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/ 12 November 2007
Top-ranked Roger Federer lost consecutive matches for the first time in four-and-a-half years, falling to number seven Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5 on Monday at the Masters Cup. It was the defending champion’s first loss in 11 meetings against Gonzalez.
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/ 10 November 2007
World number one Roger Federer will aim to put an unusually patchy tennis season behind him with victory number four at the elite Masters Cup starting on Sunday. The defending champion, smarting from two rare defeats in the past month, signalled his determination by arriving nearly a week early for the year-ending showpiece.
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/ 9 November 2007
Rafael Nadal hit the practice court with 48 hours to go before his start at the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai, determined to fulfil the goal of ending this season on a high note. Nadal, losing finalist last weekend in the Paris final to David Nalbandian, said he wants to put a winning stamp on this season.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen turned the Formula One title battle into a three-way fight to the last race in Brazil on Sunday with victory in China after championship leader Lewis Hamilton skidded out. Hamilton’s double world champion teammate and closest title rival Fernando Alonso finished second with Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa third.
McLaren’s championship leader Lewis Hamilton took pole position on Saturday for a Chinese Grand Prix that could make him Formula One’s first rookie champion. The 22-year-old Briton will line up alongside Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on the front row for Sunday’s race.
Lewis Hamilton’s bid to become Formula One’s first rookie world champion remained on track on Friday after stewards cleared him of blame for a collision in Japan last weekend. ”No penalty is imposed upon him,” they said in a statement. The 22-year-old McLaren driver met stewards at the Chinese Grand Prix to review video footage of a collision during the rain-soaked Fuji race.
Formula One stewards are investigating Lewis Hamilton’s Japanese Grand Prix victory after complaints about the championship leader’s erratic driving behind the safety car last weekend. ”New evidence has emerged and the stewards are looking into it,” a spokesperson for the International Automobile Federation said.
A solid defence and clinical efficiency in front of goal allowed Germany to triumph 2-0 over a desperate Brazil to become the first back-to-back winners of the women’s World Cup on Sunday. German midfielder Simone Laudehr’s headed goal in the dying minutes sealed the win, after evergreen captain Birgit Prinz had coolly slotted home a crossed ball.
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/ 30 September 2007
The United States put their goalkeeping row behind them with a 4-1 win over Norway to claim the World Cup’s third spot on Sunday. With controversial ‘keeper Hope Solo axed for her outburst over the semifinal loss to Brazil, the two-time champions turned on the style with three goals in 14 second-half minutes.
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/ 19 September 2007
Tropical storm Wipha lost much of its punch as it roared ashore over densely populated eastern China on Wednesday but continued to rake the region with heavy rains and high winds. The former typhoon had sparked the evacuation of more than two million people.
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/ 19 September 2007
Typhoon Wipha made landfall in eastern China on Wednesday, knocking out power and water supplies to tens of thousands of residents, but promptly lost strength as it travelled inland. Officials said it was too early to assess damage on the coast, but there were not immediate reports of casualties.
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/ 18 September 2007
China’s most populous city, Shanghai, and outlying areas were bracing for Typhoon Wipha on Tuesday, relocating hundreds of thousands of people to safer areas. The typhoon, a storm packing winds of more than 180km/h was expected to make landfall in east China around midnight, after gale-force winds and driving rains have first swiped northern Taiwan.
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/ 15 September 2007
Shanghai, a city which Taiwan has threatened to bombard in the event of conflict, held a major air raid drill on Saturday, a sign that China still views war as possible with the self-ruled island it claims as its own. The drill was scheduled for the same day as a rally in Taiwan where the ruling party aimed to mobilise one million people to support Taiwan’s bid for United Nations membership.
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/ 5 September 2007
Reigning champions Germany go into the fifth women’s Soccer World Cup finals next week under huge pressure with the powerhouse United States team desperate to reclaim the trophy. The US, who won the tournament in 1991 and 1999, have drawn the short straw and are in the ”Group of Death” along with North Korea and Sweden, who lost to Germany in the final four years ago.
A company in eastern China was ordered to stop production after food safety officials found it was repackaging the filling from two-year-old rice dumplings. Officials in east China’s Anhui province ordered a recall of all ”zongzi”, a traditional snack made of glutinous rice and other fillings usually wrapped in bamboo leaves.
China’s rapid rise into an economic powerhouse offering aid and soft loans is changing the aid picture in Africa — winning China its share of critics but also the gratitude of governments who say its engagement makes a difference. China has pledged to double development assistance to Africa by 2009 and write off another 10-billion yuan (,3-billion) of debt.
