London - As the transfer window closed at midnight Monday, Manchester was the focus as Manchester City signed Brazil forward Robinho for a British record fee and Manchester United closed in on Dimitar Berbatov.
City, having been taken over by a group representing the Abu Dhabi royal family earlier in the day, made a string of audacious bids.
They even attempted to hijack Berbatov's transfer from Tottenham to United, but he was at Old Trafford on Monday evening, and as midnight struck the announcement of a deal seemed imminent, possibly with Fraizer Campbell going the other way.
They also bid for Valencia's David Villa, but had a bid of 34 million pounds (60.9 million dollars) accepted for Robinho, outbidding Chelsea, who earlier in the day were still keen to sign him.
The Brazil forward is understood to have been offered a salary of around 5 million pounds a year.
"I'm absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with such an incredible talent of Robinho," said manager Mark Hughes.
"He's undoubtedly one of the best players in the world. This is a statement of intent." (dpa)
German exports plunged in November to record the biggest fall in nearly two decades, data released Thursday showed, as the deepening world economic downturn hits Europe's biggest economy.
When the Spirit rover landed on Mars five years ago, no one expected it or its sister rover Opportunity to make it to their first birthdays, let alone their fifth.
The San Antonio Spurs turned up their trademark defense down the stretch to turn back another opponent. 
US singer and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson, 27, dominated the nominations for the 40th NAACP Image Awards.
After the Taipei Zoo received two giant pandas from China, another Taiwan zoo said Friday it is seeking to receive a pair of pandas from China.