Democracy groups plan global Iran rallies

Human rights supporters in dozens of cities around the world plan to rally Saturday to show solidarity with Iranians seeking democracy and civil rights, one of the organizing groups said. United4Iran said it expects protests at Iranian embassies and other sites to condemn the Iranian government’s violent response to citizens who claim the June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was fraudulent.

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Athletics: Bolt eases to 100m win in London

Usain Bolt gave further evidence if any was needed of his superlative form ahead of the world championships with an outstanding victory over 100 meters in the London Grand Prix on Friday night. The Jamaican superstar ran a blistering 9.91 seconds into a strong 1.7 meter headwind to leave a world class field, including arch-Jamaica rival Asafa Powell trailing. Compatriot Yohan Blake finished second in 10.11 seconds with Antigua’s Daniel Bailey third.

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Iran plane crash bodies returned to families

The bodies of 152 people killed in a fiery plane crash in Iran Wednesday have been returned to their families, an Iranian state broadcaster reported Sunday. Ahmad Majidi, the head of the special working group investigating the Caspian Airlines crash, also said a Russian team had arrived in Iran to help study the crash of the Russian-made plane, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said. The plane went down in a field near the city of Qavzin Wednesday, killing all 168 people on board and leaving a huge smoldering crater

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Manchester United snub Indonesian request

Manchester United have scheduled a second match in Malaysia after rejecting a request from the Indonesian government to fulfil a fixture canceled as a result of bomb attacks in Jakarta. The English Premier League champions will play a second game against a Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, having defeated the same team 3-2 in Saturday’s opening match of the club’s pre-season Asian tour

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Black boxes ‘damaged’ in Iran air disaster

A day after an Iranian passenger plane crashed in flames killing all 168 people on board, aviation officials were Thursday examining the aircraft’s damaged flight data recorders to try to determine the cause of the disaster. Caspian Airlines flight 7908 — a Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154M — plunged to the ground and disintegrated minutes into its flight from Tehran to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, officials said. Flight data recorders were recovered Wednesday from the crash site — a smoldering crater strewn with charred plane pieces and tattered passports –but Iranian media reported the so-called “black boxes” had been badly damaged

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France Debates Retrying Anti-Semitic Murderers

It’s rare for public prosecutors to appeal successful convictions in high-profile criminal cases. But that’s exactly what French justice officials are now doing, arguing that sentences handed out to several members of a gang that tortured a young Jewish man to death on the outskirts of Paris were insufficient punishment for their barbarous anti-Semitic crime.

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Lyle sorry for rekindling Monty cheat row

Sandy Lyle apologized for disrupting Colin Montgomerie’s British Open preparations on Tuesday, but did not retract his allegations of cheating against his fellow Scot. Lyle angered his friend, who he lost out to in a bid to become Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup captain, when last week he brought up an incident involving Montgomerie at the 2005 Indonesian Open

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Foul play feared as boxing champ found dead

Former world boxing champion Arturo Gatti has been found dead in a hotel in Brazil, where he had been on holiday with his wife and young child. The 37-year-old Canadian, who was born in Italy and made his name as a fighter based in New Jersey, was staying in the north-eastern seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas.

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