Showtime for Hitler: ‘The Producers’ Comes to Berlin

As the two Jewish men on stage slip on their Nazi armbands, preparing to take the Siegfried Oath, the portly man sitting next to me seems unsure if he should laugh. Like the rest of the audience at the Berlin opening of the Mel Brooks musical comedy The Producers on Sunday night, the old man waits.

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New hope for development of H1N1 vaccine

Researchers at a South Korean university say they have discovered a candidate strain for an H1N1 vaccine, though it has not yet been approved by health authorities in the United States or the World Health Organization. The strain is a genetically modified version of a live virus, and could lead to a vaccine against H1N1 — commonly known as swine flu, said Seo Sang-heui, a professor at Chungnam National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in South Korea

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England launch ‘transparent’ World Cup bid

English Football Association hierarchy promised a "transparent" World Cup bid on Monday when they launched the nation’s attempt to host the 2018 finals. FA chairman Lord Triesman was joined by David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Wembley with officials anxious not to repeat the mistakes that cost England the 2006 tournament. Bid chief executive Andy Anson believes the failed 2006 bid was guilty of “arrogance and complacency” and while Triesman stopped short of repeating the accusation, he feels the FA must learn from their mistakes

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Schools Close as Spike in Swine Flu Cases Hits Japan

In a sudden surge that took Asian health officials by surprise, the Japanese health ministry confirmed on Monday at least 125 new cases of the A virus — or swine flu — in the country’s western prefectures of Osaka and Hyogo. Officials have shut down around 1,000 schools since many of the infected were high-school students. Japan, along with the United Kingdom and Spain, is now one of the few countries outside of North America where the World Health Organization fears sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus could lead to the onset of a full-blown pandemic

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Is the Party Over for the Champagne Cork?

To cork, or not to cork, that is the question in the French winemaking region of Champagne ever since the unveiling earlier this month of a gutsy new Champagne stopper prototype. The Maestro opening system, developed by Alcan Packaging Capsules, is composed of a concealed crown bottle cap fitted with an aluminum lever.

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Returning Bolt shatters 150m world record

World record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt added yet another title to his tally after racing to victory in the Bupa Great CityGames 150 meter sprint in a new best time in Manchester on Sunday. The Jamaican, who broke both the 100m and 200m records before anchoring his country to the 4x100m relay title in Beijing, clocked 14.36 seconds — smashing the previous world’s best by 0.39 seconds. Bolt, in his first competitive outing of the season, finished well ahead of Britain’s Marlon Devonish, who ran 15.07.

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