Elina Svitolina's blossoming romance with Gael Monfils is propelling the couple's deep runs at the US Open, and the Ukrainian urged the French star to keep pace after his quarter-final victory.
Svitolina, who broke the psychological barrier of reaching a Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon in July, became the first Ukrainian to make the last four of the US Open with a 6-4 6-4 win over Britain's Johanna Konta on Tuesday.
Boyfriend Monfils, the 13th seed in the men's draw, is through to a fourth quarter-final at Flushing Meadows and will look to equal his best Slam run when he meets Italian Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday.
"We are pushing each other and we are now trying to join each other in the semi-finals," Svitolina said.
"Now it's time for him to step up his game!"
The pair set up a joint Instagram account, which currently attracts close to 100,000 followers, after going public with their relationship at this year's Australian Open.
Svitolina, 24, credits Monfils with helping raise ..

Love match: Romance powers Svitolina and Monfils at US Open

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Russia's Daniil Medvedev shook off a leg injury to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open by defeating three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka while Roger Federer eyed his 46th Grand Slam semi-final berth.
Fifth seed Medvedev's 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 3-6 6-1 triumph on Tuesday sent him into a Friday matchup against the later winner between Bulgaria's 78th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov and 38-year-old Federer, owner of a record 20 Grand Slam titles.
"I feel really strange about this match but I'm really happy to be in my first semi-final," Medvedev said.
Medvedev struggled with a sore left quadriceps muscle that made him consider quitting the match in the first set.
"Before the match I was feeling perfect. In the first set I think I pulled my quadriceps," Medvedev said.
"I had a really big pain in my quadriceps and thought I wasn't going to continue the match." Medvedev took a medical timeout and had the area taped and took a painkiller.
"In the fourth set, I started feeling the painkiller 

Medvedev advances to US Open semis as Federer eyes last four

Serena Williams earned her 100th win at the US Open with a brutal 44-minute demolition of Wang Qiang, firing an ominous warning to rivals in her pursuit of a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title.
Six-time US Open champion Williams on Tuesday dismantled Chinese 18th seed Wang 6-1 6-0 in a complete mismatch that was the quickest at this year's tournament to set up a semi-final clash with Ukrainian trailblazer Elina Svitolina.
Williams brought up a century of US Open wins to move to within one of the all-time leader Chris Evert.
"It's really unbelievable, literally. From when I first started here, I think I was 16, I didn't think I would ever get to 100. I didn't think I would still be out here," Williams said.
The 37-year-old American is seeking a 24th major title to match Margaret Court's longstanding record, and smacked 25 winners against first-time Slam quarter-finalist Wang, who failed to hit a single one.
The 27-year-old Wang had not lost a set during her best Slam run that included .

Ruthless Serena grabs 100th US Open win as record title nears

Serena Williams said tennis had "come a really long way" as she moved to within a victory of a 10th US Open final, 20 years after winning her first Grand Slam title in New York.
Williams, who turns 38 later this month, charged into the last four at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday with a 6-1 6-0 thrashing of China's Wang Qiang that took just 44 minutes.
The American is hunting a 24th Grand Slam singles title to equal Margaret Court's all-time record and will face Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina in Thursday's semi-finals.
Williams collected her 100th US Open win against Wang, leaving her one shy of the mark belonging to Chris Evert -- a record she could eclipse by lifting a seventh title here.
"I think the sport has come a really long way. It's been really satisfying to see sport for women, the premier sport for women," said Williams, who beat Martina Hingis in the 1999 final in New York.
"It's the best work in the world that a woman can do in my mind. I'm a little biased obviously.
"I 

