SetFit/ag_news · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Shaukat Aziz elected as Pakistani prime minister despite boycott (AFP) AFP - Pakistan's parliament rubber-stamped the president's choice of prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, despite an opposition boycott and angry protests.	0	World
Survey: Consumers Cautious on US Economy NEW YORK Aug. 27, 2004 - Consumers became a bit more optimistic toward the end of the August but still felt more cautious on the US economy than they did a month ago, according to survey by the University of Michigan.	2	Business
Conoco Looking at Lukoil ConocoPhillips (COP:NYSE - news - research) will seek to buy up to a quarter of Russian oil giant Lukoil, Reuters reported Friday, citing an industry source familiar with the matter.	2	Business
Greenspan Floats Higher Retirement Age An aging population will put significant stresses on the budget deficit over the next three decades, a problem that could be solved by raising the retirement age, Federal Reserve Chief Alan Greenspan said in a speech Friday.	2	Business
HP Debuts Its Own IPod Hewlett-Packard #39;s online store, HPshopping.com, this week introduced the quot;Apple IPod from HP, quot; the company #39;s long-awaited version of the IPod.	3	Sci/Tech
Oracle Extends Offer for PeopleSoft - Again The Department of Justice took Oracle to court in May, claiming that its acquisition of PeopleSoft would create a duopoly between it and market leader SAP in the enterprise applications market.	3	Sci/Tech
ICANN STILL CAN, SAYS COURT A US District Court Judge has dismissed the anti-trust and conspiracy claims made by the .com and .net registry, VeriSign, against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names amp; Numbers (ICANN).	3	Sci/Tech
Novell presses RP to begin shifting to Linux Novell Asia has urged the Philippine government to take a closer look at Linux, citing that adopting the open source operating system would be crucial to safeguarding the security and integrity of its computer networks.	3	Sci/Tech
RealNetworks Promotion Sells 1 Million Songs RealNetworks could lose \$2 million from below-cost sales -- but will give its service a huge boost, quot; says Forrester Research analyst Rebecca Jennings.	3	Sci/Tech
Microsoft to show off team-development tools Microsoft next month plans to distribute an updated beta version of its Visual Studio 2005 development tool that includes the first fruits of the company #39;s ambitious initiative for team development.	3	Sci/Tech
Paul Hamm, In Keeping Medal, Misses Opportunity The moment when Paul Hamm hit his high bar routine was one of the most electrifying sports moments Ive ever seen. I cant recall seeing something that I immediately felt was so outstanding	1	Sports
NOW SILVER - McFarlane wins third medal for Ja The Dominican Republic #39;s Felix Sanchez hugs Jamaica #39;s Danny McFarlane (right) after the men #39;s 400 metres hurdles final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games yesterday.	1	Sports
Stealing great art not all it #39;s painted to be The works can be almost impossible to sell, they can end up dumped in the strangest places, you can #39;t trust anyone. It #39;s enough to make a thief scream, writes Sarah Lyall.	0	World
Bryant Trial Begins After months of legal wrangling, potential jurors for the Kobe Bryant trial began arriving at the Eagle, Colo. courthouse Friday.	1	Sports
O's Lose 10th Straight The A's use home runs by Erubiel Durazo and Eric Chavez to finish a four-game sweep of the crumbling Orioles, 9-4, on Thursday.	1	Sports
Preston Heads Home Preston, Md. ended its run through the Little League World Series with a 3-1 loss to Thousand Oaks, Calif., in a U.S. semifinal game Thursday.	1	Sports
Harland surges to bronze Georgina Harland comes from 14th place on the final run to win a bronze in the women's modern pentathlon.	1	Sports
Check Fridays and Mondays for weekly team updates and match <b>...</b> quot; I admit it, most of my notes for this game considered of quot;IY Shannon quot; and quot;Mr. and Mrs. Dan Boxx. quot; Oh, and looking up the United States all-time record for Olympic finals played in cities called quot;Athens... quot;. by Dan Loney. There #39;s only one story this week	1	Sports
Buzz on USC keeps forgetting football The No. 1 Trojans look to change the subject away from eligibility rulings and rape allegations. The preseason buzz out of USC has had little to do with football.	1	Sports
Greenspan-Aged Population to Hit Finances JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - An aging U.S. population will strain public finances and hurt the economy without swift fixes to the social safety net, such as raising the age for full retirement benefits, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday.	2	Business
Olympics Wrap: Another Doping Controversy Surfaces ATHENS (Reuters) - Olympic chiefs ordered Hungarian hammer gold medallist Adrian Annus Friday to submit another doping sample or risk losing his medal, while another of his compatriots was stripped of a medal for failing a test.	1	Sports
African Union Force Seen as Main Hope for Darfur UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Days before a U.N. deadline for Sudan to disarm and prosecute those responsible for violence in the country's Darfur region, nations are looking to the African Union rather than any U.N. sanctions to curb further killing.	0	World
U.S. Economy Grew at Slower Pace Than Expected The economy struggled under an increasing trade deficit and a slowdown in consumer spending, the Commerce Department said today.	2	Business
Spa, Free Practice 1 2: F1 ducks the shower With heavy skies weighing over the Ardennes forest, action was the order of the day on track, with Davidson then Raikkonen going fastest. Renault is also optimistic.	1	Sports
Group protests naming center for Moreno A new Catholic migrant outreach center named for former Diocese of Tucson Bishop Manuel D. Moreno is drawing protests from a support group for victims of clergy abuse.	2	Business
