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Russia's state-run gas monopoly, Gazprom, cuts off the supply of gas to Ukraine on 1st January, after the Ukrainians refuse to pay a huge price increase. A five-year gas supply deal is agreed three days later.
13 miners are trapped underground on 2nd January after an explosion at the Sago mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia. When rescuers reach them two days later relatives are told that there are 12 survivors, but it soon turns out that only one of the miners is still alive.
On 4th January the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is rushed into hospital after suffering a second stroke within three weeks.
In the UK the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, admits on 5th January that he has received treatment for an alcohol problem. He calls an immediate leadership election but announces two days later that he will not stand for re-election.
Lou Rawls, who had a hit in 1976 with You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, dies on 6th January, aged 70.
Turkey is thrown into crisis in January by an outbreak of bird flu. On 7th January test results from a laboratory in Weybridge confirm that the deaths of three children from Dogubayazit, a remote and predominantly Kurdish town in eastern Turkey, had been caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. They are the first confirmed cases outside east Asia of bird flu in humans.
At least 349 people are crushed to death with many more injured during the final day of the Haj at Mecca.
Shelley Winters, whose acting career earned her an Emmy, a Golden Globe (for The Poseidon Adventure) and two Oscars (for for The Diary Of Anne Frank and A Patch Of Blue), dies of heart failure on 14th January, aged 85, hours after she had married her fourth husband Gerry DeFord.
Two Thai fishermen are sentenced to death on 18th January for the rape and murder of British backpacker, Katherine Horton.
Wilson Pickett, famous for hits such as In The Midnight Hour and Mustang Sally, dies of a heart attack on 19th January, aged 64.
On 21st January, despite the best efforts of rescuers, a northern bottle-nose whale dies, after straying into the River Thames two days earlier.

The al-Salam Boccaccio '98, a ferry on an overnight journey from Duba in Saudi Arabia to Safaga in Egypt, sinks in the Red Sea on 3rd February.
Sir Freddie Laker, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, dies on 9th February, aged 83.
The London production of Wicked! officially opens at the Apollo Victoria on 11th February, having begun previews in September the previous year. The cast includes Idina Menzel, who had originated the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production.
On Tuesday, 14th February UK MPs vote by a margin of 200 votes to impose a ban on smoking in all pubs, clubs and restaurants in England from the summer of 2007.
The village of Guinsaugon in the Philippines is buried by a mudslide on 17th February, after two weeks of heavy rain.
Avian flu advances across Europe, with H5N1 infections being confirmed in Italy (11th February), Germany (15th February) and France (18th February).
On 19th February The Rolling Stones give a free concert on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.
At a court hearing in Vienna on 20th February the British historian David Irving is sentenced to three years in prison for denying the holocaust.
On 22nd February two bombers disguised as policemen attack the Golden Mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. The attack prompts a wave of protests and reprisals against the Sunni population in Iraq.
On the same day an armed gang steals £53 million from the Securitas depot at Tonbridge in Kent.
On 24th February the Standards Board for England delivers its verdict on the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, finding him guilty of bringing his office into disrepute for comparing a Jewish reporter from the Evening Standard to a concentration camp guard.
George Michael is arrested at 1.50am on 26th February on suspicion of possessing drugs, after a passer-by notices him slumped at the wheel of his car near Hyde Park Corner in central London.

