Simona Halep said she dreaded to think how much money she owed her coach after victory over British qualifier Harriet Dart in the Australian Open second round on Thursday.
The fourth seed pledged earlier this month to donate $200 to Australia's bushfire relief fund each time she gives her Australian coach Darren Cahill a hard time during matches.
Halep cruised the first set 6-2 against Dart, but the second set was not so easy, the Romanian kept at bay by the determined 164th-ranked Briton.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Halep slapped her thigh twice after failing to put Dart away on third match point at Rod Laver Arena.
The former number one finally sealed victory at the fourth attempt when the 23-year-old Londoner fired long, but not before aiming a few choice words at Cahill.
"He's counting this stuff so I am afraid to ask (how much she owes)," the 28-year-old Halep joked, after the 6-2 6-4 win.
Cahill famously told Halep that she was "a disgrace on the court" at the WTA Finals in ...

Wimbledon champ Halep stumps up for Australian Open win

PTI Automatic

China locked down two major cities in a province at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak on Thursday, banning planes and trains from leaving in an unprecedented move aimed at containing the disease which has already spread to other countries.
The respiratory virus has claimed 17 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, infected hundreds of other people nationwide and been detected as far away as the United States.
Residents in Wuhan, a major port city in central Hubei province with a population of 11 million people, were told Thursday not to leave "without a special reason", and the order was backed by a transport shutdown.
Trains and planes out of Wuhan were indefinitely suspended, tollways on roads out the city were closed, leading to fear and panic for those who were trapped.
Hours later, authorities in neighbouring Huanggang announced that public transport and train services would be suspended at midnight, while people were told to not leave the city of 7.5 

China locks down two cities to curb virus outbreak

The UN's top court said Thursday it has the authority to rule in an urgent case in which Myanmar is accused of genocide against Rohingya Muslims.
"The court concludes that it has prima facie jurisdiction to rule in the case," International Court of Justice presiding judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said in The Hague.
The court was also announcing whether it will grant emergency measures sought by The Gambia against Myanmar to prevent further violence.

Top UN court says it can rule in Rohingya case

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday a post-Brexit trade deal between the United States and Britain is a top priority and will be reached by the end of this year.
A UK-US deal "is an absolute priority for President (Donald) Trump and we expect to complete that with them this year, which we think will be great for them and great for us," Mnuchin told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Britain and US to clinch trade deal 'this year': Mnuchin

A second central Chinese city is being put on lockdown to help control the spread of a virus epidemic that broke out in neighbouring Wuhan, authorities said Thursday.
The train station in Huanggang, which has a population of 7.5 million and is 70 kilometres (40 miles) from Wuhan, will be suspended until further notice from midnight -- all vehicles will be checked, and bars and cinemas will be closed, said city authorities.
The railway station in a third nearby city, Ezhou, which has a population of over one million, will also close from tonight, though no other measures were announced.

Second Chinese city placed on lockdown over virus: official

Daniil Medvedev insisted a mid-match nosebleed was not a serious problem as he overcame an underarm serve and stiff resistance from Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez Thursday to book his Australian Open third-round ticket.
The Russian fourth seed was pressed hard in a competitive first set before grinding down the 22-year-old 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 with the roof closed on Margaret Court Arena.
He plays Australia's Alexei Popyrin next in Melbourne.
"It was not easy, especially the first set, but I managed to stay there the whole match and came through because he has less experience," said Medvedev, who won four titles last year and was runner-up at the US Open.
He was up 5-0 in the second set when he required a medical timeout with blood dripping from his nose, something that also interrupted his Australian Open last year.
"Well, I was bleeding from the nose, which can happen to me sometimes. Doesn't usually happen during the match so I had to stop it," said the 23-year-old.
"Usually takes like .

