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/ 15 January 2008
Three-dimensional images, which helped to show that double amputee Oscar Pistorius receives advantages from carbon-fibre blade attachments, have become a significant tool in the drive to improve athletic performances. The science of biomechanics — the study of the mechanics of animate structures — is already being applied to tennis.
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/ 15 January 2008
The price of gold is hitting new record highs owing to the troubled United States economy and a cocktail of other supportive factors, leading some analysts to predict  000 per ounce could happen soon. In recent days the precious metal has blasted past in a record-breaking run. On the London Bullion Market on Monday, gold blazed a trail as high as ,30 dollars per ounce.
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/ 14 January 2008
Former Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has indicated he could be interested in a new spell in charge at the club. Speculation has been rife over who the new coach of Newcastle would be since last week’s sacking of Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp’s decision to remain at Portsmouth.
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/ 14 January 2008
South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius, who runs with carbon-fibre blades attached to his legs, will not be allowed to compete at this year’s Beijing Olympics. A report commissioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations and released on Monday concluded that the prosthetics used by Pistorius gave him a significant advantage.
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/ 11 January 2008
French striker Nicolas Anelka has joined Chelsea from English Premier League rivals Bolton, the clubs announced on Friday. A statement on Chelsea’s website said: ”Chelsea Football Club and Bolton Wanderers can confirm that terms have been agreed between the clubs for the transfer of Nicolas Anelka.”
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/ 11 January 2008
Changes in the laws of rugby are to be given a trial at all levels of the game in South Africa from next month, the International Rugby Board (IRB) said on Thursday. The IRB has already conducted a series of trials on the Experimental Law Variations at lower levels in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, England and Scotland.
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/ 10 January 2008
Britain gave the go-ahead to a new generation of nuclear power stations on Thursday, setting no limits on nuclear expansion and adding momentum to atomic energy’s worldwide renaissance. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government argues Britain must build new nuclear plants to help meet its climate-change goals.
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/ 10 January 2008
North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham saw the first leg of their League Cup semifinal end in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. In a match where both sides put together some slick passing moves, Tottenham took the lead eight minutes before half-time when Jermaine Jenas calmly slotted home after being played in by Robbie Keane.
Ernie Els is to cut back on his hectic international schedule in a bid to win more Majors. The 38-year-old South African is known to be among the most widely travelled of golfers on the circuits, regularly globe-trotting to events in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Shaun Wright-Phillips scored a goal and forced an own-goal in injury time to give 10-man Chelsea a 2-1 win over Everton on Tuesday in the first leg of the English League Cup semifinals. Wright-Phillips, who put Chelsea ahead 1-0 in the first half, duelled in front of the net for a high ball with Everton’s Joleon Lescott, who inadvertently knocked the ball into his own goal.
Oil at a barrel should give exporters every incentive to pump more, but their difficulty in doing so shows the world is struggling to sustain production. A growing number of leading industry figures now question mainstream forecasts for supply, suggesting the era of ”plateau oil” is nearer than many had admitted.
A British adventurer who reached Timbuktu in a truck fuelled by chocolate said on Tuesday he now wants to travel to China on a rubbish-powered aircraft. Andy Pag (34) and his sidekick, John Grimshaw, made it back from the remote city in Mali on Monday. The engineer-turned-journalist wasted no time in announcing his next expedition aimed at highlighting the benefits of biofuels.
Weeks before her death Princess Diana said that her relationship with Dodi Fayed was finished, a British jury heard on Monday as the inquest into the couple’s fatal car crash resumed. Speaking at the first session of the inquest since the Christmas break, Rodney Turner, a friend of the princess, said she told him a few weeks before the crash that the relationship had finished.
A second-string Arsenal side proved strong enough to secure a 2-0 victory at Championship (second division) club Burnley on Sunday and with it a place in Monday’s FA Cup fourth-round draw. The Premier League leaders won with goals by Eduardo da Silva and Nicklas Bendtner, but four other top-flight sides were held by lower league opposition.
High-flying Everton were knocked out of the FA Cup 1-0 by third division Oldham Athletic in the third round on Saturday, becoming one of four Premier League sides to go out to lower league opposition. Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers were the other upset victims.
Martina Hingis was banned for two years on Friday for testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon last year. The International Tennis Federation said an independent anti-doping tribunal found that Hingis, who announced her retirement November 1 on the day she revealed the positive test, had committed an offence.
