Tennis: Kvitova beats another champion to reach Dubai final

DUBAI: Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, showing her best form for more than a year, beat her second champion in a row to reach the Dubai Open final here on Friday.

Kvitova, who ended the title defence of Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday, beat the 2011 titleholder Caroline Wozniacki, breaking serve in the opening game and rarely looking back in a 6-3, 6-4 win.

In her first final in six months, she now meets fifth seed Sara Errani of Italy, the French Open finalist, who beat her best friend and doubles partner Roberta Vihnci 6-3, 6-3.

The Czech's win over the Dane was full of characteristically fierce ground strokes, struck flat and hard to read, as well as a rising buoyancy which has not been evident over the past year.

Kvitova was delighted to have beaten three top 12 opponents in a row and, beaming at her success, said she was hopeful about her strengthened physical condition despite claiming that her "body was confused".

Asked for an explanation, she said: "I'm trying to be stronger in my legs and to have like stronger muscles, so I can be quicker and stay quite low for the fast shots.

"That's something I didn't like doing in the past. But I'm still thinking about the bad position I had before, and I'm trying to have the good position - that's why I'm, like, quite confused."

Nevertheless there was definite improvement in her movement, which helped her to break Wozniacki's serve in the opening game, to keep up a fierce attack, and to hold right through to the penultimate game of the first set when she broke Wozniacki again.

Wozniacki often moved superbly, but in the second set she also tried to serve harder, play faster, and generate more pressure of her own.

This helped her break for 3-2, and save break points in the eighth game. In between these two moments of resistance however Kvitova's attack was still too forceful, and she broke back for 3-3, and then broke again to win the match.

There was a frustrating end for Wozniacki, whose final shot, a backhand drive, was questionably called out - but she could do nothing about it because she had used up all her challenges.

"I don't know (if it was out) but it would have been nice to be able to challenge it," she admitted. "It was close, but, you know, I just have to believe it was out."

If Errani and Vinci thought that by taking a break from doubles to play singles only, they would spend time apart it was not entirely successful.

Instead Errani and Vinci found themselves battling against each other for an hour and 23 minutes of old-style rallies in which slice and accurate placement played a bigger part than power and flailing topspin.

Errani prevailed because she imposed her busy approach on the rallies. However it was noticeable that she toned down her some of her grunts, suggesting that comradeship may occasionally have vied with competitiveness for priority.

"It's tough to play against one person who knows what you're going to do with every shot," she admitted of the partner with whom she says she spends 300 days a year, while Vinci described it as like "playing against a sister."

The match finished with a symbolic moment as Errani's drive landed near the baseline, with Vinci surprisingly stopping the rally and calling for a computer review. On seeing that the shot was shown to be in, Vinci discovered that she had inadvertently ended the contest without striking the ball back against her friend.

- AFP/jc

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UK, Canada, Australia issue travel advisories

NEW DELHI: The UK, Canada and Australia have issued travel advisories asking their citizens to exercise caution within hours of the twin blasts in Hyderabad. The Australian advisory is significant as it comes a week before the second Test match between India and Australia scheduled to be played in Hyderabad on March 2. Though officials have said that the match will be held as scheduled, tour operators apprehend cancellations by spectators.

In its advisories, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth office said, ``On 21st February two bombs exploded in Hyderabad in the busy Dilsukhnagar area of the city killing 14 people and injuring 80. You should avoid the area.''

Australian advisory asked its citizens to monitor the situation through media and follow the advice of local authorities. ``We advice you to exercise a degree of caution in India at this time because of the risk of terrorism...''

The Canadian government clarified ``There is no nationwide advisory in effect for India. However, you should exercise a high degree of caution due to a continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times.''

Travel industry executives said that while one advisory would not have had such an impact, there had been a series of bad news in the last few months. ``It first started with the Delhi gang-rape, then swine flu and now the blasts such incidents send out the message that India is not a safe place to travel and hurts our global image,'' Subhash Goyal, president of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IOTA), said.

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Jodi Arias' Friends Believe in Her Innocence

Accused murderer Jodi Arias believes she should be punished, but hopes she will not be sentenced to death, two of her closest friends told ABC News in an exclusive interview.

Ann Campbell and Donavan Bering have been a constant presence for Arias wth at least one of them sitting in the Phoenix, Ariz., courtroom along with Arias' family for almost every day of her murder trial. They befriended Arias after she first arrived in jail and believe in her innocence.

Arias admits killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander and lying for nearly two years about it, but insists she killed Alexander in self defense. She could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.

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Nevertheless, she is aware of the seriousness of her lies and deceitful behavior.

The women told ABC News that they understand that Arias needs to be punished and Arias understands that too.

"She does know that, you know, she does need to pay for the crime," Campbell said. "But I don't want her to die, and I know that she has so much to give back."