'Best work in the world': Serena reflects on 20 years at the top

Pope Francis arrives in Mozambique on Wednesday at the start of a three-nation tour of Indian Ocean African countries hard hit by poverty, conflict and natural disaster.
He is expected to be welcomed by tens of thousands during his visit, which will culminate with a mass on Friday at the giant Zimpeto stadium in the seaside capital Maputo.
Pope John Paul II was the last pontiff to visit Mozambique in 1988.  In a video message recorded ahead of the trip, Pope Francis stressed the need for "fraternal reconciliation in Mozambique and throughout Africa, which is the only hope for a solid and lasting peace".
The pope is expected to address the country's fragile peace process, the devastation caused by two back-to-back cyclones early this year, and the upcoming general election.
The three-day tour comes a month after the Mozambique government signed a historic peace treaty with the former rebel group Renamo, which is now the main opposition party.
The 16-year civil war devastated the former 

Pope Francis kicks off Africa tour in violence-hit Mozambique

Weakening slightly but still packing a powerful punch, Hurricane Dorian churned along the southeastern coast of the United States on Tuesday as the storm's death toll in the Bahamas rose to seven.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis termed Dorian "one of the greatest national crises in our country's history," announcing the updated toll and saying that it would likely rise further.
"We can expect more deaths to be recorded -- this is just preliminary information," Minnis told journalists.
As the storm moved away from the Bahamas, more accounts of the suffering it inflicted began to emerge.
Water "came over the roof. I would imagine 21 feet (six meters) at least. We were doing all right until the water kept coming up and all the appliances were going around the house like a washing machine," crab fisherman Howard Armstrong told CNN.
"My poor little wife got hypothermia and she was standing on top of the kitchen cabinets until they disintegrated... I kept with her and she just drowned .

Bahamas toll rises to seven as Hurricane Dorian crawls along US coast

The Australian economy has recorded its weakest annual growth in a decade, official data released Wednesday showed, expanding just 1.4 percent in the year to June.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the economy grew 0.4 percent between April and June compared with the previous quarter, a small increase driven by mining exports and government spending.
"The external sector drove GDP growth this quarter, while growth in the domestic economy remains steady," chief economist Bruce Hockman said.
Australia has avoided recession for almost 28 years but Wednesday's figures will fuel concerns about the economic outlook with growth falling to its lowest levels since the global financial crisis in 2009.
The central bank kept the main interest rate at a record low of 1.00 percent on Tuesday owing to subdued consumer spending and a slump in the housing market.
Analysts believe the bank could further cut rates in the coming months to help boost the economy.
"It is reasonable to expect ...

Australian economic growth hits 10-year low

Even with considerable security precautions in place, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey became the victim of an embarrassing compromise when attackers took control of his account on the platform by hijacking his phone number.
Dorsey became the latest target of so-called "SIM swap" fraud which enables a fraudster to trick a mobile carrier into transferring a number -- potentially causing people to lose control not only of social media, but bank accounts and other sensitive information.
This type of attack targets a weakness in "two factor authentication" via text message to validate access to an account, which has become a popular break-in method in recent years.
Twitter said Friday the account was restored after a brief time in which the attackers posted a series of offensive tweets.
But Ori Eisen, founder of Arizona-based security firm Trusona, which specializes in authentication without passwords, said the rapid fix should not be seen as an answer to the broad problem of SIM swap .

Twitter CEO hack highlights dangers of 'SIM swap' fraud

A 27-year-old Indian national was jailed for five days and fined SGD 2,500 (nearly Rs 1.30 lakh) on Tuesday for embracing and inappropriately touching a woman at a church.
Rajendran Prakash was drunk when he entered the Church of Our Lady Lourdes at about 1 pm on September 29 last year and touched and embraced the woman there, Channel News Asia reported.
An eyewitness, retiree Eu Seng Kee, was praying in the church when he heard the commotion and saw Rajendran rubbing the woman's arm with his hands.
Kee asked the woman to move away from Rajendran, but he continued to follow the woman and "behaved in a rowdy manner" in the place of worship, according to court documents, the CNA reported.
Another man, 49-year-old financial controller Gladiston Joseph, came forward to intervene and noticed that Rajendran smelled strongly of alcohol.
After he suddenly slapped Gladiston, Rajendran was pinned down but later released and told to behave himself.
Gladiston asked a priest to call for police ...

