South Korean star Chung Hyeon  dumped six-time champion Novak Djokovic out of the Australian  Open today in a sensational fourth round upset.
The 21-year-old beat the battle-weary Serb, who was  clearly in pain as he stretched for balls, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 7-6  (7/3) in 3hr 21 min in a night match on Rod Laver Arena.
Chung, the first South Korean man to reach the round of  16 at the Australian Open, will face American bolter Tennys  Sandgren in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Two years ago Djokovic outclassed Chung in straight sets  in the opening round of the Australian Open, but the South  Korean spectacularly reversed the result with three hard-  fought sets against the wounded Serb in the fourth round.
Djokovic, who sought treatment for his troublesome right  elbow and an apparent hip injury when stretching for a ball,  battled through in great discomfort, as Chung stayed composed  and mentally tough to claim his biggest win.
"I didn't know if I was going to win this match tonight,  

Chung dumps wounded Djokovic out of Open

PTI Automatic

Former England captain and Blackpool  legend Jimmy Armfield has died at the age of 82 after a long  battle with cancer.
Armfield, who played 627 matches in 17 years for his only  club and was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 1966, was  diagnosed with cancer for a second time last year.
"Blackpool Football Club is deeply saddened to learn of  the passing of its record appearance holder and vice-president  Jimmy Armfield at the age of 82," said a statement from the  club.
Armfield captained Blackpool for more than 10 of his 17  years at the club and was capped 43 times for England, with 15  of those occasions as skipper.
He was one of two Blackpool players along with Alan Ball  named in England's 1966 World Cup winning squad, although  injury denied him an appearance at the tournament.
Only players who were on the pitch in the final received  winners' medals but that was rectified 43 years later when  Armfield eventually received his medal.
Armfield had stints in management with ..

Former England captain Armfield dies, aged 82

Seven brothers and sisters aged  between five and 13 died of smoke inhalation in a house fire  in the United Arab Emirates today, police said.
Hundreds of fires are reported each year across the UAE,  despite attempts by authorities to curb such incidents, but  casualties are rarely reported.
Police in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said the mother  awoke at dawn to the smell of a fire in her house.
"When rescue teams arrived at the house, the seven  children were found dead: three sons and four daughters  between the ages of five and 13," police said in a statement.
The local police chief said investigations were underway  and called on residents to install smoke detectors as a safety  precaution.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of the UAE  capital Abu Dhabi, took to Twitter to express the nation's  "shared grief and pain" over the loss of the seven children --  addressing "heartfelt condolences" to the family.
The UAE's civil defence force in July said it had dealt  ...

Seven siblings perish in UAE house fire

Taliban militants who killed at least  22 people at a luxury Kabul hotel went from room to room  searching for foreigners, survivors said today as more details  of the victims emerged.
Insurgents armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests  attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel overlooking the  Afghan capital late Saturday in an assault that lasted more  than 12 hours and prompted questions over how the attackers  breached security.
Guests hid behind pillars and in rooms as gunmen sprayed  bullets and set fire to parts of the six-storey building. Some  people climbed over balconies, using bed sheets in a desperate  attempt to escape.
"They were saying kill the foreigners," a 20-year-old  hotel employee who gave his name as Hasibullah told AFP from  his hospital bed.
He described hiding in a fifth-floor room and listening  as the gunmen went from room to room, forcing doors open "with  daggers" and killing those inside.
One other witness claimed he had seen the militants  ...

Taliban militants 'searched for foreigners' in Kabul hotel

A multimillion-dollar campaign to  stop the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish devouring the  Great Barrier Reef was announced by the Australian government  today in a push to preserve the World Heritage-listed  ecosystem.
The coral-eating starfish are naturally occurring but  have proliferated due to pollution and agricultural run-off at  the struggling reef.
Their impact has been profound - a major study of the  2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long reef's health in 2012 showed  coral cover has halved over the past 27 years, with 42 percent  of the damage attributed to the pest.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australian dollar 60  million (USD 58 million) would go into the new drive, with  just over half to be spent on incentives for farmers to  prevent agricultural pollutants from running into the reef.
Funds will also go towards increasing the number of  patrol vessels and divers targeting the starfish, he said.
"It is a vibrant, resilient ecosystem and one of the  best-managed .