Medvedev overcomes nosebleed, underarm serve at Open

Russian high jump star Maria Lasitskene said on Wednesday that she hoped the change of Russian sports minister would help athletics, at a time when the country is banned globally.
"I want to believe, I want to hope that these changes will help us, will influence the Russian Athletics Federation because we are really in a pitiful state," the 27-year-old three-time world champion told AFP.
Her plea came the day after President Vladimir Putin replaced Pavel Kolobkov in a cabinet overhaul with Oleg Matytsin, president of the International University Sports Federation.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and the Russian Olympic Committee also welcomed the appointment.
In December, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia for four years from participating in international events, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, over what it considers a state-sponsored programme of doping.
Lasitskene hopes to compete in Tokyo as a neutral athlete.  Lasitskene, a vocal critic of the Russian ...

Lasitskene welcomes change of Russian sport minister

Alexander Zverev said his game was on the up after a poor start to the year as he came through three tight sets to beat 98th-ranked Egor Gerasimov at the Australian Open on Thursday.
The German seventh seed has been practising up to seven hours a day after a dismal ATP Cup and the hard work paid off as he safely reached the third round.
"Definitely much better than the ATP Cup. Now in the third round, I'm very happy about that," said the 22-year-old, who beat Italy's Marco Cecchinato in round one.
The 6ft 6ins (198cm) Zverev sent down so many double faults at the ATP Cup that Belinda Bencic suggested he donate to Australia's bushfires appeal for each one.
But his serve, a key focus of his extended practices, was a weapon once again on Thursday as he fired nine aces against no double faults, with a first-serve percentage of 78 percent.
"Sometimes it's difficult, sometimes it's easy," Zverev said when asked what it was like trying to rediscover form.
"The last week or so when we were ...

Seven-hour practice sessions put Zverev back on track

World number five Dominic Thiem survived a five-set scare after being pushed hard by gutsy home hope Alex Bolt at the Australian Open Thursday.
The Austrian, targeting a maiden Grand Slam crown, looked fragile as the crowd got behind the wildcard but ultimately prevailed 6-2, 5-7, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2 in 3hrs 22mins.
Thiem is among a clutch of players tipped to win a Major after reaching the last two Roland Garros finals, but he was exposed at times by a player ranked 140 who controlled much of the second and third sets.
"It was a tough match, Alex played great and he had the crowd support," said Thiem, who has never gone past the fourth round in six previous attempts.
"But I also love to play in such a great atmosphere." He faces another tricky clash in the third round, against either American 29th seed Taylor Fritz or big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.
Thiem looked comfortable after racing through the opening set and was serving at 5-4 to go two sets in front.
But the crowd ...

Thiem scrapes through after five-set scare at Australian Open

Europe's main equity markets slid at the open on Thursday after earlier losses in Asia, as fears grew over the spread of a deadly new virus from China.
In initial trades, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies shed 0.2 per cent to 7,555 points compared with the close on Wednesday.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index lost 0.4 per cent higher to 13,461.46 points and the Paris CAC 40 also fell 0.4 per cent to 5,987.57.

European stocks open lower on virus fears

Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced Thursday.
The international financial hub has been on high alert for the virus, which has killed 17 people since the outbreak started in central China.
The same sites were used as quarantine facilities during the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak 17 years ago.
Nearly 300 people in Hong Kong were killed by SARS, a tragedy that left a profound psychological impact on one of the most densely populated places on earth.
So far two people in the city have tested positive for the new coronavirus -- which is similar to the SARS pathogen. Both had visited Wuhan in recent days. They are being treated on isolation wards in hospital.
The gambling hub of Macau, which is hugely popular with mainland tourists, also confirmed two cases this week. On Thursday, Macau's tourism bureau ...

