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/ 20 August 2007

French minister says worst is over in mortgage crisis

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday that the worst of the United States mortgage crisis was over even if some US investment houses and funds could still be in trouble. Stock exchanges worldwide were sent reeling this month as US borrowers with risky credit histories — the so-called subprime sector — defaulted on their mortgage repayments.

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/ 20 August 2007

Back to basics for England

England coach Brian Ashton was left to rue a breakdown in the basics in his team’s tryless showing in the 22-9 defeat to France, the second loss in eight days against the World Cup hosts. The England squad now have 10 days off before gathering again in London on August 29 and Ashton and his coaching staff have been left with plenty to think about.

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/ 11 August 2007

US home-loan crisis causes more global turbulence

United States home-loan woes caused more turbulence on world markets on Friday despite the tens of billions of dollars released by central banks to stop the problem turning into a global economic crisis. London’s FTSE stock market closed a whopping 3,71% lower and European and Asian shares slumped after losses tied to US subprime mortgages spread.

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/ 7 August 2007

French snail-guzzling fest sets new record

Hordes of French gourmets joined forces at an annual snail festival over the weekend to munch their way through a record 100 800 gastropods, organisers said on Monday. "We’ve beaten all our previous records, despite the rain," said Jacky Pommier, who helped organise the festival, in Digoin, east of Paris.

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/ 3 August 2007

France confirms major arms deal with Libya

Libya has reached a multimillion-dollar deal to buy anti-tank missiles and radio systems from European aerospace giant EADS in what would be the first such purchase since an arms embargo was lifted on Tripoli in 2004. French Defence Minister Herve Morin confirmed on Friday that a letter of intent had been signed.

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/ 1 August 2007

Boks eye keeping Jones on for World Cup

The controversy surrounding former Australia coach Eddie Jones advising the Springboks looks set to grow after it was revealed on Tuesday he had held talks with a view to staying on until the end of the South Africans’ campaign. Andy Marinos, rugby manager of the South African national teams, confirmed that there were ongoing talks with Jones.

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/ 31 July 2007

Union warns of possible strikes during Rugby Cup

A French trade union leader on Tuesday warned that the Rugby World Cup could be disrupted by industrial unrest unless the government changes a Bill intended to limit the impact of transport strikes. Bernard Thibault, of the General Labour Confederation, said the Bill was an ”intimidatory measure” because it restricted the right to strike.

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/ 30 July 2007

Cycling looks for solutions after drug-tainted Tour

The 2007 Tour de France ended on Sunday after three weeks of unwelcome controversy and drama that has led to calls for far-reaching reforms ahead of 2008. One of the most tainted editions of the race since the Festina doping scandal in 1998 ended in triumph for Discovery Channel’s yellow jersey winner Alberto Contador on the Champs Elysees.

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/ 29 July 2007

Contador takes the yellow jersey

Spaniard Alberto Contador won the drug-tainted Tour de France in Paris on Sunday when he held on to his 23-second overnight lead on Australia’s Cadel Evans to secure the race’s fabled yellow jersey. Contador becomes the first Spaniard to win the three-week race since Miguel Indurain from 1991 to 1995.

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/ 28 July 2007

Marijuana may yet drive you mad

The widest-yet investigation into cannabis and mental health says individuals who use marijuana increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness by more than 40%. Reporting in Saturday’s issue of the Lancet, the doctors call on health supremos to warn young people about the risk to their mind.

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/ 27 July 2007

Casar wins Tour de France 18th stage

Frenchman Sandy Casar won the 18th stage of the Tour de France, a 211km ride from Cahors on Friday. The Francaise des Jeux rider outsprinted Belgian Axel Merckx of the T-Mobile team at the end of a 196km breakaway. France’s Laurent Lefevre came home third for the Bouygues Telecom team.

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/ 26 July 2007

McLaren cleared in F1 spy case

McLaren were cleared on Thursday by Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, of any wrongdoing in the espionage affair that has engulfed the sport this season. An extraordinary hearing of the 25-strong World Motor Sports Council, the sport’s highest body, ruled that there was no evidence the British team had benefited from confidential Ferrari documents.

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/ 26 July 2007

Mystery over Jim Morrison’s death divides biographers

Did Jim Morrison OD on a nightclub toilet or die of a drug-induced heart attack in a bathtub at home? Thirty-six years after the death in Paris of the <i>Doors</i> legend, biographers are locking horns over his final hours. The latest book on the life and times of Morrison says he was found slumped behind a locked toilet door on July 3 1971 in the Rock’n Roll Circus.

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/ 25 July 2007

Sarkozy heads to Libya on first leg of African tour

French President Nicolas Sarkozy heads on Wednesday to Tripoli for strategic talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi, ahead of his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as head of state. Sarkozy announced he would make the ”political trip” to Tripoli after French efforts contributed to the release of six foreign medics held in Libya since 1999.

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/ 24 July 2007

Vinokourov fails dope test, says team

Astana team leader Alexander Vinokourov failed a dope test after winning Saturday’s Tour de France time trial, his team announced on Tuesday. They did not give any further details but a cycling source said the Kazakh, who has won two stages on this year’s Tour, tested positive for blood doping.

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/ 23 July 2007

Brilliant Vinokourov takes Tour stage

Alexander Vinokourov clinched his second victory of this year’s Tour de France with panache when he won the 196km 15th stage from Foix on Monday. The Astana rider, who lost all hope of winning the race when he cracked and crashed on Sunday’s 14th stage, went solo 15km from the summit of the Col de Peyresourde to beat Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen.

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/ 19 July 2007

SA’s Hunter makes history in France

South African Robert Hunter of the Barloworld team won a wind-battered 11th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday after 182km of drama-filled racing between Marseille and Montpellier. The 30-year-old won a sprint finish just ahead of Swiss Fabian Cancellara and Brazilian Murilo Fischer to claim his, South Africa’s and his continent’s first-ever win in the race.

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/ 19 July 2007

SA’s Hunter shines at Tour de France

South African Robert Hunter won a crash-hit bunch sprint to take the 182,5km 11th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday. The Barloworld rider beat Swiss Fabian Cancellara of the CSC team by half a wheel. Brazil’s Murilo Fischer came home third for the Liquigas team. ”It is very important to me to win a stage on the Tour de France. I am speechless,” said Hunter.

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/ 19 July 2007

‘Geckel’, the latest in super-adhesives

Take the gecko, famed for its ability to scale walls, and the mussel, renowned for its clamping quality, and you have the inspirations for a superglue that can stick, unstick and stick again. The glue, dubbed "geckel", can have innumerable uses, say the inventors, whose research is published in <i>Nature</i>, the British journal.

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/ 18 July 2007

Vasseur leads French one-two in Tour’s 10th stage

Quick Step rider Cedric Vasseur gave the hosts their first stage win of this year’s Tour de France when he lead a French one-two ahead of compatriot Sandy Casar in the 229,5km tenth stage on Wednesday. The 36-year-old Vasseur won a sprint finish after five hours 20 minutes and 24 seconds of racing under the sweltering heat ahead of Casar, with Swiss rider Michael Albasini in third.