Traces of Explosives Found in Wreckage of Russian Jet An Islamic extremist group claimed its fighters had hijacked the planes to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Chechnya.	0	World
UPDATE 2-Greenspan-Aging US population to strain finances An aging US population will strain public finances and hurt the economy without swift fixes to the social safety net, such as raising the age for	2	Business
Ford to Cut Jaguar Car Production by 15,000 Units (Update1) Ford Motor Co., the world #39;s second- biggest carmaker, plans to cut production of Jaguar cars by 15,000 units this year to trim losses at its European luxury-vehicle unit.	2	Business
Interbrew, Ambev Complete Combination BRUSSELS, Belgium Aug. 27, 2004 - Belgium #39;s Interbrew SA and Brazil #39;s Ambev completed their planned \$11.4 billion combination Friday after shareholders of both companies approved the deal that creates the world #39;s largest brewer by volume.	2	Business
Microsoft overhauls Longhorn plans just in In order to get the next update of its operating system out on time, Microsoft will delay some planned feature improvements, sources close to the company said Friday.	3	Sci/Tech
FBI Helps Probe of Blast at US Stem-Cell Lab FBI agents are helping investigate an explosion at a Boston-area laboratory specializing in stem-cell research, and a newspaper said on Friday the blast was caused by a pipe bomb.	3	Sci/Tech
Brief: Siemens warns of ear damage from loud mobile tune AUGUST 27, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - DUSSELDORF, Germany -- Siemens AG warned yesterday of a software defect in a range of mobile phones that could cause hearing damage.	3	Sci/Tech
Lewis a no-show, but enters not guilty plea Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis did not appear at his arraignment Friday, but his lawyers entered a not guilty plea on charges in an expanded drug conspiracy indictment.	1	Sports
Explosives find confirms terror link EXPLOSIVES have been found in the wreckage of one of the two Russian airliners that crashed near-simultaneously this week. The confirmation that at least one of the aircraft was brought down by a terrorist	0	World
Art museums balance access against security By Christopher Andreae Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. Since quot;The Scream quot; by Norwegian angst-artist Edvard Munch was stolen by armed robbers last Sunday, the media have been asking every art expert in sight, Why does this keep happening?	0	World
Gun-toting Rwandans invade Whitsundays RWANDAN President Paul Kagame has created a diplomatic storm in north Queensland after bringing his own team of armed guards to an international business conference.	0	World
Microsoft overhauls Longhorn plans To get next version of Windows out on time, company to delay some planned features, sources say.	3	Sci/Tech
Gateway delivers its first BTX motherboard PC Gateway Inc. released the specifications Friday for a retail desktop PC based on a new motherboard design that should help cool high-end processors and graphics cards.	3	Sci/Tech
CAO seeking help from CNPC for oil crisis China Aviation Oil or CAO has appealed to China National Petroleum Corporation or CNPC to prevent the aviation oil supply shortage in the 100 airports it serves.	2	Business
Industry groups propose alternative to copyright bill WASHINGTON -- A group of 17 companies and organizations this week offered an alternative to a U.S. Senate bill that would allow artists and entertainment companies to sue firms that market products that "induce" copyright violations.	3	Sci/Tech
Aziz elected Pakistani premier Former finance minister Shaukat Aziz has been elected as Pakistan #39;s prime minister in a rubber-stamp parliamentary vote boycotted by the entire opposition.	0	World
French anti-Jewish violence jumps, reasons unclear The number of anti-Semitic attacks in France has more than doubled over the past year, with most of them committed for vague reasons rather than ideology, France #39;s interior minister said in an interview published on Friday.	0	World
News: Japanese banks deploy biometric palm scanners Japanese banks are turning to a new biometric identification system, based on the unique nature of the patterns of veins in our palms.\	3	Sci/Tech
News: Filipino mobe users scammed over virus scare Unscrupulous Filipino phone shops are cashing on recent stories about mobile phone viruses to flog worried punters services they don't need.	3	Sci/Tech
Mercedes A-Class Hits European Target (AP) AP - DaimlerChrysler AG Friday said it has orders for more than 50,000 of its new Mercedes A-Class models in western Europe, meaning it has already reached the sales target for 2004.	0	World
Jackson Visits Darfur to Resolve Crisis (AP) AP - American civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the conflict-torn region of Darfur on Friday, urging the Sudanese government and African rebels to end the crisis that has killed thousands of villagers and driven more than a million from their homes.	0	World
Hewlett-Packard Unveils iPod Clone (AP) AP - Hewlett-Packard Co. unveiled its own version of the iPod portable music player Friday, showing the fruits of a groundbreaking partnership it had previously announced with Apple Computer Inc.	3	Sci/Tech
Siemens Cites Problem With New Phones (AP) AP - Siemens AG said Friday it anticipates unspecified additional costs from a software problem with new mobile phones that has led retailers to suspend sales.	3	Sci/Tech
Pakistan Parliament Elects New PM (AP) AP - Pakistan's parliament elected Shaukat Aziz, the former finance minister and a close ally of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, as prime minister on Friday. The opposition boycotted the vote.	0	World
Stolen Egyptian Artifact Returned Home (AP) AP - An artifact stolen from an Egyptian temple in 1990 and held by Christie's auction house in New York for the last two years arrived in Egypt on Friday, an airport official said.	3	Sci/Tech
