melbourne jan afp
fourth seed caroline wozniacki stormed home on the back of powerful serve to
beat israel th seed shahar peer and stay alive at the australian
open on saturday
the dane now faces china li na in the fourth round of the year opening grand
slam after seeing off the israeli in minutes on rod laver arena
the year old lost her opening service game to go down but from that point
on she served superbly to dominate
wozniacki had an percent first serve success rate in the opening set and
percent overall the sheer pressure of which told on peer who battled bravely
in the first set but tired as the match wore on
the serve percentage was really high today and was really pleased about
that she said
felt like was serving well and winning lot of my points on it
but think some days you serve well and some days you serve less good all in
all it was good performance
wozniacki has soared up the world rankings since she reached the final of last
year us open where she lost to kim clijsters
but despite being just years old she showed enormous composure against peer
the two players were called on court early after marcos baghdatis pulled out of
the earlier men match injured but wozniacki said she had kept an eye on the
score and when she saw baghdatis lost the first set she decided to start
her preparations
actually came here and warmed up at pm at the stadium she said
afterwards just had quick look at the scores could see it was for
lleyton hewitt so went to the gym and started working out little bit just
to get the match rhythm and got into match mode
afterwards heard that he retired so was already ready went and changed
fast and then we went on court
she conceded she would have to be at her best against li after the chinese
number one came back from set and break down to overhaul her in the first
round in sydney last week
going to do my best she great player she beat me last time she
said
it going to be tough fight
she can be the one dictating the game because then she dangerous and
playing really heavy balls
it just important for me to keep her moving
figure skating poykio withdraws from euros
tallinn jan afp
finland susanna poykio has withdrawn from the women event at the european
figure skating championships here saturday
the year old poykio the european bronze and silver medal winner
is suffering from lower back pain and placed just th in friday short
programme
italy carolina kostner is leading the women event heading into saturday
free skating finale ahead of poykio teammates kiira korpi and defending
champion laura lepisto
tennis federer and serena move up gear
melbourne jan afp
top seeds roger federer and serena williams moved up gear saturday with
straight sets wins as they closed in on more silverware at the australian open
the world premier players have grand slam titles between them and both look
primed to add to their collections
the swiss great made short work of spanish st albert montanes
while williams completed demolition of carla suarez navarro as the
fourth round of the opening grand slam of the season was finalised
also staying on track was men third seed novak djokovic sixth seed nikolay
davydenko ninth seed fernando verdasco and local hope lleyton hewitt
joining williams in the women draw were sister venus fourth seed caroline
wozniacki seventh seed victoria azarenka ninth seeded vera zvonareva and th
seeded samantha stosur
federer with grand slam titles now faces round of clash against
hewitt who was in good touch against marcos baghdatis before the cypriot
retired with shoulder injury while trailing
ve come through difficult draw feel physically fine and mentally fresh
but the opponents will get tougher from here said federer
so far it been great obviously you elevate your game gradually as the
opponents get harder so happy the way feel
williams will next take on the imposing stosur
the australian th seed outclassed italy alberta brianti and is
gunning for another crack at williams who she beat when they last met in
stanford in july
we ve had couple of close matches the last two times we ve played and got
the last one so going to ride with that and go into the match feeling pretty
confident stosur said
williams was also looking forward to the rematch
think she playing great she beat me the last time we played so she has
lot of momentum ton of momentum she said
definitely expect the crowd to root for sam hopefully my mom will cheer for
me should be fine
sister venus set up fourth round clash with italian th seed francesca
schiavone by beating australian casey dellacqua
also pushing through were azarenka who destroyed italy tathiana garbin
and zvonareva winner over argentine gisela dulko
they will play each other for place in the quarters
think did very well today had good game plan and definitely played
to it very well said azarenka
was going for my shots and playing comfortably and confident
chinese hope li na also stayed in the tournament with three set win over off
court friend daniela hantuchova and will next battle denmark wozniacki who
shattered the dreams of israel shahar peer in straight sets
like federer serbian third seed djokovic the champion was also in
imposing form as he crushed uzbekistan denis istomin
think at some stage in the tournament you want to have straight sets win
an easy win so you can get fast off the court and try to save all the energy as
much as you can for the upcoming challenges said djokovic