Indian man jailed for inappropriately touching woman at Singapore church

At least seven people have been killed in the Bahamas by Hurricane Dorian, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Tuesday, after the storm delivered a devastating blow to the islands.
Minnis said an additional two individuals had died, saying "that would take the number of deaths to seven." "We can expect more deaths to be recorded," he added.

At least seven killed in Bahamas by Hurricane Dorian: PM

A broken-hearted mother posted on her Facebook page Tuesday that her three daughters, their father and his wife were among those presumed dead after flames engulfed a dive boat off Southern California over the holiday weekend.
Susana Rosas of Stockton, California, thanked people for their prayers and support.
The family of five was among 34 people presumed dead in the blaze. All were sleeping below deck when the fire started early Monday. Other victims included students from a Northern California charter school serving grades 7-12, and a marine biologist who owned the diving company and was leading the tour.
Five crew members were rescued, and the bodies of 20 victims have been recovered so far. Many need to be identified by DNA analysis, and officials are collecting samples from family members.  Rosas posted that her three daughters - Evan, Nicole and Angela Rose Quitasol - were with their father Michael Quitasol and stepmother Fernisa Sison.
Evan Quitasol was a nurse at St. Joseph's 

Family of 5 on birthday trip when California boat ignited

An international operation has netted the largest ever heroin seizure in Britain, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said Wednesday, with nearly 1.3 tonnes recovered from a container ship.
Authorities raided the MV Gibraltar after it docked at the southern England port of Felixstowe on August 30,  the NCA said.
British police had found out that the heroin, with a street value of around $145 million (133 million euros) would be on the vessel when it docked en route to Antwerp.
"The smugglers had hidden the drugs within a coverload of towels, stitching the 1kg blocks of heroin inside some of the towels," said Jenny Sharp, Border Force Assistant Director at Felixstowe.
"In total it took my officers nearly six hours -- working in the early hours of Saturday morning -- to remove the drugs."
The container was then put back on the boat as it set off for Antwerp.
Dutch and Belgian law enforcement agencies tracked the container as it made its way by lorry from Antwerp to Rotterdam, then moved in .

UK nets largest ever heroin haul worth $145 million

Hurricane Juliette strengthened into a Category 3 storm in the eastern Pacific far off Mexico's west coast Tuesday, but it was heading away from shore and wasn't forecast to pose any threat to land.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Juliette had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph) as of the afternoon. Its center was about 475 miles (760 kilometers) southwest of the tip of the Baja California Peninsula, and it was heading west-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph).
The hurricane center said Juliette was expected to stay well away from land, and no coastal watches or warnings were in effect.
Slow weakening was forecast over the next 72 hours.

Cat 3 Hurricane Juliette in east Pacific no threat to land

Boeing was not able to respond to regulator questions on modifications made to the 737 MAX flight control system at an August meeting with international officials, sources said Tuesday.
The planes have been grounded globally since mid-March, following two crashes that killed 346 people. Boeing is now seeking a green light to return the jets to service after developing fixes for the jets' flight control computers.
"Yes, we attended the meeting," said a spokesperson for Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency, adding that Boeing was not able to answer regulators' specific questions.
The meeting between Boeing and US, European and Brazilian regulators and others took place in Seattle, said another source, confirming prior reporting in The Wall Street Journal according to which the issue could push back Boeing's timeframe for returning the 737 MAX to service.
The parties agreed to conclude the meeting and reconvene at a later date when Boeing could provide the details.
Boeing has said ...