Procter Gamble CEO Gets \$3.5 Mln Bonus NEW YORK (Reuters) - Procter Gamble Co. <A HREF="http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=PG.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote">PG.N</A>, the maker of Tide laundry detergent and Pampers diapers, on Friday said its top executive earned a base salary of \$1.7 million this year and received other compensation including a \$3.5 million bonus based on the company's strong performance.	2	Business
Dollar Extends Gains After Economic Data NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar strengthened against major European currencies in largely technical trading on Friday after two U.S. economic reports matched or beat market expectations.	2	Business
Greenspan warns on ageing threat Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warns that prompt action is needed to fund pensions for the ageing US population.	2	Business
Paul Hamm Asked to Give Up Gold Medal ATHENS, Greece - World gymnastics officials asked Paul Hamm to give up his gold medal as the ultimate show of sportsmanship, but the U.S. Olympic Committee told them to take responsibility for their own mistakes and refused even to deliver the request...	0	World
Greenspan Cautions on Baby Boomer Benefits JACKSON, Wyo. - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the country will face "abrupt and painful" choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits that have been promised to the baby boom generation...	0	World
Wambach has Midas touch in final PIRAEUS, Greece -- It was a good two hours after FIFA president Sepp Blatter put an Olympic gold medal around the neck of US forward Abby Wambach and the significance of winning the final hadn #39;t truly sunk in yet.	1	Sports
African Union Force Seen as Main Hope for Darfur Days before a UN deadline for Sudan to disarm and prosecute those responsible for violence in the country #39;s Darfur region, nations are looking to the African Union	0	World
Pak. parliament elects Aziz as new PM : Opposition lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote on Friday that unanimously elected Shaukat Aziz as Pakistan #39;s new prime minister after their candidate, a jailed opposition leader, was barred from attending the proceedings.	0	World
Moro rebels welcome dropping of charges vs Murad et al. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commended the government Friday for dropping the charges against its accused members in connection with the twin deadly bombings in Davao City airport and wharf last year.	0	World
OSI shares tumble after disappointing forecast Shares of OSI Systems Inc. (OSIS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) tumbled more than 18 percent on Friday, the day after the security screening company reported higher fourth-quarter	2	Business
US Govt investigating cyber crimes worth \$215 mn The US Justice Department #39;s crackdown on cyber crime has brought to light illegal activities, including credit-card fraud, to the tune of over \$215 million and resulted in dozens of arrests, a senior official said.	3	Sci/Tech
Nokia, Vodafone push for mobile Java standards The world #39;s largest mobile phone manufacturer and Europe #39;s largest wireless operator have launched an initiative to simplify Java standards for mobile devices in a move aimed	3	Sci/Tech
UN: N. Korean Environment in Poor Shape North Korea (news - web sites) #39;s forests are depleted, its rivers and streams are filled with runoff from factories and a reliance on coal energy	3	Sci/Tech
Police Say Pipe Bomb Damaged Building WATERTOWN, Mass. -- Watertown police say it was a pipe bomb that broke windows at the offices of a biological research company in Watertown early Thursday morning.	3	Sci/Tech
Rebel leader claims responsibility for attacks in India #39;s restive <b>...</b> A rebel leader claimed responsibility for two bombings in India #39;s restive northeastern state of Assam, as authorities tightened security Friday -a day after a string of attacks killed four people and left scores wounded.	0	World
Timeline of Case Against Kobe Bryant (AP) AP - Timeline of the sexual assault case against Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant:	1	Sports
U.S. Warplane Drops Bombs on Fallujah (AP) AP - A U.S. warplane bombed the restive city of Fallujah on Friday, witnesses said.	0	World
Stocks Up in Light Trade NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday after reports showed U.S. economic growth in the second quarter matched economists' forecasts and consumer sentiment picked up above expectations in late August, but volume was feather light ahead of the upcoming Republican convention in New York City.	2	Business
VW Management's Pay Freeze Offer Spurned FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen management has offered to freeze its own pay for two years in a bid to gain workers' support for an austerity drive, but union mediators dismissed the move as a "distraction tactic."	2	Business
Modern Pentathlon: Voros Wins Women's Gold ATHENS (Reuters) - Hungary's Zsuzsanna Voros won the gold medal in the women's modern pentathlon in Athens Friday to add the Olympic title to her three world championships.	1	Sports
N Korean leader's lover 'dead' The favourite consort of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is rumoured to have died, according to media reports.	0	World
Another iPod, This One From HP The company rolls out many new products, including its version of the iPod. Also: Sprint and SBC let customers use both companies' wi-fi connections hellip;. Regulators approve a generic form of an antinausea drug hellip;. and more.	2	Business
Microsoft to show off Team tools Ultimately, a Visual Studio package will compete with products from IBM's Rational unit. Coders will get a peek next month.	3	Sci/Tech
Sun, Dell Lead Server Sales Low-cost Linux and Windows servers are outselling Unix models, Gartner analysts say.	3	Sci/Tech
Update 2: United Steelworkers OK BF Goodrich Pact More than 3,000 union workers at three BF Goodrich Tire Manufacturing plants in Indiana and Alabama have approved a new contract after working about 15 months without one.	2	Business
Westmoreland to buy rest of Roanoake Valley project Westmoreland Coal Co. (WLB.A: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it will buy the 50 percent stake it does not already own of the Roanoke Valley Power Project, or ROVA, in	2	Business
