Once you are seated at The Beato Aged Steakhouse in Solaris Dutamas, a board is brought to your table showing the cuts of beef available and the weight of each. Would you consider a porterhouse, ribeye, ... Read More
Novak Djokovic will face Juan Martin del Potro in the Wimbledon semi-finals after the world number one clinched his 13th consecutive Grand Slam last-four spot with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych yesterday.
Djokovic is yet to drop a set in his five matches at this year's tournament and the 2011 champion is now just two wins away from lifting the All England Club trophy for the second time.
Del Potro beat Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) after surviving a nasty fall in the opening game, which left the Argentine eighth seed needing several minutes of treatment on a left knee already heavily bandaged.
Berdych had beaten Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2010, but that was one of just two wins for the Czech seventh seed in their 15 meetings.
The losing streak always looked likely to continue once Djokovic took a tight first set in the tie-break, to the delight of Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic, who was cheering on his fellow Serb from courtside.
Djokovic, a six-time Grand Slam champion, recovered from 3-0 down in the second set and surged to victory in his 17th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearance.
"It was a close match, it could have gone either way," Djokovic said.
"He was a double-break up in the second set. I don't know how I got out of that, but I was serving and returning well.
"I have a commitment to go far in this tournament. I am playing some of my best tennis on grass even though it's not my preferred surface,"
Berdych added: "I can play better than I played today. If you give him too much then it's a lot."
On Centre Court, Del Potro, 24, was clearly struggling to move at times, but he gritted his teeth through two hours and 16 minutes of gruelling action, unloading 42 winners and 12 aces to finally subdue the battling Spaniard.
It will be del Potro's first Grand Slam semi-final appearance since his breakthrough triumph at the US Open four years ago.
Del Potro is just the second Argentine man to feature in the Wimbledon semi-finals, following in the footsteps of David Nalbandian in 2002.
Asked how close he was to pulling out, del Potro said: "Really close because I felt a lot of pain in the beginning of the match. It was exactly the same like I did before.
"It's really, really painful. I twisted my knee once again but the doctor gave me some magic pills so I could finish the match and I'm so glad to go through."
Ferrer revealed he had been struggling with an ankle injury before the match: "I wasn't able to warm-up properly but it was fine during the match.
"I don't think his injury affected him. He was more focused and aggressive, served really well and deserved to win."
Later in Wednesday's quarter-final action, Andy Murray will aim to reach his fifth successive Wimbledon semi-final when he faces unseeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
World number two Murray, beaten by Roger Federer in last year's final, has won his last 15 matches on grass and is yet to drop a set in this year's tournament.
Murray could count on the support of former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who was in the royal box after watching several of his fellow Scot's matches en route to his maiden Grand Slam triumph at the US Open last year.
Murray or Verdasco will face the winner of the first ever all-Polish Grand Slam match between 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot.
Both the big-serving Janowicz, 22, and Kubot, 31, are making their first appearances in the last eight of a major, giving Poland a guaranteed first male Grand Slam semi-finalist
At 130 in the world, Kubot is the lowest ranked player left in the draw. - AFP, July 4, 2013.
Goetze (left) in Nike t-shirt signs on for Adidas-sponsored Bayern, in what could be a clever piece of "ambush marketing" by the US sportswear giant. - AFP pic, July 4, 2013.Germany midfielder Mario Goetze got off on the wrong foot with his new employers Bayern Munich when he posed for the cameras at the European Champions in a T-shirt displaying the brand of a rival sponsor.
For the last decade, Bayern have a lucrative sponsorship contract with Adidas, which runs until 2020, and the German sportswear giants own a 9.4 percent stake in the Champions League winners, which is worth €77 million(RM319 million).
Goetze, 21, who has signed from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund, held his first press conference as a Bayern player on Tuesday, but wore a T-shirt with a huge logo of his private sponsor Nike on the chest, which left Bayern red-faced.
Adidas spokesman Oliver Brueggen has said the company were "unpleasantly surprised" by Goetze's choice of attire and Bayern were quick to apologise with media director Markus Hoerwick promising "such a thing will never happen again".
"We immediately called Adidas to apologise, the T-shirt passed us by in the general hustle and bustle," explained Hoerwick.
Goetze's management also contacted Adidas to apologise for the error, while Nike spokesman Olaf Markhoff told Munich daily Abendzeitung that Goetze's choice of T-shirt was nothing to do with them: "Our influence doesn't go that far!". - AFP, July 4, 2013.
The world suffered unprecedented climate extremes in the decade to 2010, from heatwaves in Europe and droughts in Australia to floods in Pakistan, against a backdrop of global warming, a United Nations report said today.
