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/ 20 November 2006
English giants Manchester United and Arsenal, who saw their high-speed Champions League campaigns hit the buffers last time out, aim to get back on track on Tuesday. Premiership leaders United travel to Celtic still smarting from a humbling 1-0 defeat at FC Copenhagen, which shattered their 100% start.
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/ 19 November 2006
New Zealand cruised to an easy 23-11 win over France in the second of the two autumn Tests on Saturday but the home side at least mustered more resistance than in last week’s seven-try drubbing. Tries by Joe Rokocoko and Ma’a Nonu and 13 points from the boot of the unflappable Dan Carter cancelled out Cedric Heyman’s early try and two penalties from Dimitri Yachvili for the home side.
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/ 17 November 2006
What’s a television without its remote control? Not much, decided a thief in south-western France who returned to the home from which he had just stolen a TV to pick up the remote control — and was arrested. The man robbed a retiree’s house in the village of Mussidan, taking the TV set and some hunting rifles, police said.
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/ 16 November 2006
The All Blacks are braced for a backlash from France in Paris on Saturday after the 47-3 pasting the tourists handed the home side in the first autumn Test match last week. Assistant coach Wayne Smith said France boss Bernard Laporte had been right to ring the changes after his side suffered their largest home defeat in Lyon, which saw the French players roundly booed and whistled off the pitch.
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/ 16 November 2006
The European Union Parliament on Thursday urged EU governments to push for compliance with a treaty to prevent germ warfare, and joined the United Nations in calling for an immediate worldwide ban on cluster bombs. The EU assembly made the call as countries met in Geneva to review a treaty on inhumane weapons.
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/ 16 November 2006
The new African-Chinese economic and diplomatic partnership, manifested in the pact signed by China and 48 African countries in Beijing this month, is unsettling European leaders and analysts, who continue to see Africa as Europe’s backyard. Analysts have been calling attention to China’s growing presence in Africa for many months.
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/ 15 November 2006
France coach Bernard Laporte on Wednesday made seven changes to the side that suffered a humiliating 47-3 defeat to the All Blacks last Saturday in Lyon. France play their second of two autumn Tests against New Zealand at the Stade de France on Saturday, with Laporte desperate for a decent performance following the All Blacks seven-try massacre less than a week ago.
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/ 13 November 2006
France is to aid the Central African Republic’s (CAR) army with logistics and aerial reconnaissance in its fight against rebels in the north-east of the country, the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday. ”Our help will consist essentially of logistic support and providing intelligence,” a spokesperson said.
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/ 13 November 2006
France were branded ”impotent” after crashing to the second heaviest defeat in their history against New Zealand, and coach Bernard Laporte admitted it was back to the drawing board in a bid to salvage some face in the rematch in Paris on Saturday.
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/ 12 November 2006
New Zealand completely outclassed France in the first of two autumn Tests in Lyon on Saturday, handing the home side an emphatic seven-try 47-3 drubbing. In an entralling display that combined ferocious defence with fearless attack, New Zealand made a mockery of the game’s billing as a contest between the world’s two leading rugby-playing nations.
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/ 10 November 2006
Parisians opted for a mass smooch, while South Africans took a shot at the longest bra chain and a New Zealander risked his neck careening downhill in a giant balloon in a global assault on Thursday on bizarre world records. Individuals and groups happily put their bodies and self-respect on the line for the possibility of a footnote in Guinness World Records.
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/ 9 November 2006
France test-launched a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles for the first time on Thursday. The M51 missile has a range of 6 000km, 50% further than that of the missile currently in service. Developed by EADS, the M51 will also be able to carry a heavier load than the M45 it will replace, and be armed with up to six warheads.
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/ 8 November 2006
Individual Rugby World Cup tickets will be put up for sale on the internet on Thursday, with 10 months to go before the competition gets under way. A total of 550 000 tickets will be available to the general public from 8am GMT on websites including Rugbyworldcup.com and from other ticket outlets.
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/ 8 November 2006
James Bond may be the spy who never ages, but over his 44-year film career his adventures have swollen ridiculously with impossible gadgets, implausible plots and implacable supervillains. Well, this is the year Bond trimmed those excesses and got back to basics.
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/ 8 November 2006
French wines and spirits group Pernod Ricard said on Tuesday it would launch what it said would be the world’s most expensive champagne. ”It will cost around €1 000 ( 276) a bottle. We won’t do many cases and won’t be offering it here,” chairperson Patrick Ricard told the company’s annual shareholders meeting.
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/ 7 November 2006
New Zealand coach Graham Henry on Tuesday made 10 changes to the team that beat England when he named his side to take on France in the first of two Tests in Lyon on Saturday. His decision to ring the changes from the side who outplayed the reigning world champions 41-20 at Twickenham had been widely anticipated.