Bush Administration Cracks Down on Internet-Related Crimes The government calls it quot;Operation Web Snare quot;, catching criminals who do business online. They #39;ve been working since June and today announced dozens of arrests for crimes that cost victims millions of dollars.	3	Sci/Tech
ISPs slam Ofcom broadband ruling UK internet service providers (ISPs) have reacted with dismay to the publication of a direction statement from telecoms regulator Ofcom, which they say leaves BT free to levy high charges on the wholesale digital subscriber line services it leases to them	3	Sci/Tech
Oracle Extends Bid for PeopleSoft Oracle has extended its \$21-per-share tender offer to PeopleSoft #39;s shareholders, which was due to expire this week. The new deadline is September 10th.	3	Sci/Tech
Online Travel #39;s Narrowing Horizons After some four months of waiting for both the Google (GOOG ; ranked hold; recent price: \$108) IPO and our subsequent initiation of coverage on the shares to be completed, I, like many Americans this time of year, am thinking about one thing -- travel.	3	Sci/Tech
Rooney signing could influence title race - Wenger Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Manchester United #39;s title challenge would be strengthened by the signing of England striker Wayne Rooney.	1	Sports
Modern Pentathlon: Voros Wins Women #39;s Gold Hungary #39;s Zsuzsanna Voros won the gold medal in the women #39;s modern pentathlon in Athens Friday to add the Olympic title to her three world championships.	1	Sports
Islamic group claims Russian plane crashes An Islamic group has claimed that it hijacked two Russian planes that crashed earlier this week, killing at least 89 people. The statement was posted on a website which usually carries Islamic militant statements.	0	World
Palestinians swear by Mahatma ABU DIS, West Bank: Palestinians and Israelis rallied under the shadows of the West Bank barrier on Friday, vowing to follow in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi by pursuing a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.	0	World
Regulating hate speech on the internet remains difficult, experts say (AFP) AFP - As the court case between US Internet giant Yahoo and a French group trying to halt the online sales of Nazi memorabilia entered a new phase this week, experts gathered here stressed how difficult it was to regulate hate speech on the Internet.	3	Sci/Tech
Sun, Dell Lead Server Sales (PC World) PC World - Low-cost Linux and Windows servers are outselling Unix models, Gartner analysts say.	3	Sci/Tech
Powell Praises Najaf Peace Agreement (AP) AP - Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday praised the peace deal that ended fighting in Iraq's holy city of Najaf and said the presence of U.S. forces in the area helped make it possible.	0	World
Jacobson Lifts Ryder Cup Hopes with Sparkling 65 MUNICH (Reuters) - Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson made his bid for a last-gasp Ryder Cup debut with a spectacular seven-under-par 65 in the BMW International Open second round on Friday.	1	Sports
Guantanamo hearing postponed A hearing at Guantanamo Bay for a man accused of being an al-Qaeda paymaster is postponed.	0	World
Presidential Campaign to Nov. 2, 2004 (Reuters) Reuters - The following diary of events\leading up to the presidential election on Nov. 2.	0	World
Update 2: Interbrew Shareholders Back Ambev Move Shareholders of Belgian brewer Interbrew SA on Friday backed the planned \$11.4 billion combination of their family company with Brazil #39;s Ambev in a deal that would form the world #39;s largest brewer by volume.	2	Business
HP Strikes Up its iPod Hewlett-Packard (HPQ:NYSE - news - research) unveiled a new line-up of consumer products Friday aimed at the back-to-school and holiday shopping season, including its own branded version of Apple #39;s (AAPL:Nasdaq - news - research) iPod digital music player	2	Business
Drug Giant to Release Trial Results on Web GlaxoSmithKline agreed on Thursday to post the results of all clinical trials of its drugs, both positive and negative, on the Internet.	2	Business
Ashcroft Heralds Success in Net Crime Crackdown quot;America #39;s justice community is dedicated to stopping economic crimes before they spread through the online community, quot; Attorney General John Ashcroft said as he announced the results of quot;Operation Web Snare quot; at a Washington news conference.	3	Sci/Tech
Oracle Re-extends PeopleSoft Bid. Oracle again extended its tender offer for PeopleSoft to Friday, Sept. 10 at midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Oracle is offering \$21 per share or about \$7.	3	Sci/Tech
SBC, Sprint deal doubles Wi-Fi customers #39; hot spot access Through a deal with rival SBC Communications Inc., Sprint Corp. will almost double the number of places subscribers can wirelessly log on to the Internet at high speeds, according to a report from the Kansas City Business Journal.	3	Sci/Tech
Gateway PC keeps it cool Gateway on Friday unveiled a PC designed to stay cool even when handling applications that use a lot of power. The 700GR computer features Intel #39;s balanced technology extended, or BTX, architecture, in which	3	Sci/Tech
HP Enters Consumer-Electronics Market Hewlett-Packard blasted into the consumer-electronic market on Friday with its most significant product launch of the year, unveiling new televisions, digital cameras, photo printers, notebooks and desktop PCs.	3	Sci/Tech
USOC upset over FIG #39;s attempt to pressure Hamm The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has rejected a request by FIG, the international gymnastics federation, to deliver a letter to all-around champion Paul	1	Sports
Raikkonen Posts Fastest Time at Belgian Grand Prix Practice Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen has posted the fastest time on the first day of practice for this week #39;s Belgian Grand Prix, where Michael Schumacher can capture the drivers #39; title for the year.	1	Sports