Barrier Reef funding boost to tackle predatory starfish

Former Catalan leader Carles  Puigdemont arrived in Copenhagen today, defying a threat by  Madrid to issue a warrant for his arrest if he leaves Belgium,  where he has been in exile since a failed independence bid.
Danish broadcaster TV2 released an image on its website  of Puigdemont being surrounded by reporters after his plane  landed in Copenhagen Airport.
A source in his entourage also confirmed his arrival in  the Danish capital.
Puigdemont is to take part in a debate on Catalonia at  the University of Copenhagen later Monday.
His trip comes a day after Spain's prosecution service  said it would "immediately" have a supreme court judge issue a  warrant for his arrest if he travels to Denmark, and urge  Copenhagen to hand him over.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium in late October after Madrid  sacked his cabinet over their breakaway attempt, but is eyeing  a return to power after pro-independence parties won an  absolute majority in regional elections in December.
Spanish Supreme Court 

Sacked Catalan leader arrives in Denmark despite Spanish

Japan's weather agency today issued a  heavy snow warning for Tokyo for the first time in four years,  urging people to go home early amid fears of public transport  chaos.
Scores of domestic flights departing from and arriving at  the Japanese capital were scrapped due to the snow, while some  regional trains were also cancelled.
Japan's northern regions frequently see heavy blankets of  snow but such weather is rare in Tokyo.
And with the snowfall expected to get heavier, Tsumoru  Matsumoto, the agency's chief forecaster, urged people to cut  short their working day.
"There will be heavy snow this evening" in Tokyo,  Matsumoto said, warning that "the snow is likely to affect  public transport" when the evening commute begins.
Large crowds battled through snow at Shinjuku, the  world's busiest train station, as the nightly rush hour began.
One Twitter user complained it was impossible to move in  Shinjuku as it was so packed.
The weather agency only issues a heavy snow alert when  ...

Tokyo gets first 'heavy snow' alert in four years

Ice-cool Roger Federer roared  into an Australian Open quarter-final with Tomas Berdych today  as former champion Angelique Kerber stuttered into an enticing  clash with Madison Keys.
The defending champion swatted aside one-time training  partner Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 to make the last  eight for an incredible 14th time.
The Swiss maestro, 36, has made at least the last eight  every year since 2004, bar a hiccup in 2015.
"He played very well," the 19-time Grand Slam champion  said of the Hungarian. "You needed to have quick ideas and  execute well today."
Second seed Federer will now play fellow veteran Berdych,  a semi-finalist in 2014 and 2015 at his most successful major,  who demolished Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
The 32-year-old, who is on his way back from back  problems, lost to the five-time Australian champion in the  third round last year and the odds are heavily stacked again  him.
Of the 13 quarter-finals Federer has contested in  Melbourne, he has .

Cool Federer joins stuttering Kerber in quarters

Defending champion Roger Federer  charged into his 14th Australian Open quarter-final with a  straight-forward win over Hungary's Marton Fucsovics today.
The Swiss second seed was too strong for the 80th-ranked  Fucsovics, winning 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in just over two hours  on Rod Laver Arena.
Federer will now face long-time rival Tomas Berdych in  the last eight, holding a 19-6 lead over the Czech dating back  to 2004.
It will also be Federer's 52nd Grand Slam quarter-final,  the most in the post-1968 Open Era.
It was the Swiss legend's first meeting with Fucsovics,  who spent a week in the off-season training with him in  Switzerland.
"I thought he played very well. It was fast conditions,  you have to have quick ideas and execute well and I thought he  did that very well," Federer said of his unheralded opponent.
"Being two sets down is never easy, but I thought he was  playing very clean, solid and I had a hard time breaking  through until two sets and a break up."
Federer will ...

Federer charges into 14th Aussie Open quarter

Colin Munro ensured New Zealand  continued a stellar home summer today when they thrashed  Pakistan by seven wickets with 25 balls to spare in the  opening Twenty20 match here.
Munro was left unbeaten on 49 when a wide by Hasan Ali in  the 16th over gave New Zealand victory as they chased down  Pakistan's 105 in the clash of the world's top two ranked  Twenty20 sides.
It extended New Zealand's winning streak to 13 across all  three formats in the past two months including five one-dayers  against Pakistan and a series of Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s  against the West Indies.
For Tim Southee, the stand-in captain after a late  decision to rest Kane Williamson who has a minor injury,  everything went according to plan.
"Obviously winning the toss on that wicket and then  coming out and taking early wickets was the plan and we were  able to do that. We bowled exceptionally well," said Southee  who also paid tribute to Munro's role with the bat.
"It was a great knock from Colin. He likes to .

All according to Munro plan as New Zealand sinks Pakistan

Chinese tourist numbers to South  Korea continued to decline in December, figures showed today,  even though Beijing and Seoul pledged to improve relations  strained by a US missile defence system.
Seoul and Washington installed the powerful THAAD  (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system in the South last  year to guard against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.
Beijing saw it as a threat to its own security and  reacted furiously, imposing a string of measures on South  Korean businesses and banning group tours to the South, in  moves seen as economic retaliation.
The ban on tour groups hit the South Korean travel and  retail industries hard, with Chinese visitors renowned for  shopping trips to their neighbour.
Some of Beijing's restrictions on tours appeared to have  been lifted after the two countries issued identically-worded  statements in October on their mutual desire to improve  relations.
But the number of Chinese visitors to the South continued  to tumble in ...