Queen Elizabeth II opens the new Welsh Assembly building on 1st March.
The result of the Liberal Democrats' leadership election is announced on 2nd March, with victory going to 64-year-old Sir Menzies Campbell.
On 3rd March Gary Glitter is sentenced to three years in prison by a Vietnamese court for sexually abusing two underage girls.
Crash wins the Oscar for Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards ceremony on 5th March.
John Profumo, Secretary of State for War (1960-63), dies on 9th March, aged 91.
On 11th March the former Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, is found dead in his prison cell in the Hague, where he had been on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Israeli troops lay siege to the prison in Jericho on 14th March, forcing the surrender of six Palestinians wanted for the assassination in 2001 of the Israeli Tourism Minister, Rehavam Ze'evi.
Protesters take to the streets of Paris on 16th March to express their opposition to a new job law making it easier for employers to dismiss workers under the age of 26.
On 21st March the social media service Twitter is born. One of its creators Jack Dorsey posts the first Twitter message at 9:50pm Pacific Standard Time (PST): "just setting up my twttr".
On 23rd March troops rescue three peace campaigners, Norman Kember, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, who had been held hostage in Baghdad since 26th November 2005.
Lynne Perrie (real name Jean Dudley), who played the role of Ivy Tilsley in Coronation Street, dies on 24th March, aged 74.
Country singer Buck Owens (born Alvis Edgar Owens) dies on 25th March, aged 76. Owens had his biggest hit in 1965 with I've Got A Tiger By The Tail. The B-side, Cryin' Time, became a US hit for Ray Charles in December '65 and was also covered by the New Seekers on their 1974 album Together.

On 2nd April Crazy by Gnarls Barkley becomes the first single to top the chart on the strength of download sales alone.
Denis Donaldson, an IRA member turned British spy, is murdered on 4th April at his cottage in the Blue Stack Mountains.
Gene Pitney dies in his hotel room on 5th April, aged 65, after playing to a packed house at St. David's Hall in Cardiff.
Bird flu arrives in Britain. On 6th April it is confirmed that a dead swan discovered at Cellardyke in Scotland was carrying the H5N1 strain of the virus.
The capo di capi of the Sicilian Mafia, Bernardo Provenzano, is captured by Italian police 11th April, after more than 40 years in hiding.
Dame Muriel Spark, the Scottish novelist who wrote The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, dies in hospital in Florence on Thursday, 13th April, aged 88. Jay Presson Allen, who adapted the novel for the stage and screen, dies in New York on 1st May.
At least 9 people are killed and more than 60 injured in a suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv on 17th April.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her eightieth birthday on 21st April.
On Monday, 24th April three bombs explode at the Egyptian beach resort of Dahab, killing 24 people and injuring more than 80 others.
On 25th April the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, discloses that between February 1999 and March 2006 1,023 foreign prisoners - including murderers, rapists and pedophiles - were released without any consideration of whether they should be deported.

On 3rd May Pablo Picasso's Dora Maar With Cat is sold at Sotheby's in New York for $85,000,000.
On Thursday, 4th May Zacarias Moussaoui is given six life sentences for his role in planning the attacks on Washington and New York on 11th September 2001.
After four years of marriage Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills announce on 17th May that they are to separate.
Freddie Garrity, lead singer with the '60s group Freddie and the Dreamers, dies in hospital on Friday, 19th May, aged 69.
The 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held in Athens on 20th May, is won by the entry from Finland - Hard Rock Hallelujah performed by Lordi, a "horror rock" band dressed in monster costumes. The UK entry, Teenage Life by Daz Sampson, finishes in 19th place.
Montenegro votes by a narrow margin to break away from Serbia in a poll held on 21st May.
Desmond Dekker dies suddenly from a heart attack on 26th May, aged 64.
The Indonesian island of Java is hit by an earthquake on 27th May. More than 5,000 people are killed with up to 200,000 left homeless.
Pope Benedict XVI visits Auschwitz on Sunday, 28th May.

Singer and keyboard player Billy Preston dies on 6th June, aged 59.
The leader of al-Qa'eda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is killed in an US-led air strike on 8th June.
Three detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp are found dead in their cells on Saturday, 10th June. The prisoners, two Saudis and one Yemeni, used bed linen and clothes to hang themselves in their separate cells.
Two brothers, Mohammed Abdul Kahar and Abdul Koyair, who were arrested in an anti-terrorist raid on a house in Forest Gate on 2nd June, are released a week later without charge. Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, who apologises for the raid, is made a CBE in the Honours List to mark the Queen's official 80th birthday.
The former Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey dies on 13th June, aged 80.