Hong Kong turns holiday camps into quarantine zones as virus fears spike

Angola's billionaire former first daughter Isabel dos Santos has been charged with money laundering and mismanagement during her stewardship of state-owned oil firm Sonangol.
Documents leaked this week alleged the daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, plundered state coffers to build her fortune, estimated at $2.1 billion (1.82 billion euros).
"Isabel dos Santos is accused of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during her tenure at Sonangol and is thus charged in the first instance with the crimes of money laundering, influence peddling, harmful management ... forgery of documents, among other economic crimes," prosecutor general Helder Pitta Gros told a news conference late Wednesday.
Investigations into Isabel dos Santos's 18-month tenure as Sonangol head from June 2016 were opened after her successor Carlos Saturnino raised the alarm about "irregular money transfers" and other dodgy procedures.
Dubbed Africa's richest woman, Isabel dos Santos is accused of using her 

Angola's ex first daughter Isabel dos Santos charged with fraud

A large water-bombing plane crashed while fighting fires southwest of Sydney on Thursday, killing all three US crew on board, Australian officials said.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities lost contact with the Canada-owned C-130 Hercules aircraft, which was operating in the Snowy Monaro region, shortly before 1:30 pm (0230 GMT) Thursday.
Fitzsimmons said all three people killed in the crash were residents of the United States, one of several countries that have sent crews of specialist firefighters to help battle Australia's devastating bushfires.
"Our hearts are with all those that are suffering what is the loss of three remarkable, well-respected crew that have invested so many decades of their life into firefighting and fire management," he said.
The incident brought the death toll in Australia's bushfires to at least 32 since the crisis began in September.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but Fitzsimmons had said ...

Three US firefighters killed in Australia water bomber crash

Ten people were missing after a boat carrying 20 migrant workers capsized off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, a search and rescue official said Thursday.
The wooden vessel, which was bound for neighbouring Malaysia, began taking on water when it was inundated by high waves on Tuesday evening.
"There were 20 people on board -- 10 of them were rescued while 10 others are still missing," local search and rescue official Leni Tadika told Metro TV Thursday.
The rescued workers, who wore life vests, were spotted by fishermen on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said the passengers were illegal migrants.
Indonesians regularly make the perilous crossing to Malaysia in search of work, often as construction and palm oil plantation workers.
Boat accidents are common in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of some 17,000 islands, due to lax safety standards.
In recent years, dozens of Indonesian migrant workers have disappeared in such accidents.

Ten missing after migrant boat capsizes off Indonesia

The UN's top court will announce Thursday if it will allow a case accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya Muslims to go ahead and if it will impose emergency measures to stop further violence.
The ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) comes days after a Myanmar commission concluded that some soldiers likely committed war crimes against the minority group but that the military was not guilty of genocide.
Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi travelled to The Hague in December to personally defend her Buddhist-majority country against the allegations over the bloody 2017 crackdown against the Rohingya.
The mainly Muslim African nation of The Gambia brought the case against Myanmar after 740,000 Rohingya fled over the border into Bangladesh, carrying accounts of widespread rape, arson and mass killings.
"The first question is whether or not the Court will declare to have jurisdiction. My guess is that that will be the case, although you never know," Willem van ...

Top UN court to rule on Myanmar genocide case

Rory McIlroy can regain golf's world number one ranking at Torrey Pines this week, but the Northern Ireland star says he'll focus on his game and let the ranking take care of itself.
"It didn't get on the list of goals at the start of the year," McIlroy said of the top spot, which he last held in September of 2015.
"It's all about the process, it's all about the game, it's all about trying to make improvements. If I do that and I achieve those goals, then hopefully inevitably I get to that position."
While McIlroy has been consistently high in the rankings for the last four years, he admitted that regaining the number one spot "wasn't even on my radar" when he was returning Stateside after missing the cut at the British Open in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July.
"But I've played consistently good golf since that point," said McIlroy, who earned US PGA Tour Player of the Year honors in 2019 after a season that included wins at the Players Championship, the RBC Canadian Open, the Tour 

With No. 1 in sight, McIlroy takes long view

A new strain of coronavirus that emerged in China may have originated in bats or snakes, according to genetic analysis of the virus that has so far killed 17 people.
The theories are based on examination of the genome sequence of the virus released by authorities in the wake of the outbreak, with two studies pointing to the likely role of bats in the outbreak.
One study, published Tuesday in the journal Science China Life Sciences, which is sponsored by Beijing's Chinese Academy of Sciences, looked at the relations between the new strain and other viruses.
It found the coronavirus that emerged from China's Wuhan was closely related to a strain that exists in bats.
"Bats being the native host of the Wuhan CoV (coronavirus) would be the logical and convenient reasoning, though it remains likely there was intermediate host(s) in the transmission cascade from bats to humans," the researchers from several institutions in China wrote in the paper.
That study did not speculate about which ...

