UPDATE 19-Tennis-Australian Open women's singles round 1 results

Jan 14 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Australian Open Women's Singles Round 1 matches on Monday30-Tamira Paszek (Austria) beat Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 4-6 6-4 7-515-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Ashleigh Barty (Australia) 3-6 6-0 6-1Zheng Jie (China) beat Zhang Yuxuan (China) 6-1 3-6 6-411-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-2 6-4Valeria Savinykh (Russia)...

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Djokovic starts Australian Open defense

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic cruised through his first match at Rod Laver Arena since his shirt-ripping victory celebration last year, opening his bid for a third consecutive Australian Open title with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu on Monday.The top-ranked Djokovic faced only three break points, saving them all, and lifted his tempo when it counted most against Mathieu.Djokovic's...

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UPDATE 15-Tennis-Australian Open men's singles round 1 results

Jan 14 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Australian Open Men's Singles Round 1 matches on Monday23-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Matthew Ebden (Australia) 4-6 6-7(0) 6-2 7-6(4) 6-3Tim Smyczek (U.S.) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 6-4 7-6(5) 7-5Somdev Devvarman (India) beat Bjoern Phau (Germany) 6-3 6-2 6-3Tobias Kamke (Germany) beat Flavio Cipolla (Italy) 6-1 6-4 6-11-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat...

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Riches in niches: U.S. cops, in-flight movies may be model for Panasonic survival

TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp's answer to the brutal onslaught on its TV sales may be in a product the Japanese firm launched 17 years ago and which is a must-have for U.S. police cars.Two thirds of the 420,000 patrol cars in the United States are equipped with the company's rugged Toughbook computers, and Panasonic chief Kazuhiro Tsuga sees the niche product as a model for how the sprawling conglomerate...

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Anderson scores career-high 27 points, but Raptors lose 104-92 to Thunder

TORONTO - Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and Kevin Durant added 22 of his own to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder over Toronto 104-96 on Sunday, handing the Raptors their second straight loss after they had won eight of nine.Alan Anderson scored a career-high 27 points — 19 of them in the second quarter — to top Toronto (12-22). Amir Johnson finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Jose Calderon...

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Russian parliament endorses anti-US adoption bill

Defying a storm of domestic and international criticism, Russia moved toward finalizing a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, as Parliament's upper house voted unanimously in favor of a measure that President Vladimir Putin has indicated he will sign into law.The bill is widely seen as the Kremlin's retaliation against an American law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be...

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India gang-rape victim in Singapore for treatment

A young woman who was gang-raped and assaulted on a moving bus in the Indian capital was flown Thursday to a Singapore hospital for treatment of severe internal injuries that could last several weeks, officials said.The 23-year-old student, who is in critical condition, arrived in Singapore on an air ambulance and was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth hospital, renowned for multi-organ transplant facilities.The...

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India's Singh says 8 percent growth target "ambitious"

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck a downbeat note on the challenges facing the Indian economy on Thursday, dubbing a five-year plan for average growth of 8 percent "ambitious".India's GDP growth has languished below 6 percent for three straight quarters, a far cry from the near-double-digit pace of expansion before the 2008 global financial downturn.Economic growth for the fiscal year ending...

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Nelson Mandela "not yet fully recovered": spokesman

 Former South African President Nelson Mandela is doing well after being discharged from hospital, although he is still not fully recovered, a government spokesman said on Thursday."He is not yet fully recovered, but he has sufficiently moved forward so that he can be discharged," Mac Maharaj told local broadcaster eNCA."He is sufficiently well to be home."The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader...

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China tightening controls on Internet

 China's new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors' anxiety about the Internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their insistence...

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Malians express dismay at intervention timeframe

Malians living under the grip of al-Qaida-linked militants expressed dismay Friday that it could be nearly a year before a regional military intervention to oust the Islamists from power.The U.N.'s most powerful body on Thursday authorized an African-led force but made no mention of size and set no timeline for military action.U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said recently he does not expect...

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Talks adjourn between Congo government and rebels

Uganda's defense minister says that talks between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels are being put on hold for two weeks.Crispus Kiyonda said Friday that the talks will resume on Jan. 4.Critics say the talks, which began earlier this month, have failed to make much progress as tensions deepen in eastern Congo.Uganda's defense minister, though, said progress had been made toward finalizing...

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Sierra Leone diamond strike ends after 2 killed

 Officials say a deadly strike at a Sierra Leone diamond mine is now over.Two people were killed in the violence at the mine in Koidu in eastern Sierra Leone, where workers went on strike over bonuses and work conditions.Government officials condemned the violence, saying people also beat up miners who tried to work during the strike.OCTEA diamond mining company spokesman Ibrahim Kamara said...

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Kenya Red Cross: 39 people killed in clashes

At least 39 people were killed when farmers raided a village of herders in southeastern Kenya early Friday in renewed fighting between two communities with a history of violent animosity, a police official said.Thirteen children, six women, 11 men and nine attackers were killed said police official Anthony Kamitu.Forty-five houses were set on fire during the attack, Kenya Red Cross spokeswoman Nelly...

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Liberian children pay tribute to Conn. victims

Twenty Liberian schoolchildren from a school sponsored by the Newtown Rotary Club in this West African nation on Friday gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia to give their condolences over the Connecticut school tragedy.Each child from the Caroline Miller School in Monrovia deposited a flower on a poster bearing the name of a victim of the deadly shooting."Life is so sweet, and our friends wanted...

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Omanis hope first local vote is stepping stone towards change

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Hoping for jobs and democratic change, voters in Oman cast ballots in their first municipal election on Saturday, a sign of modest reform in response to protests inspired by the Arab Spring.The small Gulf oil producer, ruled since 1970 by Sultan Qaboos, sits opposite Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for nearly a fifth of globally traded petroleum.Its only other elections...

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Netanyahu lauds Kerry nomination for U.S. secretary of state job

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday welcomed the appointment of his personal friend John Kerry as U.S. secretary of state and described him as "a known supporter of Israel's security".President Barack Obama nominated Kerry on Friday, calling the veteran U.S. senator the "perfect choice" as America's top diplomat.Netanyahu said in a statement: "I congratulate...

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Pope pardons Vatican butler

Pope Benedict XVI granted his former butler a Christmas pardon Saturday, forgiving him in person during a jailhouse meeting for stealing and leaking his private papers in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. The Vatican said he couldn't...

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Russia says it won't host Assad but others welcome

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister says Moscow would welcome any country's offer of a safe haven to Syrian President Bashar Assad, but underlined that Moscow itself has no intention of giving him shelter if he steps down. Russia has repeatedly used its veto right along with China at the U.N. Security Council to protect its old ally from international sanctions, but it has increasingly sought...

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Iran a central issue for my next term: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran's perceived nuclear threat against Israel will be the central issue concerning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if he is re-elected in a month's time, the Israeli leader said on Saturday.Netanyahu has set out a mid-2013 "red line" for tackling Iran's uranium enrichment project. The West says this programme is aimed at developing the means to build atomic bombs....

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