Cricketer Fred Trueman dies of lung cancer on 1st July, aged 75.
In the early hours of 5th July North Korea test-fires missiles over the Sea of Japan.
Syd Barrett, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, dies on 7th July, aged 60.
On 11th July a series of bomb blasts during the evening rush hour brings the commuter rail network in Mumbai to a standstill. Over 200 people are killed and 700 more injured.
The three-times world snooker champion John Spencer dies of cancer on 11th July, aged 70.
Police investigating "cash for honours" allegations arrest the Labour Party's chief fundraiser Lord Levy on 12th July.
On the same day Israel launches a military assault on Lebanon by air, land and sea, following the capture of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah militants. On day 19 of the ensuing conflict dozens of innocent people are killed and injured in an Israeli air strike on the Lebanese town of Qana.
The last episode of Top Of The Pops (episode 2,204) is broadcast on 30th July.

Two brothers, Danny Preddie and Ricky Preddie, are convicted at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, 9th August of killing Damilola Taylor, nearly six years after the ten-year-old was stabbed to death.
At 11.50pm that night twenty-four people in London, Birmingham and High Wycombe are arrested in connection with a suspected al-Qa'ida terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in mid-air. The following day there is chaos at airports across Britain as hundreds of flights are cancelled.
On 14th August a cease-fire comes into effect, bringing to an end the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. 1,183 Lebanese and 157 Israelis were killed during the conflict.
From 21st August post in the UK is priced by size as well as weight - letter, large letter and packet.
Eighteen-year-old Natascha Kampusch, who had been kidnapped at the age of ten and held hostage in a house in Vienna for eight years, escapes from her abductor Wolfgang Priklopil on 23rd August. Priklopil kills himself under a train a few hours after her escape.
A funeral is held on Tuesday, 29th August for six-year-old Liam Hogan, who died from severe head injuries after jumping from the fourth floor of the Petra Mare hotel in Crete. His distraught father, John Hogan, appears in court the next day, accused of murdering Liam and of attempting to murder his two-year-old sister, Mia.
On 31st August the Republican Governor of California, former film star Arnold Schwarzenegger, announces a deal with the Democrat-dominated state legislature to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020.

The Australian wildlife television presenter Steve Irwin is killed by a stingray on 4th September at Batt Reef off the Queensland coast.
On Tuesday, 12th September Pope Benedict XVI makes a speech in which he quotes a 14th Century Christian emperor, who said the Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things. The Vatican issues a statement on Saturday 16th, saying the Pope was "very sorry" if his comments had offended.
Raymond Baxter, presenter of the BBC's popular science programme Tomorrow's World (1965-77), dies on 15th September, aged 84.
A right-wing coalition led by Fredrik Reinfeldt wins the election held in Sweden on 17th September, inflicting defeat on the Social Democrats, who had held power for all but nine years since 1932.
Rioting breaks out in Budapest on 18th September, following the admission by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, that he had "lied morning, noon and night" to win the election in April.
The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was on a visit to New York to address the United Nations, is ousted in a bloodless military coup on 19th September.
On 26th September, in an inspirational speech to the Labour Party conference in Manchester, Tony Blair tells delegates that it will be his "last conference as leader."
On 29th September a Gol Transportes Aéreos Boeing 737 crashes into the Brazilian rain forest after a mid-air collision with an ExcelAire business jet, killing the 154 passengers and crew on board. The business jet lands safely with its seven occupants uninjured.

