A tearful Roger Federer surged  home to beat Marin Cilic in five riveting sets and win his  sixth Australian Open and 20th Grand Slam title in Melbourne  on Sunday.
The Swiss defending champion dropped his only sets of the  tournament before completing a 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1  win over the sixth seeded Croatian in 3hr 3min.
Federer, playing in his 30th Grand Slam final, joined  Novak Djokovic and Australian great Roy Emerson as joint top  for the most Australian Open men's titles.
"I'm so happy it's unbelievable. This is a dream come  true, the fairytale continues for me," Federer said at the  presentation.
"After the great year last year, it's incredible," the  36-year-old added as he broke down in tears. "This is what you  live for, to one day experience these moments.
"This one tonight reminded me more of 2006 here when I  beat Marcos Baghdatis in the final and had a great run to the  final and was a huge favourite going in," he later explained.
"I was keeping the composure 

Tearful Federer wins Australian Open for 20th Slam title

PTI Automatic

Rod Laver says the ageless Roger  Federer is playing as well as he was a decade ago and he can't  see the Swiss master calling it quits any time soon.
Federer claimed an incredible 20th Grand Slam title on  Sunday in the stadium named after the Australian tennis great,  beating Marin Cilic in five sets at the Australian Open.
That is four more than his closest challenger Rafael  Nadal and his third in the space of a year.
Laver, an 11-time Grand Slam champion who has been  watching the 36-year-old's progress at Melbourne Park this  year, said he was as good as he's ever been.
"He's certainly playing as well as he did eight or 10  years ago," Laver told Melbourne's Herald Sun ahead of  Sunday's final.
"I wouldn't say he's better but Roger is playing some of  his best tennis. Not all the time maybe. But pretty close to  all the time."
A decade ago, Federer, who cites Laver as his idol, was  virtually untouchable, reaching 18 of 19 consecutive Grand  Slam finals between Wimbledon in 2005 

Laver says Federer playing as well as ever

England finished their testing tour  of Australia on a high today with a thrilling 12-run win in  the fifth and final one-day international in Perth.
In the first match at the new Perth Stadium, the tourists  set Australia 260 to win in front of a record West Australian  cricket crowd of 53,781.
Despite resting frontline bowlers Chris Woakes and Mark  Wood, and having quick Jake Ball struggling with illness, the  tourists managed to defend their total.
Young seamer Tom Curran was the match-winner with five  wickets as Australia were dismissed for 247 with 10 balls  remaining.
England, beaten 4-0 in a lopsided Ashes Test series,  bounced back to claim the limited-over series 4-1.
The result continued the dismal recent run of the World  Cup holders in one-dayers and Australian captain Steve Smith  was again left frustrated with both batting and bowling.
"We thought we'd pulled it back really well, but we  didn't start well with the ball -- been a bit of trend," he  said.
"Again we lost .

Curran steps up as England beat Australia in final ODI

Roger Federer powered home to  beat Marin Cilic in five sets to win his sixth Australian Open  and 20th Grand Slam title in a riveting final today.
The Swiss defending champion dropped his only sets of the  tournament before completing a 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1  win over the sixth seeded Croatian in 3hr 3min.
Federer, playing in his 30th Grand Slam final, joined  Novak Djokovic and Australian great Roy Emerson as joint top  for the most Australian Open men's titles.
He added to his already imposing win-loss record in  Melbourne and is now 94-13. His overall his Grand Slam mark  stands at 332-52.
The roof was closed over Rod Laver Arena as the  tournament's heat policy was implemented amid evening  temperatures of 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).
Cilic's serve came under immediate pressure with a  whipping backhand return winner for break point which the  Croatian followed with a smash into the net for a break in the  opening game.
The Croat was finding it difficult to settle and ...

Federer wins Australian Open for 20th Slam title

Completed  scoreboard in the third and final Twenty20 between New Zealand  and Pakistan here today:
Pakistan
Fakhar Zaman c Bruce b Santner
46
Ahmed Shehzad c  Blundell b de Grandhomme 19
Babar Azam c Williamson b Sodhi
18
Sarfraz Ahmed c Sodhi b Santner
29
Haris Sohail not out
20
Umar Amin c de Grandhomme b Sodhi
21
Faheem Ashraf b Boult
8
Aamer Yamin not out
15
Extras: (lb2, w2, nb1)
5
Total: (for 6 wickets; 20 overs)
181
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-66, 3-106, 4-123, 5-156, 6-164.
Bowling: Southee 4-0-39-0, Boult 4-0-33-1, de Grandhomme  4-0-36-1, Sodhi 4-0-47-2, Santner 4-0-24-2.
New Zealand
M. Guptill c Fakhar b Shadab
59
K. Williamson c Babar b Faheem
9
A. Kitchen st Sarfraz b Shadab
16
T. Bruce b Rumman
22
C. de Grandhomme b Aamer
1
R. Taylor c Sarfraz b Amir
25
T. Blundell not out
3
M. Santner not out
24
Extras: (w3, nb 1)
4
Total: (for 6 wickets; 20.0 overs) 163
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-84, 3-87, 4-89, 5-128, 6-134.
Bowling: Aamer 4-0-25-1, Rumman 4-0-41-1, Amir 4-0-23-1,  Faheem 

