as the World Cup has arrived, English flags ? not the U.K. flags, but the red-cross-on-white St. George?s flags (for England?s patron saint) ? are popping up all over English cities and the countryside, leading to a boom-time for flag producers and sellers the likes of which hasn?t been seen for a long time.

BBC`s flagship sports show, Grandstand, is taken off BBC`s schedule after airing for almost half a century. Director Mark Thompson is due to announce the upcoming change while giving a review of BBC`s output.

American Flags company announced that it is offering visitors to its site free American Flags to mark today`s third anniversary of the September 11th attack on America.