Africa is experiencing unprecedented growth, but the continent will have to sustain that expansion for years to come if it is to lift people out of poverty, the African Development Bank chief said on Thursday. Africa is set to grow about 6,5% this year, marking the fifth straight year of above-trend expansion.
A Sudanese central bank official told China on Thursday its oil investments could exacerbate conflicts in Sudan unless it pressed the government to engage local populations and share revenues. China, which buys much of Sudan’s oil, has been under fire internationally for doing business with a regime condemned in the West for its actions in Darfur.
The African Development Bank must undertake significant internal reforms to become more responsive to the continent’s needs and more effective as a tool for development, the bank’s president and governors said on Wednesday in Shanghai at its annual two-day meeting.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday called on the world community to do more to help Africa as he opened the annual meeting of the African Development Bank in Shanghai. Debt relief and technology transfers were among the tools the wealthier nations could use to help boost growth in Africa, Wen said.
Casey Stoner won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday to notch up back-to-back MotoGP victories and firm his hold on the championship lead. The Australian started fourth on the grid, but his Ducati blew past pole-sitter Valentino Rossi at the start of the second lap, forcing the seven-time world champion into second place.
China’s ZTE announced a -million deal with Ethiopia’s state-owned telecoms group just ahead of the release of seven abducted Chinese workers in the African nation, a statement said on Monday. The agreement signed on Saturday with Ethiopia Telecom Corporation proposes to build up the East African nation’s fledgling telecommunications network.
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin finally cashed in on his recent hot run of form with a wire-to-wire victory by two strokes in torrential rain at the Asian Open on Sunday. The 32-year-old, second in Portugal at the start of the month and leader for two rounds at last week’s China Open, survived a late wobble as the wind and rain made conditions difficult.
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin put himself in position for a wire-to-wire victory at the Asian Open on Saturday, carding a two-under-par 70 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the ,3-million event. The 32-year-old mixed four birdies with a couple of bogeys to finish the third round on 11-under, a shot ahead of Australian Scott Hend.
Raphael Jacquelin fired a second-round three-under-par 69 to open a three-shot advantage at the ,3-million Asian Open on Friday, the Frenchman leading a tournament at the halfway stage for the second week in a row. The 32-year-old, who led by two strokes at the same stage of last week’s China Open, made the most of balmy afternoon conditions.
France’s Raphael Jacquelin shot a six-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen after the first round of the ,3-million Asian Open on Thursday. Eight-time European number one Colin Montgomerie finished three behind after a patient round of 69, while two-time US Open champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen finished five off the pace with a pair of one-under 71s.
Ernie Els and Retief Goosen will be aiming to ease very different forms of Masters heartache when they tee off at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai on Thursday as a high-class field aims to impose more misery. The smooth-swinging South African duo walked off the famed fairways at Augusta National this month with their hopes of securing another Major title blown away.
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/ 19 November 2006
World number one Roger Federer underlined his absolute dominance of men’s tennis when he routed American James Blake 6-0 6-3 6-4 on Sunday to win the Masters Cup for the third time in four years. The Swiss was beaten by David Nalbandian in last year’s final but there was no upset this time.
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/ 14 November 2006
Shanghai, China’s wealthiest and most dazzling city, plans to add to its reputation this weekend with a millionaire party aimed at hooking up rich men with beautiful women, state press said on Tuesday. Men wishing to participate must have assets worth at least two million yuan ($250 000).
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/ 13 November 2006
Rafael Nadal’s Masters Cup hopes took a blow on Monday when he was handed a shock straight-sets defeat by American eighth seed James Blake. The world number two was broken twice in the first set and lost a second-set tie-break to love as Blake won 6-4, 7-6 (7/0).
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/ 12 November 2006
A relatively unknown South Korean golfer ended Tiger Woods’ streak in stroke events, winning the HSBC Champions tournament on Sunday. Yang Yong-eun, a regular on the Japanese tour who has played infrequently outside Asia, closed with a three-under 69 on Sunday at the Sheshan International Golf Club for a two-stroke win at 14-under 274.
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/ 8 November 2006
Tennis great Roger Federer said he hoped to find time for a beer with Tiger Woods while both are in Shanghai this weekend. Federer is playing in the season-ending Masters Cup while Woods is here for Asia’s richest golf event, the five-million-dollar HSBC Champions tournament.