Shaukat Aziz elected as Pakistani prime minister despite boycott (AFP) AFP - Pakistan's parliament rubber-stamped the president's choice of prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, despite an opposition boycott and angry protests.

0

World

Survey: Consumers Cautious on US Economy NEW YORK Aug. 27, 2004 - Consumers became a bit more optimistic toward the end of the August but still felt more cautious on the US economy than they did a month ago, according to survey by the University of Michigan.

2

Business

Conoco Looking at Lukoil ConocoPhillips (COP:NYSE - news - research) will seek to buy up to a quarter of Russian oil giant Lukoil, Reuters reported Friday, citing an industry source familiar with the matter.

2

Business

Greenspan Floats Higher Retirement Age An aging population will put significant stresses on the budget deficit over the next three decades, a problem that could be solved by raising the retirement age, Federal Reserve Chief Alan Greenspan said in a speech Friday.

2

Business

HP Debuts Its Own IPod Hewlett-Packard #39;s online store, HPshopping.com, this week introduced the quot;Apple IPod from HP, quot; the company #39;s long-awaited version of the IPod.

3

Sci/Tech

Oracle Extends Offer for PeopleSoft - Again The Department of Justice took Oracle to court in May, claiming that its acquisition of PeopleSoft would create a duopoly between it and market leader SAP in the enterprise applications market.

3

Sci/Tech

ICANN STILL CAN, SAYS COURT A US District Court Judge has dismissed the anti-trust and conspiracy claims made by the .com and .net registry, VeriSign, against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names amp; Numbers (ICANN).

3

Sci/Tech

Novell presses RP to begin shifting to Linux Novell Asia has urged the Philippine government to take a closer look at Linux, citing that adopting the open source operating system would be crucial to safeguarding the security and integrity of its computer networks.

3

Sci/Tech

RealNetworks Promotion Sells 1 Million Songs RealNetworks could lose \$2 million from below-cost sales -- but will give its service a huge boost, quot; says Forrester Research analyst Rebecca Jennings.

3

Sci/Tech

Microsoft to show off team-development tools Microsoft next month plans to distribute an updated beta version of its Visual Studio 2005 development tool that includes the first fruits of the company #39;s ambitious initiative for team development.

3

Sci/Tech

Paul Hamm, In Keeping Medal, Misses Opportunity The moment when Paul Hamm hit his high bar routine was one of the most electrifying sports moments Ive ever seen. I cant recall seeing something that I immediately felt was so outstanding

1

Sports

NOW SILVER - McFarlane wins third medal for Ja The Dominican Republic #39;s Felix Sanchez hugs Jamaica #39;s Danny McFarlane (right) after the men #39;s 400 metres hurdles final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games yesterday.

1

Sports

Stealing great art not all it #39;s painted to be The works can be almost impossible to sell, they can end up dumped in the strangest places, you can #39;t trust anyone. It #39;s enough to make a thief scream, writes Sarah Lyall.

0

World

Bryant Trial Begins After months of legal wrangling, potential jurors for the Kobe Bryant trial began arriving at the Eagle, Colo. courthouse Friday.

1

Sports

O's Lose 10th Straight The A's use home runs by Erubiel Durazo and Eric Chavez to finish a four-game sweep of the crumbling Orioles, 9-4, on Thursday.

1

Sports

Preston Heads Home Preston, Md. ended its run through the Little League World Series with a 3-1 loss to Thousand Oaks, Calif., in a U.S. semifinal game Thursday.

1

Sports

Harland surges to bronze Georgina Harland comes from 14th place on the final run to win a bronze in the women's modern pentathlon.

1

Sports

Check Fridays and Mondays for weekly team updates and match <b>...</b> quot; I admit it, most of my notes for this game considered of quot;IY Shannon quot; and quot;Mr. and Mrs. Dan Boxx. quot; Oh, and looking up the United States all-time record for Olympic finals played in cities called quot;Athens... quot;. by Dan Loney. There #39;s only one story this week

1

Sports

Buzz on USC keeps forgetting football The No. 1 Trojans look to change the subject away from eligibility rulings and rape allegations. The preseason buzz out of USC has had little to do with football.

1

Sports

Greenspan-Aged Population to Hit Finances JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - An aging U.S. population will strain public finances and hurt the economy without swift fixes to the social safety net, such as raising the age for full retirement benefits, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday.

2

Business

Olympics Wrap: Another Doping Controversy Surfaces ATHENS (Reuters) - Olympic chiefs ordered Hungarian hammer gold medallist Adrian Annus Friday to submit another doping sample or risk losing his medal, while another of his compatriots was stripped of a medal for failing a test.

1

Sports

African Union Force Seen as Main Hope for Darfur UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Days before a U.N. deadline for Sudan to disarm and prosecute those responsible for violence in the country's Darfur region, nations are looking to the African Union rather than any U.N. sanctions to curb further killing.

0

World

U.S. Economy Grew at Slower Pace Than Expected The economy struggled under an increasing trade deficit and a slowdown in consumer spending, the Commerce Department said today.

2

Business

Spa, Free Practice 1 2: F1 ducks the shower With heavy skies weighing over the Ardennes forest, action was the order of the day on track, with Davidson then Raikkonen going fastest. Renault is also optimistic.