On Monday, 2nd October Charles Carl Roberts, described by his wife as "loving, supportive, thoughtful - all the things you'd want and more", kills five girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. He then kills himself.
The Leader of the Commons and Labour MP for Blackburn, Jack Straw, sparks a national debate in the UK on 5th October, when he says that he would prefer Muslim women not to wear veils that cover their faces.
The acclaimed Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya is murdered in the lift of her apartment block in Moscow on 7th October.
The West End production of Les Misérables, which opened at the Barbican on 8th October 1985 and made its West End début at the Palace Theatre two months later, becomes the world's longest-running musical, celebrating its 21st anniversary on 7th October with a specially devised finalé.
Snooker player Paul Hunter, the Benson & Hedges Masters champion in 2001, 2002 and 2004, dies of cancer on 9th October, aged 27.
North Korea tests a nuclear device on 9th October, bringing condemnation from the USA, China and Japan. The headline in The Sun newspaper reads: How do you solve a problem like Korea?
Madonna and Guy Ritchie adopt a thirteen-month-old Malawian baby, David Banda. The young boy is brought to London on 17th October in the care of a bodyguard and Madonna's personal assistant. Madonna defends the adoption on Oprah Winfrey's TV show.
Travel writer Eric Newby dies on 20th October, aged 86.
In a referendum held on Sunday, 22nd October, Panamanians back a plan to widen the Panama Canal.
Two children, Christianne Shepherd, aged seven, and her six-year-old brother Robert, die from carbon monoxide poisoning on 26th October, while on a family holiday in Corfu.
The Stern Review on The Economics Of Climate Change is published on Monday, 30th October.
The former President of South Africa P.W. Botha dies on 31st October, aged 90.

On 2nd November the New York Times reports that a painting by Jackson Pollock, No. 5, 1948, has been sold for $140m.
Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging on Sunday, 5th November.
The 15,000th episode of Radio 4's long-running soap The Archers is broadcast on the same day.
The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigns on 8th November, following the Republicans poor showing in the mid-term elections the day before.
The actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is re-elected governor of California. After his victory he quips: "I just love doing sequels."
Professor Milton Friedman, who won the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics, dies in San Francisco on 16th November, aged 94.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes get married in a castle in Bracciano, north of Rome, on Saturday, 18th November.
Film director Robert Altman dies in Los Angeles on 20th November, aged 81.
A former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, dies on 23rd November, aged 43, while being treated for poisoning at University College London Hospital. A report into his death published in 2016 finds that two Russian men - Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun - deliberately poisoned him by putting the radioactive substance polonium-210 into his drink at a hotel. The report states that the murder was "probably" approved by President Vladimir Putin.
DJ Alan "Fluff" Freeman, who compèred the New Seekers' 1973 tour of the UK, dies on 27th November, aged 79.

The Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez secures a third term in office after winning a landslide victory in the election held on Sunday, 3rd December,
A bipartisan report by the Iraq Study Group published on 6th December warns that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating."
The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet dies in Santiago on 10th November, aged 91.
Joseph Barbera, whose cartoon creations with William Hanna included the Flinstones and Tom and Jerry, dies on 18th December, aged 95.
Police hunting the murderer of five Ipswich prostitutes arrest a suspect, Steve Wright, at 5.00am on 19th December. He is charged with the murders on 22nd December. Another man, Tom Stephens, who had been arrested on 18th December, is released on police bail without charge.
Three days of fog (20th - 22nd December) bring chaos to British airports, forcing airline companies to cancel hundreds of domestic and short-haul flights.
On 23rd December it is announced that the lead singer of U2, Bono (real name: Paul Hewson), is to be given an honorary Knighthood in recognition of his humanitarian work.
The "Godfather of soul" James Brown dies on Christmas morning of heart failure, aged 73.
Former US President Gerald Ford dies on 26th December, aged 93.
Saddam Hussein is hanged at dawn on Saturday, 30th December.

