Breathless Djokovic sets up Murray semi-final

MELBOURNE - Champion Novak Djokovic overcame a leg strain and breathing difficulties to grind down David Ferrer 6-4 7-6 6-1 at the Australian Open on Wednesday and set up an intriguing re-match of last year's final with Andy Murray.

Leading 2-1 in the second set of his quarter-final against the Spaniard, Djokovic lurched awkwardly when chasing a ball to defend a break point, and grimaced in pain as he clutched his left leg.

Walking gingerly between points but still in full flight during play, the world number one survived a pulsating second set and stunned Ferrer by taking an early break in the third.

The fifth seed doggedly chased down everything thrown at him but was powerless to stop Djokovic's charge as the Serbian found his range in devastating form to seal the last set in 30 minutes with an ace.

Djokovic played down his physical troubles and said he would be fully fit to meet Murray for Friday's semi-final.

"Luckily for me it wasn't something that stayed there for long time. It was just a sudden pain.

"It's just today I found it very difficult after a long time to breathe because I felt the whole day my nose was closed a little bit. I just wasn't able to get enough oxygen.

NO CONCERNS

"But at this stage of the tournament, when you're playing somebody like David, somebody that... makes you play over five to 10 shots in the rally, your physical strength and endurance comes into question.

"I'm really fit and I have no concerns of recovering for the next match."

Scotsman Murray earlier romped to a straight sets victory over Kei Nishikori in a little over two hours.

While the scoreline may have suggested otherwise, Djokovic spent two hours and 44 minutes out on court, with much of it consumed in epic, attritional rallies.

If Murray opted to follow proceedings on TV, he might have sympathised with Djokovic, having been put through a similar, if longer, ordeal in a four-set semi-final against Ferrer last year.

That was prelude to a straight sets trouncing by Djokovic in the final in which the Briton appeared sapped from the toil of a long tournament.

While Murray was back in his hotel room, a steely-eyed Ivan Lendl, the Briton's new coach, sat court-side taking notes and would have been pleased with the way Ferrer pushed Djokovic hard in a fiery opening set.

Djokovic struck the first blow with a ripping forehand winner to seal a break in the fifth game, and saved a break point soon after following a frenetic 34-hit rally.

A booming inside-out forehand sealed the first set for the Serbian and he raced to 2-0 in the second before suffering the leg troubles.

Ferrer broke back to lead 3-2, but crumbled with an unforced error to blow a chance to break Djokovic again and watched in horror as the struggling Serbian blasted two forehand winners from the baseline to close out the game.

Djokovic found a second wind to trade service breaks with Ferrer before the Spaniard surrendered the tiebreak with a mis-hit forehand that sailed well past the baseline.

With the finish-line in sight, Djokovic unleashed a searing forehand winner that kissed the line to secure an early break before blasting two aces when serving for the match.

Looking ahead to his clash with fellow 24-year-old Murray, Djokovic said: "Our friendship and rivalry, you can call it, goes a long time back ... Goes (back) to when we were 12 in France, (our) first tournament. We played a lot of junior events together.

"It's great to see that somebody who you grow up next to is doing well. This is going to be another great challenge for both of us," added the Serb who holds a 6-4 record over Murray

A year after uprising, Egyptians celebrate and protest

 Tens of thousands massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other Egyptian cities on Wednesday, a year after an uprising erupted that toppled Hosni Mubarak, spurred on revolts across the region and exposed rifts in the Arab world's most populous state.

United last year by popular anger at Mubarak and his 30-year rule, Egyptians gathering on the January 25 anniversary were in high spirits but divided between activists demanding a swift end to army rule and Islamists celebrating their dramatic change in fortunes after emerging victors in a parliamentary election.

One group of mostly youths in Tahrir stood near a street where protesters clashed in November and December with police and the army, chanting "Down with military rule" and "Revolution until victory, revolution in all of Egypt's streets."

With the 83-year-old Mubarak on trial for his life but a new parliament installed this week that is dominated by his Islamist adversaries, some of the youthful activists who turned to the Internet to launch last year's revolt are disenchanted, weary of army rule but fearful the Islamists may also stifle their hopes.

Protesters mistrust the military council that took charge on February 11 last year when Mubarak was driven out and which is led by his defense minister for two decades, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The army has vowed to relinquish power after a presidential poll in June.

At the other side of Tahrir, a vast plaza where protesters fought fierce battles with police during the 18-day uprising last year, supporters of the once banned Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists grouped to celebrate.

"I'm very happy with the anniversary of January 25. We never dreamed of this. The revolution's victory was reaped with the elected parliament," said Khaled Mohamed, 41, a member of the Brotherhood whose Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) secured the biggest bloc in parliament after the first free vote in decades.

A member of the Brotherhood's party now sits on the speaker's chair, an idea unimaginable a year ago when the lower house was a compliant, rubber-stamp body stuffed full of Mubarak's supporters. The assembly also has a strong contingent of ultraconservative Salafi Muslims.