S Korea's Chinese tourist slump endures despite pledges

Online giant Amazon today  plans to open a convenience store in Seattle where hungry  customers will be able to grab sandwiches and go, without  having to wait in line or use a checkout.
The American group unveiled the concept for its  cashierless "Amazon Go" shop just over a year ago, saying the  170 square meters store would initially offer grocery products  to its own employees before being opened to the public.
Early testing however revealed bugs, leading to a delay.
In a message yesterday on its website, Amazon said it had  created "the world's most advanced shopping technology so you  never have to wait in line."
But if the rollout has taken some time, it's now ready to  Go.
People armed with the app are able to pick up items as  they roam the store and place them directly in their bags --  without the need for shopping carts or baskets.
Instead, items are automatically added onto a customer's  online account when they're removed from a shelf, or taken off  if the item is put ...

Amazon to open first cashierless shop to public on Monday

Completed scoreboard in the  first Twenty20 between New Zealand and Pakistan in Wellington  today.
Pakistan
Fakhar Zaman c Kitchen b Southee 3
Umar Amin c Kitchen b Rance 0
Mohammad Nawaz c Munro b Southee 7
Haris Sohail c Bruce b Kitchen 9
Babar Azam c Bruce b Munro 41
Sarfraz Ahmed st Phillips b Santner 9
Shadab Khan c Phillips b Santner 0
Faheem Ashraf c Bruce b Southee 7
Hasan Ali c Southee b Rance 23
Mohammad Amir c Southee b Rance 3
Rumman Raees not out 0
Extras: (W-3) 3
Total: (for 10 wickets; 19.4 overs) 105
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-4, 3-15, 4-22, 5-38, 6-38, 7-53,  8-83, 9-90
Bowling: Rance 4-0-26-3, Southee 4-0-13-3, de Grandhomme  2-0-11-0, Kitchen 1-0-3-1, Sodhi 4-0-25-0, Santner 4-0-15-2,  Munro 0.4-0-12-1
New Zealand
M. Guptill c Nawaz b Rumman 2
C. Munro not out 49
G. Phillips b Rumman 3
T. Bruce c Fakhar b Shadab 26
R. Taylor not out 22
Extras: (LB-1, W-3) 4
Total: (for 3 wickets; 15.5 overs) 106
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-8, 3-57
Bowling: Amir 3-0-13-0, Rumman 4-0-24-2, ..

Wellington, Jan 22 (AFP) Completed scoreboard in the

Angelique Kerber and Madison Keys  set up an enticing Australian Open quarter-final today, with  one roaring through and the other having to dig deep to stay  in the title hunt.
Dangerous Czech Tomas Berdych, a two-time Melbourne Park  semi-finalist, also powered into the last eight, demolishing  Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
His reward is a clash with either Swiss maestro Roger  Federer or unheralded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics for a place  in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Germany's Kerber is the only Grand Slam champion left on  the women's side of the draw, and she was given a big fright  as she chases her second Melbourne Park crown after beating  Serena Williams in 2016.
After crushing Maria Sharapova in the last round, she  came up against gritty Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei who  stunned the 21st seed by taking the first set on Rod Laver  Arena.
At one point Kerber was serving to stay in the match, but  she bounced back to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
"Credit to her, she played ...

Kerber and Keys set up quarter-final as Berdych fires up

Nick Kyrgios says he's in a much  better "head space" than this time last year when he was booed  off court at the Australian Open, and looking forward to what  comes next.
Twelve months ago the combustible Australian was in a bad  place after being jeered and accused of giving up as he  crashed out in the second round in a stormy five-set defeat to  Italian Andreas Seppi.
Tennis great John McEnroe labelled him as "mentally  (ranked) about 200 in the world" and said he was giving the  sport a "black eye".
But a year on and Kyrgios seems to have turned a corner.
He remains an exciting and unpredicable talent, but with  a calmer persona.
"I gave my best efforts this week," he said after losing  in four gripping sets to world number three Grigor Dimitrov in  the fourth round at Melbourne Park late Sunday.
"I came up short but I beat three quality opponents. I  lost to one of the best players in the world but I went down  swinging.
"Obviously I feel a lot better this time around," he  ...

Maturing Kyrgios in better 'head space' after loss

The president of Ecuador Lenin Moreno  today described WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as an  "inherited problem" that has created "more than a nuisance"  for his government.
"We hope to have a positive result in the short term,"  Moreno said in an interview with television networks.
Ecuador granted citizenship to Assange earlier this month  in an unsuccessful attempt to provide him with diplomatic  immunity and usher him out of its London embassy without the  threat of arrest by Britain.