so it was good to have the match like this
he will next play unseeded pole lukasz kubot who was handed free ride when
russian th seed mikhail youzhny withdrew with wrist injury
russian sixth seed davydenko stayed on the boil with hammering
of argentina juan monaco and now faces tough match against ninth seeded
fernando verdasco
the spaniard booked his place in the last when austrian stefan koubek retired
with virus after losing the first set of their match
tenth seed jo wilfried tsonga also stayed on track with four set win over
germany tommy haas and will face spaniard nicolas almagro next
two children killed when home collapses in italy
rome jan afp
two children were killed when their dilapidated home collapsed in the historic
centre of favara near agrigento in sicily local police and officials said
their parents were lightly injured while their year old brother was pulled
out of the rubble alive but with serious fractures departmental police chief
mario di iulio told the hour news channel sky tg
apparently the building collapsed for structural reasons and neighbouring
blocks of flats are also at risk local police commander gabriele treleani told
sky
the body of year old marianna was recovered early saturday by rescuers who
managed to bring out her three year old sister alive but she died in the
ambulance taking her to hospital police said
police said the year old boy giovanni guided rescuers to him with his mobile
phone
bulldozers cleared the rubble while around rescuers sifted through the ruins
sometimes using their bare hands in their search for the buried children
the two storey building was in the centre of favara near the historic city of
agrigento where many buildings are said to be in very poor condition and
collapses are frequent
agrigento police have opened an investigation into why the building in favara
was badly maintained and who was responsible
neighbours said the family was very poor favara deputy mayor michele
montalbano told local television that the building was part of complex of very
old dwellings
building collapses are not uncommon in southern italy often because
construction permits have been illicitly obtained
last october floods and landslips left people dead six missing and
homeless in the messina region of eastern sicily where many buildings had
illegally been built in the river bed or on hills at risk of landslides
japan political heavyweight denies illegal fund allegation
tokyo jan afp
japanese political heavyweight ichiro ozawa saturday denied an allegation that
he received an illegal donation from construction firms in scandal that has
rocked the centre left government
have never received illegal money and am sure neither have my office
staffers said ozawa in statement released after hours of questioning by
prosecutors
prosecutors are investigating whether ozawa secretary general of prime
minister yukio hatoyama democratic party of japan dpj took millions of
dollars in bribes from construction firms and invested the money in tokyo
property
they raided his offices and arrested three of his former or current aides
after weeks of refusals ozawa submitted to voluntary questioning on saturday
afternoon by prosecutors at tokyo hotel
the scandal has dealt serious blow to hatoyama who has seen his public
support slide rapidly ahead of national election in july seen as test for
the dpj ability to hold on to power over the long term
badminton malaysian open results
kuala lumpur jan afp
results from the semi finals of the malaysian open part of the super series
tournament being held at the bukit jalil stadium on saturday denotes seeds
men singles
lee chong wei masx bt nguyen tien minh vie
boonsak ponsana tha bt peter gade denx
women singles
bae seung hee kor bt wang yihan chnx
wang xin chn bt eriko hirose jpn
men doubles
koo kien keat tan boon heong masx bt chai biao zhang nan chn
xu chen guo zhendong chnx bt alvent yulianto hendra gunawan inax
women doubles
du jing yu yang chnx bt jung kyung eun yoo hyun young kor
ma jin wang xiaoli chnx wong pei tty chin eei hui masx
mixed doubles
thomas laybourn kamilla rytter juhl den bt sudket prapakamol saralee
thungthongkam thax
tao jiaming zhang yawen chn bt chen hung ling chou chia chi tpe
afp
tennis serena and venus on track for all williams semi
melbourne jan afp
serena and venus kept on track for an all williams semi final while pair of
in form eastern europeans set up fourth round showdown at the australian open
saturday
serena thrashed carla suarez navarro and will now face local favourite
samantha stosur while venus outlasted australian casey dellacqua
fourth seeded dane caroline wozniacki was also impressive as she downed israel
shahar peer on the back of superb serving game
but judging by the way serena saw off suarez navarro the defending champion is
still the one to beat for the title
she raced to lead in just minutes and although the spaniard recovered
and fought back the world number one was always in control
stosur winner over italian alberta brianti will play serena in
marquee clash on monday and the pair have some history
the showdown is sure to create plenty of interest with stosur beating the world
number one the last time they met
williams then added fuel to the fire by accusing stosur of being good
framer implying many of her winning shots of being miss hits
whether she genuinely forgets or whether she just wants to stay onside with
stosur vocal australian fans williams insisted she could not recall saying