However, some liberal activists fear the Brotherhood and other Islamists are colluding with the army to entrench their position in mainstream politics at the expense of a deeper purge of the old order. Islamists dismiss talk of any such alliance.

The United States, a close ally of Egypt under Mubarak, praised "several historic milestones in its transition to democracy" this week, including the convening of parliament.

"While many challenges remain, Egypt has come a long way in the past year, and we hope that all Egyptians will commemorate this anniversary with the spirit of peace and unity that prevailed last January," a White House statement said.

AUTOCRATIC WAYS

But pro-democracy activists doubt the army's intentions and fear it wants to cling on to power from behind the scenes even after a president is elected. Some cast envious glances toward Tunisia, whose successful revolt last January inspired the Egyptians and which has now moved directly to civilian rule.

The activists in Egypt point to a surge in military trials of civilians and the use of violence against protesters as signs of autocratic ways similar to three decades under Mubarak.

When the army was ordered onto the streets after days of clashes with police during the uprising, the troops were hailed and cheered. Many Egyptians have since watched in horror as soldiers have dragged, beaten and fired tear gas at demonstrators demanding that the army return to its barracks.

Tantawi defended the military during a televised speech on Tuesday: "The nation and the armed forces had one aim: for Egypt to become a democratic state," he said.

Along with demonstrations in Cairo, Egyptians also gathered in the northern city of Alexandria and in Suez, scene of some of the fiercest violence during the revolt and also the place where the first death was reported during the uprising.

"We didn't come out to celebrate. We came out to protest against the military council and to tell it to leave power immediately and hand over power to civilians," said Mohamed Ismail, 27, in Suez, a port city east of Cairo.

There were no official numbers for Wednesday's turnout. But some witness estimates put the number in Tahrir at 150,000 or more although there was a constant flow of people in and out of the square. Thousands were also out in other areas of Cairo.

Demands for justice for the "martyrs of the revolution" was one of the unifying calls for all demonstrators on Wednesday. Banners with pictures of those killed in the uprising were hung from lamp-posts in Tahrir.

Many are angry that no one has yet been found responsible for the deaths of 850 people during the uprising. A trial of Mubarak, his interior minister and others officials continues.

"Martyrs, sleep and rest. We will complete the struggle," chanted protesters in Alexandria.

Despite unity on that issue, there were signs of friction even late on Tuesday as people began congregating in Tahrir, pitching tents in winter rain.

"The military council is Mubarak," said Amr al-Zamlout, a 31-year-old protester clutching a sign declaring "there is no change" and stating his aim was to topple the army rulers.

Mohamed Othman, an accountant, stopped to put forward a different view based on the idea that Egypt needs stability for economic recovery, not more protests: "The council will leave power in any case. Sure, the revolution is incomplete, but it doesn't mean we should obstruct life," he said. His criticism quickly drew a crowd and touched off an argument.

In an apparent attempt to appease reformist demands, the military council has in recent days pardoned some 2,000 people convicted in military courts since Mubarak was deposed. On Tuesday it announced a partial lifting of a state of emergency.

But it kept a clause saying emergency laws in place since 1981 would still apply in cases of "thuggery," a vague term that triggered calls for clarification from Washington and more criticism from human rights groups

Weaker sun will not delay global warming: study

 A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said Monday.

The study, by Britain's Meteorological Office and the university of Reading, found that the Sun's output would decrease up until 2100 but this would only lead to a fall in global temperatures of 0.08 degrees Celsius.

Scientists have warned that more extreme weather is likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms.

The world is expected to heat up by over 2 degrees Celsius this century due to increased greenhouse gas emissions.

Current global pledges to cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are not seen as sufficient to stop the planet heating up beyond 2 degrees, a threshold scientists say risks an unstable climate in which weather extremes are common.

"This research shows that the most likely change in the sun's output will not have a big impact on global temperatures or do much to slow the warming we expect from greenhouse gases," said Gareth Jones, climate change detection scientist at the Met Office.

"It's important to note this study is based on a single climate model, rather than multiple models which would capture more of the uncertainties in the climate system," he added.

During the 20th century, solar activity increased to a maximum level and recent studies have suggested this level of activity has reached, or is nearing, an end.

The scientists used this maximum level as a starting point to project possible changes in the sun's activity over this century.

The study also showed that if the sun's output went below a threshold reached between 1645 and 1715 - called the Maunder Minimum when solar activity was at its lowest observed level - global temperature would fall by 0.13 degrees Celsius.

"The most likely scenario is that we'll see an overall reduction of the sun's activity compared to the 20th Century, such that solar outputs drop to the values of the Dalton Minimum (around 1820)," said Mike Lockwood, solar studies expert at the university of Reading.

"The probability of activity dropping as low as the Maunder Minimum - or indeed returning to the high activity of the 20th Century - is about 8 percent."