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/ 14 January 2008
The European Commission said on Monday it will propose tighter restrictions on biofuels next week amid mounting concerns that the energy source can cause unintended environmental and social problems. Biofuels are renewable and environmentally friendlier than fossils, but not completely clean.
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/ 14 January 2008
European Union competition regulators said on Monday they would launch two new antitrust probes against Microsoft, opening fresh fronts in their battle against the United States software giant’s dominant market power. The European Commission said one investigation targeted the interoperability of a broad range of software with rival products.
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/ 13 January 2008
All Oscar Pistorius wants is a shot at the Olympics. But such a simple wish has turned into a contentious issue that is dividing sports fans and professors alike — even half a world away from the South African practice tracks where the double-amputee sprinter dreams of running on his artificial blades in Beijing.
The news business remained a dangerous profession in 2007 with 171 journalists killed while pursuing their work, nearing the record 177 deaths of 2006, the International Federation of Journalists said in a statement. Iraq accounted for nearly a third of the deaths, with 65 journalists and media staff killed, the Brussels-based organisation said.
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/ 26 December 2007
When the newly created euro slumped to an all-time low in 2000, detractors lined up to predict a dark future for the young currency. The euro marks its ninth birthday on January 1, with detractors now warning of grave consequences on account of its strength.
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/ 21 December 2007
Under a golden sun, Paolo Bettini capped a perfect day for cycling by outracing, outwitting and, finally, outsprinting everyone to win the world road race title. If ever there were a glorious highlight to a season, that was it. As the Italian crossed the line, though, there was little joy because he had been involved in a doping scandal.
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/ 7 December 2007
Zimbabwe and three other African nations provisionally agreed on a regional free trade deal with the European Union (EU) on Thursday. The deal is part of EU efforts to meet a December 31 deadline set by the World Trade Organisation for replacing its trading system with former European colonies.
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/ 6 December 2007
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday defended inviting Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to attend a European Union-Africa summit this weekend and vowed to make human rights the first point on the agenda. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is boycotting the Lisbon summit.
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/ 29 November 2007
British and Irish efforts to retain their imperial measures of pints and miles while surrounded by the litres and kilometres of continental Europe moved a yard closer on Thursday as the European Union Parliament backed the moves. One imperial casualty, though, is the acre.
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/ 27 November 2007
Britain has asked the European Commission to approve the aid it has provided to struggling mortage lender Northern Rock, a Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday. ”Last night [Monday], the British government notified us,” EU competition spokesperson Jonathan Todd said.
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/ 16 November 2007
The European Union said on Thursday it had raised the troops needed for a planned peacekeeping force in Chad but still lacked helicopters vital for transport in tough terrain. French General Henri Bentegeat, the head of the EU’s Military Committee, said he was confident the 3 700-strong force could start deploying in a couple of weeks.
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/ 7 November 2007
Long-running talks to form a new Belgian government were on the brink of collapse on Wednesday as tensions flared between Flemish and Francophone lawmakers over the sensitive issue of voting rights. Speculation has grown that political divisions could eventually lead to Belgium breaking up.
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/ 7 November 2007
A Congolese player at FC Brussels who walked out after being racially abused by the Belgian club’s president Johan Vermeersch has agreed to return. Zola Matumona quit the club after he and his fellow players were lambasted by Vermeersch for a string of poor performances.
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/ 6 November 2007
Europe’s trade chief accused Nigeria and South Africa on Monday of trying to block negotiations for new trade and investment deals between the European Union and scores of former colonies. The EU wants to sign new Economic Partnership Agreements with nearly 80 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries before December 31.
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/ 29 October 2007
The man known as Belgium’s ”king of jailbreaks” hit the country’s headlines on Monday as his gang staged a spectacular helicopter crash to help him break out of high-security prison for the fourth time. The escape of 27-year-old Nordin Benallal, a convict with a long history of violent crimes, was launched soon after sunset on Sunday.
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/ 26 October 2007
The Central African Republic’s President defended his country’s efforts to improve human rights at international donor talks on Friday meant to bolster much-needed economic and political reforms in his impoverished nation. Francois Bozize presented a new development strategy to European Union and United Nations officials.