Boeing not able to respond to regulators on MAX at August meeting

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has approved the use of $3.6 billion in funding from military construction projects to build 175 miles of President Donald Trump's wall along the Mexican border.
Pentagon officials would not say which 127 projects will be affected, but say details will be available tomorrow after members of Congress are notified. They say half the money will come from military projects in the U.S., and the rest will come from projects in other countries.
Elaine McCusker, the Pentagon comptroller, says the money will be used to build 11 border projects.
Trump declared a national emergency in order to use military construction and other federal funds to build the wall after Congress provided only a portion of the $5.7 billion the president wanted for the barrier.

Pentagon Oks military construction cash to build border wall

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday lost his first major vote in Parliament on Brexit as rebel MPs from his own Conservative Party sided with the Opposition to take control of the House of Commons business, which could delay Brexit and force snap elections.
In a vote that went against Johnson 328 votes to 301, the Commons got through a crucial motion that demands a debate on seeking a further extension from the European Union (EU) to the October 31 Brexit deadline if no withdrawal agreement is in place by mid-October.
With 21 of Johnson's own party MPs voting against the government, the prospect of the bill to block a no-deal Brexit clearing on Wednesday became more of a reality and the likelihood of a snap general election also in play by around October 14.
If the vote on Wednesday also goes against Johnson, he will be tied down by Parliament to seek until at least January 31, 2020, to finalise a so-called divorce bill.
As was expected, Johnson made a statement ...

Boris Johnson loses major vote on Brexit, snap elections likely

Hong Kong protest leaders on Wednesday appealed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to support their push for democracy when she visits China this week.
Prominent movement leader Joshua Wong and others recalled in an open letter published by top-selling Bild daily that Merkel grew up in the communist police state of East Germany.
"You have first-hand experience of the terrors of a dictatorial government," wrote Wong, who was temporarily arrested last week over the protests, and others.
"The Germans courageously stood at the forefront of the fight against authoritarianism during the 80s," they wrote, stressing that they share the same democratic principles.
"We hope that you will express your concern about our catastrophic situation and that you will convey our demands to the Chinese government during your stay in China." They also warned that
"Germany should be on its guard before doing business with China, as China does not comply with international law and has repeatedly broken its ..

Hong Kong protesters appeal to Merkel before China visit

Facebook says it is ending its practice of using face recognition software to identify users' friends in uploaded photos and automatically suggesting they "tag" them.
Instead, it is replacing the feature, called "tag suggestions," with its broader face recognition setting, which identifies people's faces in photos for various uses, not just tagging.
Beginning Tuesday, people who are new to Facebook, or previously had the tag suggestions setting turned on, will instead get the face recognition setting, which they can turn on or off.
People who had the tag suggestions setting turned off will see a notice about face recognition and a button to turn it on or keep it off.
Facebook was sued in Illinois over the tag suggestion feature and a federal appeals court has ruled the lawsuit can proceed.

Facebook face recognition feature to replace tag suggestions

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday he would table a parliamentary motion to call an early election after lawmakers voted against his Brexit strategy in a major defeat.
"I don't want an election but if MPs vote tomorrow to stop the negotiations and to compel another pointless delay of Brexit, potentially for years, then that will be the only way to resolve this," he told the House of Commons.

After parliament defeat, British PM says will call early polls

Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a major parliamentary defeat over his Brexit strategy on Tuesday, which could delay Britain's exit from the European Union next month and force an early election.
Just six weeks after taking office, the Conservative leader was hit by a huge rebellion among his own MPs that leaves him without a working majority in the House of Commons.
They joined with opposition MPs to begin the process of drafting legislation intended to stop Johnson taking Britain out of the EU on October 31 if he has not agreed a deal with Brussels.
The prime minister had warned that anyone who voted against him would be expelled from the party.
He is now expected to table a motion for an early election before parliament on Wednesday, with the poll date expected before a crucial EU summit on October 17 and 18.
However, it is not certain he will succeed as it requires the support of two-thirds of MPs -- and the opposition Labour party is deeply distrustful of Johnson's ...

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