The live show at the Tablao - amid a formal, slightly old-world atmosphere, with bow-tied waiters and hand-painted posters from early 20th-century Seville - is love and tragedy rendered in musical form.

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At his swearing-in he gave the king a perfunctory peck on the shoulder, not a full bow-and-kiss on the hand.

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He apparently feared that the Nigerian government would bow to pressure from the US to hand him over to the UN-backed court to stand trial.

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On the other hand, in a hard-ball approach, the company could have cited ongoing litigation as reason to bow out.

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