Tennis: Djokovic dazzles in straight-sets win over Harrison

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic was in the zone with a dazzling demolition of Ryan Harrison as he stormed into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The world number one was in irresistible form, outclassing the young American 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in just one hour 31 minutes of high-class tennis on Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic, a three-time winner and going for three straight Australian titles, will next play Czech journeyman Radek Stepanek in the last 32.

The Serb said it was one of the best matches he has played in the early rounds at a Grand Slam.

"I've played many matches in Grand Slams in my career, so it's tough to compare which one is the best I would take under the circumstances," he said.

"I tried to focus on the start and I knew that he had nothing to lose and would come out with his big serves, but I managed to make some very important early breaks at the start of the match.

"I was a set up after 20 minutes and it was a mental advantage, I felt much more comfortable on the court.

"This was definitely a better performance than the first round.

"I managed to play in a very high level already in the second round of a Grand Slam, which is very encouraging for next challenge."

Djokovic jumped out of the blocks and won 12 of the first 13 points to put the young American on the back foot and down an early service break.

He broke Harrison again in the sixth game and wrapped up the opening set in just 20 minutes.

The Serb top seed carried on where he left off breaking the American's opening service to win seven of the first eight games.

Djokovic broke Harrison's serve for a fourth time to carry on the blitz and raced to a two sets to love lead via three set points in 30 minutes.

Harrison was broken again in the opening game of the final set as Djokovic closed in on victory.

But the young American refused to give in and held three service games under pressure, to the appreciation of the centre court crowd.

Djokovic again put Harrison's service under pressure and took out the match on his second match point.

"He played really well," Harrison said. "Kind of getting broke in that first service game, giving a guy that's that good a little bit of a lead and letting him front-run is just not the ideal way to start."

- AFP/fa

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Puri shankaracharya blames western influence for rapes

KOLKATA: Western influence was one of the main reasons behind the rise in incidents of rape in the country, sankaracharya of Puri Swami Sri Nischalananda Saraswati said here on Wednesday.

The western influence — films, club culture and drugs has destroyed the age old values and principles of the country. "There is need to change this. Before Independence we were able to maintain our culture and values but in the last 65 years we have lost a great part of it."

"Such horrific incidents ( Delhi gang rape) don't happen all of a sudden. They happen when the thin line of culture and values are crossed in the name of civilization and development."

The people, the holy man said, should ponder over this and ensure that such incidents don't happen.

"Earlier sisters and brothers roamed freely but nothing used to happen. There has been decline in human values, emotions ... Our culture and civilization teaches us to respect women, who are our sisters and mothers," he said

Asked for his comment on the brutal killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistani army, the sankaracharya said the incident was barbaric and against human values.

Accusing the government of not being strong enough to deal with such incidents, he said "We need to think why is the image of the government and the country so weak that a neighbouring country doesn't think twice before perpetuating such an act."

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Mars Rover Finds Intriguing New Evidence of Water

The first drill sample ever collected on Mars will come from a rockbed shot through with unexpected veins of what appears to be the mineral gypsum.

Delighted members of the Curiosity science team announced Tuesday that the rover was now in a virtual "candy store" of scientific targets—the lowest point of Gale crater, called Yellowknife Bay, is filled with many different materials that could have been created only in the presence of water. (Related: "Mars Has 'Oceans' of Water Inside?")

Project scientist John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said during a press conference that the drill area has turned out "to be jackpot unit. Every place we drive exposes fractures and vein fills."

Mission scientists initially decided to visit the depression, a third of a mile from Curiosity's landing site, on a brief detour before heading to the large mountain at the middle of Gale Crater. But because of the richness of their recent finds, Grotzinger said it may be some months before they begin their trek to Mount Sharp.

The drilling, expected to start this month, will dig five holes about two inches (five centimeters) into bedrock the size of a throw rug and then feed the powder created to the rover's two chemistry labs for analysis.

The drill is the most complex device on the rover and is the last instrument to be used. Project Manager Richard Cook, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that operating it posed the biggest mechanical challenge since Curiosity's high-drama landing. (Watch video of Curiosity's "Seven Minutes of Terror.")

A Watery Past?

That now-desiccated Mars once had a significant amount of surface water is now generally accepted, but every new discovery of when and where water was present is considered highly significant. The presence of surface water in its many possible forms—as a running stream, as a still lake, as ground water soaked into the Martian soil—all add to an increased possibility that the planet was once habitable. (Watch a video about searching for life on Mars.)

And each piece of evidence supporting the presence of water brings the Curiosity mission closer to its formal goal—which is to determine whether Mars was once capable of supporting life.

Curiosity scientists have already concluded that a briskly moving river or stream once flowed near the Gale landing site.

