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/ 15 October 2007

Royal palace adds lustre to Turin’s new look

Turin’s bid to rebrand itself as a tourist destination reached a climax with the opening of the Venaria Reale, an exquisite Baroque palace that has been compared with Versailles. The former residence of Italy’s Savoy royal family is Europe’s biggest cultural restoration project and officials hope it will add further gloss to the northern city that hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics.

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/ 7 October 2007

Space flight salutes the father of sci-fi, Jules Verne

He lit the imagination of countless youngsters with tales of derring-do — of submarines that explored the depths of the oceans, of adventurers who crept to the centre of the Earth, of doughty pioneers who travelled to the Moon. More than a century after his death, Jules Verne is about to get a double recognition from the space community that he indirectly helped create.

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/ 3 September 2007

UN chief visits Sudan with Darfur in focus

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon headed for Sudan on Monday to lay the groundwork for a solution to the festering Darfur conflict through talks and deployment of thousands of peacekeepers. Ban will seek commitment to his plan from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and visit a refugee camp in the western Sudanese Darfur region.

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/ 1 December 2006

Nigerians find violence in Italy sex trade

The prostitutes lining the roads around Turin, a hub for the Nigerian sex trade, have names that evoke dreams of a bright future — Joy, Blessing, Hope. Hope that they could escape poverty at home in Africa’s most populous nation drew these women to Italy. But when they arrived, they were saddled with crushing debts. They were spat at, insulted, robbed and even raped.

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/ 27 February 2006

Protest mars Turin Olympic finale

The colourful closing ceremony of the 20th Winter Olympics was marred on Sunday night when a protestor rushed the platform during the finishing speeches. The intruder ran onto the stage when the president of the organising committee Valentino Castellani was making his closing remarks.

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/ 26 February 2006

Germany top Winter Olympics medal count

With one day left in the Winter Olympics and only two medal events set for Sunday, a few things are certain: Germany will leave Turin with the most gold medals, and Bode Miller will drive his motor home out of the Italian Alps with none. Michael Greis won his third biathlon gold medal of these Games.

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/ 23 February 2006

Canada and USA sent crashing out of games

Defending champions Canada and 2002 runners-up United States were sent crashing out of the Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament on Wednesday. Their quarterfinal elimination set the stage for Russia and Finland to renew their long-time Olympic rivalry as they clash in the semifinals for the second time in three Winter Games.

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/ 22 February 2006

Squabbling Americans squander Olympic gold

United States speedskaters Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis have revealed the full enmity of their bitter feud, a rivalry that helped cost them Olympic 1 500m gold. Italy’s Enrico Fabris won in one minute, 45,97 seconds on Tuesday, beating 1 000m Olympic champion Davis by ,16 of a second with 1 500m world record-holder Hedrick third in 1.46,22.

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/ 21 February 2006

Alpine golds help lift Austrian gloom

For a few hours at least, all the news about Austria was good. Skier Benjamin Raich claimed his first Olympic gold medal and Michaela Dorfmeister won her second in a week to rescue the country’s image on Monday amid a doping scandal that keeps escalating around a banned former coach and his desperate bolt from the Winter Games.

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/ 20 February 2006

Sunshine after the snow at Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics alpine ski competition was getting back on track on Monday after a snowy Sunday. Under bright, sunny skies, the men’s giant slalom was first up, followed by the women’s super-G postponed from the previous day. In the evening Canada takes on Sweden in the women’s ice hockey final and there is the climax to the ice dance.

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/ 18 February 2006

US endures fright Friday at Winter Olympics

Tiny Estonia cherished a third Olympic triumph and Canada celebrated a top-two sweep but the United States, who lead the hunt for gold medals, were giving them away in Turin on Friday. Andrus Veerpalu defended his men’s 15km cross-country crown to vault Estonia into the top five among gold-medal nations.

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/ 16 February 2006

Champions struggle in Olympic ice hockey

Two of the three medallists from the Salt Lake City Games struggled on the opening day of the Olympic ice-hockey tournament, while Canada shrugged off the Wayne Gretzky storm to cruise past hosts Italy. Latvia drew with 2002 silver medallists United States 3-3, while Slovakia stunned 2002 bronze-medal winners Russia 5-3.

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/ 13 February 2006

Gold for Russia in Turin

Svetlana Ishmouratova of Russia was near flawless on her way to gold in the women’s 15km biathlon at the Olympics on Monday, while two strong contenders for the women’s downhill had spectacular crashes in training. Ishmouratova missed just one target out of 20 to finish in 49 minutes, 24,1 seconds.

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/ 13 February 2006

Kwan pulls out of Winter Olympics

Antoine Deneriaz won the marquee event of the Winter Olympics on Sunday with a surprising late run to upstage the Austrians and Americans in the men’s downhill. Unsurprisingly, Michelle Kwan withdrew from the Games, ending her decade-long quest for gold. Armin Zoeggeler gave Italy their first golden moment with victory in the luge.

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/ 13 February 2006

Winter Olympics pairs programme on track

Perhaps there won’t be so much controversy this time. The last Olympic pairs competition ended with a scoring scandal and gold medals awarded to two couples as officials scurried to make things right. This year, with a new scoring system, the short programme went off without a hitch ahead of Monday’s final.

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/ 9 February 2006

Navratilova ‘not quite done yet’

Even as she approaches her 50th birthday and recovers from knee surgery, Martina Navratilova plans to play a full schedule of doubles tournaments in 2006, including the grand slams, and might take another stab at singles. ”I just feel like I’m not quite done yet,” Navratilova said on Thursday.

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/ 1 November 2005

Doping dispute clouds Winter Olympics countdown

A downhill skier is led off in handcuffs after crossing the finish line for a gold medal. Paramilitary police jump on to the ice and take away a hockey defenceman or chase down a pair of ice dancers. It may sound like a goofy film script, but the International Olympic Committee is worried about just such scenes at the Winter Olympics in Turin.

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/ 19 August 2005

Juventus, Inter Milan battle for the Super Cup

Injury-plagued Juventus shoots for a record-equalling fifth title on Saturday when it takes on perennial rival Inter Milan in the Italian Super Cup, the country’s top preseason trophy. The match at Turin’s Stadio delle Alpi between the Serie A champion and the Italian Cup winner will also test the form and strength of two of the favourite teams in the league campaign which kicks off on August 27.

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/ 14 April 2005

Unrest as stadium tragedy is recalled

Juventus and Liverpool fans hurled objects at one another during a pre-game ceremony on Wednesday recalling the Heysel Stadium tragedy. Liverpool visited Juventus for the first time since 39 people were crushed to death in riots blamed largely on Liverpool supporters at the 1985 European Cup final in Brussels, Belgium.

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/ 2 December 2003

Ski resorts on a slippery slope

Global warming is threatening the livelihood of many low-altitude ski resorts in central Europe, North America and Australia, according to the results of a United Nations study published on Tuesday. Many low-altitude ski resorts around the world will face economic hardship and even ruin as snow falls become unpredictable.