Studies suggest role of bats, snakes in outbreak of China virus

Manchester United were labelled an "embarrassment" as pressure mounted on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following Burnley's shock 2-0 victory, while Tottenham boosted their top four prospects with a 2-1 win over Norwich on Wednesday.
Solskjaer's side suffered a third defeat in their last four Premier League games to put the United boss's job security back under the microscope.
Burnley's first top-flight win at Old Trafford since 1962, secured by Chris Wood's 39th minute opener and a Jay Rodriguez thunderbolt after the break, exposed the flaws in a lacklustre United side who have made their worst start to a season since 1989-90.
The majority of Old Trafford was on its feet when chants of "stand up if you hate Glazers" echoed around the ground in reference to United's owners.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was also subjected to many other abusive chants, while those few fans who remained in the stadium booed Solskjaer and his players at full-time.
Former United defender Rio Ferdinand, a ...

'Embarrassing' Man Utd suffer fresh woe, Spurs boost top four bid

Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to help clear her mind of tennis and the unusual off-season preparation is paying off after she reached round three at the Australian Open on Thursday.
The Spanish former world number one defeated home hope Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and faces Ukraine's fifth seed Elina Svitolina or American Lauren Davis next.
The 26-year-old Muguruza won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon the next year, but her career has stalled and she now finds herself ranked 32.
She went out in the first round at the last two Grand Slams, at Wimbledon and the US Open, then decided to try something completely different in preparation for the 2020 season.
"You're climbing that mountain and it's only you. You don't get any award, any prize, any photo, nothing up there," Muguruza said of the few days in November scaling Africa's highest mountain.
"It's really challenging physically and mentally to be there and I was just looking for ...

Muguruza surmounts Australian challenge after Kilimanjaro climb

La Liga's heavyweights were both given a scare by third tier opponents in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday as Barcelona needed two late goals to beat Ibiza and Real Madrid dug deep for victory over Unionistas de Salamanca.
Barca sit 44 places ahead of Ibiza and Madrid 56 above Unionistas but the lowly duo both came close to extraordinary upsets, only for Ibiza to lose 2-1 and Unionistas 3-1 in front of their jubilant home fans.
With Lionel Messi rested and not even on the bench, Antoine Griezmann proved the saviour for Barcelona, scoring twice in the second half, including a 94th-minute winner, after Pep Caballe had given the hosts a fairytale lead at Can Misses.
Discomfort was more fleeting more Madrid, who conceded an equaliser in the second half following a brilliant run and finish from Unionistas' Alvaro Romero, only to restore their advantage five minutes later.
Juan Gongora turned the ball into his own net after Gareth Bale, back from injury and illness, scored his first goal for ..

Barcelona and Madrid made to sweat by Ibiza and Unionistas

Neymar set up the first two goals with curling set pieces as Paris Saint-Germain won their French League Cup semi-final 3-0 away to Reims on a chilly Wednesday night.
PSG will face Lyon, who beat Lille on penalties on Tuesday, in the final at the Stade de France on April 4.
This was PSG's second cup match in three days and coach Thomas Tuchel continued to shuffle his squad.
Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, who were unused substitutes as PSG won in the French Cup at Lorient on Sunday, started while Mauro Icardi and Angel di Maria who began that game, shivered on the bench on a below-freezing evening in Champagne country.
The home team, lying eight in Ligue 1, 20 points behind PSG, also made changes from its last league game, as coach David Guion reshuffled his midfield.
Neymar set up the first goal for his fellow Brazilian Marquinhos, another star brought back after a coach-enforced rest, after nine minutes.
Marquinhos, playing in central defence and as captain, raced in to meet an ...

AFP

AFP

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