• Lily Allen
  
• Chris Brown
  
• Chico
  
• Taio Cruz
  
• Gnarls Barkley
  
• James Morrison
  
• Paulo Nutini
  
• Orson
  
  

• A-ha
  Analogue (All I Want)
  
• Akon featuring Eminem
  Smack That
  
• Lily Allen
  Smile
  
• Arctic Monkeys
  When The Sun Goes Down
  
• Corinne Bailey Rae
  Put Your Records On
  
• Mary J. Blige and U2
  One
  
• Bon Jovi
  Who Says You Can't Go Home
  
• Emma Bunton
  Downtown
  
• Chico
  It's Chico Time
  
• Dead Or Alive
  You Spin Me Round
  
• Fergie
  London Bridge
  
• Nelly Furtado
  Maneater
  
• Gnarls Barkley
  Crazy
  
• Infernal
  From Paris To Berlin
  
• Keane
  Is It Any Wonder
  
• Ronan Keating & Kate Rusby
  All Over Again
  
• Brian Kennedy & Peter Corry
  George Best - A Tribute
  
• The Killers
  When You Were Young
  
• The Kooks
  She Moves In Her Own Way
  
• Ray Lamontagne
  Trouble
  
• Fedde Le Grand
  Put Your Hands Up For Detroit
  
• Leona Lewis
  A Moment Like This
  
• Madonna
  Sorry
  
• McFly
  Don't Stop Me Now / Please Please
  
• McFly
  Star Girl
  
• Meat Loaf featuring Marion Raven
  It's All Coming Back To Me Now
  
• Meck featuring Leo Sayer
  Thunder In My Heart Again
  
• Morrissey
  You Have Killed Me
  
• James Morrison
  You Give Me Something
  
• My Chemical Romance
  Welcome To The Black Parade
  
• Ne-Yo
  So Sick
  
• Notorious BIG / P Diddy / Nelly
  Nasty Girl
  
• Paulo Nutini
  Last Request
  
• Orson
  No Tomorrow
  
• Pet Shop Boys
  I'm With Stupid
  
• Primal Scream
  Country Girl
  
• Razorlight
  In The Morning
  
• Cliff Richard
  21st Century Christmas
  
• Rihanna
  Unfaithful
  
• Rogue Traders
  Voodoo Child
  
• Daz Sampson
  Teenage Life
  [Eurovision Song Contest:
  UK entry]
  
• Scissor Sisters
  I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
  
• Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
  Hips Don't Lie
  
• Snow Patrol
  Chasing Cars
  
• Source featuring Candi Staton
  You Got The Love
  
• Take That
  Patience
  
• Sandi Thom
  I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)
  
• Justin Timberlake
  Sexyback
  
• Westlife
  The Rose
  
• Robbie Williams
  Lovelight
  
• Robbie Williams
  Rudebox
  
• Amy Winehouse
  Rehab
  
• Will Young
  All Time Love
  
• The Zutons
  Valerie
  

• Liz McClarnon
  Woman In Love / I Get The Sweetest Feeling
  

• Lily Allen
  All Right Still
  
• Arctic Monkeys
  Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
  
• The Beatles
  Love
  
• Andrea Bocelli
  Amore
  
• J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton
  The Road To Escondido
  
