Broadly, where policy has remained mainly in government hands, the problems more thoughtful commentators noted back in the mid-nineties remain.
Roger Federer inflicted a rare claycourt defeat on his great rival Rafael Nadal on Sunday when he beat the world number one 6-4, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final. Nadal was bidding to become the first man to win all three claycourt Masters Series events in one year after his victories in Monte Carlo and Rome but slipped to only his fifth loss on his favoured surface in 155 matches since 2005.
Dutchman Louis van Gaal will take over as coach of Bayern Munich on a two-year contract starting next season, the Bundesliga club announced on Wednesday.
World number two Roger Federer believes his form is improving all the time and that he still has what it takes to rattle number one Rafael Nadal and steal the Spaniard's French Open crown. The Swiss 13-times Grand Slam winner has yet to win a title this year and has lost in semi-finals twice to Novak Djokovic and twice to Andy Murray as well as falling to Nadal in the Australian Open final.
Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine will meet Germany's Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup final in Istanbul on May 20. Brazilian Ilsinho grabbed a superb late winner to put Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev, while Werder went through on the away goals rule after a 3-2 win at Hamburg SV gave them a 3-3 draw on aggregate.
Visitors Schalke put a dent in Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title hopes by snatching a 1-0 win over the champions in a bad-tempered game on Saturday.
The UEFA Cup final will be contested by German and Ukrainian teams after Werder Bremen and Hamburg SV along with Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk set up domestic semi-final showdowns. The semi-final first legs take place on April 30 with the return matches on May 5. The final is in Istanbul on May 20.
Brazil striker Robinho is finding it a struggle to make an impact in the second half of the Premier League season, Manchester City manager Mark Hughes said.
The race for Premier League places in next season's Europa League warmed up on Sunday when Aston Villa and Everton fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw and Fulham came from behind to win 3-1 at Manchester City.
Manish J on why he will watch the World Cup as a cricket lover, and not a crazed Indian fan.
UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg were knocked out at the last-16 stage by Udinese on Thursday while Hamburg SV stunned Galatasaray to deny the Istanbul side the chance of a May final in their home city.
Olympique Marseille let 10-man Ajax Amsterdam off the hook in a UEFA Cup first leg meeting of former European champions on Thursday, while holders Zenit St Petersburg suffered a 2-0 defeat at Udinese. The only other emphatic victory in the first legs came from ambitious Manchester City, 2-0 winners at home to Danish club AaB Aalborg.
Bayer Leverkusen dumped Bayern Munich out of the German Cup with a 4-2 victory over the holders in Wednesday's quarter-final. Leverkusen were joined on Wednesday by Werder Bremen, who ousted VfL Wolfsburg 5-2, and Hamburg after they beat second division Wehen Wiesbaden 2-1.
Striker Miroslav Klose struck twice in the final minutes to hand Bayern Munich a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
London's Wembley Stadium will host the Champions League final in 2011, European football's governing body UEFA said Thursday. The 2012 final will be held at Munich's Allianz Arena, UEFA said in a statement.
Champions Bayern Munich crushed Stuttgart 5-1 on Tuesday to ease into the German Cup quarter-finals after a six-week winter break. Hamburg SV striker Ivica Olic scored a hat-trick against 1860 Munich to lead his team into the quarter-finals and show why Bayern Munich rushed to sign him for next season.
For the fifth consecutive night, several hundred stranded passengers slept on camping beds at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt as the authorities struggled to cope with the tension building up among those still unable to catch a flight.
Manchester City suffered a double dose of Brazilian blues when striker Robinho walked out on a training camp in Tenerife following their failure to sign his compatriot Kaka.
Kaka's move to Manchester City fell through because AC Milan '"bottled it', City's executive chairman Garry Cook said on Tuesday. Cook was part of a group of City officials who spent seven hours in the Italian city on Monday trying to secure the world record transfer of the Brazilian midfielder, only for the Italian club to announce that no deal would take place.
Wales forward Craig Bellamy completed his transfer from West Ham United to Manchester City on Monday after the London club turned down an offer from Tottenham Hotspur.
Brazilian playmaker Kaka rejected a world record move to Manchester City on Monday and pledged his immediate future to Italian side AC Milan.
