A "near-death" experience off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands has given reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka a new perspective heading into the 2020 season.
An upbeat Osaka told reporters ahead of the season-opening Brisbane International that she had tried to have a bit of fun and experience new things during the off-season, which meant her "first vacation ever".
"It was really fun -- my sister was there. She made me paddleboard, and then the current took us and I almost died," a smiling Osaka said.
Osaka said she and her sister had been in shallow waters but she noticed a current had taken them away from the shore.
"I'm like, how far out are you trying to take us, because it's black, like, the water is black now, and the house is like a tiny dot, and I can't really swim that well," she said.
"I just feel like I'm experiencing so many things in my life and everything's really fun and I'm trying to take it all into... perspective that these are things that I've ...

Near-death experience gives Naomi Osaka perspective

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World number two Karolina Pliskova is hoping Andy Murray's former coach can help her take the next step up as she targets a Grand Slam breakthrough and reclaiming the top ranking.
The tall Czech ditched Spaniard Conchita Martinez in November despite winning a single-season career-high four titles in 2019.
She has since hired Venezuelan coach Daniel Vallverdu with former Ukraine Fed Cup player Olga Savchuk -- a long-time friend -- also joining her team.
"I didn't want to stay where I was," she said at the Brisbane International on Sunday ahead of opening the new season with the defence of her title.
"Of course, the year was great. I played some good tournaments, so many good matches, and I finished actually like so close to the top.
"But I felt that there's no way she (Martinez) can maybe help me more, so that's why I changed." Vallverdu previously worked with Murray from 2010 to 2014 and was part of the Ivan Lendl-led team that helped the Scot win Olympic gold and the US Open in 2012 .

Pliskova looks to former Murray coach for Slam breakthrough

A man has been mauled to death by a suspected great white shark at a popular diving spot off Australia's southwestern coast, officials said Sunday.
The man was attacked at Cull Island near the town of Esperance in Western Australia state, the state's primary industries department said in a statement.
"A man received fatal injuries after being bitten by a reported white shark," the department said.
Surf Life Saving Western Australia said he was believed to be a diver.
The fatal attack, the first in Australia this year, is the second in the area in less than three years.
A 17-year-old girl was mauled by a shark in full view of her parents near Wylie Bay in 2017. She lost her leg and was pulled from the water, but died shortly after.
In 2014, a young surfer lost parts of both arms after being attacked by a great white, also off Esperance.
Australia has one of the world's highest incidences of shark attacks, but fatalities remain rare.
There were 27 maulings but no fatalities off ...

Diver killed in Australia shark attack

World number one Ash Barty will donate all her winnings from this week's Brisbane International to the Red Cross to help the victims of Australia's bushfire crisis.
Barty revealed on Sunday that she had already donated AUD 30,000 to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) to help with injured wildlife, after seeing the effects of the fires back in November.
But she has now decided to do more and will give her Brisbane winnings  -- potentially USD 250,000 -- to the Red Cross.
"I think for me this started two or three months ago. We have to remember, this has been going on for a long time across our whole country," Barty said.
"And the first I saw of it was actually flying home from the Fed Cup final from Perth back to the east coast of Australia and we could see some of the smoke and some of the fires from the plane, so that really hit home," she added.
"Obviously the worst of it is still out there at the moment."
Barty enjoyed a stellar 2019, winning the ...

Barty to give Brisbane winnings to Australia bushfire victims

A tide of mourners wept and beat their chests in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on Sunday, paying homage to top general Qasem Soleimani, after he was killed in a US strike in Baghdad.
"Death to America," they chanted at a mass gathering in the southwestern city, where Soleimani's remains arrived from Iraq before dawn, according to semi-official news agency ISNA.
Packing the streets as Shiite chants resonated in the air, mourners held up portraits of Soleimani, seen as a hero of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and for spearheading Iran's Middle East operations as commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force.
Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike on Friday near Baghdad international airport, shocking the Islamic republic. He was 62.
The air strike was ordered by President Donald Trump, who said the Iranian general had been planning an "imminent" attack on US diplomats and the roughly 5,200 American troops deployed in Baghdad.
Soleimani's assassination ratcheted up tensions between the ...

