Following striking performances in the recent ODI series against England, flamboyant batsman Yuvraj Singh made a comeback to the Indian Test squad on Thursday. The national selection committee in Chennai also included the left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha in the 15-man squad for the two-Test series.

While Yuvraj replaced the recently-retired Sourav Ganguly, Ojha made it to the squad at the expense of left-arm seamer R P Singh.

LONDON, Dec. 5  -- The British arm of toymaker Lego has blasted a U. S. custom toy company for creating an Osama bin Laden figure from Lego blocks.

A Lego UK spokesman said the U. S. company, BrickArms, is not affiliated with Lego and did not receive permission to create the toy version of the al-Qaida leader from the block manufacturer, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

BrickArms, which specializes in creating "custom molded weapons and custom mini-figures" from Lego blocks, sells the bin Laden figure -- branded "Mr. White" the bandit
-- for $14. It comes with a miniature pistol, machine gun, rocket launcher and grenades.

MANCHESTER, England, Dec. 4 - Manchester United star players are alerted to impending massages and other appointments by a TV in their dressing room, the British soccer club has revealed.

The team said top players -- including Cristiano Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand -- are notified by a flat-screen television in their dressing room when they have appointments including massages, hair cuts and pedicures, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

The screen also tells them how their food will be cooked and who is available to run baths for them, the soccer club said.

Manchester United Coach Brian McClair detailed his encounter with the screen after making a rare stop in the dressing room.

London, Dec 5 : Happiness is infectious, says a new study, which found that a person’s proximity to cheerful people – specifically partners, siblings and neighbours – could make them happy too.

In the study, the researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, found that clusters of happy and unhappy people were visible in the networks and the effect lasted for three degrees of separation - meaning one person benefited from the happiness of their friends’ friends.

LEEDS, England, Dec. 4 - A mother of seven in northern England was convicted Thursday of faking the kidnapping of her 9-year-old daughter in hopes of collecting a reward.

Karen Matthews, 33, and Michael Donovan, 40, an uncle of Matthews' live-in boyfriend, were found guilty in Leeds Crown Court of kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice, The Telegraph reported. Both face long prison terms.

LONDON, Dec. 4 - The British Conservative Party, in another sign of hard times all around, is laying off 10 percent of the staff at its headquarters.

High-profile and highly paid consultants appear to be spared, The Guardian reported. The policy office, where staffers research proposals for the next election campaign, and the external affairs section appear to be hit hardest.

The party announced this week that the Constituency Campaigning Services office in the Midlands was being closed. The office helped party organizations in parliamentary districts.