Sharapova and Clijsters cruise through, Ivanovic makes tearful exit Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Currently showing her best ever form on red clay, Maria Sharapova cruised past Mirjana Lucic 6-3, 6-0 in the first round and proved that she is a true contender for the Roland Garros title for the first time.
The three-time Grand Slam champion barely missed a shot in running off the last ten games of the match, serving big, tearing apart Lucic's second services and hitting the corners with both her forehands and backhands.
The former French Open semi-finalist has been to the second week of the tournament on a few occasions, where she would eventually tire and get run over by faster opponents who could move her around. But after winning Rome 10 days ago with three notable wins over no.4 Victoria Azarenka, no.1 Caroline Wozniacki and 2010 Roland Garros finalist Sam Stosur, the Russian has proved that is she can control the court and has improved her footing enough to win on any surface.
"I started [Rome] off really well, and I felt like I continued with that. Even though I lost the first set to Azarenka, I felt like I adjusted well, and I did that really well throughout the tournament. If something wasn't quite working, I always had a plan B and was able to find a way to win."
Sharapova seriously struggled to regain her no.1 form after her 2008 shoulder surgery, occasionally playing at a very high level but also growing frustrated with the inconsistency of her once effective service as well as her forehand. Only five of her 23 titles have come since that surgery and only two, Tokyo and Rome, were at prestigious tournaments.
She has only reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal since returning to the tour in May 2009, at Roland Garros a month later when she lost to Dominika Cibulkova. But for the most part, she has kept her head down and now ranked No. 8, is showing more self-belief and consistency.
"I don't think any road is particularly easy," she said. "If you don't have the tough days and don't go through adversity, I don't think that the good ones and the wins mean as much as when everything seems to be going your way. I've put a lot of work in, and starting from the off-season, I had a tough period at the beginning of the year, being sick for a while and having to wait to play a tournament. But I trained really hard. I don't think I had that work ethic last year. At some points I didn't push myself as much as I wanted to, but that motivation has really kicked in this year, and I hope I keep going with that."
Sharapova took a risk in January, separating from her long-time coach and friend Michael Joyce to work with Swede Thomas Hogstedt, who once coached Na Li and Tommy Haas. She also brought in a new hitting partner this spring - former ATP player Cecil Mamiit - but it was her willingness to try to institute Hogstedt's technical changes with her service and forehand as well as some strategic moves that have opened the gate to improvement.
"You just try to get the best possible thing for you, and add or sometimes take away things that maybe you feel are ultimately going to make you better," she said. "The most important thing is just realizing that it's never just going to come together in a matter of minutes. It's always going to take time. Adjustments ultimately hopefully will get you to a better place, and it was a tough change for me. I had the same sort of routine and the same stuff for so many years, but in a way it was refreshing and new."
No. 2 Kim Clijsters didn't play her best but was respectable enough in her a 6-2 6-3 win over Anastasiya Yakimova. It was the two times finalist's first match since the end of March as she tore ligaments in her ankle while dancing at her cousin's wedding. Clijsters, who came back to the tour in 2009, thought she moved fairly well and was pleased that she has managed to play the event after missing it last year. It has been her main goal this year to win her first Roland Garros.

"Even after Australia, like all my workouts that I was doing with my trainer were all kind of with the clay season in mind, and we were doing longer intervals, knowing that the rallies would be a little bit longer.
Everything was kind of set already on this event a few months ago. So it was disappointing when [the injury] happened, but it kind of just gave me an extra spark."

A number of other seeds pushed through including Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Yanina Wickmayer Jarmila Gajdosova and Alexandra Dulgheru.

But Americans Vania King upset 2009 semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova 6-7(10) 6-3 6-2, and Swede Johanna Larsson took out 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic 7-6(3), 0-6, 6-2.

Ivanovic has dealt with a series of injuries this year, including recently discovering tendonitis in her left wrist.

"That's been really hard," said the tearful Serbian in her press conference.. " Like I felt in March like before Indian Wells and Miami I could put some really good practice in and I was feeling healthy. That was good and I could continually to play better. Then Fed Cup, I injured my stomach again. It was always stop and go. It's very frustrating….Last couple of days I could hit my backhands, but it's very hard because you go through emotional stress, as well."

ROLAND GARROS-2011

Wozniacki uses her superb defensive skills against Aleksandra Wozniak this morning.