Mount Maunganui (New Zealand), Jan 28 (AFP) Completed

Pakistan laid  claim to being the best Twenty20 side in the world today after  beating New Zealand in the series-deciding third Twenty20  match here.
The 18-run victory gave Pakistan a come-from-behind 2-1  series win that will see them overtake New Zealand at the top  of the world rankings.
Captain Sarfraz Ahmed leapt with delight after the final  ball as Pakistan pulled off back-to-back wins over the hosts.
Batting first on a friendly wicket, Pakistan reached 181  for six with Fakhar Zaman making 46 off 36 at the top of the  innings. Umar Amin led a late charge that saw 58 runs scored  in the final four overs.
New Zealand, in reply, were never up with the run chase,  and managed 163 for six in their 20 overs.
The defeat followed a 48-run loss in the second game,  after New Zealand swept the one-day series and won the first  T20.
The consecutive defeats, following an unbeaten 13-match  winning streak across all formats against the West Indies and  Pakistan, put a dampener on New ...

Pakistan on top of the world with New Zealand T20 series win

Chinese authorities have ordered a  major social media platform to curb "harmful content" more  effectively as they intensify oversight of online expression.
The campaign is intended not just to stamp out dissent  but to ensure that all media "serves the direction of  socialism".
The continuing crackdown targets not only explicit  depictions of sex and violence, but even rap music, crude  cartoons, dirty jokes, celebrity gossip and tattoos.
Sina Weibo has failed to comply, Beijing's Cyberspace  Administration said yesterday on its official WeChat social  media account, berating the site for letting users post  "content of wrong public opinion orientation, obscenity, low  taste and ethnic discrimination".
The company "has violated the country's laws and  regulations, led online public opinions to wrong direction and  left a very bad influence," it said.
In another case announced on Friday, China's securities  watchdog announced it had punished a blogger on WeChat with a  200,000 yuan ..

China tightens screws on social media

Suspected jihadists killed four  Malian soldiers today in the second deadly attack this weekend  in the country's troubled north, local and military officials  said.
Mali's deteriorating security situation is of growing  concern as Al-Qaeda-linked groups mount increasingly ferocious  attacks on domestic and foreign forces.
"Terrorists have killed four soldiers in Menaka in an  attack," a Malian military source told AFP, adding: "They were  not able to overrun the military camp. We are now in control  of the situation."
The incident was confirmed by a second Malian military  source, who said the armed attackers arrived "this morning on  motorbikes and in cars", while a local official said the group  had fired rockets.
French helicopters were circling the area, the sources  said.
Fourteen soldiers were killed and 18 wounded yesterday  when suspected jihadists seized control of their camp in  Soumpi, near Timbuktu.
And on Thursday 26 civilians including mothers and babies  were killed ...

Fresh attack kills four Malian soldiers

Authorities in Syria's Kurdish  autonomous region said today they would not attend peace talks  in Russia's Sochi next week because of Turkey's offensive  against the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.
"We said before that if the situation remained the same  in Afrin we could not attend Sochi," regional official Fawza  al-Yussef said.
Rebel backer Turkey is one of the sponsors of the talks  in the Black Sea resort on Monday and Tuesday, along with  Damascus allies Russia and Iran.
Turkey's military offensive in Afrin "contradicts the  principle of political dialogue", Yussef said.
Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" on January 20  against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG)  militia in Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with  ground troops and air strikes.
Ankara says the YPG is a "terrorist" offshoot of the  outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is proscribed  as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.
The Sochi talks come after multiple failed .

Syria's Kurds say will not join Sochi peace talks

The death toll from a devastating  suicide bomb blast in Kabul has risen to 103 with hundreds  more wounded, officials said today, making it the worst attack  in the Afghan capital in months.
"Unfortunately a number of wounded people have died in  hospital. The number of martyrs is now 103," interior minister  Wais Barmak told reporters, adding that another 235 were  wounded.