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/ 23 October 2007
Europe’s top court on Tuesday overturned a German law that protects Volkswagen against takeovers, allowing Porsche to tighten its grip on the wheel of the continent’s biggest carmaker. The European Court of Justice ruled against the "Volkswagen Law", thereby upholding Porsche’s claim to voting rights in line with its 31% stake in VW.
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/ 22 October 2007
Microsoft ended three years of resistance on Monday and finally agreed to comply with a landmark 2004 antitrust decision by the European Commission. The defeated software giant announced it would not appeal against a decisive European Union court ruling two months ago that backed the commission.
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/ 18 October 2007
The European Union has given a cautious welcome to the outcome of a summit of three big developing countries. The leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to seeking a deal in the long-delayed World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha round of global free-trade talks that was ”fair and acceptable to all”.
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/ 15 October 2007
De Beers group managing director Gareth Penny on Monday called on diamond traders in Europe, the United States and Israel to back Africa’s efforts to cut and polish its own gemstones. The head of the South African miner — which controls 40% of the world’s diamond trade –it w said as not altruism to stabilise the diamond business by creating jobs in African democracies.
European Union and Chinese trade officials have agreed on a new way to handle Chinese textile exports to the bloc when quotas expire on December 31. Officials said the plan might help improve cooperation between the EU and China over the Asian economic powerhouse’s snowballing trade surplus with the 27-nation bloc.
The European Union is to hold an extraordinary meeting of national gas experts to discuss the dispute between Ukraine and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, officials said on Wednesday. The EU Gas Coordination Group will hold an ad-hoc meeting later this month to ”evaluate the situation” and assess its ”possible consequences”.
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/ 17 September 2007
McLaren chief Ron Dennis has moved to diffuse the latest row between his world-championship-chasing drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren pair were involved in a thrilling battle at the first corner of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix that ended with Alonso forcing a charging Hamilton to take evasive action.
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/ 16 September 2007
Kimi Raikkonen won the Belgian Grand Prix for the third time in a row on Sunday, leading a Ferrari one-two to revive his title challenge. Brazilian Felipe Massa finished second, 4,6 seconds behind the Finn, with McLaren’s double world champion Fernando Alonso third to cut teammate Lewis Hamilton’s overall lead to two points.
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/ 14 September 2007
Formula One’s governing body published emails between McLaren drivers on Friday that it said proved the team had made use of information leaked from title rivals Ferrari. McLaren were stripped of their 2007 constructors’ points on Thursday and fined a record -million after a hearing into a spying controversy.
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/ 14 September 2007
A key European Union and Africa summit remains under a shadow cast by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose attendance is demanded by African leaders but could spark a boycott by Britain. The Europeans are tempted to try for a compromise ”Myanmar-style”, by proposing that Zimbabwe be represented at a lower level.
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/ 13 September 2007
Formula One returns to the Spa Francorchamps circuit on Sunday for the Belgian Grand Prix, with McLaren looking to emulate the 1-2 victory in Monza last weekend.
After a year’s absence due to construction and improvement works, the longest track of the season returns for the last grand prix in Europe.
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/ 12 September 2007
The United States launches a new military command for Africa in Germany next month, with small teams of key staff, but no troops, based on the continent, a senior US defence official said on Wednesday. The Africa Command will initially work from Stuttgart, and have a year to prepare six locations in as yet unidentified African countries.
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/ 12 September 2007
Should Belgium break up? Would anyone in the rest of the world notice? Should they care? These are some of the questions being raised in a media frenzy both in and outside the country as a political impasse has fanned the flames of separatism in the Dutch-speaking north.
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/ 11 September 2007
The European Union (EU) should invite Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to a planned summit with Africa because barring him would jeopardise relations between Africa and Europe, the Commonwealth’s secretary general said. The EU and Africa want to hold their first summit in seven years early December in Portugal.
Sudan has expelled the European Union and Canadian envoys from the war-torn African country, state radio and Western officials said on Thursday. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry had declared them persona non grata ”for involving themselves in activities that constitute an interference in the internal affairs of the country,” Sudan radio reported.
Exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products will be banned from all of mainland Britain following its recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the European Commission said on Monday. A spokesperson said the commission, the executive arm of the European Union, would formalise the decision — which was agreed with Britain — later on Monday.