anything negative about her rival
don remember that she said when asked about the incident
just remember hit some great shots and she returned them back for winners
stosur will have her work cut out against williams although it was far from
plain sailing for serena
she was made to run all over the court but showed her superb athleticism as she
chased down many of the spaniard best shots and returned them with interest
meanwhile venus said she had made changes to her game in the off season which
helped her against dellacqua
obviously with professional sports you can remain stagnant every off
season thinking of which ways can play better she said before declining
to say exactly what changes she had made
whatever the adjustments were they seemed to work as she won the first set
comfortably
however she was made to graft lot harder for the second
in the end it took the sixth seed one hour minutes to subdue dellacqua and
book fourth round meeting with th seeded italian francesca schiavone who
upset th seed agnieszka radwanska earlier in the day
lurking in the shadows are belarusian seventh seed victoria azarenka and ninth
seeded russian vera zvonareva who continued to steamroll their way through the
draw
azarenka thumped italian tathiana garbin and zvonareva was too good for
argentine gisela dulko
azarenka who had serena on the ropes in the fourth round in before
succumbing to illness and the extreme hot weather has lost just eight games in
the first three rounds while zvonareva has dropped only
the year old azarenka said she had put the disappointment of behind her
already forgot about last year have nothing to make up for she said
china li na joined countrywoman zheng jie in the fourth round with
win over slovakia daniela hantuchova the first time two chinese players
have been in the round of in the same grand slam
she faces wozniacki in the fourth round
luge european championships results
sigulda latvia jan afp
european championship luge results here on saturday
women
tatjana ivanova rus
corinna martini ger
nina reithmayer aut
veronika halder aut
stefanie sieger ger
biden calls for fair and credible iraq election fm
baghdad jan afp
us vice president joe biden said on saturday iraq march election must be fair
credible and transparent the war torn nation foreign minister told afp while
insisting that baghdad was in charge
he made the point that they want to see transparent fair election that has
credibility both for the iraqi people and foreign people but how you do it is
your business said foreign minister hoshyar zebari who was party to biden
early talks with iraqi leaders
biden arrived in baghdad late on friday for discussions aimed at brokering
compromise over controversial blacklist that has seen both sunni arabs and
shiites excluded from the march poll
zebari however stressed that biden realised that the dispute was for iraq to
resolve and that the election had only formed small part of saturday
discussions
the united states is there if we need their help but everyone is aware that the
time is closing and this issue has to be resolved through legal means zebari
said
these people who have been barred have the right to appeal the judges must
look at the cases and whatever decision they reach must be acceptable
government spokesman ali al dabbagh meanwhile said biden had accepted that the
dispute was for iraqis to resolve
he clearly said that this is an iraqi issue and he is not willing to interfere
with the legal and constitutional process said dabbagh
populist obama vows never to quit the fight
elyria ohio jan afp
president barack obama vowed saturday to never stop fighting for struggling
americans in fiery counter attack aimed at mending democratic morale and his
frayed bond with voters
obama sought to recapture the passion of his campaign after wake up call
from voters in liberal massachusetts who sent republican to the senate and
with his health care plan and wider agenda under assault in congress
ll never stop fighting to make sure that the most powerful voice in
washington belongs to you he said in his weekly video and audio address
denouncing the supreme court decision to ease curbs on big business spending
on election campaigns
he delivered the same promise on friday during town hall style meeting in the
rust belt state of ohio vital bellwether in mid term elections in november
shaping up as another hit for democrats
striking populist tone obama said he would fight wall street to restore home
values to secure congressional passage for his embattled health plan to stop
credit card companies cheating customers and to cut exploding deficits
five days before his showpiece state of the union address obama also gave no
sign of backing down on reforming health care even as the historic bill looks
to be becalmed in congress
got to admit we hit bit of buzz saw obama said of the year long effort
to pass the reform which now looks doubtful after democrats lost their seat
senate supermajority needed to thwart republican blocking tactics
had no illusions when took on health care it was always going to be hard
obama said
and going to keep up the fight for real meaningful health insurance
reforms
posing as the champion of regular people obama added can promise you there
will be more fights in the days ahead
obama critics some of them democrats have faulted him for not being passionate
enough in fighting economic blight for siding too much with wall street and
