And on semi-finals weekend they have every right to expect a touch of spring and a little sun - but this morning the Tykes I saw were wrapped up in all sorts of scarves, hats, coats and other miscellaneous winter clothing.

BBC: FA Cup & Premier League as it happened

Some are comparing it, perhaps with just a touch of hyperbole, to a revolution on a par with the Arab spring.

CNN: British politicians rightly close the door to Murdoch

Mr Mugabe did stray from his usual targets - former British Prime Minister Tony Blair still a major preoccupation - to touch on the "momentous" but unfinished events of the Arab Spring - an awkward subject, you might think, for a man who has been in power for more than three decades.

BBC: Zimbabwe: The land of nervous laughter