Clijsters sweeps aside Kutuzova at U.S. Open

Former world number one Kim Clijsters made a triumphant return to the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows as she routed Viktoriya Kutuzova of the Ukraine in their first round match on Monday. The Belgian ace has never lost to a player ranked outside the top 10 at the hard court grand slam and offered Kutuzova little respite during a 54-minute match

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Stylish Felix secures third successive gold

American Allyson Felix cruised to her third straight women’s 200 meters gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin — but compatriot Jeremy Wariner failed to secure his own hat-trick in the men’s 400m. Felix clocked a time of 20.02 seconds in the Olympic Stadium to beat Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica into second, with Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas in bronze. “It is very special for me to win here in Berlin,” Felix, 23, told reporters.

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Gas pipe deal aims to end Russia’s monopoly

Officials from six countries gathered Monday in Turkey and signed a deal to build a U.S.-backed pipeline, aimed at breaking Russia’s near-monopoly on natural gas supplies to Europe. The proposed Nabucco pipeline would run from Turkey’s eastern border, through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, to a key gas terminal in Baumgarten, Austria. Germany is also a partner in the deal, which is being signed in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

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‘Most expensive’ city ranking reveals currency tumult

There are a number of ways to measure the financial turbulence of the past year: the billions of dollars in public funds used to prop up banks; the cliff-drop in exports from any major economy; or the latest unemployment report. Another way to judge the financial volatility of the past year is the ranking of the most expensive cities for expatriate employees to live

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Under-fire PM Brown braces for EU vote blow

Beleaguered British Prime Minsiter Gordon Brown, under pressure to quit from members of his own party, was bracing himself for a potential new wave of troubles Sunday as counting began in European Elections. Voting in the UK is expected to be dominated by dissatisfaction with Brown’s Labour government and its handling of the economic crisis and a recent scandal over politicians’ expenses. Brown’s authority suffered heavy blows last week as he was forced to reshuffle his Cabinet following the resignation of several key Cabinet ministers, some of whom urged him to step down.

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UK, Netherlands vote in Euro elections

Voters in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands became the first European Union citizens to go to the polls Thursday to elect a new European Parliament. The massive election, involving all 27 member states, around 375 million eligible voters and 736 MEP seats, is the biggest exercise in transnational democracy the world has ever seen, with voters from Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, participating for the first time.

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Spanish protesters demand protection for jobless

Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the streets of Spain’s capital Thursday to demand better protection for workers hit hard by the economic crisis. Dressed in funeral black to mourn the estimated four million jobless in Spain, demonstrators had a simple message for the government: Enough corporate bailouts; it’s time to focus on the workers

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