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Australian debutant Arnold ready for Open fast lane

By Martyn Herman ST ANDREWS, Scotland (Reuters) – After six years waiting for his first major championship, go-kart loving Australian Scott Arnold’s career picks up speed on Thursday when he tees it up in the British Open at St Andrews. “It’s funny, the last five years I tried to qualify for The Open I never got in and now it’s at St Andrews and I qualify, it’s quite surreal,” the

Exclusive: Which aid relief charities spend the most on fundraising?

By Tom Esslemont LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As the business of international aid booms, rival charities are locked in a race to attract donors with some spending close to a fifth of their resources on fundraising, a Thomson Reuters Foundation investigation has found. The competition for funding is driving NGOs such as World Vision, Save The Children and Oxfam to invest more on attracting cash. The survey found that

Golf-Australian debutant Arnold ready for Open fast lane

By Martyn Herman ST ANDREWS, Scotland, July 15 (Reuters) – After six years waiting for his first major championship, go-kart loving Australian Scott Arnold’s career picks up speed on Thursday when he tees it up in the British Open at St Andrews. “It’s funny, the last five years I tried to qualify for The Open I never got in and now it’s at St Andrews and I qualify, it’s quite

Watson 'melancholy' over Open curtain-call

Tom Watson says he is ready to play his last Open Championship at St Andrews this week, comparing it to “death”, but still leaving open the door for another crack at the tournament that has defined his career. The 65-year-old American needed a special exemption just to get into this year’s 144th Open to make his 38th appearance and walk a last time over the Swilcan Bridge in the footsteps

Confirmed: New Audi R8 Will Get a Turbo As Its Second Engine

– The new, second-generation Audi R8 is launching with a 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V-10 as its sole engine offering, the previous entry-level 4.2-liter V-8 having been jettisoned from the lineup. Now Motoring is quoting two senior Audi executives as saying that the car will get a second engine offering, one that features turbocharged power. – The ten-cylinder in the 2016 R8 comes in two strengths: The standard version makes 540

2016 GMC Sierra: Now You See It, and, Well, That’s Pretty Much It

– Barely trailing its General Motors platform-mate, the Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra also receives a midcycle refresh for 2016. Compared with the 2016 Silverado, which was more or less given an all-new face, the GMC’s changes are more subtle, although because GMC is so far releasing only photos, we don’t know the full extent of the Sierra’s updates. – – We do know that GMC went a little LED-crazy on

2015 Volkswagen Passat Reviewed: Family-Sedan Goodness Clothed in Anonymity

-Overview: The 2015 VW Passat is Volkswagen’s premier North American passenger car, designed for the U.S. market and assembled in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It differs from the European version of the same name in size (Volkswagen calls it “the largest Passat ever”), styling, suspension tuning, and, most important, in price, making it more competitive in the American mid-size sedan market. There are three engines, all of which drive the front wheels

Glah Over London, Claw on, Chicago: Mercedes CLA45 and GLA45 AMG Get Power Bump

– When Mercedes-Benz threw its new CLA to the loons in Affalterbach and they returned it with 355 horsepower harrumphing from its turbocharged 2.0-liter, folks were pretty agog. Time, however, does not stand still, and Volkswagen is working on 400-ish-pony versions of its own 2.0T engine. What’s more, the Blue Oval recently announced that its Focus RS will churn out 345 horsepower. And it wouldn’t do for proud Stuttgart to

2016 Mazda 6 2.5L Manual First Drive: Stick-Shift Bliss in Mazda’s Revised Mid-Sizer

-A 10Best Cars and comparison-test winner, the Mazda 6 is our pick of the current mid-size sedan litter. It’s a solidly built, well-executed, and fun-to-drive vehicle that delivers a level of satisfaction well beyond what’s expected in a family sedan. The car recently was refreshed for 2016, and while Mazda wisely kept the updates to a minimum, the 6 is nonetheless even more enjoyable. Plus, thankfully, Mazda didn’t axe the