At its Gogarburn headquarters, the lender has announced that it's just passed the half-way point of its sale and run-off of those assets it doesn't want or need.

BBC: Crash diet for the Royal Bank of Scotland

Defeat leaves the Latics only a point off the drop zone and their recent run of one win in nine matches has left Roberto Martinez's side nervously looking over their shoulder at the bottom three.

BBC: Manchester United 5-0 Wigan

But there was a disappointing conclusion, or a very welcome one from a Pakistan point of view, when Bresnan missed an easy run-out chance to finish off the innings four balls early.

BBC: Kevin Pietersen fires England to Super Eights victory

And Dyer latched on to Steve Howard's excellent flicked header to fire past Fielding to extend their unbeaten league run to seven games and move them up to within a point of the play-off places.

BBC: Sport - Leicester 4-0 Derby

At a comparable point ahead of the 2002 presidential election, in which he won 17% and a place in the run-off, he was scoring only 6%, according to Ipsos, a polling agency.

ECONOMIST: French politics