1

Sports

Group protests naming center for Moreno A new Catholic migrant outreach center named for former Diocese of Tucson Bishop Manuel D. Moreno is drawing protests from a support group for victims of clergy abuse.

2

Business

Traces of Explosives Found in Wreckage of Russian Jet An Islamic extremist group claimed its fighters had hijacked the planes to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Chechnya.

0

World

UPDATE 2-Greenspan-Aging US population to strain finances An aging US population will strain public finances and hurt the economy without swift fixes to the social safety net, such as raising the age for

2

Business

Ford to Cut Jaguar Car Production by 15,000 Units (Update1) Ford Motor Co., the world #39;s second- biggest carmaker, plans to cut production of Jaguar cars by 15,000 units this year to trim losses at its European luxury-vehicle unit.

2

Business

Interbrew, Ambev Complete Combination BRUSSELS, Belgium Aug. 27, 2004 - Belgium #39;s Interbrew SA and Brazil #39;s Ambev completed their planned \$11.4 billion combination Friday after shareholders of both companies approved the deal that creates the world #39;s largest brewer by volume.

2

Business

Microsoft overhauls Longhorn plans just in In order to get the next update of its operating system out on time, Microsoft will delay some planned feature improvements, sources close to the company said Friday.

3

Sci/Tech

FBI Helps Probe of Blast at US Stem-Cell Lab FBI agents are helping investigate an explosion at a Boston-area laboratory specializing in stem-cell research, and a newspaper said on Friday the blast was caused by a pipe bomb.

3

Sci/Tech

Brief: Siemens warns of ear damage from loud mobile tune AUGUST 27, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - DUSSELDORF, Germany -- Siemens AG warned yesterday of a software defect in a range of mobile phones that could cause hearing damage.

3

Sci/Tech

Lewis a no-show, but enters not guilty plea Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis did not appear at his arraignment Friday, but his lawyers entered a not guilty plea on charges in an expanded drug conspiracy indictment.

1

Sports

Explosives find confirms terror link EXPLOSIVES have been found in the wreckage of one of the two Russian airliners that crashed near-simultaneously this week. The confirmation that at least one of the aircraft was brought down by a terrorist

0

World

Art museums balance access against security By Christopher Andreae Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. Since quot;The Scream quot; by Norwegian angst-artist Edvard Munch was stolen by armed robbers last Sunday, the media have been asking every art expert in sight, Why does this keep happening?

0

World

Gun-toting Rwandans invade Whitsundays RWANDAN President Paul Kagame has created a diplomatic storm in north Queensland after bringing his own team of armed guards to an international business conference.

0

World

Microsoft overhauls Longhorn plans To get next version of Windows out on time, company to delay some planned features, sources say.

3

Sci/Tech

Gateway delivers its first BTX motherboard PC Gateway Inc. released the specifications Friday for a retail desktop PC based on a new motherboard design that should help cool high-end processors and graphics cards.

3

Sci/Tech

CAO seeking help from CNPC for oil crisis China Aviation Oil or CAO has appealed to China National Petroleum Corporation or CNPC to prevent the aviation oil supply shortage in the 100 airports it serves.

2

Business

Industry groups propose alternative to copyright bill WASHINGTON -- A group of 17 companies and organizations this week offered an alternative to a U.S. Senate bill that would allow artists and entertainment companies to sue firms that market products that "induce" copyright violations.

3

Sci/Tech

Aziz elected Pakistani premier Former finance minister Shaukat Aziz has been elected as Pakistan #39;s prime minister in a rubber-stamp parliamentary vote boycotted by the entire opposition.

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World

French anti-Jewish violence jumps, reasons unclear The number of anti-Semitic attacks in France has more than doubled over the past year, with most of them committed for vague reasons rather than ideology, France #39;s interior minister said in an interview published on Friday.

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World

News: Japanese banks deploy biometric palm scanners Japanese banks are turning to a new biometric identification system, based on the unique nature of the patterns of veins in our palms.\

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Sci/Tech

News: Filipino mobe users scammed over virus scare Unscrupulous Filipino phone shops are cashing on recent stories about mobile phone viruses to flog worried punters services they don't need.

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Sci/Tech

Mercedes A-Class Hits European Target (AP) AP - DaimlerChrysler AG Friday said it has orders for more than 50,000 of its new Mercedes A-Class models in western Europe, meaning it has already reached the sales target for 2004.

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World

Jackson Visits Darfur to Resolve Crisis (AP) AP - American civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the conflict-torn region of Darfur on Friday, urging the Sudanese government and African rebels to end the crisis that has killed thousands of villagers and driven more than a million from their homes.

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World

Hewlett-Packard Unveils iPod Clone (AP) AP - Hewlett-Packard Co. unveiled its own version of the iPod portable music player Friday, showing the fruits of a groundbreaking partnership it had previously announced with Apple Computer Inc.

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Sci/Tech

Siemens Cites Problem With New Phones (AP) AP - Siemens AG said Friday it anticipates unspecified additional costs from a software problem with new mobile phones that has led retailers to suspend sales.

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Sci/Tech

Pakistan Parliament Elects New PM (AP) AP - Pakistan's parliament elected Shaukat Aziz, the former finance minister and a close ally of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, as prime minister on Friday. The opposition boycotted the vote.

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World

Stolen Egyptian Artifact Returned Home (AP) AP - An artifact stolen from an Egyptian temple in 1990 and held by Christie's auction house in New York for the last two years arrived in Egypt on Friday, an airport official said.

