The winner did not attend to claim his dubious honour - the first time a winning author has not turned up.

BBC: Faulks beats Starr in bad sex award

Title track Shut Up vies for the dubious honour of being the worst on the album, surpassed only by power ballad (thankfully the only one) More Than Life Itself.

BBC: Osbourne tackles teen angst

However, India, which has already this year passed the 1 billion mark and may during the next century have the dubious honour of overtaking China as the world's most populous country, has shown that poverty and over-population need not necessarily go hand in hand.

ECONOMIST: Unshapely world, too old or too young