Every year of the decade except 2008, was among the 10 warmest since records began in the 1850s, with 2010 the hottest, according to the study by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The number of daily heat records far outstripped lows.
It said many extremes could be explained by natural variations - freak storms and droughts have happened throughout history - but that rising emissions of man-made greenhouse gases also played a role.
"Rising concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are changing our climate, with far-reaching implications for our environment and our oceans, which are absorbing both carbon dioxide and heat," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said.
The study said damaging extremes included Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008, floods in Pakistan in 2010, droughts in the Amazon basin, Australia and East Africa and a retreat of Arctic sea ice.
Deaths from extreme events totalled 370,000 people, up 20 per cent from the 1990s, the Geneva-based WMO said, though the world population also rose sharply over the period, from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 6.9 billion in 2010.
The jump in the death toll was caused mainly by a heatwave in Europe in 2003 which killed 66,000 and a heatwave in Russia in 2010 in which 55,000 people died.
However, casualties from storms and droughts fell, partly because of better preparedness for disasters.
The study said that 44 per cent of nations recorded the highest daily maximum temperature of the past half-century in the decade 2001-10 but only 11 per cent reported a new low.
It also said that the decade "continued an extended period of accelerating global warming" with average decadal temperatures 0.21 degree Celsius (0.4 F) warmer than 1991-2000, which was in turn 0.14 C warmer than 1981-1990.
Slowing rate of increase?
Other reports have found that the rate of temperature rises has slowed this century.
"Global mean surface temperatures have not increased strongly since 1998" despite rising greenhouse gas emissions, according to a draft report by the UN's panel of climate scientists due for release in September.
Some experts say the apparent rise from the 1990s is magnified because a volcanic eruption in the Philippines in 1991 dimmed sunlight and cut temperatures.
The WMO also said it was hard to link any individual extreme events to climate change rather than to natural variability.
However, warmer air can hold more moisture, raising risks of downpours - the study said that 2010 was the wettest year since records began. And sea levels have risen about 20 centimetres in the past century, increasing risks of storm surges.
One 2004 study, for instance, said that climate change had at least doubled the risks of the European heatwave in 2003.
Peter Stott of the UK Met Office who led that study, said scientists were now trying to see if there was a human fingerprint behind other extremes in 2012, such as Superstorm Sandy or drought in Australia.
"You can't just take a record-breaking event and say 'that's climate change'," he said. - Reuters, July 3, 2013.
Couples who have certain types of fertility treatment have a higher chance of having a child with autism or learning difficulties - although the overall risk is still extremely small, scientists said on Tuesday.
The experts said couples should not consider abandoning or avoiding in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF) on the basis of their research findings.
The study, conducted by Swedish researchers based in Britain, Sweden and the United States, found children born after IVF treatments for the most severe forms of male infertility were more likely to be diagnosed with autism or an intellectual disability.
But the actual numbers were low - children born after one form of IVF treatment had a 0.136 percent risk of having autism - a developmental disorder characterised by poor communication skills - compared with a 0.029 percent risk for children conceived naturally, they said.
"The main message ... is a positive one, suggesting that any risk of these disorders is very low, or absent, in comparison to children conceived naturally," said Allan Pacey, who was not involved in the research and is a fertility expert at Sheffield University and Chairman of the British Fertility Society.
The study was the largest of its kind and the first to compare all available IVF treatments and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
The researchers analysed more than 2.5 million birth records from 1982 and 2007 and followed up whether children had been diagnosed with autism or intellectual disability - defined as an intelligence quotient (IQ) score below 70 - until 2009.
Of the 2.5 million children, just under 31,000, or 1.2 percent, were born following IVF treatment.
Standard IVF treatment involves an egg being fertilised with sperm in a laboratory dish, while intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) fertility treatments - now used in about half of cases and often recommended for male fertility problems - involve injecting a single sperm directly into an egg.
"When we looked at IVF treatments combined, we found there was no overall increased risk for autism, but a small increased risk of intellectual disability," said Sven Sandin of King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, who co-led the study.
"When we separated the different IVF treatments, we found traditional IVF is safe, but that IVF involving ICSI, which is specifically recommended for paternal infertility, is associated with an increased risk of both intellectual disability and autism in children," he told a briefing in London.
Rates of autism have been rising rapidly in recent years, to around 1 in 100 children in Europe and as many as 1 in 88 in the United States. Since IVF births are also increasing, some researchers have wondered whether the two might be linked.
But Sandin said that while he could not entirely rule out an effect from IVF, it was certainly not the whole answer to why autism rates are going up.