The discovery of the mineral-filled veins within Yellowknife Bay rock fractures adds to the picture because those minerals can be deposited only in watery, underground conditions.

The Curiosity team has also examined Yellowknife Bay for sedimentary rocks with the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).  Scientists have found sandstone with grains up to about the size of a peppercorn, including one shaped like a flower bud that appears to gleam. Other nearby rocks are siltstone, with grains finer than powdered sugar. These are quite different from the pebbles and conglomerate rocks found in the landing area, but all these rocks are evidence of a watery past. (Related: "A 2020 Rover Return to Mars?")

One of the primary reasons Curiosity scientists selected Gale crater as a landing site was because satellite images indicated that water-formed minerals were present near the base of Mount Sharp. Grotzinger said that the minerals' presence so close to the landing site, and some five miles from the mountain, is both a surprise and an opportunity.

The current site in Yellowknife Bay is so promising, Grotzinger said, that he would have been "thrilled" to find similar formations at the mission's prime destination at the base of Mount Sharp.  Now the mission can look forward to the surprises to come at the mountain base while already having struck gold.

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NRA Ad Calls Obama 'Elitist Hypocrite'

Jan 16, 2013 12:04am

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

As the White House prepares to unveil a sweeping plan aimed at curbing gun violence, the National Rifle Association has launched a preemptive, personal attack on President Obama, calling him an “elitist hypocrite” who, the group claims, is putting American children at risk.

In 35-second video posted online Tuesday night, the NRA criticizes Obama for accepting armed Secret Service protection for his daughters, Sasha and Malia, at their private Washington, D.C., school while questioning the placement of similar security at other schools.

“Are the president’s kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools, when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?” the narrator says.

“Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he’s just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security,” it continues. “Protection for their kids and gun-free zones for ours.”

The immediate family members of U.S. presidents – generally considered potential targets – have long received Secret Service protection.

The ad appeared on a new website for a NRA advocacy campaign – “NRA Stand and Fight” — that the gun-rights group appears poised to launch in response to Obama’s package of gun control proposals that will be announced today.

It’s unclear whether the video will air on TV or only on the web. The NRA did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.  The domain for the website is registered to Ackerman McQueen, the NRA’s long-standing public relations firm.

The White House had no comment on the NRA ad.

In the wake of last month’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Obama administration has met with a cross-section of advocacy groups on all sides of the gun debate to formulate new policy proposals.

The NRA, which met with Vice President Joe Biden last week, has opposed any new legislative gun restrictions, including expanded background checks and limits on the sale of assault-style weapons, instead calling for armed guards at all American schools.

Obama publicly questioned that approach in an interview with “Meet the Press” earlier this month, saying, “I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem.”

Still, the White House has been considering a call for increased funding for police officers at public schools and the proposal could be part of a broader Obama gun policy package.

Fifty-five percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they support adding armed guards at schools across the country.

“The issue is, are there some sensible steps that we can take to make sure that somebody like the individual in Newtown can’t walk into a school and gun down a bunch of children in a shockingly rapid fashion.  And surely, we can do something about that,” Obama said at a news conference on Monday.

“Responsible gun owners, people who have a gun for protection, for hunting, for sportsmanship, they don’t have anything to worry about,” he said.

ABC News’ Mary Bruce and Jay Shaylor contributed reporting. 

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M'sia mall launches women-only parking areas

SINGAPORE: Authorities in Kuala Lumpur are making it compulsory for all shopping malls and commercial buildings to set aside seven per cent of carpark space for women only.

Women driving alone or with young childen unaccompanied by men can opt to park in sections of carparks that are specially allocated to women.

The women-only carpark is an initiative undertaken by the Kuala Lumpur city hall to further enhance safety and security of women drivers in parking lots.

The media had highlighted several cases of women being assaulted and robbed in carparks last year.

Since then, major shopping centres have stepped up patrol in car parks, including offering free buggy services to women shoppers.

KLCC Suria, a leading shopping mall has launched women-only parking lots, said to be the first in South East Asia.

Located near main entrances, the women's sections, painted in pink, are well-lit and regularly patrolled.

The KLCC management has also installed a state-of-the-art security and surveillance system.

There are also panic buttons installed around all four corners of the parking lot, for help to arrive within two minutes upon pressing the button.

While women welcome the new initiative, it remains to be seen how effective the implementation is going to be.

The federal territories minister said those who go against the rules can be penalized.

"We will clamp the car to discourage others to park. I mean men can park anywhere," said Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin.

The city aims for zero incidents at parking lots.

