Chelsea win Community Shield on penalties

Chelsea have won the Community Shield — the traditional curtain-raiser to the start of the English Premier League season — beating Manchester United 4-1 on penalties at Wembley after the teams drew 2-2 after 90 minutes. The London side scored all four of their spot-kicks, while veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs and French left-back Patrice Evra both missed their penalties for United

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Rampant Roddick reaches Washington semifinals

Top seed Andy Roddick continued his fine form on return from injury as he moved into the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic by beating fellow big-server Ivo Karlovic in Washington on Friday night. The American, who notched his 500th career win in the previous round, triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) against the 11th-seeded Croatian to set up a last-four clash with compatriot John Isner

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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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Medvedev expects ‘reasonable solution’ to U.S. nuclear standoff

On the eve of a two-day summit with U.S. President Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says both countries are "moderately optimistic" about "resetting" their relations. In an interview with Italian media RAI and Corriere della Sera, Medvedev said relations “have begun to revive” after a period of significant deterioration during the administration of President George W.

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Nigeria oil company rejects damning Amnesty report

Nigeria’s state oil company rejected criticism from a leading human rights group Wednesday, calling an Amnesty International report "inaccurate." “We have issues with the report,” said Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Amnesty said Tuesday that pollution and environmental impacts from the oil industry in the Niger Delta are creating a “human rights tragedy” in which local people suffer poor health and loss of livelihood. Governments and oil companies are failing to be accountable for the problems, Amnesty said in its report, called “Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta.” But the state oil company said it was local communities who cause much of the environmental damage by vandalizing pipelines for monetary gain.

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Scolari blames ‘player power’ for Chelsea exit

Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has claimed that he was forced out of the English club because several players did not support him. The Brazilian was sacked in February after an unhappy eight-month spell in London and temporarily replaced by Russia coach Guus Hiddink. The 60-year-old, who is now in charge of Uzbekistan club Bunyodkor, singled out Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, Germany midfielder Michael Ballack and Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech as problem players

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Merciless Murray maintains Wimbledon hopes

Young challenger Andy Murray marched into the last 16 of Wimbledon on Saturday, while comparative veterans Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt issued reminders that they are far from spent forces. British third seed Murray trounced 30th-seeded Serb Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-3 6-4, needing just one hour and 36 minutes to maintain his hopes of reaching the final at SW19 for the first time

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