"This cannot explain the increased rates we're seeing," he said. "If it does contribute anything, it's a very, very, very small fraction."
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that children born after IVF treatments with ICSI had a 0.093 percent risk of intellectual disability, compared with a base risk of 0.062 percent.
Children born after IVF with ICSI using fresh embryos and surgically extracted sperm - rather than sperm ejaculated naturally - had the higher risk of autism.
Avi Reichenberg, who led the study with Sandin at the Institute of Psychiatry and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said the results showed a link between some IVF treatments a higher risk of developmental disorders in children, but stressed the study did not identify a cause.
"The exact mechanism is unclear, but there are a number of risk factors, from selection of IVF procedures, to multiple embryos, and to preterm birth," he told reporters.
Pacey said doctors and patients should consider preferentially using standard IVF rather than ICSI wherever possible, and also using ejaculated sperm rather than sperm recovered surgically from the testicles. - Reuters, July 3, 2013.
Two rare ABBA recordings, along with clogs and clippings, will go under the hammer in Stockholm in August when a vast collection of memorabilia of the legendary Swedish pop group goes on sale, an auction house said last Friday.
The Stockholms Auktionsverk expects the sale of the some 25,000 ABBA items on August 10 and 11 to fetch some 830,000 kronor (RM 394,500).
Among the rarities are two maxi singles that ABBA recorded in Swedish but never released commercially: "Hovas Vittne", made for their manager Stig Anderson's 50th birthday party in 1981, of which there exist around 200 copies; and "Saang till Goerel", a song recorded for their record company assistant Goerel Hanser's 30th birthday in 1979, of which there are only some 50 copies.
"Hovas Vittne" has an opening bid price of 25,000 kronor (RM 11,900), and "Saang till Goerel" 15,000 kronor (RM7,100).
"Those two records really stand out in the collection," auction curator Beata af Donner said.
"The ABBA Collection by Thomas Nordin", the largest collection dedicated to the iconic disco group to be sold at auction, comprises objects collected since 1974 when ABBA burst onto the international scene winning the Eurovision contest with their song "Waterloo".
Nordin, an ABBA fan who was nine at the time, has since then collected rare items and unusual merchandise from around the world, such as ABBA clogs made exclusively for the American market, rare ABBA soaps and dolls, a large collection of clippings and books, and original posters.
"He has fantastic books of ABBA clippings from 1974 until today. ABBA's entourage didn't collect all the clippings about the band back then so these are really unique, you can't get these anywhere now. Everything is in chronological order," Af Donner said.
Nordin, who says ABBA's flamboyant stage costumes inspired him to become a tailor, said that his dream was originally to open his own ABBA museum.
"But for various reasons, that didn't happen. And it feels good to bring (the collection) to an end now, even if it feels very empty at home now, in many ways," he said.
The quartet dominated the 1970s disco scene with their costumes, kitsch dance routines and catchy melodies such as "Voulez-Vous", "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me".
They split in 1983 and have vowed they will never reunite to sing together again. - AFP/Relaxnews, July 3, 2013.
After a successful online campaign that propelled "Vulcan" - the most well-known planet from "Star Trek" - to the top of a poll to name two moons orbiting Pluto, fans found out yesterday that the moons would be named "Kerberos" and "Styx" (which placed second and third) instead.
The SETI Institute explained that despite the popularity of "Vulcan" (in large part due to a Twitter campaign by "Trek's" own William Shatner and endorsed by castmate Leonard Nimoy), the name was not new to the world of astronomy, reported CNN today.
"The (International Astronomical Union) gave serious consideration to this name, which happens to be shared by the Roman god of volcanoes," SETI stated in a press release. "However, because that name has already been used in astronomy, and because the Roman god is not closely associated with Pluto, this proposal was rejected." (IAU rules state that the moons must be named after characters from the underworld of Greek or Roman mythology.)
Shatner made no bones about his displeasure with the decision on his Twitter feed. "I'm sad," he tweeted. "So they name a moon Kerebus because there's already a Cerebus asteroid but a mythological planet knocks out Vulcan?"
But the members of the band Styx were positively giddy.
"Styx is proud to accept this new heavenly chart position as we add orbiting Pluto to our ever expanding touring map," guitarist and songwriter Tommy Shaw told Ultimateclassicrock.com. "As always we have our fans to thank for it and I predict a new Styx T-shirt in the making!" - July 3, 2013.
