Brawn GP win F1 legal battle over diffusers

Jenson Button’s wins in the opening two races of the Formula One season will stand after motorsport chiefs ruled on Wednesday that the aerodynamic diffuser ftited to the rear of his Brawn GP car is legal. The FIA Court of Appeal said that the rear diffusers used by the Brawn, Williams and Toyota teams “comply with the applicable regulations.” The FIA panel sat for eight hours in Paris on Tuesday to hear evidence and their decision backs up a decision by the stewards at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix that the controversial aerodynamic devices were within the rules

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Injury-hit Serena beaten in Miami final

An injury-hampered Serena Williams slumped to a straight sets defeat to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final of the WTA Tier One tournament at Key Biscayne in Florida. Williams played with heavy strapping on her left thigh, clearly struggling with her movement in Saturday’s final as Azarenka took ruthless advantage for a 6-3 6-1 win. The 19-year-old Azarenka has charged up the WTA world rankings this year with two victories in lesser-rated tournaments and only two defeats.

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‘I’m no liar’ says contrite Hamilton

An apologetic Lewis Hamilton said he had made a "huge mistake" for misleading race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix but said he had been told to lie by McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan. Hamilton, who was stripped of third place in the season-opener, broke his media silence after Ryan was suspended by McLaren and sent home from the Malaysia where the second round of the championship takes place this weekend.

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Media: Optimism, caution following economic summit

Early international media reaction to the Group of 20 summit in London — and the performance of world leaders there — ranged from wary to upbeat. Here is a sampling of opinions from global media outlets: United Kingdom The Guardian newspaper acknowledged the accomplishments of the summit, but said more work needs to be done to fix the world economy.

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The fate of four GM brands

Tough times call for tough measures. Nowhere is this truer than in Detroit’s auto industry. News of General Motors — once America’s largest commercial enterprise — possibly going out of business or eliminating divisions sends shudders through Wall Street and cities where GM employees work.

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A Blacklist for Websites Backfires in Australia

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. If you want to reduce citizens’ exposure to dangerous and illegal activities online, why not gather up all the URLs for sites that promote such acts — child pornography, extreme violence, weapon-making and so on — and have Internet Service Providers simply block them

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Chef: Virus could have caused Fat Duck illnesses

The mystery illness that forced famed chef Heston Blumenthal to temporarily close his award-winning Fat Duck restaurant last month was possibly norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug, Blumenthal said Thursday. After exhaustive tests of the restaurant in Berkshire, England, and of staff and customers, norovirus was the only potential cause that had been found, Blumenthal told Australia’s Hospitality magazine.

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Nadal wins after saving five match points

Top seed Rafael Nadal had to save five match points before beating Argentina’s David Nalbandian 3-6 7-6 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Masters Series tournament at Indian Wells. The fourth round match in California finished at 2 am local time on Thursday morning with world number one Nadal racing through the decider after surviving the scares in the second set.

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