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/ 4 June 2008

Mugabe defends land seizures

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, whose 28-year rule has brought widespread hunger to his country, on Tuesday defended the seizure of land from white farmers, saying he is undoing a legacy of Zimbabwe’s former colonial masters. Mugabe spoke to world leaders at a United Nations summit on the global food crisis against a backdrop of sharp criticism over his participation.

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/ 3 June 2008

Cannavaro ruled out of Euro 2008

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro was ruled out of the upcoming Euro 2008 championships on Monday after suffering a left ankle injury, according to the Ansa press agency. The replacement for the 34-year-old Real Madrid defender — capped 116 times — will be announced soon, the Italian Football Federation informed Ansa.

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/ 2 June 2008

UK: Mugabe’s presence at food summit ‘obscene’

Britain criticised as obscene the presence of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at this week’s global food summit in Rome, saying he had inflicted shortages on millions of his own people by his ”profound misrule”. Mugabe flew into Rome late on Sunday, making his first official trip abroad since elections condemned by Western leaders as fraudulent.

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/ 2 June 2008

Biofuel land demand puts rural poor at risk

The rise of biofuels is not only adding to the global food price crisis but also poses a risk for peasants, pushed off their land to make way for energy crops, a report prepared for this week’s food summit said. The use of food such as maize, palm oil and sugar to produce fuel has been blamed in part for record high commodity prices.

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/ 2 June 2008

Mugabe in Rome for food summit

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe flew into Rome for a global food summit on Sunday, his first official trip abroad since elections condemned by Western and opposition leaders as fraudulent. A British Foreign Office spokesperson said: ”It is a matter of concern to us and we would prefer that he did not attend.”

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/ 30 May 2008

World leaders to tackle food crisis at Rome summit

It has been described as a global crisis pushing 100-million people into hunger, threatening to stoke social and political turmoil and set the fight against world poverty back by seven years. Now, the food price crisis will be tackled by world leaders, who meet in Rome next week to seek ways of reducing the suffering for the world’s poorest people.

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/ 19 May 2008

UN: Millions of Somalis could face food crisis

The United Nations food agency warned on Monday that war-torn Somalia could plunge into an acute humanitarian crisis if the unrest, drought, soaring prices and weak currency escalate. ”The humanitarian situation in Somalia is deteriorating quickly due to soaring food prices, a significantly devalued Somali shilling and worsening drought,” the agency said.

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/ 7 May 2008

Federer settles score with Canas

Roger Federer settled a score with his bogey player Guillermo Canas on Tuesday, easing his way into the third round of the Rome Masters with a 6-3 6-3 victory. Canas went into the game as one of the few players on the tour to hold a winning record against the world number one, but Tuesday’s result evened things up at three victories apiece.

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/ 6 May 2008

Murray: Insulting my mum is just not on

Andy Murray’s Scottish temper flared as he defended his mother’s honour before his opponent Juan Del Potro of Argentina retired in tears with back pain at the Rome Masters. ”I got a bit of emotion into the match,” said the 16th-seeded Murray after advancing 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 into the second round on Monday night. ”I told him he better watch his mouth.”

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/ 21 April 2008

IMF: High oil price dampening world growth

Record high oil prices over a barrel are slowing world economic growth, John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said on Monday. ”It’s dampening growth — that’s for sure, but of course it is benefiting exporters,” he said. ”It’s going to slow growth as we’ve said before. It’s one of the many factors this year.”

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/ 16 April 2008

Berlusconi seeks to woo anti-immigrant party

Italians on Tuesday got their first taste of life under their new government as Silvio Berlusconi moved to appease the newly powerful Northern League with pledges of lower taxes, more police and camps for jobless foreigners. ”One of the things to do is to close the frontiers,” he said in a TV interview.