London  - Liverpool's title challenge suffered a serious blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw Monday by Everton.

Tim Cahill glanced in the equalizer with four minutes remaining to cancel out Steven Gerrard's opener, which fell midway through the second half.

The draw leaves Liverpool second in the table, level on points with Manchester United, who have a superior goal-difference and a game in hand.

It was the fourth game out of their last five at home that Liverpool have drawn, and it is that inability to break down dogged opponents that is costing Rafa Benitez's side.

London  - Manchester City's hopes of signing Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn Rovers suffered a major blow on Monday as Rovers manager Sam Allardyce insisted he had no intention of selling.

City boss Mark Hughes, who left Blackburn last season, has made no secret of his admiration for the player, but Allardyce said he would consider an offer only if it was equal to the cost of relegation - estimated by him to be 40 million pounds (58.1 million dollars).

London - Gloomy weather, rising credit card debt and abandoned New Year resolutions conspire to make the third Monday in January the most depressing day of the year, British psychologists have found.

On Monday, their research provided a suitably bleak background to an announcement by Prime Minister Gordon Brown that his government would step in to protect banks from so-called toxic assets in an effort to unfreeze lending and soften the blow of a deepening recession.

London - Veteran British politician Ken Clarke made a remarkable political comeback Monday when he joined the inner circle of the Conservative Party led by David Cameron.

Clarke, 68, will join the frontbench team of the "shadow cabinet" as spokesman for business affairs where he will be pitted against Peter Mandelson, the powerful and influential Business Secretary in the Labour government.

Clarke, a cigar-smoking bon-viveur, was defeated three times in his aim to lead the Conservatives.

London, January 19 : Barack Obama is reportedly set to remind his

London, Jan 19 : American actor Robert Downey Jr is angry with director Guy Ritchie after he was made to wear four-inch platforms in his shoes during the filming of a new movie.

Downey Jr and Ritchie had become friends while filming Sherlock Holmes, but now their friendship is in peril because of the shoes.

The Iron Man star plays the role of the detective in the movie with Jude Law playing as Dr Watson.

Ritchie made him wear the shoes as he felt the two should be of the same height.