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/ 3 June 2008

Chinese premier hailed as Facebook star

China’s state media on Tuesday hailed Premier Wen Jiabao as the world’s sixth-most-popular politician on the social networking site Facebook — well ahead of United States President George Bush. Wen Jiabao’s profile was set up two days after he rushed to the scene of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province to oversee rescue efforts.

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/ 26 May 2008

French fishermen meet over strike action

French fishermen headed into tense talks on Monday to decide on whether to keep up their strikes and blockades over fuel costs, as a hard-core fringe continued to disrupt port activities. About 50 fishermen from Brittany, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean were meeting in the key fishing port of Boulogne-sur-mer.

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/ 26 May 2008

Emotional Cannes triumph for French classroom film

The director of Entre les Murs, the French classroom drama that won the main Cannes film prize said on Sunday he had been deeply moved by the applause that met the film when it was shown at the festival. Entre les Murs (The Class) became the first French film in 21 years to claim the coveted Palme d’Or award at the world’s biggest film festival.

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/ 23 May 2008

Sarkozy to mend fences with Angola

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Angola on Friday in a bid to improve relations following an arms scandal that provoked tensions between the two countries. Sarkozy was to hold talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday morning at the presidential palace.

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/ 25 April 2008

China to meet Dalai Lama aides amid Tibet tension

China is to hold talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom it blames for a wave of unrest, state media reported on Friday, as the Olympic flame arrived in Japan. The move comes after concerted pressure from the West on China to talk to the Dalai Lama and marks the first serious step to defuse tensions.

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/ 21 April 2008

Tight security for Olympic torch in Malaysia

The Olympic torch set off through the Malaysian capital on Monday to rapturous cheers from Chinese supporters and tight security by police keen to avoid the disruption seen on earlier legs. More than 1 000 police and other security forces were deployed on the route from the city centre to the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

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/ 18 April 2008

Food shortages ‘can topple governments’

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Friday that soaring world food prices can have dire consequences, such as toppling governments and even triggering wars. Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the price hikes that have set off rioting in Haiti, Egypt and elsewhere are an ”extremely serious” problem.

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/ 9 April 2008

France blames Chinese for Olympic torch chaos

France’s interior minister faulted the Chinese organisers of the Olympic torch relay for its chaotic run through Paris, saying in an interview on Wednesday that French police merely provided technical support. "The Olympic rule is that the organising country is always responsible for preserving the flame," Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said.