appearing aloof while everyday americans struggle
but with his soaring approval ratings of just year ago wilting the president
told crowd in ohio you know what win when you win
so long as have the privilege of serving as your president ll never stop
fighting for you ll take my lumps too
his day of rubbing shoulders with ohioans in colleges factories and small
town bar were designed to enhance the president regular guy credentials and
to convince people he knows how tough things are
the truth is being president is also little confining obama said
explaining how he came to neglect his connection with americans as he faced
multiple crises in his first year in office
can just walk around and visit people like used to can just go to
the barber shop or sit at diner
obama noted the political tumult following democrats loss of seat in
massachusetts which deprived his party of the votes needed to skirt republican
challenges to pass major legislation
the democratic party got resounding wake up call from the voters of
massachusetts david plouffe obama former campaign manager acknowledged in
an op ed to be published in the washington post on sunday
but it long been clear that would be challenging election year for our
party he added in the article accessible on the post website
while lashing out against the financial industry obama also justified his
highly unpopular decision to stick with the previous administration bank
bailout plans
had he not acted he said the country would have fallen into second great
depression which would have taken terrible future toll on ordinary americans
or main street
republicans boosted by this week victory of insurgent candidate scott brown in
massachusetts are cranking up their own populist rhetoric
for the past year ohioans have watched anxiously as washington democrats with
the approval of president obama have pushed job killing agenda that includes
stimulus that isn working said john boehner the top republican in the
house of representatives who represents an ohio district
unemployment in ohio is percent above the brutal national average of
percent
but the white house says obama billion dollar economic stimulus plan has
created jobs in the state
nordic skiing kowalczyk wins rybinsk pursuit
rybinsk russia jan afp
poland justyna kowalczyk took advantage of the absence of most of her closest
rivals to win the women world cup cross country pursuit here on saturday
kowalczyk finished the course in min sec sec ahead of germany evi
sachenbacher stehle with russian olga shuhkina at sec
the pole consolidated her lead of the world cup overall standings with
points with slovenia petra majdic in second on
the slovenian like the norwegian swedish and finnish contingents skipped this
weekend events here as they fine tune preparations for next month winter
olympics and have to concentrate on national championships
racers will finish off in rybinsk on sunday with team sprint
tennis tsonga edges past haas into fourth round
melbourne jan afp
tenth seeded frenchman jo wilfried tsonga clawed his way into the fourth round
of the australian open with fighting win over german tommy
haas on saturday
the finalist had his hands full with the plucky german three time semi
finalist here who seemed on target to level the match in the fourth set in what
was high quality match
down two sets to one haas was up break and led in the fourth the th
seed serving for the set in the eighth game
however tsonga was able to break back as he rattled off five successive games
to end the match which lasted two hours and minutes in whirlwind finish
did good job tsonga said hope will be better the next time again
tsonga admitted that he struggled with haas style of play
it was very tough because tommy is very good player and very offensive he
said he is difficult for me to play because he takes the ball early
although haas had won their only previous encounter last year the frenchman had
few too many shots in the arsenal for the cagey year old hitting
winners and thumping down aces
one of his best shots came at crucial stage in the first set when he was able
to reflex volley haas backhand that clipped the tape for winner that secured
the only break of serve in the set
however haas was playing fine tennis and showed his fighting qualities to level
the match before the frenchman again regained the ascendancy by winning five
straight games to claim the third set
break in the fourth game of the fourth set seemingly had resurgent haas on
track to level the match until tsonga blazing finish
tsonga next opponent is th seeded spaniard nicolas almagro the pair having
never played each other before
moderate quakes hit bolivia us seismologists
washington jan afp
two moderate earthquakes shook bolivia early saturday us seismologists said
although there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in the and
magnitude tremors
the stronger tremor hit miles kilometers west northwest of santa cruz
the country largest city at am gmt with depth of miles
km according to the us geological survey
the weaker quake struck nearby minutes later miles km northwest of
santa cruz
another magnitude quake struck miles km south of golfito in costa
rica at am gmt at depth of miles km the usgs said
tennis australian open results day six collated
melbourne jan afp
collated results from day six of the australian open at melbourne park here
saturday denotes seeding
men singles
rd round
roger federer sui bt albert montanes esp