A third of cancers are caused by diet and lack of exercise and could be prevented, states a report that urges people to stay slim and abstain from too much fast food, red meat and preserved meat, such as ham and bacon, and alcohol. The report from the World Cancer Research Fund is the most authoritative overview of the role that food, drink, obesity and exercise play in causing cancer.
Lawrence Dallaglio has announced his England retirement with immediate effect and intends to end his club career at the end of the current northern hemisphere season. Number eight Dallaglio made the last of his 85 England appearances during October’s World Cup final defeat against South Africa in Paris.
Gold struck a new all-time peak of almost $868 dollars on Thursday as the precious metal benefited from its safe-haven status amid record high oil, a struggling dollar and Pakistan tensions, analysts said. The price of gold reached a historic $867,90 an ounce on the London Bullion Market. It later slipped slightly to stand at $866,90.
Manchester City added to the pressure on the shoulders of Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce with a 2-0 Premier League away win at St James’s Park on Wednesday that saw them leapfrog Liverpool into fourth place on the table. Defeat meant Newcastle had taken just one point from a possible 12.
Patients were evacuated on Wednesday as a renowned cancer hospital in London was ravaged by a major fire that destroyed a large part of its roof, emergency services and witnesses said. No casualties were reported at the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London after dozens of ambulances and firefighters rushed to tackle the blaze in the plush Chelsea district.
It was a case of as you were at the head of the English Premier League as the top three sides all enjoyed a winning start to 2008. Leaders Arsenal remained two points in front with a 2-0 New Year’s Day victory over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium. Elsewhere on Tuesday, Manchester United stayed hot on Arsenal’s heels after a 1-0 success at home to Birmingham City.
A British MP had his Facebook account suspended in December after the popular social-networking site decided he wasn’t real. Steve Webb, of the Liberal Democrats, tried to log on but received a message saying his account had been disabled following complaints he didn’t exist.
Premier League clubs are waiting for Tuesday’s opening of the month-long January transfer window, some seeking to tweak their squad as they press for the title and others hoping to add players in the fight to stay in England’s most lucrative competition.
Millions staged midnight parties at icon landmarks around the world to see in 2008 but bomb attacks and security fears quickly darkened New Year festivities. More than one million people lined Sydney harbour for fireworks that set off the global party and hundreds of thousands packed Hong Kong streets and historic European venues.
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/ 31 December 2007
Union leaders are to hold new talks with the British Airports Authority (BAA) on Monday in an attempt to avert a series of strikes that could cause widespread travel chaos in January. A BAA spokesperson said the talks will take place at an undisclosed location after negotiations last week failed to solve the dispute over pensions.
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/ 30 December 2007
Arsenal reclaimed first place in the Premier League as Arsene Wenger’s side routed Everton 4-1 to take advantage of Manchester United’s surprise 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Saturday. The Gunners moved two points clear of United thanks to Eduardo’s double strike and late goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Tomas Rosicky.
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/ 28 December 2007
Newcastle United and England midfielder Joey Barton was refused bail on Friday after appearing in court charged with assault. Barton (25) was arrested in Liverpool, north-west England, in the early hours of Thursday and charged with common assault and affray. He was already on bail for two other alleged offences.
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/ 28 December 2007
Louis Saha expects Manchester United’s superior squad to give the champions a decisive edge as the Premier League title fight hots up. Sir Alex Ferguson rested Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs, Anderson and Patrice Evra against Sunderland on Wednesday but United still coasted to an emphatic 4-0 victory that took them back to the top of the table.
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/ 27 December 2007
World leaders voiced outrage at the assassination on Thursday of Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and expressed fears for the fate of the nuclear-armed state. United States President George Bush condemned the killing as a ”cowardly act”.
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/ 27 December 2007
Lewis Hamilton believes the traumatic experiences of his debut season in Formula One can help him emerge as a team leader for McLaren. Hamilton spent most of the campaign embroiled in an increasingly bitter feud with teammate Fernando Alonso, while his team were caught up in the spygate controversy.
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/ 27 December 2007
Champions Manchester United begin the second half of their Premier League title defence at the top of the league on Saturday but manager Alex Ferguson will be hoping for better luck at West Ham United. United were imperious in a 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland on Wednesday to move a point above Arsenal.