• Johnny Cash
  American V - A Hundred Highways
  
• Shawn Colvin
  These Four Walls
  
• Neil Diamond
  12 Songs
  
• Dixie Chicks
  Taking The Long Way
  
• Bob Dylan
  Modern Times
  
• Erasure
  Union Street
  
• Donald Fagen
  Morph The Cat
  
• David Gilmour
  On An Island
  
• Elton John
  The Captain & The Kid
  
• Jack Johnson
  In Between Dreams
  
• Kasabian
  Empire
  
• Keane
  Under The Iron Sea
  
• The Killers
  Sam's Town
  
• Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
  All The Roadrunning
  
• The Kooks
  Inside In / Inside Out
  
• Ray Lamontagne
  Trouble
  
• Meat Loaf
  Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
  
• George Michael
  Twentyfive
  
• Bette Midler
  Bette Midler Sings The Peggy Lee Songbook
  
• James Morrison
  Undiscovered
  
• Muse
  Black Holes And Revelations
  
• Dolly Parton
  Those Were The Days
  
• Pet Shop Boys
  Fundamental
  
• Prince
  3121
  
• Puppini Sisters
  Betcha Bottom Dollar
  
• Razorlight
  Razorlight
  
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers
  Stadium Arcadium
  
• Linda Ronstadt with Ann Savoy - the Zozo Sisters
  Adieu False Heart
  
• Scissor Sisters
  Ta-Dah
  
• Paul Simon
  Surprise
  
• Snow Patrol
  Eyes Open
  
• Bruce Springsteen
  We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
  
• Take That
  Beautiful World
  
• Sandi Thom
  Smile... It Confuses People
  
• Russell Watson
  The Voice
  
• The Who
  Endlesswire
  
• Robbie Williams
  Rudebox
  
• Amy Winehouse
  Back To Black
  
• Yusuf
  An Other Cup
  
• Various Artists
  The Pilgrim: A Celebration Of Kris Kristofferson
  

• American Dreamz
  
• Borat - Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
  
• Capote
  
• Cars
  
• Casino Royale
  
• Chicken Little
  
• Confetti
  
• The Da Vinci Code
  
• The Devil Wears Prada
  
• Driving Lessons
  
• Flushed Away
  
• Good Night, And Good Luck
  
• Happy Feet
  
• The History Boys
  
• An Inconvenient Truth
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Mission: Impossible III
  
• Munich
  
• The Night Listener
  
• Over The Hedge
  
• Pierrepoint
  
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  
• Prime
  
• Proof
  
• Queen Elizabeth II
  
• Romance & Cigarettes
  
• Rumour Has It
  
• Sixty Six
  
• Superman Returns
  
• Transamerica
  
• United 93
  
• Volver
  
• Wah-Wah
  
• Walk The Line
  
• The Wind That Shakes The Barley
  
• X-Men 3
  
  

Tony Award for Best Musical:
Jersey Boys

Olivier Award
for Best New Musical:
Billy Elliot The Musical

• The Apprentice (Series 2)
  
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• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (Series 19 and 20)
  
• The X Factor (Series 3)
  
• The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars
  
  

BBC Sport

BBC
Sports Personality
of the Year:
Zara Phillips

Darts: Phil Taylor wins the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship for the 11th time. He beats Peter Manley in the final, 7-0.
Jelle Klaasen denies Raymond van Barneveld a fifth BDO World Championship, beating him 7-5 in the final

Tennis: Martina Hingis makes a successful return to Grand Slam tennis at the Australian Open by winning the mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi. Amélie Mauresmo wins the women's singles title, after her opponents in the semi-final (Kim Clijsters) and the final (Justine Henin-Hardenne) are both forced to withdraw part way through their matches. Roger Federer regains the men's singles title, beating the unseeded Cypriot Marcus Baghdatis in the final (5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2).
Justine Henin-Hardenne and Rafael Nadal both retain their French Open singles titles. Henin-Hardenne beats Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's singles final (6-4, 6-4); Nadal beats Roger Federer in the men's final (1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6).
At Wimbledon Amélie Mauresmo wins her second Grand Slam singles title, beating Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final (2-6, 6-3, 6-4). Roger Federer wins his 4th Wimbledon singles title, beating Rafael Nadal in the final (6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3).
At the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne both make it four finals out of four. For Federer it's a third win, for Henin-Hardenne, a third loss. Federer beats Andy Roddick (6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1); Henin-Hardenne loses to Maria Sharapova (6-4, 6-4).
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova brings her career to a triumphant end with victory in the mixed doubles. In partnership with Bob Bryan she claims her 59th Grand Slam title, beating Kueta Peschke and Martin Damm in the final (6-2, 6-3). Bryan congratulates his partner on "the best tennis career of all time".

Rugby Union: France win the Six Nations Championship. Ireland win the Triple Crown.