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Ethel Brennan and Sara Remington had never met as children, but as adults they found they shared many childhood experiences that they brought together in a new book, "Paris to Provence: Childhood Memories ... Read More
What would have happened if Anne Boleyn, the wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, had given her husband the son he so desperately wanted instead of miscarrying and eventually losing her head as a ... Read More
Celebrated author Ian Banks planned, plotted and wrote "The Quarry" in the last months of 2012, all before his own life mirrored the book's cancerous theme with a diagnosis delivered in March 2013, his ... Read More
Brazilian literature and arts will this year come under the spotlight at the world's biggest book fair, which annually attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors in the western German city of Frankfurt, ... Read More
Science fiction legend Richard Matheson is to be honored in Los Angeles on Wednesday for his life work following his death Sunday at the age of 87.A prolific novelist and screenwriter, Matheson saw many ... Read More
Ethel Brennan and Sara Remington had never met as children, but as adults they found they shared many childhood experiences that they brought together in a new book, "Paris to Provence: Childhood Memories ... Read More
What would have happened if Anne Boleyn, the wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, had given her husband the son he so desperately wanted instead of miscarrying and eventually losing her head as a ... Read More
Celebrated author Ian Banks planned, plotted and wrote "The Quarry" in the last months of 2012, all before his own life mirrored the book's cancerous theme with a diagnosis delivered in March 2013, his ... Read More
Tiga pekerja binaan rakyat Myanmar maut manakala seorang cedera setelah tertimbus dalam kejadian tebing runtuh di kawasan pembinaan di Taman Sierra, Ukay Perdana di sini hari ini.
Mereka yang maut dikenali sebagai Mohd Alam, Kowrin dan Romzo Ali, berumur antara 29 dan 34 tahun.
Penolong Pengarah Operasi Bomba dan Penyelamat Selangor Mohd Sani Harul berkata ketika kejadian pada pukul 11.29 pagi itu, lapan pekerja sedang membuat kerja sistem perparitan.
"Runtuhan tebing setinggi tiga meter itu telah menghempap empat orang...tiga mati tertimbus manakala seorang lagi patah kaki dan dia kini dirawat di Hospital Ampang.
"Kami mengambil masa setengah jam untuk mengeluarkan tiga mangsa yang tertimbus," katanya pada sidang akhbar di tempat kejadian, hari ini.
Beliau berkata ketiga-tiga mayat rakyat Myanmar itu dihantar ke Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) untuk bedah siasat.
Sementara itu, Anggota Parlimen Gombak Azmin Ali berkata Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) telah mengeluarkan arahan kepada pihak pengurusan projek supaya menghentikan kerja-kerja pembinaan serta-merta sehingga siasatan selesai. - Bernama, 3 Julai, 2013.
Pendatang dari Filipina hari ini membuat pengakuan kepada Inkuiri Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) perkahwinannya dengan wanita Sabah bertujuan mengukuhkan 'kedudukan' kewarganegaraannya.
Pada sesi soal siasat inkuiri itu, Abdul Latif Jumani selaku saksi ke-161 berkta demikian di depan panel RCI di Mahkamah Tinggi Kota Kinabalu, malah menceraikan isterinya sebelum ini, bagi mengahwini rakyat tempatan.
"Kamu cerai isteri Filipina kamu cuma satu helah untuk kahwin orang Sabah supaya kedudukan kamu sebagai orang Sabah lebih kuat?" soal pegawai penyiasat, Jamil Aripin sebelum Abdul Latif dijawab: "Ya."
Abdul Latif berasal dari Pulau Ubian Filipina sebelum memasuki Sabah melalui jalan laut pada 1972 ketika berusia 14 tahun bersama ibu dan dua adiknya.
Beliau menceraikan isterinya dari etnik Bajau Filipina walaupun sudah 10 tahun berkahwin atas alasan tidak mampu memberikannya zuriat, sebelum mengahwini wanita tempatan berketurunan Brunei pada 2004.
Mereka kemudian dikurniakan dua anak, masing-masing berusia lapan dan enam tahun. - 3 Julai, 2013.
The Malaysian Insider :: Food
Once you are seated at The Beato Aged Steakhouse in Solaris Dutamas, a board is brought to your table showing the cuts of beef available and the weight of each. Would you consider a porterhouse, ribeye, ... Read More 
Brazilian literature and arts will this year come under the spotlight at the world's biggest book fair, which annually attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors in the western German city of Frankfurt, ... 
Science fiction legend Richard Matheson is to be honored in Los Angeles on Wednesday for his life work following his death Sunday at the age of 87.A prolific novelist and screenwriter, Matheson saw many ... 
Celebrated author Ian Banks planned, plotted and wrote "The Quarry" in the last months of 2012, all before his own life mirrored the book's cancerous theme with a diagnosis delivered in March 2013, his ... 