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/ 5 November 2006
Iraq war protagonists the United States and Britain led the applause on Sunday after justice was meted out to Saddam Hussein, but other nations and groups were wary that he now faces the hangman’s noose. The White House welcomed the guilty verdict as proof of the viability of Iraq’s fledgling government.
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/ 2 November 2006
A total of 79 garden gnomes snatched by a so-called gnome-liberation group were discovered on Wednesday along the banks of a stream in France’s central Limousin region, police said. The gnomes were hidden in underbrush with a banner that read "Gnome mistreated, gnome liberated", police said.
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/ 2 November 2006
The final series of the traditional autumn Tests in the northern hemisphere prior to next year’s Rugby World Cup begin this weekend with the All Blacks once again in pole position. However, having choked twice in a row in the semifinals and not having won since the inaugural 1987 tournament, their rivals will be looking for any chinks in their formidable armour.
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/ 1 November 2006
Côte d’Ivoire international strikers Didier Drogba and Arouna Kone both scored crucial goals for their teams Chelsea and PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday in their respective Champions League clashes. Drogba, who has been a player transformed this season in contrast to record signing Andriy Shevchenko, struck in stoppage time.
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/ 1 November 2006
In one month’s time Russia will contest the Davis Cup final against Argentina in Moscow, but Marat Safin would rather be anywhere else. Safin is expected to take a leading role in the final from December 1 to 3, just as he did in September’s semifinal victory over the United States.
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/ 31 October 2006
Roger Federer blew a gaping hole in the credibility of the Paris Masters on Monday when the world number one joined Rafael Nadal in pulling out of the â,¬2-million tournament. The Swiss top seed cited fatigue for his no-show, the third year in succession he has opted out of the penultimate event of the season.
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/ 25 October 2006
Top seeds Marcos Baghdatis and Gaston Gaudio were packing their bags on Tuesday after being ousted in the first round of the €659 000 Lyon ATP tennis tournament. Home hope Arnaud Clement dispatched number one seeded Baghdatis 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 as lowly German Simon Greul hammered Argentine Gaudio.
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/ 23 October 2006
Purists may frown, but chocolate foie gras and kiwi liquor are just two examples of how French farmers are evolving their offerings in order to lure new customers in a competitive food market. Six times a year, small farmers from across France meet in the Paris region to sell their wares directly to city customers.
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/ 20 October 2006
The Paris Club of creditor nations agreed on Thursday to cancel almost all of Malawi’s debt, reducing the small Southern African nation’s remaining debt to just -million (R67-million). National representatives to the informal group, which meets monthly in Paris, agreed to recommend to their governments that about -million in debt owed by the impoverished country be cancelled.
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/ 19 October 2006
Zinedine Zidane said he was coping well with life outside soccer and had no immediate plans to embark on a coaching career. The former France and Real Madrid playmaker, who retired after his country’s defeat by Italy in the World Cup final in July, said he did not miss competitive football.
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/ 18 October 2006
French duo Lyon and Lille rattled in the goals in Tuesday’s Champions League action as the former enjoyed a 3-0 cruise over hapless Dynamo Kiev and Lille gave themselves a great chance of progressing to the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory over AEK Athens.
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/ 17 October 2006
European giants Barcelona and Inter Milan go into battle on Wednesday looking to boost what has been a disappointing start to their Champions League campaigns.
Barcelona travel to Chelsea for what promises to be another epic battle between the two sides after two bruising encounters in successive seasons.
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/ 14 October 2006
South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira, the former world number six and who holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played, admitted Saturday that retirement has been hard. The 35-year-old, an Australian Open semifinalist in 1992 and 2003, called it a day on the ATP Tour at the 2004 US Open.
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/ 12 October 2006
Footballing giant England’s so-called brave new world under Steve McClaren came to a shuddering halt on Wednesday as they were outplayed by Croatia, going down to a 2-0 defeat in their Euro 2008 qualifier. The only consolation for England fans bitter at the manner of their World Cup quarterfinal exit to Portugal was that the Portuguese were the other surprise losers on the night.
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/ 11 October 2006
A passenger train from Luxembourg collided with a goods train in north-eastern France on Wednesday, killing about 12 people, state SNCF railways said. ”About 10 passengers have died as well as the two drivers of the trains,” SNCF said in a statement. Several other passengers were believed to be injured. Rail officials said the trains were travelling in opposite directions on the same stretch of track.
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/ 10 October 2006
It’s make-up time for two of Europe’s big guns as the latest round of Euro 2008 qualifiers get under way on Wednesday. England and France have it all to do to erase the memory of severely disappointing results on Saturday. Having limped to a feeble 0-0 draw at home to the anything but mighty Macedonia, England travel to Croatia for a considerably more testing examination.