David Beckham was handed a surprise start for AC Milan's Serie A game at AS Roma on Sunday.
On-loan AC Milan midfielder David Beckham will be a substitute for his first Serie A game at AS Roma on Sunday (7:30 p.m. British time), coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
David Beckham made his AC Milan debut with a steady first-half run-out against Hamburg SV in a friendly on Tuesday won 4-3 on penalties by the Italians after the match finished 1-1. Beckham, 33, has joined the Serie A club on a short loan spell from Los Angeles Galaxy to keep up his fitness and stay in contention for the England team during the US close season.
UEFA Cup favourites AC Milan missed the chance to progress to the knockout stages as group winners when a late Mahir Saglik equaliser handed VfL Wolfsburg a 2-2 draw at the San Siro on Wednesday. As Group E's top side, Wolfsburg are guaranteed a tie against a third-placed side from another group in Friday's last 32 draw while seven-times European champions Milan must face a third-placed finisher from the Champions League group stage.
Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko retained his WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles on Saturday with a technical knockout of Hasim Rahman in round seven. The referee stopped the fight after Klitschko, 32, landed a series of punches to Rahman's head and the American retreated to the ropes, barely able to stand. The Ukrainian had already knocked him down in round six.
David Beckham said on Friday he will go on AC Milan's tour of Dubai during Italian Serie A's winter break but again reiterated he would be returning to Los Angeles Galaxy once his short loan spell is over. Beckham, who is joining Milan to keep his fitness up and stay in the England picture during the US close season, will not be able to play officially for the Rossoneri until January.
German pride took a second bashing in eight days on Saturday as their Euro 2012 countdown began in earnest with a humbling 5-3 friendly defeat by Switzerland.
The Indian ace and Robby Ginepri went down to wild card entrants Rainer Schuettler and Michael Kohlmann in the Hambuirg Masters.
Suzlon Energy, which is facing consumer complaints of faulty blades supplies, has shelved plans of setting up a tower manufacturing facility and suspended the process to increase its stake in REpower of Germany, in the context of the current financial turmoil.
Bundesliga leading scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice and Raul was also on target in his last home appearance as Schalke 04 thumped woeful Hertha Berlin 4-0 on Saturday to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Fernando Llorente netted a dramatic late winner for Athletic Bilbao to eliminate Sporting and Atletico Madrid comfortably held on to a first-leg lead to oust La Liga rivals Valencia on Thursday and set up an all-Spanish Europa League final.
Borussia Dortmund, a young team assembled at minimum cost, won the Bundesliga for the second season running on Saturday after a 2-0 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Bayern Munich's Bundesliga woes continued on Saturday when they blew a two-goal lead in a 3-3 home draw with VfL Bochum while promoted Hoffenheim took over at the top. Bayern were leading 3-1 with seven minutes to go through goals from Daniel van Buyten and Ze Roberto (2) only to allow Bochum to stage a comeback with two bad defensive lapses inside three minutes.
Leaders Schalke 04 surrendered their unbeaten Bundesliga record when they lost 1-0 at promoted Cologne on Friday. The visitors got away with a series of defensive lapses until Youssef Mohamad headed in for Cologne just before halftime after a long throw from Pierre Wome bamboozled the defence. Schalke remain top with 11 points from six matches followed by 1899 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart and Hamburg SV on 10 points from five.
Real Madrid new boy Rafael van der Vaart scored a hat-trick to help the champions thrash promoted Sporting Gijon 7-1.
Werder Bremen pulled off a shock 5-2 win at Bayern Munich on Saturday, humiliating the champions in front of their own fans and giving Juergen Klinsmann his first taste of defeat as a Bundesliga coach.
Steve McCLaren's VfL Wolfsburg slumped to another Bundesliga defeat on Saturday with a 2-0 loss at Borussia Dortmund while Michael Ballack was injured in Bayer Leverkusen's 2-2 draw at Hanover 96.
Germany-based Beiersdorf AG, the maker of Nivea skin creams, is entering the women's fairness cream market in India, almost a year after it began selling fairness cream for men locally in a bid to take on rivals including Hindustan Unilever, L'Oreal and other players.
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