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/ 29 May 2008

Mickelson, Els to lead field at Loch Lomond

World number two Phil Mickelson, third-ranked Ernie Els and fourth-ranked Adam Scott will lead a strong field in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in July. Mickelson and Els, a double winner of the British Open warm-up event, return after finishing second and third respectively last year behind Frenchman Gregory Havret.

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/ 27 May 2008

Carter: Israel has at least 150 atomic weapons

Former United States president Jimmy Carter has said Israel holds at least 150 nuclear weapons, the first time a US president has publicly acknowledged the state’s atomic arsenal. Asked how a future US president should deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, Carter put the risk in context by listing atomic weapons held globally.

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/ 25 May 2008

Ferguson to retire within three years

Alex Ferguson will quit as Manchester United manager within three years, he told The Mail on Sunday newspaper. Ferguson, who has been in charge at Old Trafford since 1986, said he would be gone by the time he reaches 70 in December 2011. The Scot reneged on his original plan to retire six years ago.

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/ 21 May 2008

Natalie du Toit hopes to go the distance

In non-Olympic years, Natalie du Toit spends a lot of time giving motivational talks to schools, companies and churches in South Africa. She talks of her life, how everyone should have a goal and tells her audience they should never give up on their dreams. This year Du Toit has concentrated on fulfilling her childhood dream — swimming at the Olympics.

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/ 21 May 2008

Oil rises above $129, near record high

Oil held above a barrel on Wednesday, within sight of the previous session’s record high, supported by a weak United States dollar and concern about supplies. Attention will shift later to a US government report expected to show that crude inventories rose for a fifth straight time last week while petrol and distillates supplies also increased.

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/ 20 May 2008

Newcastle’s Barton jailed for six months

Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton was jailed on Tuesday for six months after admitting to beating up a teenager during a night out. The sentence was handed down at Liverpool Crown Court, where the 25-year-old admitted charges of affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stemming from an early morning fight in Liverpool in December.

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/ 19 May 2008

Oram century saves New Zealand

New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram chose the right occasion and the perfect venue to score his first Test century against England on Monday with a match-saving innings in the first Test at Lord’s. New Zealand held an overall lead of only 78 with four wickets down when wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum retired hurt and was taken to hospital after a blow to his left forearm.

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/ 18 May 2008

Nasa hopes for inch-perfect landing on Mars

Space engineers were on Saturday making their last nervous preparations for the landing of their Phoenix probe near the north pole of Mars next Sunday. The spacecraft — designed to look for reservoirs of water and ice in the Martian arctic — has been built using duplicate parts left over from two previous space missions.

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/ 18 May 2008

Kruger battle goes from YouTube to TV

David Budzinski was riding in a four-wheel drive across the Kruger National Park in South Africa in September 2004. His group spotted a few lions and a herd of buffalo near a watering hole, but it wasn’t long before the lions charged the herd, singling out a buffalo calf. What followed has become the stuff of internet legend.

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/ 17 May 2008

New Zealand bowled out in London

Ryan Sidebottom turned in a miserly spell of four wickets for five runs in 10.1 overs on Friday as New Zealand were bowled out for 277 on the second day of the first Test at Lord’s in London. Openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook then built on Sidebottom’s good work and England, at stumps, were 68 without loss.

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/ 16 May 2008

Oil price surges to record high above $127

The price of oil rocketed to a record high point of $127,43 per barrel on Friday, as United States President George Bush prepared to urge Saudi Arabia to pump more crude. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, beat the previous all-time peak of $126,98 set on Tuesday owing to worries about tight supplies.

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/ 16 May 2008

McCullum sparks New Zealand revival

Brendon McCullum led a New Zealand fightback against England with a run-a-ball 97 to help his side to 208-6 when bad light ended the first day’s play of the first Test at Lord’s on Thursday. But three runs short of what would have been the wicket-keeper’s third Test hundred, McCullum was bowled by a quicker delivery from left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.

