Gay and lesbian people took to the streets of European cities on Saturday in a mass demonstration of pride, in numbers varying from a couple of hundred in Zagreb to hundreds of thousands in Paris. Demonstrations and marches also took place or were planned in Lisbon, Rome, Valencia and Zwolle in The Netherlands.
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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.
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong allegedly admitted taking banned doping products before suffering from cancer, according to evidence given under oath to a court in Dallas earlier this year and published in Saturday’s edition of French daily Le Monde.
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.
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.
The national open-water swimming squad dominated proceedings at the French Cup event in Lodeve on Sunday. Once again the trio of Shaun Dias, Kenneth Smith and the promising Chad Ho produced an impressive performance that must augur well for the discipline in the future.
The joint head of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) rejected on Friday suggestions he had indulged in insider trading knowing the group would announce delivery delays for the Airbus superjumbo which have slashed the value of the business.
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.
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.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned on Wednesday that his contested plan to set Israel’s borders on the West Bank with or without agreement from the Palestinians was unstoppable. "My plan cannot be stopped and is the most that Israel is prepared to agree to," he told reporters accompanying him on a state visit to Paris.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), builder of Airbus jets, plunged into a stock market vortex on Wednesday, losing about €7-billion in the first few hours of trading on further production delays to its super-jumbo A380 flagship and a profit warning.
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.
In an internet message posted on Monday, al-Qaeda in Iraq has appointed a militant named Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to succeed Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a United States air strike last week. His nationality was not given, but the word ”muhajer” means immigrant in Arabic.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sitting still under a skull cap fitted with a couple of dozen electrodes, American scientist Peter Brunner stares at a laptop. Without so much as moving a nostril hair, he suddenly begins to compose a message — letter by letter — on a giant screen overhead.
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.
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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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.
For the first time in 21 years, the top four seeds have reached the semifinals of the French Open in Paris. And while many purists may be hoping for a dream Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final, two very in-form players are determined to spoil the party.
Reigning champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the French Open on Wednesday after Serbian teenager Novak Djokovic withdrew injured when trailing by two sets to love. The 20-year-old Spaniard extended his winning streak on clay to 58 matches after his 6-4, 6-4 victory.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
In a women’s fourth-round match held over from Sunday, former world number one Martina Hingis beat Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The 12th seeded Swiss will now face Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters for a place in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova chalked up her fourth-round exit at the French Open to one thing: a lack of matches. The 2004 Wimbledon champion hadn’t played in a tournament since April 1 because of an injured right ankle, and she wasted a 5-1 lead in the final set on Sunday against Dinara Safina before losing 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.