Real Madrid defeat hands Barcelona title

Barcelona were crowned Spanish champions for the first time since 2006 after Real Madrid were beaten 3-2 at Villarreal on Saturday night. Madrid twice came from behind to draw level, but goalkeeper Iker Casillas’ error in stoppage time gifted Villarreal the victory which leaves Juande Ramos’ side eight points behind Barca with just two games left

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Last-gasp Barcelona edge through to final

A stunning last-gasp strike from Andres Iniesta put 10-man Barcelona in the Champions League final on the away goals rule, giving the Catalan giants a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on a night of high drama at Stamford Bridge. With the clock showing two minutes gone out of an extra four minutes at the end of the game, Spanish international Iniesta fired in a sublime shot from the edge of the area to break Chelsea’s hearts and take Pep Guardiola’s side through to a dream final against holders Manchester United in Rome on May 27. Following last week’s cagey goalless draw at the Nou Camp, all the talk before the match was whether Barca’s stunning attacking prowess could pierce Chelsea’s solid defense.

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Panama City Tries to Exorcise its Red Devils

Barreling down Balboa Avenue, belching diesel fumes as they bully fancy European sports cars out of the way, the second-hand American school buses that pass for Panama City’s public transportation system seem like dinosaurs that took a wrong exit off the time-space continuum. Known as “red devils,” these graffiti-covered relics offer one of the few relics of Panama City’s origins.

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Barca rout Real in Bernabeu goal feast

Barcelona produced a dazzling display of attacking football to rout arch-rivals Real Madrid 6-2 in the Bernabeu and all but secure the Primera Liga title. Two goals apiece from Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry with defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique also on target signaled an humiliating defeat for Real who went into ‘El Clasico’ with renewed hope of retaining the Spanish title. But a mixture of inspired play and comical defending undermined Juande Ramos’ men who had taken the lead as Gonzalo Higuain headed home after 14 minutes.

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Spain’s jobless rate soars above 17 percent

Spain’s jobless rate rose sharply, to 17.36 percent in the first quarter, with more than 4 million people out of work, the government said Friday. Nearly half of the 4 million lost their jobs in the past year, the National Statistics Institute said. It’s the first time that Spain’s jobless total has exceeded 4 million, economist Carlos Maravall told CNN.

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Spain unemployment tops 17 percent

Spain’s jobless rate rose sharply, to 17.36 percent in the first quarter, with just over 4 million people out of work, the government said Friday. Nearly half of the 4 million lost their jobs in the past year, the National Statistics Institute said. It’s the first time that Spain’s number of jobless have exceeded 4 million, economist Carlos Maravall told CNN

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Vacation Blues as Tourists Stay at Home

On a typical weekend afternoon, Beijing’s Silk Street Market buzzes with the sound of tens of thousands of tourists haggling over antiques, jewelry and knock-off Gucci handbags. Rickshaw drivers normally scoop up these marketgoers, pedal them to their hotels and return with pockets full of foreign currency — a lucrative cycle drivers can repeat dozens of times a day. In recent months, though, the Silk Street Market’s once reliable bustle has thinned dramatically

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What the World Will Look Like by 2050

A Brief History of the Future: A Brave and Controversial Look at the Twenty-First Century By Jacques Attali Arcade Publishing; 312 pages The Gist: Imagine a world where pirates run amok, blowing themselves up in European city centers; where wars are ignited over lack of drinking water; where a global face-off between Islam and Christianity makes World War II look like a water-balloon fight. According to economist and political scientist Jacques Attali, that is what the future has in store for us by 2025. In the belief that past experiences are indicative future events, Attali combs through the history of human kind, all the way back to Homo Habilis, separating the past into nine distinct periods to isolate “what is possible, what changes and what is unvarying” and applies those trends to the coming century

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Robinho cleared over assault allegations

Manchester City striker Robinho has been told he will not face charges following an investigation into allegations of a serious sexual assault, police in northern England said on Monday. The Brazil international, who always denied any wrongdoing, had attended a pre-arranged interview with West Yorkshire Police and answered questions relating to an alleged incident at Space nightclub in Leeds. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police told the Press Association: “Following a report of a serious sexual assault that occurred at a nightclub in Leeds on January 14, 2009, the matter was investigated and the man was arrested and released on police bail

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Late Benayoun strike puts Liverpool on top

Substitute Yossi Benayoun scored in the second minute of injury time to give Liverpool a 1-0 win at Fulham to claim top spot in the Premier League ahead of Manchester United. Israeli international Benayoun smashed a right-foot shot past home goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to leave his side two points clear of United, having played two games more

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