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

The lies that Arias admits she told to police and her family have been devastating to her, Bering said.

""She said to me, 'I wish I didn't have to have lied. That destroyed me,'" Donovan said earlier this week. "Because now when it's so important for her to be believed, she has that doubt. But as she told me on the phone yesterday, she goes, 'I have nothing to lose.' So all she can do is go out there and tell the truth."

During Arias' nine days on the stand she has described in detail the oral, anal and phone sex that she and Alexander allegedly engaged in, despite being Mormons and trying to practice chastity. She also spelled out in excruciating detail what she claimed was Alexander's growing demands for sex, loyalty and subservience along with an increasingly violent temper.

Besides her two friends, Arias' mother and sometimes her father have been sitting in the front row of the courtroom during the testimony. It's been humiliating, Bering said.

"She's horrified. There's not one ounce of her life that's not out there, that's not open to the public. She's ashamed," she said.

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Pictures: Best News Photos from 2013 World Photo Press Contest

Photograph courtesy Maika Elan, Most, via WPP
 
 

In Da Nang, Vietnam, Phan Thi Thuy and her partner, Dang Thi Bich Bay, relax after studying at school.

The couple, who has been together for a year, lives in a country that has historically been hostile to same-sex relations, but could also become the first Asian country to recognize gay marriage, despite past human rights issue and a long-standing stigma.

"We were all enchanted by this series," Tucker said. "They're tender portraits, but some are complicated. Some make you wonder if all is well with the couples."

The photo series, titled "The Pink Choice," took first prize in the "Contemporary Issues Stories" category for photographer Maika Elan's ability to both stir the viewers' imagination and engage with her subjects.

"A good picture stimulates imagination and you go with it. You're delighted to be stimulated and encouraged to think," Tucker said.

"You feel like you've been given access to people, and even a world, that you normally wouldn't have access to, but in a respectful way," she added.

Published February 22, 2013

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Group releases list of 90 medical ‘don’ts’

Don’t use feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia. Don’t use drugs to aggressively treat diabetes in those older than 65. Don’t automati­cally use imaging technology for minor head injuries in children and headaches in adults. And don’t give antacids to babies with reflux.

Those are among the 90 medical “don’ts” on a list being released Thursday by a coalition of doctor and consumer groups. They are trying to discourage the use of tests and treatments that have become common practice but may cause harm to patients or unnecessarily drive up the cost of health care.

It is the second set of recommendations from the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation’s “Choosing Wisely” campaign, which launched last year amid nationwide efforts to improve medical care in the United States while making it more affordable.

The recommendations run the gamut, from geriatrics to opthalmology to maternal health. Together, they are meant to convey the message that in medicine, “sometimes less is better,” said Daniel Wolfson, executive vice president of the foundation, which funded the effort.

“Sometimes, it’s easier [for a physician] to just order the test rather than to explain to the patient why the test is not necessary,” Wolfson said. But “this is a new era. People are looking at quality and safety and real outcomes in different ways.”

The guidelines were penned by more than a dozen medical professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and ­Gynecologists.

The groups discourage the use of antibiotics in a number of instances in which they are commonly prescribed, such as for sinus infections and pink eye. They caution against using certain sedatives in the elderly and cold medicines in the very young.

In some cases, studies show that the test or treatment is costly but does not improve the quality of care for the patient, according to the groups.

But in many cases, the groups contend, the intervention could cause pain, discomfort or even death. For example, feeding tubes are often used to provide sustenance to dementia patients who cannot feed themselves, even though oral feeding is more effective and humane. And CT scans that are commonly used when children suffer minor head trauma may expose them to cancer-causing radiation.

While the recommendations are aimed in large part at physicians, they are also designed to arm patients with more information in the exam room.

“If you’re a healthy person and you’re having a straightforward surgery, and you get a list of multiple tests you need to have, we want you to sit down and talk with your doctor about whether you need to do these things,” said John Santa, director of the health ratings center at Consumer Reports, which is part of the coalition that created the guidelines.

Health-care spending in the United States has reached 17.9 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product and continues to rise, despite efforts to contain costs. U.S. health-care spending grew 3.9 percent in 2011, reaching $2.7 trillion, according to the journal Health Affairs.

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Tennis: Anger drives Wozniacki into Dubai semi-finals

DUBAI: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki reached the Dubai Open semi-finals on Thursday with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Marion Bartoli, shrugging off a code violation in the process.

Wozniacki was warned for illegal coaching as the match boiled up to a thrilling finish, apparently because she was talking to her father Piotr.

"I'm not sure if it's coaching if I talk to the coach, but apparently that's new rules, so I guess that I can't say anything nowadays," commented Wozniacki.

"I was telling him things, and all of a sudden I hear I get a code violation. I'm like, okay."

