town received two weeks' worth of rain in the space of four hours. Lyneham received 25.8mm of rain in the same 24 hour period of 5th July, which was more than the whole monthly total rainfall for June 2006

Italy make Zidane pay the penalty
Italy were crowned World Cup winners for the fourth time as they pipped France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out after France skipper Zinedine Zidane's career ended with an extra-time sending-off.

Zidane was always going to hang up his boots after this World Cup swansong, and the script was going perfectly when he broke the deadlock on seven minutes with a cheekily-chipped penalty. Marco Materazzi equalised for the Azzurri with a header from a corner on 19 minutes, though, and after 90 minutes saw no more goals, the game went to extra-time.

The two goalscorers were then involved in the flashpoint which turned the tide in Italy's favour, as Zidane unbelievably headbutted the Inter Milan defender and was given his marching orders on 110 minutes. Both teams hung on for a penalty shoot-out, and Italy converted all five of their spot-kicks in ice-cool manner, with David Trezeguet's miss proving costly to hand Italy a 5-3 win and their fourth World Cup final win. more...

Hottest July Temperature Recorded at Lyneham
We all baked on the hottest July day EVER — as thermometers brushed 100°F. The top temperature recorded was 99.14°F (37.3°C) at a weather station in Pitsford, Northants. But it was not officially recognised by the Met Office, which said Wisley in Surrey was hottest at 97.7°F (36.5°C). Both figures out-sweltered the previous hottest day of the month — July 22, 1911, in Epsom, Surrey, when temperatures reached 96.8°F (36°C). As predicted the record for the hottest July day ever to be broken at Lyneham today was reached, thermometers toppled 34.4°C (93.7°F) at 3.24pm, breaking the previous temperature of 32.9°C set way back during the tropical summer of July 1976. www.lynehamvillage.com/news/misc/hotweather180706.html