Mourners pack Iran city as top general's remains return

Australia took a commanding 243-run lead over plucky New Zealand in the third Test here on Sunday, looking set for a clean sweep of the series.
The Australians dismissed the Black Caps for 251 to lead by 203 runs on the first innings before batting a second time in a bid to build an overwhelming total with two days remaining.
At stumps on day three, the hosts were 40 without loss with David Warner on 23 and Joe Burns not out 16, and  were expected to bat on for some time on the fourth day.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon captured five for 68 to lead the Australian bowling attack, with Kiwi Test debutant Glenn Phillips top-scoring with a charmed knock of 52.
Phillips, who only flew in on the eve of the Test as cover for a team weakened by a virus outbreak, was dropped twice and given a reprieve when caught off a no-ball.
Lyon put down the two caught-and-bowled chances when Phillips was on two and 17.
The Kiwi batsman dodged another bullet on 28 when he was caught by Travis Head at deep ...

Aussies take control of New Zealand Test after Lyon takes five

Jihadists from Somalia's Al-Shabaab group on Sunday attacked a military base used by US and Kenyan forces in Kenya's coastal Lamu region, the army spokesman said.
The strike on the base known as Camp Simba in Manda Bay is the latest by the group in Kenya since Nairobi sent troops across the border in 2011.
Kenya's army spokesman Colonel Paul Njuguna said in a statement that at 5:30am "an attempt was made to breach security at Manda Air Strip." "The attempted breach was successfully repulsed. Four terrorists bodies have so far been found. The airstrip is safe. Arising from the unsuccessful breach a fire broke out affecting some of the fuel tanks located at the airstrip."
He said the fire had been brought under control "and standard security procedures are now on-going." Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia also confirmed there had been an attack and said the militants "have been repulsed." "We are not sure if there are still remnants within," he said.
Al-Shabaab claimed ...

Al-Shabaab jihadists attack US-Kenya military base

Juan Guaido "tried everything" in 2019 to force Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro from power, to no avail. Yet the 36-year-old opposition leader has vowed to re-launch the offensive this year.
The National Assembly speaker is set to be re-elected to his position on Sunday, but it is the top job currently occupied by socialist leader Maduro that he's after.
Just under a year since declaring himself acting president -- in a move recognized by the United States and more than 50 other countries -- Guaido pledges to "resist and insist." His power struggle began brightly when Guaido showed ingenuity and skill in rallying supporters to protest and defying Maduro's authority in a number of ways -- including flouting a travel ban.
But his challenge petered out over the second half of 2019, though he's never given up his demand for the "usurper" Maduro to resign so a transitional government can take over ahead of new elections.
Guaido, like many in the international community, considers the ...

Venezuela's Guaido eyes second chance after trying 'everything'

The death toll from a building collapse in southern Cambodia rose to 29 on Sunday morning, as a frantic search for the dead and injured entered a third day.
Hundreds of soldiers and rescuers worked through the night using excavators, drills and power saws to clear concrete after an under-construction seven-storey hotel in seaside Kep province crumbled to the ground on Friday.
Officials had initially estimated that 30 workers remained trapped under the flattened structure.
But provincial spokesman Ros Udong told AFP the number of injured and dead was higher than anticipated, as more bodies were recovered in the early hours of Sunday.
Apart from the 29 dead, Udong said, 23 survivors were pulled out.
Five children were among the dead, according to rescuers.
Cambodia is undergoing a construction boom, with hotels, high-rises and casinos springing up under little regulatory oversight.
The tough -- and often dangerous -- work is undertaken by an estimated 200,000 construction workers, ...

Cambodia building collapse toll rises to 29 as search enters 3rd day

At least half of Australia's only disease-free koala population, a key "insurance" for the species' future, is feared dead with more badly hurt after bushfires swept through an island sanctuary, rescuers said Sunday.
Kangaroo Island, a popular nature-based tourist attraction off the coast of South Australia state, is home to many wild populations of native animals including the much-loved koala, where the populated was estimated at 50,000.
Massive bushfires have flared up in the vast country's southeast in a months-long crisis, killing nearly half a billion native animals in New South Wales state alone, scientists estimate.
Conditions have been particularly severe in recent days, with an ongoing blaze on Kangaroo Island spreading rapidly and razing 170,000 hectares -- one-third of the island -- on Friday.
"Over 50 percent (of the population) has been lost," Sam Mitchell of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, which is raising funds to care for the injured koalas, told AFP.
"Injuries are ...