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Procter Gamble CEO Gets \$3.5 Mln Bonus NEW YORK (Reuters) - Procter Gamble Co. <A HREF="http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=PG.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote">PG.N</A>, the maker of Tide laundry detergent and Pampers diapers, on Friday said its top executive earned a base salary of \$1.7 million this year and received other compensation including a \$3.5 million bonus based on the company's strong performance.

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Business

Dollar Extends Gains After Economic Data NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar strengthened against major European currencies in largely technical trading on Friday after two U.S. economic reports matched or beat market expectations.

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Business

Greenspan warns on ageing threat Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warns that prompt action is needed to fund pensions for the ageing US population.

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Business

Paul Hamm Asked to Give Up Gold Medal ATHENS, Greece - World gymnastics officials asked Paul Hamm to give up his gold medal as the ultimate show of sportsmanship, but the U.S. Olympic Committee told them to take responsibility for their own mistakes and refused even to deliver the request...

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World

Greenspan Cautions on Baby Boomer Benefits JACKSON, Wyo. - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the country will face "abrupt and painful" choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits that have been promised to the baby boom generation...

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World

Wambach has Midas touch in final PIRAEUS, Greece -- It was a good two hours after FIFA president Sepp Blatter put an Olympic gold medal around the neck of US forward Abby Wambach and the significance of winning the final hadn #39;t truly sunk in yet.

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African Union Force Seen as Main Hope for Darfur Days before a UN deadline for Sudan to disarm and prosecute those responsible for violence in the country #39;s Darfur region, nations are looking to the African Union

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World

Pak. parliament elects Aziz as new PM : Opposition lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote on Friday that unanimously elected Shaukat Aziz as Pakistan #39;s new prime minister after their candidate, a jailed opposition leader, was barred from attending the proceedings.

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World

Moro rebels welcome dropping of charges vs Murad et al. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commended the government Friday for dropping the charges against its accused members in connection with the twin deadly bombings in Davao City airport and wharf last year.

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World

OSI shares tumble after disappointing forecast Shares of OSI Systems Inc. (OSIS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) tumbled more than 18 percent on Friday, the day after the security screening company reported higher fourth-quarter

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Business

US Govt investigating cyber crimes worth \$215 mn The US Justice Department #39;s crackdown on cyber crime has brought to light illegal activities, including credit-card fraud, to the tune of over \$215 million and resulted in dozens of arrests, a senior official said.

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Sci/Tech

Nokia, Vodafone push for mobile Java standards The world #39;s largest mobile phone manufacturer and Europe #39;s largest wireless operator have launched an initiative to simplify Java standards for mobile devices in a move aimed

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Sci/Tech

UN: N. Korean Environment in Poor Shape North Korea (news - web sites) #39;s forests are depleted, its rivers and streams are filled with runoff from factories and a reliance on coal energy

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Sci/Tech

Police Say Pipe Bomb Damaged Building WATERTOWN, Mass. -- Watertown police say it was a pipe bomb that broke windows at the offices of a biological research company in Watertown early Thursday morning.

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Sci/Tech

Rebel leader claims responsibility for attacks in India #39;s restive <b>...</b> A rebel leader claimed responsibility for two bombings in India #39;s restive northeastern state of Assam, as authorities tightened security Friday -a day after a string of attacks killed four people and left scores wounded.

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World

Timeline of Case Against Kobe Bryant (AP) AP - Timeline of the sexual assault case against Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant:

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Sports

U.S. Warplane Drops Bombs on Fallujah (AP) AP - A U.S. warplane bombed the restive city of Fallujah on Friday, witnesses said.

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World

Stocks Up in Light Trade NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday after reports showed U.S. economic growth in the second quarter matched economists' forecasts and consumer sentiment picked up above expectations in late August, but volume was feather light ahead of the upcoming Republican convention in New York City.

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Business

VW Management's Pay Freeze Offer Spurned FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen management has offered to freeze its own pay for two years in a bid to gain workers' support for an austerity drive, but union mediators dismissed the move as a "distraction tactic."

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Business

Modern Pentathlon: Voros Wins Women's Gold ATHENS (Reuters) - Hungary's Zsuzsanna Voros won the gold medal in the women's modern pentathlon in Athens Friday to add the Olympic title to her three world championships.

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Sports

N Korean leader's lover 'dead' The favourite consort of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is rumoured to have died, according to media reports.

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World

Another iPod, This One From HP The company rolls out many new products, including its version of the iPod. Also: Sprint and SBC let customers use both companies' wi-fi connections hellip;. Regulators approve a generic form of an antinausea drug hellip;. and more.

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Business

Microsoft to show off Team tools Ultimately, a Visual Studio package will compete with products from IBM's Rational unit. Coders will get a peek next month.

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Sci/Tech

Sun, Dell Lead Server Sales Low-cost Linux and Windows servers are outselling Unix models, Gartner analysts say.

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Sci/Tech

Update 2: United Steelworkers OK BF Goodrich Pact More than 3,000 union workers at three BF Goodrich Tire Manufacturing plants in Indiana and Alabama have approved a new contract after working about 15 months without one.