- CNA/xq

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Tripura governor DY Patil suffers heart attack, hospitalised

AMRAVATI(MAHARASHTRA): Tripura governor DY Patil was hospitalised here on Tuesday after he suffered a heart attack and his condition is stated to be "serious," doctors said.

Deputy collector Sachin Kalantre told mediapersons that Patil "has developed blockages" and doctors were attending to him.

Patil, who inaugurated the centenary celebrations of Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal (HVPM) here on Tuesday morning, where former President Pratibha Patil was also present, felt uneasy and took some tablets while delivering his address.

He was later taken to circuit house where his doctor Anil Meshram administered him first aid and was shifted to Dr Vijay Bhatkar's hospital.

"Patil vomitted and sweated a lot," doctors said. The collector said Patil's son and Maharashtra's minister of state for home Satej Patil will be reaching here on Tuesday evening and subsequently they will decide on shifting him either to Mumbai or Nagpur.

Besides the centenary celebrations of HVPM, Patil, an eminent educationist from Maharashtra, was scheduled to attend a couple of other functions in Amravati.

He was supposed to have lunch at the residence of Pratibha Patil.

77-year-old Patil, has founded a number of educational institutes in Maharashtra including the DY Patil college of Engineering and Technology at Kolhapur and DY Patil College of Engineering in Pune in 1984. He received the Padma Shri award in 1991 for social work.

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"Fantastic" New Flying Frog Found—Has Flappy Forearms

Scientists have stumbled across a new species of flying frog—on the ground.

While hiking a lowland forest in 2009, not far from Ho Chi Minh City (map), Vietnam, "we came across a huge green frog, sitting on a log," said Jodi Rowley, an amphibian biologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney and lead author of a new study on the frog.

Rowley later discovered that the 3.5-inch-long (9-centimeter-long) creature is a relatively large new type of flying frog, a group known for its ability to "parachute" from tree to tree thanks to special aerodynamic adaptations, such as webbed feet, Rowley said. (Also see "'Vampire Flying Frog' Found; Tadpoles Have Black Fangs.")

Rowley dubbed the new species Helen's flying frog, in honor of her mother, Helen Rowley, "who has steadfastly supported her only child trekking through the forests of Southeast Asia in search of frogs," according to a statement.

The newfound species—there are 80 types of flying frogs—is also "one of the most flying frogs of the flying frogs," Rowley said, "in that it's got huge hands and feet that are webbed all the way to the toepad."

"Females even have flappy skin on their forearms to glide," added Rowley, who has received funding from the National Geographic Committee on Research and Exploration. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.) "The females are larger and heavier than males, so the little extra flaps probably don't make much of a difference," she said.

As Rowley wrote on her blog, "At first it may seem strange that such a fantastic and obvious frog could escape discovery until now—less than 100 kilometers [60 miles] from an urban centre with over nine million people."

Yet these tree dwellers can easily escape notice—they spend most of their time in the canopy, she said.

Flying Frog On the Edge

Even so, Helen's flying frog won't be able to hide from development near Ho Chi Minh City, which may encroach on its existing habitats.

So far, only five individuals have been found in two patches of lowland forest hemmed in by rice paddies in southern Vietnam, Rowley said. The animals can probably tolerate a little bit of disturbance as long as they have large trees and temporary pools, she added.

But lowland forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world, mostly because they're so accessible to people, and thus chosen for logging and development. (Get the facts on deforestation.)

"While Helen's flying frog has only just been discovered by biologists," Rowley wrote, "unfortunately this species, like many others, is under great threat from ongoing habitat loss and degradation."

The new flying frog study was published in December 2012 in the Journal of Herpetology.

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Armstrong Admits Doping in Tour, Sources Say

Lance Armstrong today admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France, sources told ABC News.

A government source tells ABC News that Armstrong is now talking with authorities about paying back some of the US Postal Service money from sponsoring his team. He is also talking to authorities about confessing and naming names, giving up others involved in illegal doping. This could result in a reduction of his lifetime ban, according to the source, if Armstrong provides substantial and meaningful information.

Armstrong made the admission in what sources describe as an emotional interview with Winfrey to air on "Oprah's Next Chapter" on Jan. 17.

The 90-minute interview at his home in Austin, Texas, was Armstrong's first since officials stripped him of his world cycling titles in response to doping allegations.

Word of Armstrong's admission comes after a Livestrong official said that Armstrong apologized today to the foundation's staff ahead of his interview.

The disgraced cyclist gathered with about 100 Livestrong Foundation staffers at their Austin headquarters for a meeting that included social workers who deal directly with patients as part of the group's mission to support cancer victims.

Armstrong's "sincere and heartfelt apology" generated lots of tears, spokeswoman Katherine McLane said, adding that he "took responsibility" for the trouble he has caused the foundation.

Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images|Ray Tamarra/Getty Images

Lance Armstrong Doping Confession: Why Now? Watch Video

Lance Armstrong Stripped of Tour de France Titles Watch Video

McLane declined to say whether Armstrong's comments included an admission of doping, just that the cyclist wanted the staff to hear from him in person rather than rely on second-hand accounts.

Armstrong then took questions from the staff.

Armstrong's story has never changed. In front of cameras, microphones, fans, sponsors, cancer survivors -- even under oath -- Lance Armstrong hasn't just denied ever using performance enhancing drugs, he has done so in an indignant, even threatening way.

Armstrong, 41, was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in October 2012, after allegations that he benefited from years of systematic doping, using banned substances and receiving illicit blood transfusions.

"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling," Pat McQuaid, the president of the International Cycling Union, said at a news conference in Switzerland announcing the decision. "This is a landmark day for cycling."

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a 200-page report Oct. 10 after a wide-scale investigation into Armstrong's alleged use of performance-enhancing substances.

Armstrong won the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005.

According to a source, speaking to ABC News, a representative of Armstrong's once offered to make a donation estimated around $250,000 to the agency, as "60 Minutes Sports" on Showtime first reported.

Lance Armstrong's attorney Tim Herman denied it. "No truth to that story," Herman said. "First Lance heard of it was today. He never made any such contribution or suggestion."

Armstrong, who himself recovered from testicular cancer, created the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now known as the LIVESTRONG Foundation) to help people with cancer cope, as well as foster a community for cancer awareness. Armstrong resigned late last year as chairman of the LIVESTRONG Foundation, which raised millions of dollars in the fight against cancer.

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Football: Ronaldo wants to see out contract at Real

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo says he wants to stay with Real Madrid until the end of his contract with the club.

The 27-year-old Portuguese striker's contract with Real runs out in June 2015 but Spanish media have reported that he is unhappy at the club and may leave at the end of the season.

The player has been linked to a move to Paris Saint-Germain or back to Manchester United.

"I want to see out my contract at Real Madrid: I'm very clear about that. After that, well, I don't know what will happen in the future," he said in an interview published on Fifa.com.

Ronaldo, who joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009, said he still believes it is possible for the club to win La Liga despite falling 18 points behind leaders and arch-rivals Barcelona.

"We haven't started the championship very well for sure. We know that La Liga's an uphill struggle for us now, but nothing is impossible in football," he said.

"We're going to work hard, win games and see what happens. And of course, there's the Champions League and the Copa del Rey too. There's plenty for us to win this season."

Real Madrid are in third place in the Spanish league, four points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid and have dropped even further behind Barcelona after they were held to a 0-0 draw at lowly Osasuna on Saturday.

They looked a shadow of the team that romped to the Liga title last season.

Real Madrid will face Premier League leaders Manchester United in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash on February 13.

"No team's unbeatable, but when we're at our best we're a really good side. Manchester United have started the English championship race very well and are a long way ahead of the rest, but still, if we play the way we're capable of, we can beat them," Ronaldo said.

"To do that we need to pull together and play as a team, like we've done in so many matches before."

- AFP/fa

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Telangana state soon; Congress leaders get "signals" from Centre

HYDERABAD: Congress leaders from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh today claimed that they have received "signals" from the Centre on creation of a separate state.

Two ministers and an MP came out with the claim today even as the deadline set by Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for a decision on the statehood demand is just a fortnight away.

"We have indications from the Centre that AP is going to be bifurcated. Going by what the Centre is thinking, Hyderabad could be the common capital of the two (new) states for some 10 years," State Labour Minister Danam Nagender Danam told reporters after greeting veteran Congress leader M Satyanarayana Rao on his 80th birthday here.

Echoing his colleague's statement, Civil Supplies Minister D Sridhar Babu said that "The dreams of Telangana people will come true very soon. We have clear signals from the Centre on the formation of a new state,".

When asked about the status of the state capital, he said, "Hyderabad is very much a part of Telangana and it will be on the region's map,".

Incidentally, Danam was not known to be an overt supporter of Telangana demand and had previously favoured Union Territory status for Hyderabad in the event of division of Andhra Pradesh.

But, today, he ruled out the possibility of Hyderabad being made a Union Territory.

"It's too early. If we make more claims, we will only be confusing the Centre. Let them come out with a decision," Danam added.

Separately, Rajya Sabha member Palvai Govardhan Reddy too hinted that Telangana state would be formed soon.

"The Centre is seriously considering the issue. The Congress party is going to deliberate on this on 18th Jan," Palvai, who claims to be in constant touch with top leaders of AICC, said.

He also claimed that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti was ready to merge with Congress once Telangana state was created.

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