nikolay davydenko rus bt juan monaco arg
fernando verdasco esp bt stefan koubek aut retired virus
lukasz kubot pol bt mikhail youzhny rus walkover wrist injury
novak djokovic srb bt denis istomin uzb
lleyton hewitt aus bt marcos baghdatis cyp retired shoulder
injury
nicolas almagro esp bt allejandro falla col
jo wilfried tsonga fra bt tommy haas ger
women singles
rd round
samantha stosur aus bt alberta brianti ita
victoria azarenka blr bt tathiana garbin ita
vera zvonareva rus bt gisela dulko arg
serena williams usa bt carla suarez navarro esp
francesco schiavone ita bt agnieszka radwanska pol
li na chn bt daniela hantuchova svk
venus williams usa bt casey dellacqua aus
caroline wozniacki den bt shahar peer isr
haiti government ends quake search and rescue phase un
geneva jan afp
haiti government has ended the search and rescue phase of the quake relief
effort after at least people were pulled out alive from under the rubble
the united nations said saturday
the government has declared the search and rescue phase over the un
organisation for the coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha said in its
latest situation report on the relief effort
there were live rescues by international search and rescue teams it
added
an year old woman and year old man were finally extracted from under the
debris in haiti capital port au prince on friday about days after the
magnitude quake
but un figures suggested that the number of those located alive had diminished
significantly in recent days
the united nations said the haitian government declared the rescue effort over
at pm gmt on friday
the government made its decision after consulting international experts it
sovereign decision ocha spokeswoman elisabeth byrs told afp
up to search and rescue teams with staff and dogs combed the ruins
of port au prince and towns and villages in south haiti in the search for signs
or life under collapsed homes and buildings
aid workers have already said that record number of people for such disaster
were pulled out while thousands more are thought to have been saved by local
residents
some of the search effort is continuing to look for bodies byrs said
light urban search and rescue teams sent by several nations were heading home
while those with heavy lifting or drilling equipment shifted to the rest of the
huge relief effort helping to clear rubble and providing medical care byrs
said
as deliveries of food water shelter and medical care to hundreds of thousands
of people were scaled up in port au prince and the worst affected towns of
jacmel and leogane attention was shifting to the homeless
huge wave of displacement was underway partly with official blessing as tens
of thousands moved out to parts of the country that were not affected by the
earthquake the worst to hit the americas in recent history
the number of people leaving port au prince is increasing daily the un said
as more than people took advantage of the government offer of free
transport to other cities
the total number of people leaving port au prince by private means remains
undetermined it added
the un food and agriculture organisation fao estimated that the number of
people leaving for impoverished rural areas could reach as high as one
million adding to the strain on local resources ocha said
aid agencies already stationed around the country prior to the quake reported
people arriving in the central area of st marc anse galets and gonave
island in the west many of them with injuries
the government is planning to house the displaced in settlements for tens of
thousands of people each while others are being encouraged to stay with
relatives
byrs insisted that rural communities hosting displaced people would also need
help because of the degree of poverty they endured
they already have trouble eking out living these communities will need
support she said
byrs also underlined that haiti rainy season one of the sources of
disasters that have battered the country in recent years was about to begin
ministers from brazil france the united states and other nations are due to
hold talks in montreal on monday to coordinate aid for the quake hit caribbean
nation and prepare later summit on reconstruction
donor nations and international lending institutions pledged fresh two year
million dollar aid package to help haiti pull out of poverty and cyclone
destruction at conference in april
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor martin bennitt
tel
top stories
haiti calls off search with toll at
biden in iraq to defuse barred election candidates row
britain raises terror threat to severe
haiti quake lead wrap
port au prince
haiti government ends the search and rescue phase of the quake relief effort
after two people who spent days buried under rubble were pulled out alive and
the death toll soars to more than
words gmt by charles onians graphic picture video
iraq vote lead wrap
baghdad
us vice president joe biden starts talks with iraqi leaders aiming to defuse
simmering row over the barring of hundreds of election candidates linked to
saddam hussein
words gmt by arthur macmillan picture
britain attacks security lead
london
britain raises its terror threat assessment from substantial to severe
suggesting an attack on the country is highly likely ahead of international
talks in london next week on yemen and afghanistan
words gmt by alice ritchie
haiti
haiti quake science geology
washington