Then she turned the aggravation into laughter.

"I was telling him what I was doing wrong. There's not much he can say because he knows that if he says yes, then he's in trouble, and if he says no, he's in trouble too."

Wozniacki will tackle Petra Kvitova for a place in the final after the 2011 Wimbledon champion underlined her new status as the unofficial tournament favourite by ending the title defence of Agnieszka Radwanska.

The Czech Republic player again showed that she is in her best form since winning her only Grand Slam title 19 months ago, out-hitting and out-serving the third-seeded Pole, 6-2, 6-4.

It followed her victory over former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday -- and her near-success against Serena Williams last week in Qatar -- and was her best win in 15 months.

"I've played three great matches so far," said Kvitova, who believes that more fitness work with a new trainer has made an important difference to her least impressive area, her movement.

"And that's something I really need -- to play more matches this season. I hope this will help me for the rest of the year."

Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani, the world's top doubles pair, will put their lifelong friendship to one side on Friday when they clash in the other semi-final.

Vinci, who had accounted for one former Grand Slam winner and one seeded player already, beat the seventh-seeded former US Open champion, Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last four.

Errani, who had played one long three-set match already, had another, beating Nadia Petrova, the former world number three from Russia, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

Vinci said it would be like "playing my sister," and Errani pointed out how strange it might feel as they spend about 300 days together during the year.

"I'm number one in the world in doubles, so it's incredible for me," said Vinci who is ranked 17 in singles.

"I'm probably playing singles in a more relaxed way, and so I'm playing better."

She added: "It was a great match for me, great performance. I played a good game today like yesterday," she said, referring to her straight sets win over Angelique Kerber, the fourth seed from Germany.

- AFP/fa

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Rajnath condemns Hyderabad blast, condoles deaths

NEW DELHI: BJP president Rajnath Singh on Thursday condoled the loss of lives in Hyderabad blasts and demanded that the government conduct a thorough probe into the incident.

"I express my condolences to the family members of those killed in the blast. This is a condemnable incident. I hope the government will take appropriate action to provide immediate and adequate relief to those injured in the blast," Singh told reporters.

Twelve people were killed and more than 80 injured late on Thursday evening when two powerful serial blasts rocked a busy commercial hub of Hyderabad close to a crowded bus stand at Dilsukhnagar.

Singh demanded a thorough probe into the attack and asked the government to take steps to prevent such incidents in future. The blasts took place during the peak hour outside a roadside eatery near Konark cinema in the locality resulting in a stampede-like situation with people trying to run for safety.

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Peterson Sentenced to 38 Years for 3rd Wife's Murder

Former Illinois cop Drew Peterson yelled, "I did not kill Kathleen!" during the sentencing phase of his trial today -- and then a judge sentenced him to 38 years in jail for killing her.

The sentence came after Will County Judge Edward Burmila denied Peterson a re-trial in the killing of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Peterson had faced as many as 60 years in prison.

At his sentencing, after Peterson shouted that he did not kill his wife, someone in the courtroom yelled in reply, "Yes you did!" according to ABC News Chicago station WLS. Burmila then ordered that person to leave the courtroom.

Peterson went on to claim that police "altered evidence" in his case and "intimidated witnesses and scared my children."

"I love Kathy," he said. "She was a good mom. ... She didn't deserve to die."

He added that he was planning to get a tattoo on his back that would say, "No good deed goes unpunished."

Peterson's defense team had requested a re-trial after he was found guilty in September of killing Savio and making it look like an accident.

The re-trial, Peterson's attorneys claimed, was warranted because his former lead trial counsel, Joel Brodsky, had "single-handedly" lost the trial last fall, according to attorney Steve Greenberg. Greenberg is a former colleague of Brodsky's, but the two have recently been embroiled in a bitter public feud.

M. Spencer Green/AP Photo

Burmila today rejected all of the motions for a new trial and, as he said he would do, moved on to sentencing immediately.

It is the latest development in the bizarre story of Peterson, a former suburban Chicago police officer. In 2004, Peterson's third wife, Savio, was found dead in her bathtub, a death that was initially ruled an accident. But when his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007, Savio's body was exhumed and her death ruled a homicide.

Drew Peterson has never been charged in connection with Stacy Peterson's case.

Drew Peterson's murder trial last fall was marred by legal battles between his attorneys and prosecutors over what evidence was allowed in court. On three separate occasions, Peterson's defense team asked for a mistrial, but it was rebuffed every time by Burmila.

A large part of the testimony in that trial was hearsay, based on comments that Savio and Stacy Peterson made to friends that portrayed Peterson as a violent and threatening husband.

Peterson said at his sentencing today that hearsay was "a scary thing" because people are not accountable for the truth, according to WLS. An emotional Peterson, his voice shaking at times, blamed the media for portraying him as a monster.

