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  • The long run is over: Isner wins marathon

    Elizabeth Windsor decided to take in some tennis at Wimbledon yesterday. Although tickets are scarcer than elephants cavorting at Piccadilly Circus, she managed to cop a couple, and in the front row of Centre Court, no less.

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    When she walked in, people began to cheer and clap and point cameras at her. She looked a sprightly, likable 84, and she is used to this kind of attention because in her day job, she is Queen Elizabeth II.

    Her Majesty last had an urge to see tennis at Wimbledon in 1977, 33 years ago. Her father, King George VI-to-be, actually played Wimbledon. It was doubles in 1926, an embarrassing hackerly performance prompting his wife to veto any repeats.

    As far as tennis goes these days, Her Majesty’s domain is down to one body. It belongs to a prickly Scotsman, Andy Murray. Last year, the queen sent Murray a good-luck note, and yesterday wished him well in person in a chat that followed his batting-practice victory over Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

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  • G-20 Protesters Expand Rallies as Toronto Braces for Summit

    Protesters and community groups aim to intensify their demonstrations in Toronto today as businesses in the downtown of Canada’s largest city start to close ahead of this weekend’s Group of 20 summit.

    “There’s going to be a rally, a march, a block party and a tent city that’s going to go overnight,” Syed Hussan, spokesman for the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, said in an interview.

    The network, which has been behind protests for the past week including yesterday’s downtown march of 1,200 people in support of indigenous groups’ rights, is planning a “feminist picnic” and a “Free the Streets” march this afternoon, a day before the start of the G-20 gathering.

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  • G-20 leaders facing worries about rising deficits

    World leaders who addressed a severe economic crisis with an unprecedented show of strength last year are finding it harder to maintain their solidarity in the face of new challenges.

    Despite U.S. appeals to refrain from removing stimulus measures too quickly, country after country is rushing to slash spending and raise taxes to avoid suffering the same fate as Greece, which found itself on the brink of bankruptcy last month.

    After maintaining remarkable unity at three previous summits, the leaders of the world's major economies will come to Canada facing a good deal of tension over the best approaches to take to make sure that the global economy continues to emerge from the worst recession in decades.

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  • Robot nudge foils Gulf oil collection for a day

    One nudge by a deep-sea robot, and BP had to back off its most effective method so far for containing the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

    After being removed for much of the day Wednesday, engineers using remote-controlled submarines repositioned a cap that had captured 700,000 gallons of oil in 24 hours before one of the robots bumped into it late in the morning.

    Bob Dudley, BP's new point man for the oil response, said crews had done the right thing to remove the cap because fluid seemed to be leaking and could have been a safety hazard. The logistics coordinator onboard the ship that has been siphoning the oil told The Associated Press that the system was working again but it would take a little time before for the system to "get ramped back up." He asked not to be identified by name because he was not authorized to provide the information.

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  • Google's YouTube wins Viacom copyright case

    Google has won a landmark ruling as a judge threw out a $1bn lawsuit brought by Viacom accusing the internet giant of allowing copyrighted material on its YouTube service without permission.

    Viacom had accused Google of "massive intentional copyright infringement".

    But the Manhattan judge said Google and YouTube could not be held liable merely for having a "general awareness" that videos might be posted illegally.

    Media conglomerate Viacom said it planned to appeal against the decision.

    Google called the ruling "an important victory".
    'Safe harbour'

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  • Michael Jackson tribute programs to air on TV, radio on one-year anniversary of pop star's death

    Just about everyone who ever met Michael Jackson will be on television tomorrow, as the anniversary of his death brings a blizzard of reports on either how it happened or what it has meant.

    Those who prefer to remember Jackson primarily for his music can turn on the radio, where several stations will go all-Michael.

    Jackson died a year ago tomorrow, at age 50, on the eve of a comeback tour. Those who will talk about him include his mother, Katherine, in a paid interview for "Dateline NBC."

    His brothers Jermaine and Tito will talk with Don Lemon on CNN, while ABC's "2-0/20" will look at unanswered questions about his death.

    The CBS "Early Show" will have artists like Marc Anthony and LL Cool J talk about Jackson, and TV Guide will show a new documentary, "Gone Too Soon."

    Here are some TV programs, all tomorrow unless noted:

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  • U.S. Predator Drones to Surveil Mexican Border

    The Homeland Security Department will use unmanned surveillance aircraft and other technological upgrades in its ongoing effort to protect the southern border of the United States.

    The department said Wednesday it has obtained Federal Aviation Administration permission to operate unmanned planes along the Texas border and throughout the Gulf Coast region. Customs and Border Protection will base a surveillance drone at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in Texas.

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  • At least 12 dead in train accident outside Barcelona

    At least 12 people were killed and several others injured when they were run over by a train in a town south of Barcelona, Spain, a spokesman for Catalonia Emergency Center said Thursday.

    At least 14 more were hurt, and three remained in critical condition, the spokesman said.

    The accident occurred Wednesday between 11:30 p.m. and midnight local time as a group tried to cross the tracks after getting off a local train that had stopped at the town of Castelldefels, authorities said.

    Many were headed to the Fiesta de San Juan, which celebrates the year's shortest night, on the beach at Castelldefels.

    Castelldefels mayor, Joan Sau, said about 30 people were crossing the tracks when a Barcelona-bound express train hit them.

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