Australia's 'insurance' koala population halved by bushfires

Smoke from Australia's bushfires drifting over to New Zealand caused a flood of emergency calls on Sunday as people reported a thick orange haze hovering over Auckland.
In recent days the smoke had covered much of the South Island, making usually pristine white glaciers appear brown.
It has now moved north and blanketed much of the top half of the North Island, home to around two million people.
As the skies turned "scary", the public were urged by police "not to call the 111 emergency number to report the orange haze in the sky caused by the Australian bush fires".
"We are currently receiving high numbers of calls related to this," police said.  Scientists say the reddish colour is caused by the smoke making blue light less visible.
Social media was filled with photos and videos of the orange haze as one woman, identified as Namita, described the scene on Twitter as "eerie and scary".
Forecaster Weatherwatch.co.nz said the sky changed dramatically in the early afternoon.
"The skies, .

New Zealanders call emergency services over 'scary' skies

A celebrated Japanese sushi businessman, nicknamed "Tuna King", paid USD 1.8 million for a giant tuna at New Year's auction at Tokyo's main fish market on Sunday.
Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs a successful sushi restaurant chain, paid 193 million yen (USD 1.8 million) to purchase a 276-kilogramme (608-pound) bluefin tuna, caught off the Aomori region in northern Japan.
"This is the best," Kimura told reporters after the pre-dawn auction.
"Yes, this is expensive, isn't it? I want our customers to eat very tasty ones this year too," he said.
Media-savvy Kimura regularly pays top price at the first auction of the year at the Japanese capital's main fish market, making himself and his business a fixture in national news during this season.
In last year's new year auction, Kimura paid a record USD 3.1 million to win a 278-kilogramme (612-pound) tuna.
The traditional auction is now being held in a new market in an area called Toyosu.
The world-famous Tsukiji market, which had long served as a ...

Japan 'Tuna King' buys new year catch for USD 1.8 million

Islamist militants from Somalia's Al-Shabaab group on Sunday launched an attack on a military base used by US and Kenyan forces in coastal Lamu, a government official said.
"There was an attack but they have been repulsed," Lamu Commissioner Irungu Macharia told AFP of the attack which was claimed by Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab militants attack US-Kenya military base: govt official

Spinner Nathan Lyon took five wickets as New Zealand were dismissed for 251 in their first innings on the third day of the third Sydney Test against Australia on Sunday.
Lyon claimed five for 68 as the Black Caps conceded a 203-run innings deficit with the Australians pressing for a clean sweep of the three-Test series.
It was Lyon's first five-wicket haul in a Sydney Test.
Test debutant Glenn Phillips top scored with 52 and stand-in skipper Tom Latham hit 49.
Australia captain Tim Paine did not enforce the follow-on and his team will bat a second time in the match in a commanding position.

New Zealand all out for 251, trail Australia by 203

President Donald Trump warned Saturday night that the United States would hit Iran harder than ever before if Tehran retaliates to the assassination of one of its top generals.
He tweeted: "If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before!" Trump followed up with another tweet, saying the US would use its "brand new beautiful" military equipment "without hesitation" if the Iranians retaliate.

Trump warns will hit Iran harder than ever before if US attacked

Ceremonies to honour top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US air strike in Baghdad, began on Sunday in Ahvaz, where his remains arrived from Iraq.
State television started a live programme showing thousands of mourners dressed in black gathered in the southwestern Iranian city.
The footage showed crowds gathered in Mollavi Square with flags in green, white and red -- depicting the blood of "martyrs".
They held up portraits of the general, seen as a hero of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and for spearheading Iran's Middle East operations as chief of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force.
Men and women wept as they beat their chests to the sound of Shiite Muslim chants.
Aerial footage showed a tide of mourners crammed into Mollavi Square and the surrounding streets of downtown Ahvaz, a city of 1.3 million people.
Semi-official news agency ISNA said Soleimani's remains had arrived at Ahvaz airport before dawn.
They are expected to be flown to the Iranian capital for more .