Ultimately, the jury convicted Peterson, noting that it had reached a decision it believed was "just."

Savio's nephew Michael Lisak said afterwards that his aunt "can finally rest in peace."

"Today is a day for battered women, not just Kathleen Savio," Lisak said. "Your voice will be heard. My aunt's voice was heard through the grave. She would not stop. They will listen to you now."

Peterson's sister Cassandra Cales had a blunt message for the newly convicted murderer.

"Game over, Drew," she said. "He can wipe the smirk off his face. It's time to pay."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pictures: Artifacts Provide Clues to Life in Early Christchurch

Photograph courtesy Jaden Harris, Underground Overground Archaeology
 
 
 

A tiny container for Holloway's ointment, less than two inches (five centimeters) wide, came from what was probably a brick-lined basement on Madras Street under a multistory modern commercial building.

British patent medicine entrepreneur Thomas Holloway began to advertise his ointment in 1837, claiming it would cure an impressive list of ailments—"Bad Legs, Bad Breasts, Burns, Bunions, Bite of Mosquitoes and Sandflies, Coco-bay, Chiego-foot, Chilblains, Chapped Hands, Corns (Soft), Cancers, Contracted and Stiff Joints, Elephantiasis, Fistulas, Gout, Glandular Swellings, Lumbago, Piles, Rheumatism, Scalds, Sore Nipples, Sore Throats, Skin Diseases, Scurvy, Sore Heads, Tumours, Ulcers, Wound(s), Yaws."

("Coco-bay" is a Jamaican word for a form of leprosy. "Chiego-foot" is a Trinidadian term that describes a foot covered in chigger bites.)

Holloway moved his company several times in London. "The changing address and the subtle differences in the wording and images that appear on these pots are what enable them to be dated," said Watson. The address on this particular pot—533 Oxford Street, London—indicates that it was made between 1867 and 1881.

Published February 21, 2013

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Adam Laxalt: A look at the secret son of former Sen. Pete Domenici

Adam
Laxalt has some serious political genes: Grandfather Paul Laxalt is a former senator and governor of Nevada, not to mention a best friend of Ronald Reagan; mother Michelle a high-profile Washington lobbyist.

Former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) on Capitol Hill last week.
(Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
Now we know there’s more to the story: Retired New Mexico senator Pete Domenici, 80, announced this week that Adam is his illegitimate son.

“More than 30 years ago, I fathered a child outside of my marriage,” Domenici said in a statement to the Albuquerque Journal. “The mother of that child made me pledge that we would never reveal that parenthood, and I have tried to honor that pledge and so has she.”

But the carefully protected secret went public Wednesday, throwing the 34-year-old lawyer into the spotlight.

“I have lived my entire life as a private citizen and intend to remain one,” he told our colleague Rachel Weiner. “I plan to address personal issues privately and will not be commenting or joining any public discussion.”

Laxalt, who grew up in Alexandria and now practices law in Las Vegas, boasts an impressive resume: Jobs with Undersecretary of State John Bolton and Sen. John Warner, then five years as an officer and lawyer in the Navy including a deployment in Iraq.

Recently married, the strikingly handsome lawyer is a vocal conservative who has written op-eds for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, National Review Online, and American Spectator. He also appears to be a burgeoning community leader, recently named to the board of the local Catholic Charities.

All this came after a troubled adolescence. In a 1999 profile in Washingtonian magazine, Laxalt discussed his teenage alcoholism: He started drinking as a freshman at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School in Alexandria, and hit bottom at Tulane in New Orleans. “I got down there and it was just too much fun, too many women, and too much booze,” he told Chuck Conconi. “Campus bars were open until 6 a.m. and Bourbon Street was open until 6 or 7 a.m.” After treatment at Hazelden, he transferred to Georgetown, where he got both his bachelors and law degree.

It is still unclear if Laxalt grew up knowing that Domenici was his father. In her statement to the Journal, she said the pregnancy was the result of “one night’s mistake” and that she chose to raise Adam as a single parent. Both her father and Domenici were Republican senators at the time; she said she asked the married Domenici, who has eight other children, to keep the matter “private between the two of us.”

Very private, it seems. Even Michelle’s sister, Kathleen, said she didn’t know the identity of of Adam’s father. “It was a big surprise to me,” she told us Wednesday. The subject was never discussed: “That was sort of a private thing for Michelle, and we respected that all these years.”

Also unclear: Why the news emerged now, more than three decades after Adam’s birth. In their statements, both parents suggest their hand was forced. “Recently information has come to me that this sacred situation might be twisted, re-written out of whole cloth, and shopped to press outlets large and small in a vicious attempt to smear, hurt and diminish Pete Domenici, an honorable man, his extraordinary wife, Nancy, and other innocents.” wrote Michelle.

Also in The Reliable Source:

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