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Business

Westmoreland to buy rest of Roanoake Valley project Westmoreland Coal Co. (WLB.A: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it will buy the 50 percent stake it does not already own of the Roanoke Valley Power Project, or ROVA, in

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Business

Bush Administration Cracks Down on Internet-Related Crimes The government calls it quot;Operation Web Snare quot;, catching criminals who do business online. They #39;ve been working since June and today announced dozens of arrests for crimes that cost victims millions of dollars.

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Sci/Tech

ISPs slam Ofcom broadband ruling UK internet service providers (ISPs) have reacted with dismay to the publication of a direction statement from telecoms regulator Ofcom, which they say leaves BT free to levy high charges on the wholesale digital subscriber line services it leases to them

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Sci/Tech

Oracle Extends Bid for PeopleSoft Oracle has extended its \$21-per-share tender offer to PeopleSoft #39;s shareholders, which was due to expire this week. The new deadline is September 10th.

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Sci/Tech

Online Travel #39;s Narrowing Horizons After some four months of waiting for both the Google (GOOG ; ranked hold; recent price: \$108) IPO and our subsequent initiation of coverage on the shares to be completed, I, like many Americans this time of year, am thinking about one thing -- travel.

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Sci/Tech

Rooney signing could influence title race - Wenger Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Manchester United #39;s title challenge would be strengthened by the signing of England striker Wayne Rooney.

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Sports

Modern Pentathlon: Voros Wins Women #39;s Gold Hungary #39;s Zsuzsanna Voros won the gold medal in the women #39;s modern pentathlon in Athens Friday to add the Olympic title to her three world championships.

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Sports

Islamic group claims Russian plane crashes An Islamic group has claimed that it hijacked two Russian planes that crashed earlier this week, killing at least 89 people. The statement was posted on a website which usually carries Islamic militant statements.

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World

Palestinians swear by Mahatma ABU DIS, West Bank: Palestinians and Israelis rallied under the shadows of the West Bank barrier on Friday, vowing to follow in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi by pursuing a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.

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World

Regulating hate speech on the internet remains difficult, experts say (AFP) AFP - As the court case between US Internet giant Yahoo and a French group trying to halt the online sales of Nazi memorabilia entered a new phase this week, experts gathered here stressed how difficult it was to regulate hate speech on the Internet.

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Sci/Tech

Sun, Dell Lead Server Sales (PC World) PC World - Low-cost Linux and Windows servers are outselling Unix models, Gartner analysts say.

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Sci/Tech

Powell Praises Najaf Peace Agreement (AP) AP - Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday praised the peace deal that ended fighting in Iraq's holy city of Najaf and said the presence of U.S. forces in the area helped make it possible.

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World

Jacobson Lifts Ryder Cup Hopes with Sparkling 65 MUNICH (Reuters) - Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson made his bid for a last-gasp Ryder Cup debut with a spectacular seven-under-par 65 in the BMW International Open second round on Friday.

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Sports

Guantanamo hearing postponed A hearing at Guantanamo Bay for a man accused of being an al-Qaeda paymaster is postponed.

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World

Presidential Campaign to Nov. 2, 2004 (Reuters) Reuters - The following diary of events\leading up to the presidential election on Nov. 2.

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World

Update 2: Interbrew Shareholders Back Ambev Move Shareholders of Belgian brewer Interbrew SA on Friday backed the planned \$11.4 billion combination of their family company with Brazil #39;s Ambev in a deal that would form the world #39;s largest brewer by volume.

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Business

HP Strikes Up its iPod Hewlett-Packard (HPQ:NYSE - news - research) unveiled a new line-up of consumer products Friday aimed at the back-to-school and holiday shopping season, including its own branded version of Apple #39;s (AAPL:Nasdaq - news - research) iPod digital music player

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Business

Drug Giant to Release Trial Results on Web GlaxoSmithKline agreed on Thursday to post the results of all clinical trials of its drugs, both positive and negative, on the Internet.

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Business

Ashcroft Heralds Success in Net Crime Crackdown quot;America #39;s justice community is dedicated to stopping economic crimes before they spread through the online community, quot; Attorney General John Ashcroft said as he announced the results of quot;Operation Web Snare quot; at a Washington news conference.

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Sci/Tech

Oracle Re-extends PeopleSoft Bid. Oracle again extended its tender offer for PeopleSoft to Friday, Sept. 10 at midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Oracle is offering \$21 per share or about \$7.

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Sci/Tech

SBC, Sprint deal doubles Wi-Fi customers #39; hot spot access Through a deal with rival SBC Communications Inc., Sprint Corp. will almost double the number of places subscribers can wirelessly log on to the Internet at high speeds, according to a report from the Kansas City Business Journal.

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Sci/Tech

Gateway PC keeps it cool Gateway on Friday unveiled a PC designed to stay cool even when handling applications that use a lot of power. The 700GR computer features Intel #39;s balanced technology extended, or BTX, architecture, in which

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Sci/Tech

HP Enters Consumer-Electronics Market Hewlett-Packard blasted into the consumer-electronic market on Friday with its most significant product launch of the year, unveiling new televisions, digital cameras, photo printers, notebooks and desktop PCs.

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Sci/Tech

USOC upset over FIG #39;s attempt to pressure Hamm The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has rejected a request by FIG, the international gymnastics federation, to deliver a letter to all-around champion Paul

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Sports

Raikkonen Posts Fastest Time at Belgian Grand Prix Practice Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen has posted the fastest time on the first day of practice for this week #39;s Belgian Grand Prix, where Michael Schumacher can capture the drivers #39; title for the year.

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Sports