A British woman shocked her relatives when she asked for a male stripper for her 100th birthday.

A manager of closed life assurance funds moved in on a place in the FTSE 100 Index after striking a £3.6bn (€5.2bn) deal with Abbey National today.

Financial services company Britannic unveiled a £1.8bn (€2.7bn) merger today in a move set to create a leading manager of closed life insurance funds.