Kabul ambulance bomb toll hits 103, hundreds wounded:

After months of waiting for the snow  to arrive, Tehranis were hit by massive snowfall overnight on  Sunday that shut airports and schools but delighted the ski  community.
The capital's Imam Khomeini International and Mehrabad  airports were shut due to poor visibility "until further  notice", state television said.
Some 20 provinces in the west and north of Iran were  affected by the snowfall that began on Thursday and peaked on  Saturday night, with some mountainous areas receiving as much  1.3 metres (more than four feet) of snow according to official  news agency IRNA.
Iran's skiiers, who have been denied much action in  recent months due to an uncommonly warm winter, were making  the most of it.
"It's incredible. There's been a metre of powder today,  and it's still snowing. My car is buried up to its side  mirror," one said a Western diplomat, waiting for the lifts to  open at Dizin ski resort, an hour north of the capital.
Iran's drivers were having less fun, with thousands  ..

North Iran gets massive snow dump

Saudi Arabian football teams  will be required to play away matches in Qatar during the  Asian Champions League despite the kingdom's travel ban on its  Gulf neighbour, Asia's football governing body said today.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ruled all matches  would be played on a home-and-away basis as planned, after  Saudi Arabia had called for fixtures against Qatari teams to  be shifted to a neutral country.
The ruling also means Saudi clubs must host Qatari teams  for the return, home fixtures.
Since June last year Saudi Arabia, along with the United  Arab Emirates and Bahrain, has adopted a diplomatic boycott of  Qatar, accusing it of backing terrorism -- a charge denied by  Doha.
The Saudi-led coalition also imposed a ban on travel in  and out of Qatar.
AFC said the decision to maintain the home-and-away  format was made after an independent safety and security  assessment was completed.
Saudi authorities previously insisted that their clubs  would only play against ...

Saudi football teams denied neutral venues for Qatar clashes

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp  insisted he remained a fan of the controversial video  assistant referee system despite his team's bitterly  disappointing 3-2 defeat by West Bromwich Albion in the fourth  round of the FA Cup.
Match referee Craig Pawson used the system no fewer than  eight times during an eventful game at Anfield on Saturday,  with VAR being trialled in English cup competitions this  season.
Three of those referrals, all in the first half, proved  hugely important as Pawson and VAR Andre Marriner, based in a  London television studio, disallowed a West Brom goal, awarded  Liverpool a penalty and then allowed an Albion goal to stand.
"I think it's normal that it will change things," said  Klopp. "Is it nice that West Brom celebrate a goal then  somebody tells them it's not a goal? No, but I think it's  important if a goal needs to be disallowed, it is disallowed.
"Normally after a game I have to explain to you (the  media) a defeat which was not deserved because we ...

Klopp still backs VAR despite Liverpool's FA Cup exit

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades

Following a low-key campaign in the European Union's most easterly member, polls put the conservative in the lead as he claims credit for an economic recovery from a debilitating crisis in 2013

Cyprus votes for president with eyes on peace talks after failure in 2017

Press Trust of India

Harry Kane came to Tottenham  Hotspur's rescue after they were just minutes away from a  stunning FA Cup defeat away to lowly Newport County yesterday.
Fourth-tier Newport, one of several Welsh clubs who play  in English domestic football, put themselves in sight of one  of the all-time great upsets against eight-time FA Cup winners  Tottenham thanks to Padraig Amond's first-half goal.
But eight minutes from time, in-form England striker Kane  equalised when, after Spurs had won a corner, he tapped in  from close range following an excellent flick-on from South  Korean Son Heung-Min.
And 1-1 was how it finished as League Two Newport  survived four minutes of injury-time to hold out for a  lucrative replay at Wembley, Spurs' temporary home while their  new home ground in north London that will replace White Hart  Lane is built.
Newport, a massive 72 places behind a Spurs side who are  fifth in the Premier League, sparked delirious scenes at  Rodney Parade when Amond gave them a ...

Kane spares Tottenham from shock FA Cup exit

Fakhar Zaman  set up the innings as Pakistan, aided by some sloppy fielding,  posted 181 for six in the decisive third and final Twenty20  against New Zealand here today.
Their cause was aided by three dropped catches, and then  by a rollicking late run spree which added 60 runs in five  overs at Mount Maunganui.
Fakhar scored 46 off 36 deliveries after Pakistan won the  toss and made first use of a batsman-friendly track.
With the series tied 1-1, a win for Pakistan would not  only give them the series but also propel them over New  Zealand to number one in the world T20 rankings.
Fakhar took aim at the New Zealand quicks and Pakistan  had 25 on the board after three overs when Colin de Grandhomme  came into the attack. He enjoyed success in his first over,  with Ahmed Shehzad caught behind for 18.
At the halfway stage, Pakistan were 72 for two with  opener Fakhar on 32 off 24 deliveries.
He added a further 14 runs before being given out in a  debatable decision when Tom Bruce took a 