Ceremonies to honour general killed by US begin in Iran's Ahvaz

Newcomer Glenn Phillips lived a charmed life as New Zealand kept their first innings flickering against Australia in the third Test in Sydney on Sunday.
Phillips, who only flew in as cover on the eve of the Test with the team hit by a virus outbreak, was dropped twice and given a reprieve when caught off a no-ball.
Phillips made full use of his good fortune to head to tea unbeaten on 30 with Todd Astle not out 10 in New Zealand's 210 for six in reply to Australia's 454 on day three.
It was the longest innings of a disastrous lost series for the Kiwis, bettering the 71 overs they faced in the second innings of the second Melbourne Test.
Spinner Nathan Lyon put down two caught and bowled chances when Phillips was on two and 17.
The Kiwi batsman dodged another bullet on 28 when he was caught by Travis Head at deep midwicket only to be recalled when James Pattinson was found to have over-stepped for a no-ball.
The Blackcaps lost three wickets in the middle session with experienced Ross ...

Phillips living charmed life as Kiwis struggle against Australia

Mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios on Sunday pulled out of his ATP Cup rubber against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in Brisbane with back soreness.
He will be replaced by Australian number three John Millman, who will be playing in front of his home crowd on Pat Rafter Arena.
Kyrgios was in superb form in the opening tie against Germany, putting on a serving masterclass as he downed Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.
The second singles rubber will feature Australia's Alex de Minaur against Canadian number one Denis Shapovalov.

Back injury forces Kyrgios out of ATP Cup rubber

Carlos Ghosn's escape from Japan is "unjustifiable" and he is thought to have left the country using "illegal methods", the Japanese justice minister said on Sunday, in the first official public comments on the case.
"Our country's criminal justice system sets out appropriate procedures to clarify the truth of cases and is administered appropriately, while guaranteeing basic individual human rights. The flight by a defendant on bail is unjustifiable," said Masako Mori.
"It is clear that we do not have records of the defendant Ghosn departing Japan. It is believed that he used some wrongful methods to illegally leave the country. It is extremely regrettable that we have come to this situation," added the minister.
She confirmed that Ghosn's bail has already been cancelled and that an Interpol "red notice" had been issued.

Ghosn's escape 'unjustifiable': Japanese justice minister

Novak Djokovic said Australian Open organisers should consider delaying the first Grand Slam of the year if haze from bushfires raging around the country threatens players' health.
The opening major of 2020 is due to start at Melbourne Park on January 20 and the city was blanketed by smoke from blazes burning to the east on Saturday, compromising air quality.
Djokovic, president of the ATP players council, said in the early hours of Sunday that any delay would be a last resort, but it needed to be discussed.
"I mean, it's fair from you to say that (ask the question)," he said when pressed on the matter in Brisbane, where he is playing for Serbia in the inaugural ATP Cup team event.
"Obviously, you have to always... because of some extreme weather and conditions, you just have to consider it.
"But I think that's probably the very, very last option for anything. I think they're going to try to do anything to not delay in terms of days and when it starts.
"I mean, and I understand why, ..

Australian Open delay valid if smoke haze worsens: Djokovic

Spluttering Manchester United were forced to settle for a dour 0-0 draw at Wolves in the FA Cup third round, while holders Manchester City started their bid to retain the trophy with a 4-1 victory against Port Vale.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's troubled side on Saturday didn't manage a single shot on target in a domestic game for the first time in five years.
Easily beaten by Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday, United once again struggled to find any momentum and now face an unwanted replay at Old Trafford later in January.
Defending the latest in a growing list of underwhelming displays, Solskjaer said: "I'm happier to be in the replay than going out. It's a fair result that we are both still in the cup.
"It's a tough place to come. They had chances. Sergio Romero made some great saves. He's putting pressure on David de Gea and that's what we want. We want the best players in the world here."
Solskjaer made seven changes at Molineux with the League Cup semi-final first leg against .

AFP

AFP

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