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/ 4 February 2008

Kings, queens and geishas samba at Rio Carnival

Brazil’s Carnival parades got off to a majestic start on Sunday night as dancers dressed as monarchs, courtiers and even roast pheasants at a royal feast shimmied their way through Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome. Beauty queens wearing little more than plumed headdresses gyrated on top of giant floats as singers chanted ”The kingdom has moved, my Rio has bloomed”.

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/ 4 February 2008

Warring Sri Lanka marks 60 years of independence

With a parade of tanks, troops and rocket launchers, Sri Lanka on Monday marked its 60th anniversary of independence from Britain amid tight security after a string of attacks blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels. Thousands of police and troops were on high alert in the capital Colombo as the island’s armed forces put on a show of military might.

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/ 4 February 2008

Clinton lead dwindles ahead of Super Tuesday

Hillary Clinton tried on Sunday to bring Barack Obama’s aspirational candidacy back to earth, repeatedly accusing him of misleading voters in an attempt to halt his poll momentum ahead of the Super Tuesday contest. With opinion polls showing Obama making significant gains, Clinton tried to undermine Obama’s central appeal of being a politician who operated above the fray.

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/ 4 February 2008

Google cries foul over Microsoft’s Yahoo! bid

Microsoft’s ,6-billion bid for Yahoo! raises ”troubling questions” about the future of the internet, Google has warned. A takeover would also create a business with an ”overwhelming share” of online communications services of web-based email and instant messaging, wrote David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer.

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/ 4 February 2008

As evacuees flee, Paris puts role in Chad in play

Resolutions at the United Nations or African Union could alter the mission of French troops in Chad, France’s Foreign Minister said on Monday as a first planeload of evacuees landed at a Paris airport. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Defence Minister Herve Morin said French forces secured Chad’s airbases and were protecting French and foreign civilians.

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/ 4 February 2008

Elephants trample Guinea into dust

Côte d’Ivoire overwhelmed Guinea in the closing stages to triumph 5-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations Cup quarterfinal on Sunday and equal the record winning margin for the tournament. Next up for Côte d’Ivoire are either defending champions Egypt or dark horses Angola in the semifinals on Thursday.