Pakistan set New Zealand 182-run target

A five-wicket haul by Australia's  Andrew Tye ensured England were unable to capitalise on a fast  start in their fifth and final one-day international here  today.
The English, with an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series,  were sent in to bat by Australian captain Steve Smith in the  first match at the new Perth Stadium.
Despite Test captain Joe Root making a typically busy 62,  the English did not reach the total that looked possible after  a flying start and were bowled out for 259 in 47.4 overs.
In front of a sell-out crowd of around 55,000 -- a record  for a cricket match in Perth -- the English openers blazed  away early in what was a polar opposite to their start in  Adelaide on Friday.
In that game, the tourists lost five wickets with just  eight runs on the board as they suffered their first defeat of  the series.
They had no such problems on Sunday, with a little bit of  luck also on their side.
Jason Roy, who led the England charge, was brilliantly  caught behind by Tim ...

Tye puts brakes on England after fast start

Caroline Wozniacki said  "nobody knows" how much hard work and sheer guts she had to  put in before realising her Grand Slam dream.
Twelve years, 67 weeks at world number one, 149 Grand  Slam matches, three major finals and countless disappointments  were all made worthwhile on Saturday night when she was  crowned Australian Open champion.
An epic 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4 win against Simona Halep  in a near-three hour match in brutal heat and humidity also  elevated her back to the top of the world rankings after a  six-year hiatus, the longest gap in history between spells at  the top.
"Honestly, nobody knows how much work, dedication you  put into it," she told reporters with the winner's Daphne  Akhurst Memorial Trophy by her side.
Following Wozniacki's second Slam final in New York in  2014, where she lost to Serena Williams, her fitness and form  went on the slide.
Many observers believed she was finished and would  retire, but the determined Dane had other ideas.
"All I could tell ...

Wozniacki's long, hard road back to the top

Controversial American tennis  player Tennys Sandgren has emphatically denied holding far-  wing political views, while thanking his critics for keeping  him "intellectually honest".
The 26-year-old, a devout Christian, came under  intense scrutiny at the Australian Open last week over his  apparent support on Twitter for alt-right groups in the United  States.
He was also accused of homophobia, with Serena  Williams saying an "entire group of people deserves an  apology" over a tweet he posted in 2012 about a visit to a gay  club that he said left "his eyes bleeding".
In a long statement on Twitter late Saturday,  Sandgren, who was largely obscure before his Grand Slam  exploits, said he had been naive and did not understand how  "hurtful and confusing" his actions were.
He said he had only been attempting to learn from both  sides of the political divide.
"I followed and interacted with a wide variety of  people from different backgrounds and ideologies from the  right and left of ..

Sandgren denies alt-right views, thanks critics

Cambodia has arrested 10  foreigners for "singing and dancing pornographically", police  said today, as the kingdom cracks down on racy behaviour at  popular tourist sites.
The group, which could face up to a year in prison on  pornography charges, was due in court this morning after  police made the arrests on Thursday at a villa in Siem Reap,  the town connected to Cambodia's famed ancient ruins of Angkor  Wat.
Duong Thavry, chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking and  Juvenile Protection Department in Siem Reap, told AFP that  some of those arrested were expats and others were tourists  who had been in the country for several months.
"We cracked down on them because they committed  activities that are against our culture," she said.
Cambodia's national police said on its website that  authorities had arrested six British nationals, two Canadians,  one New Zealander and one defendant whose citizenship was not  identified.
All were arrested for "singing and dancing  pornographically", ...

Cambodia arrests foreigners for 'pornographic dancing'

Russian opposition leader Alexei  Navalny and his supporters geared up for a showdown with  authorities today as Vladimir Putin's top enemy urged  nationwide rallies to protest "pseudo-elections".
The 41-year-old charismatic politician called on Russians  across the country to defy authorities and stage rallies  calling for an active boycott of March 18 presidential  elections despite the prospect of mass arrests.
Ratcheting up tensions, Navalny urged Russians to show up  at unsanctioned rallies in the centre of Moscow and Saint  Petersburg with placards and leaflets, a move that will likely  lead to confrontations with police.
Rallies were planned in more than 100 cities across the  country. In most cities, permission to stage rallies had been  received, Navalny said.
"Your life is at stake," he told supporters in a video  address.
"How many more years do you want to live with these  thieves, bigots and perverts in power? We've already endured  this for 18 years."
Navalny also warned 

AFP

AFP

Page 1012 - Afp