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/ 24 June 2006

Islamists denounce ‘opium of football’

Long before the first football was kicked at the World Cup earlier this month in Germany, hard-line Islamists were busily denouncing the massive competition as a corrupt show of Western influence. But as the daily matches have gone on, Islamists using the internet have shown they are not immune to World Cup fever.

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/ 21 June 2006

Research: Loudest lambs are survivors

French researchers have given scientific backing to what shepherds have intuitively known for thousands of years: that the lamb that bleats most and loudest has the best chance of survival. A research team used digital recorders to record lambs’ bleats and matched this with the mother’s response.

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/ 19 June 2006

Italian Emanuele Pirro and German duo Frank Biela and Marco Werner drove Audi to an historic victory in the Le Mans 24 hour race on Sunday. The Audi R10 finished four laps ahead of the Pescarolo driven by France’s Franck Montagny, world rally champion Sebastien Loeb and Eric Helary, to become the first diesel-powered car to win the famous endurance race.

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/ 16 June 2006

Net closes in on cycling’s ‘blood brothers’

Of all the forms of doping in sports, perhaps none is more vampirish than athletes siphoning, storing and transfusing their own blood. A pint here, a pint there. Packed with red blood cells that carry oxygen to tired muscles, a back-alley transfusion can add a spring to the step of a World Cup soccer player or help a Tour de France cyclist ascend steep mountain passes.

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/ 15 June 2006

How Washington created a new enemy

Washington has been playing with fire in Somalia, where its support for a warlord alliance has ended up boosting Islamic militias, which now hold the capital Mogadishu, analysts say. Somalia has been torn by four months of fighting between the Islamists and an alliance of warlords, who largely controlled the lawless state for 15 years.

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/ 14 June 2006

Cliffs and Norman abbeys dominate France’s ‘magic triangle’

The towns of Rouen, Le Havre and Dieppe form the outermost limits of what is known as the ”magic triangle” in the French Normandy. In the north, the commune of Etretat and its white chalk cliffs attract millions of tourists every year. In the south, the river Seine meanders in large curves through undulating countryside, flanked by Norman monasteries, towards its estuary.

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/ 12 June 2006

Flying blind

A blind Belgian man on Saturday claimed a place in the record books after completing a tour of France in a light aeroplane. Luc Costermans, a 41-year-old former businessman blinded two years ago in an accident, said he hoped to make it into the <i>Guinness World Records</i> book for his tour of the country, completed on Friday.

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/ 12 June 2006

Federer looks to rebound on grass

Maybe what Roger Federer needs in order to beat Rafael Nadal is a change of scenery. Bring on the grass. The lawn tennis season begins this week — just the thing to put a little spring back in Federer’s step. He’ll start preparations for Wimbledon by playing in Germany this week after losing to Nadal in the French Open final.

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/ 11 June 2006

Nadal too strong for Federer

Rafael Nadal of Spain successfully defended his men’s title at the French Open on Sunday, beating world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after three hours on the Philippe Chatrier court. The 20-year-old Spaniard extended his record winning streak on clay to 60 matches with the 100th victory of his career.

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/ 10 June 2006

Henin-Hardenne triumphs in Paris

Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium won the French Open for the third time on Saturday, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in straight sets. Fifth seed Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 and 2005 Roland Garros champion, achieved her fifth Grand Slam and 26th title of her career with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 1hr 36min over the eighth seed.

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/ 10 June 2006

Federer and Nadal set up dream final

World number one Roger Federer and number two Rafael Nadal set up a dream finish to the French Open on Friday by advancing to the final. Federer (24) made his first Roland Garros title match as Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semifinal tie.

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/ 9 June 2006

Majestic Federer into French Open final

World number one Roger Federer advanced to the final of the French Open for the first time on Friday when Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semifinal tie. Federer (24) will play either defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain or Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic in Sunday’s final.

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/ 8 June 2006

Kuznetsova to face Henin-Hardenne

Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final of the French Open on Thursday. The 24-year-old fifth seed will meet Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final on Sunday after the eighth seed put out teenager Nicole Vaidisova 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

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/ 8 June 2006

Steady Kuznetsova into French Open final

Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova produced a gritty comeback to reach the final of the French Open on Thursday at the expense of teenager Nicole Vaidisova. The eighth-seeded Russian won 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to set up a final against the winner of the all-Belgian semifinal between former world number ones Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.

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/ 8 June 2006

France striker Cisse out of World Cup

France’s World Cup hopes have suffered a cruel blow after striker Djibril Cisse broke his leg in their last warm-up game before leaving for Germany. The Liverpool forward was forced out of Raymond Domenech’s squad after undergoing surgery late on Wednesday on a fractured right fibula and shinbone, picked up in the friendly against China.

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/ 6 June 2006

Federer dismisses ailing Ancic

Roger Federer won his 26th Grand Slam match in a row on Tuesday as he defeated Croatian Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to take a step closer to an expected final showdown with reigning champion Rafael Nadal. Federer was dominant against Ancic, who sought treatment for a shoulder problem.

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/ 6 June 2006

Clijsters dumps Hingis out of Paris

Former world number one Kim Clijsters produced a masterful display to reach the semifinals of the French Open at the expense of Martina Hingis on Tuesday. Clijsters, who won 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, will face either fellow Belgian and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne or Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the last four.

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/ 6 June 2006

Kuznetsova through as Safina crumbles

Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova admitted she was surprised to be in the semifinals of the French Open after she ousted compatriot Dinara Safina 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 on Tuesday. The eighth-seeded Russian will face Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova in the last four after the 16th seed beat Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-3.

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/ 6 June 2006

Thieves loot hundreds of TVs ahead of World Cup

A band of thieves described as ”very organised” broke into a warehouse in a Paris suburb and made off with hundreds of plasma TV sets, ”probably for the 2006 World Cup”, French police sources said on Tuesday. The robbery was carried out by six armed men, who drove up to the warehouse in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve in a lorry.

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/ 5 June 2006

Nadal edges closer to French repeat

Rafael Nadal moved to within three wins of defending his French Open crown when he subdued a battling and determined Lleyton Hewitt to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Monday. The 20-year-old Spanish second seed racked up his 57th consecutive clay court win with his 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 triumph.

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/ 5 June 2006

Federer says he won’t be fooled again

Roger Federer insists that Mario Ancic won’t catch him out again like he did when the Croatian sent him tumbling to an embarrassing Wimbledon defeat in 2002. The two meet in the French Open quarterfinals on Tuesday with the Swiss world number one still needled by that first round centre court defeat at the All England Club.