Ecuador president calls Julian Assange a 'problem'

A Vietnamese former state oil  executive who was allegedly kidnapped from Germany was today  jailed for life for embezzlement, in the highest-profile  corruption trial to target the Communist country's business  and political elite.
The blockbuster trial involving 21 other officials,  including an ex-politburo member, has gripped a country where  the affairs of the powerful are normally kept secret.
But Vietnam's conservative leadership is waging a massive  anti-communist sweep that mirrors China's crackdown on graft.
Trinh Xuan Thanh, the former head of state-run  PetroVietnam Construction (PVC) was sentenced to "14 years for  mismanagement and life in prison for embezzlement", according  to state-run VNExpress news site.
The jury said "no-one at PVC dared use money with the  wrong purposes" without Thanh's direction, according to  VNExpress.
The embezzlement charges carry a maximum sentence of  death, but the tariff was reduced after prosecutors  recommended life instead.
Thanh ...

Vietnam oil exec 'kidnapped' from Germany jailed for life in

The spill from a sunken Iranian  tanker off China's east coast has more than trebled in size,  just over a week after the ship sank in a ball of flames.
Authorities spotted three oil slicks with a total surface  area of 332 square kilometres, compared to 101 square  kilometres reported on Wednesday, the State Oceanic  Administration said in a statement late yesterday.
The Sanchi, which was carrying 136,000 tonnes of light  crude oil from Iran, collided with Hong Kong-registered bulk  freighter the CF Crystal in early January, setting off a  desperate race by authorities to search for survivors and  stave off a massive environmental catastrophe.
The bodies of only three of the ship's 30 Iranian and two  Bangladeshi crew members have been found.
Three coast guard vessels were on the scene Sunday night  assessing the spill, the oceanic administration said.
The type of condensate oil carried by the Sanchi does not  form a traditional surface slick when spilt, but is  nonetheless highly ...

Oil slick off China coast trebles in size: official

Australian captain Steve Smith has  shot down suggestions of ball-tampering after video of him  using saliva from the corner of his mouth during Sunday's  one-day loss to England raised eyebrows.
Smith laughed off the reaction, after watching a replay  of the video, saying it was his standard technique for helping  shine the white ball with no assistance from any foreign  substance.
"It was all spit. People said something about lip balm.  If you look at my lips they are pretty dry. I certainly didn't  have any of that on," he told reporters yesterday.
"It is just the way I get the spit into the side of my  mouth and get some spit onto the ball. There was nothing in  it."
England last month blasted ball-tampering allegations  against them as a "beat-up" after footage of England bowler  James Anderson working the ball with his thumbnail drew  suspicions during their Ashes test match in Melbourne.
England coach Trevor Bayliss slammed the accusations  after former Australian test players .

Smith rejects ball-tampering suggestions after ODI loss

David Warner will lead Australia  in next month's Twenty20 international tri-series against New  Zealand and England as regular captain Steve Smith is given a  break ahead of the crucial Test tour to South Africa.
Opening batsman Warner, the Test vice-captain, steps up  to lead Australia in the T20 games which come a few weeks  before the four-Test series in South Africa.
"The South African series is a very important one and we  have made no secret of our desire to improve our record away  from home," chief selector Trevor Hohns said today.
"As such we wanted to ensure the players had the best  possible preparation and that means playing the tour match  prior to the first Test."
On the decision for Warner to captain, Hohns added:  "Steve Smith has had a very big summer and will benefit from a  short break both physically and mentally, before he leaves for  South Africa.
"David is a very capable leader and has captained in  Steve's absence before and done a fine job.
"We wanted to ...

Warner to lead Australia in T20 tri-series, Smith rested

Spinner Jon Holland and paceman  Jhye Richardson are the surprise selections in a 15-man  Australia squad named today for the tour to South Africa next  month.
Victorian left-arm spinner Holland, 30, played two Tests  for Australia against Sri Lanka in mid-2016, but was passed  over in the recent 4-0 Ashes Test series win over England.
Richardson, 21, is one of five pace bowlers in the  Australian touring party for the four-Test series and the No.2  ranked South Africans.
Holland was the outstanding spinner in the Sheffield  Shield last season and was named man of the match as Victoria  claimed their third straight title.
"Jon was the second leading wicket taker in the Sheffield  Shield last season and has performed well in the games he has  played for Victoria this season," chief selector Trevor Hohns  said.
"We envisage the wickets we will see in South Africa will  not warrant the need to play two spinners.
"But should Nathan Lyon not be able to play at any stage,  we wanted to have 

AFP

AFP

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