Cricket: England win the third Test against India by 212 runs, ensuring that the series ends in a draw.
On the fourth day of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan umpire Darrell Hair penalises the Pakistani team for alleged ball-tampering. Pakistan's players stage a protest by refusing to return to the field of play at the end of the tea interval Play is abandoned and the Test is awarded to England.
Australia reclaim the Ashes with victory over England in the third Test in Perth.

Rowing: the University of Oxford crew wins the 152nd Boat Race by 5 lenghts.

Horse Racing: Numbersixvalverde, ridden by Nialls 'Slippers' Madden, wins the Grand National. The 2005 winner, Hedgehunter, finishes second
Sixties Icon, ridden by Frankie Dettori, wins the St. Leger Stakes.

Snooker: Graeme Dott beats Peter Ebdon 18-14 in the final of the World Snooker Championship. In December Ebdon wins the UK Championship, with a 10-6 victory in the final over Stephen Hendry.

Golf: Phil Mickelson wins the US Masters at Augusta for the second time in three years.
Geoff Ogilvy wins the US Open, with Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie tied for second place.
Tiger Woods wins the Open at Hoylake - his third Open victory and his 11th triumph in a major championship. A 12th follows four weeks later at the US PGA Championship at Medinah, which he wins with a final-round score of 270.
The European team, captained by Ian Woosnam, wins the Ryder Cup for a record third time in a row.

Motorcycling: Nicky Hayden wins the MotoGP championship, taking the title with a third place finish in the final race of the season in Valencia. The five-times champion, Valentino Rossi, finishes second in the final standings after sliding out on lap five of the last race.

Football: Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-0 on 29th April to secure the Premiership title for the second year in a row.
Liverpool win the FA Cup final, beating West Ham 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended in a 3-3 draw.
Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-1 in the final of the Champions League.
Italy win the World Cup final, beating France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out. The French captain Zinedine Zidane is sent off after head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi.

Cycling: pre-race favourites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso are suspended from the Tour de France after being named in a doping inquiry.
Floyd Landis, who wins the Tour de France on Sunday, 23rd July, is later revealed to have tested positive for unusual levels of the male sex hormone testosterone.

Equestrianism: Zara Phillips, riding Toytown, wins a gold medal at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen.

Badminton: England's Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson win the mixed doubles World Championship in Madrid. They beat another English pair, Donna Kellog and Anthony Clark, in the final (21-15, 21-12).

Gymnastics: in October European champion Beth Tweddle wins a gold medal on the uneven bars at the world championships in Aarhus, Denmark and so becomes the first Briton to win a gymnastics world title. She follows this with another gold at the World Cup in Sao Paulo, Brazil in December.

Motor Racing: Fernando Alonso wins the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship for the second year running. Renault win the Constructors' Championship.
Michael Schumacher, who had announced his retirement after the grand prix at Monza, ends the season in second place. Although the championship eluded him, the seven-times champion continued to set new records: at the San Marino Grand Prix he grabs pole position for the 66th time, breaking the record set by Ayrton Senna at the same track in 1994. Schumacher wins his 91st - and last - grand prix on 1st October 2006 at the Shanghai International Circuit, China.
Britain's Jensen Button claims his maiden Formula 1 win at the Hungarian Grand Prix on 6th August.
Felipe Massa also wins for the first time at the following race in Turkey.

Man Booker Prize

Winner:
Kiran Desai
The Inheritance Of Loss

Kate Grenville
The Secret River

M.J. Hyland
Carry Me Down

Hisham Matar
In The Country Of Men

Edward St. Aubyn
Mother's Milk

Sarah Waters
The Night Watch

Orange Prize
for Fiction

Winner:
Zadie Smith
On Beauty

Nicole Krauss
The History Of Love

Hilary Mantel
Beyond Black

Ali Smith
The Accidental

Carrie Tiffany
Everyman's
Rules For
Scientific Living

Sarah Waters
The Night Watch