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/ 31 May 2008

Skydivers jump free of crashing plane

Nine skydivers jumped free of their plane before it crashed to earth in Spain, killing the pilot and another of their companions, local authorities said on Saturday. Four of the surviving parachutists were hurt in the fall, two of them seriously, a spokesperson for the regional government of Toledo said.

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/ 19 May 2008

Torres looks to break Spain’s title pain

Fernando Torres has established a reputation as vaunted as his own country, Spain, in terms of footballing ability, but like his homeland, equally pressing on his shoulders is the lack of a major title. The 24-year-old is just the latest in a long line of top strikers from Spain to go into battle in search of a senior international title.

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/ 14 May 2008

Medieval church re-emerges as Spain ships in water

The most striking image of Spain’s drought, that has forced Barcelona to ship in water, has been that of the underwater church which emerged from a drying dam. For most of the past four decades, all that has been visible of the village of Sant Roma has been the belltower of its stone church, peeping above the water beside forested hills from a valley flooded in the 1960s to provide water for the Catalonia region.

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/ 3 May 2008

ADB demands action on food inflation

The Asian Development Bank called on Saturday for immediate action from global governments to combat soaring food prices and pledged fresh financial aid to help feed the Asia Pacific region’s poorest nations. ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda told a news conference in Madrid, where the bank is holding its four-day annual meeting, that total lending ”could be sizeable, but not enormous”.

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/ 27 April 2008

Raikkonen extends lead with Spanish win

Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen stretched his Formula One lead to nine points with a dominant win from pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Brazilian Felipe Massa sealed Ferrari’s second successive one-two finish, and third win in a row, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton taking third place to revive his title challenge after a disappointing last race in Bahrain.

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/ 25 April 2008

Capello: Beckham could play at 2010 World Cup

David Beckham could play for England at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa if he looks after himself, coach Fabio Capello has said. ”The door is open. He played the last game, and did well against France. I see him play for Los Angeles Galaxy every now and then,” the Italian told sports daily Marca on Friday.

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/ 24 April 2008

Raikkonen focused on Ferrari success

World champion Kimi Raikkonen believes his Ferrari team are set to cement their recent resurgence by winning this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. As Formula One continues to reel from the controversy surrounding a sex scandal involving Max Mosley the leading teams have all upgraded their cars in preparation for the start of the ”European” season.

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/ 24 April 2008

Ferguson counts on home run to Moscow

Sir Alex Ferguson has warned Barcelona to brace themselves for an Old Trafford backlash when the two sides resume battle next week. An enthralling goalless draw in Barcelona on Wednesday has left the Champions League semifinal between the two clubs delicately poised but Ferguson is confident there will be no repeat of what was a subdued display by his team.

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/ 9 April 2008

Smallest planet outside solar system found

The smallest planet discovered outside our solar system has been found by Spanish scientists. ”I think we are very close, just a few years away, from detecting a planet like Earth,” team leader Ignasi Ribas told a news conference on Wednesday. The rocky planet, with a radius about 50% greater than the Earth’s, circles a small red dwarf star 30 light years away.

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/ 17 March 2008

ABBA drummer found dead in Spain

A former drummer for 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA, Ola Brunkert, has been found dead after an apparent accident in his house in Mallorca, Spanish police said on Monday. Brunkert bled to death from a throat wound which police suspect was caused after he accidentally smashed a pane of glass.

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/ 10 March 2008

Play it again, Xiang

World 60m hurdles champion Liu Xiang went through two medal ceremonies at the world indoor championships on Sunday when organisers mistakenly played the Chilean national anthem instead of China’s. Chinese star Liu, the Olympic and world 110m hurdles champion, had clinched the gold medal on Saturday.

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/ 23 February 2008

Anne Frank musical hits the right note in Spain

A controversial Spanish musical telling the story of Anne Frank has its world premiere next week in Madrid, despite protests from her only surviving relative and the foundation that protects the rights to her diary. But, if preview audiences are anything to go by, its producers look like they have an improbable hit on their hands.

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/ 18 February 2008

Blatter lays down law for 2018 Cup

South America and Africa have no chance of hosting the 2018 Soccer World Cup. ”Of all five continents available to present, South America and Africa will not be allowed to,” Fifa president Sepp Blatter said on Sunday. ”If we hadn’t taken the decision to have a rotation policy in the first place, Africa would never had had the chance to host the World Cup, neither would South America.”

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/ 13 February 2008

Hamilton tops Formula One testing in Spain

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, the victim of racial abuse from Spanish fans earlier this month, took top honours on Tuesday in Formula One pre-season testing in southern Spain. The McLaren driver was fastest among the 16 drivers on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit with a time of one minute 19,102 seconds, beating his previous best time on the same track.