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/ 15 May 2008

Investec profits rise 15%

South African investment banking and asset management group Investec reported a 15% rise in full-year core profit on Thursday, but missed expectations because of United States writedowns. Pre-tax operating profit rose to £537,7-million for the year to March 31, meaning growth was 3% lower than expected according to a Reuters poll.

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/ 15 May 2008

SABMiller earnings top forecast with 19% rise

SABMiller, the world’s biggest brewer, beat forecasts with a 19% rise in annual earnings, but added beer volume growth in its current first-half will be hit by high input costs and high comparative figures. The London-based maker of Miller Lite, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell beers posted adjusted earnings per share on Thursday of 143,1 United States cents for the year to March 31.

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/ 15 May 2008

McGeechan vows to restore Lions’ traditions

Coaching guru Ian McGeechan has promised to restore the traditional spirit of the British and Irish Lions when he takes them on tour to South Africa next year. The 61-year-old, appointed on Wednesday as Lions coach for the fourth time, promised lessons would be learned from the ill-fated 2005 tour, when the Lions were thrashed 3-0 in a Test series by New Zealand.

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/ 14 May 2008

McGeechan to lead Lions to SA again

Ian McGeechan, the man who led the British and Irish Lions to their monumental series victory over South Africa in 1997, has been handed the chance to repeat the achievement against the world champions in 2009. As was widely expected, the vastly experienced coach was unveiled on Wednesday as the head coach for the three-Test, 10-match tour.

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/ 14 May 2008

England coach Johnson faces player strike

New England rugby coach Martin Johnson is facing his first major crisis since taking over at Twickenham, with the country’s leading players considering strike action in a row over pay. The Daily Telegraph has learnt that England’s senior players are involved in a contract dispute with the Rugby Football Union.

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/ 14 May 2008

Man U hope memories can bring joy

It could hardly be more fitting. Fifty years after the Munich air disaster that killed 23 people and rocked a city, Manchester United stand on the brink of a European
triumph, something that means so much to the local people and to the club itself. Eight United players died in the crash in 1958, wiping out many footballers who experts believed could go on to dominate Europe for many years to come.

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/ 13 May 2008

‘People do stupid things, that’s what spreads HIV’

When Elizabeth Pisani began her career as an HIV epidemiologist, fewer than 1,5-million cases of HIV/Aids had been reported across the world. Within a year, by the end of 1997, 30-million people were estimated to be infected with HIV. As Pisani wrote in her first report for World Aids Day, that meant one in every 100 sexually active adults aged between 15 and 49 worldwide.

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/ 12 May 2008

Oil retreats from record high in volatile trade

Oil retreated below a barrel on Monday in volatile trade that saw it briefly hit an all-time high earlier in the session. United States light crude, down more than at one point, rallied to a new record of ,40 a barrel, but by 4.17pm GMT it was ,04 down at ,92. London Brent crude futures, whose nearby contracts have moved into contango, fell ,78 down to ,62.

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/ 11 May 2008

United clinch title as Chelsea falter

Manchester United clinched their 17th English championship on Sunday by beating Wigan 2-0 in a nail-biting finale to the most thrilling Premier League title battle in years. Pushed to the wire by Chelsea, United claimed the 10th title of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign by two points after their rivals were held to a 1-1 draw by Bolton in their final match.

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/ 9 May 2008

South Africans jailed for murders in UK

Two South Africans who overstayed their British visas were jailed for life on Friday for the murders of two men strangled during a series of violent muggings. Gabriel Bhengu (27) and Jabu Mbowane (26) will be deported after serving life sentences. The two had entered Britain legally, but their visas had expired by the time they carried out the killings.

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/ 9 May 2008

Oil price vaults past $126

The price of New York crude oil soared above $126 per barrel on Friday, lifted by speculative demand amid concerns about tight global energy supplies, analysts said. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, spiked as high as $126,20 in London trading hours.