Tired Bolt pulls out of Korean event, say organizers

The world’s fastest man Usain Bolt has withdrawn from a meeting in South Korea later this month due to fatigue, according to its organizers. The triple Olympic and world champion sprinter was due to line up in Daegu on September 25, with the one-day event to be a warm-up for when the city hosts the next World Athletics Championships in 2011

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Middle East hungry for TV during Ramadan

Ramadan, that holy month of fasting and dawn-to-dusk abstinence, is a key period in the Muslim calendar apart from its standing as one of the five Pillars of Islam. More typically associated with praying, fasting and religious contemplation, it’s also the month that Muslims are more glued to the tube than at any other time during the year, much like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the United States.

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Would the World Cup miss Argentina?

They are football’s royalty, the marquee players whose almost super human ability on the ball wins cups and championships; their faces adorn billboards and magazine covers from China to Columbia. But, amazingly, the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry may all be absent from the World Cup finals in South Africa.

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Petition seeks apology for Enigma code-breaker Turing

An online petition demanding a formal apology from the British government for its treatment of World War II code-breaker Alan Turing is gaining momentum. Turing was subjected to chemical castration in 1952 after being found guilty of the charge of gross indecency for having a homosexual relationship, an illegal act at the time

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The Next Step for Microfinance: Taking Deposits

Some 30 years ago, the field of microfinance was born from a radical concept: poor people, when lent small amounts of money, will pay it back in a timely manner. In the meantime, that money can be put to use in ways that help boost income—goat farming, say, or carpet weaving—and, ostensibly, raise a family’s standard of living. Now another radical concept is starting to take hold: that the thing people really need, more than business loans, is a safe place to save their money.

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