China admits Three Gorges Dam has 'urgent problems' as drought persists

Beijing--In a rare admission, the Chinese government has said the Three Gorges Dam -- the world's largest hydropower plant -- is having "urgent problems," warning of environmental, construction and migration "disasters" amid the worst drought to hit southern China in 50 years.
China's State Council, the country's Cabinet, this week said that while the dam has been beneficial to the region, there has also been a variety of issues since construction began in 1992.
"At the same time that the Three Gorges Dam project provides huge comprehensive benefits, urgent problems must be resolved regarding the smooth relocation of residents, ecological protection and geological disaster prevention," the statement said.
This is the first major official acknowledgment of the dam's repercussions. The Chinese government also admitted the Three Gorges Dam has negatively impacted downstream river water, transport and migration.
"Some problems emerged at various stages of project planning and construction but could not be solved immediately due to the conditions at the time," the State Council said. "Some arose because of increased demands brought on by economic and social development."
The project, which cost more than 180 billion yuan (US$28 billion), has been a source of pride for the government while also arousing intense debate among scientists and villagers. Completed in 2006, the dam includes a five-tier ship lock, a reservoir, and 26 hydropower turbo-generators. The dam was originally touted for its ability to control the impact of flooding that threatens the Yangtze river delta each summer.
However, millions of Chinese citizens have been adversely impacted throughout the construction process and even after the dam's completion.
The Three Gorges displaced over 1.4 million residents along the Yangtze during the digging and construction of a giant concrete barrier, made up of 16 million tons of concrete. More than 1,000 towns and villages were flooded in the process. Landslides and pollution have plagued the areas near the dam since it was built.
Meanwhile, a prolonged drought has persisted along the Yangtze, affecting nearly 10 million people along the river's middle and lower sections, in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Citizens in the region are blaming the dam's restiction on river flow for exacerbating the effects of the drought.
These regions will mostly see hot and dry weather during the coming week, the China Meteorological Administration warned.
Meteorological data also indicated that rainfall in drought-affected regions was down 30% to 80% compared to levels in normal years, while the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and the city of Shanghai continue suffering from the worst drought since 1954, Xinhua reported.
Provincial and local departments have been instructed to activate cloud-seeding to induce rainfall if necessary.
The government has ordered 5 billion cubic meters of water to be discharged from the Three Gorges Dam over the next 20 days to ease the effects of the drought. But officials say the order, which follows the release of 1.86 billion cubic meters of water in the first two weeks of May, will have a limited impact on fighting drought conditions.
"All the discharged water can only reach areas along the Jingjiang section of the Yangtze River, meaning the drought situation in three places in the central part in Hubei... will be relieved to some degree," said Wang Jingquan, a senior official of the flood control and drought relief office affiliated to the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee.
"The far lower reach of the river can only get very limited benefits," he said as reported in the state-run China Daily.

"With the current observation devices and data, we have found no evidence that the drought was caused by the dam," Liu Min, a meteorological specialist with the Hubei Provincial Weather Bureau, told Xinhua.

Ronaldo: Referee didn't let Real win

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed the referee "didn't let" his Real Madrid team win Tuesday's European Champions League semifinal second leg against archrivals Barcelona.

Real could only draw 1-1 at the Camp Nou, losing 3-1 on aggregate after last week's controversial 2-0 defeat to Barca in Madrid which left both clubs facing charges from ruling body UEFA.

It was the two teams' fourth meeting in 18 days -- clashes known as "El Clasico" -- and tensions between the clubs have become strained in that period, with allegations of foul play and racism being made.

There was further controversy on Tuesday, when Real saw a 48th-minute goal from Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain ruled out by referee Frank de Bleeckere after Ronaldo was adjudged to have fouled Javier Mascherano.
Barca held but go through to Champions League final

"Once again it was the referee that didn't allow us to dictate the outcome," Ronaldo, who became the world's most expensive player when he moved to the Bernabeu from Manchester United in 2009, told Real's official website.
"We knew we could beat Barca, but the referee didn't let us. Higuain's goal was good. Pique pushed me and I landed on Mascherano. He didn't used to fall to the ground in England, but he's picked up the bad habit of doing it here like everyone else."
Josep Guardiola's Barca took the lead on the night when Spain forward Pedro coolly converted after a pass from compatriot Andres Iniesta on 54 minutes.
Real, without head coach Jose Mourinho after he was sent to the stands in the first leg, equalized through Brazil's Marcelo in the 65th minute following a shot from Angel Di Maria that rattled the post.

Los Blancos were left frustrated after last week's first leg, when they felt Portugal defender Pepe was wrongly dismissed for a challenge on Dani Alves.
Has the time arrived for change in football?
"The referee in the first match took away our chances of playing the final," Pepe's fellow Portugal international Ronaldo said.

"Whoever knows anything about football knows that Barcelona get preferential treatment. We knew something would happen. We knew that if we scored a goal that everything would be done to keep us from going through.

"This isn't good for football. We should just stay home and allow Barcelona to play alone if things don't change."
Guardiola has guided the Catalan club to the second final in Europe's premier club competition under his stewardship and a third in five years.
Barca secured the first of three Champions League triumphs at London's Wembley Stadium in 1992, a match Guardiola played in, and will return to the rebuilt venue for the May 28 showpiece.
"Taking into account what these players have come through, it's incredible," the 40-year-old told UEFA's website.
"They just keep going and going. I give my thanks to every one of them; what they have achieved is beyond definition. We won our first European Cup in Wembley and now we are going in search of our fourth."
Barca look likely to face Manchester United in a repeat of the 2009 final in Rome, after the English Premier League leaders defeated German outfit Schalke 2-0 in their semifinal first-leg tie on April 26. The two teams meet again at United's Old Trafford on Wednesday.
"I'm not sure who we will face but I imagine it will be Manchester United," Guardiola said.

"I think Alex Ferguson is always there, in the Champions League or Premier League, competing for titles. It would be an honor for me, a young coach, to reach the final against him."

Osama Bin Laden: Al-Qaeda releases posthumous message

A recording purported to have been made by Osama Bin Laden shortly before he died has been released by al-Qaeda.

In the message, he praises the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and speaks of a "rare historic opportunity" for Muslims to rise up.

The 12-minute audio message appeared on a video posted on Islamist websites, and has been translated by the US monitoring group SITE intelligence.

Bin Laden was shot dead by US Navy Seals at a Pakistan compound on 2 May.

Speculation is mounting that al-Qaeda has appointed a former Egyptian army colonel, Saif al-Adel, as temporary leader to replace Bin Laden.

Adel was once Bin Laden's security chief, and is suspected of involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa, training the Somali fighters who killed 18 US servicemen in Mogadishu in 1993, and instructing some of the 11 September 2001 hijackers.

He fled to Iran from Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in 2001, and was reportedly held under house arrest near Tehran. Reports at the end of last year said he may have been released and made his way to northern Pakistan.

Some Western analysts have expressed scepticism over reports of his appointment. Bin Laden's long-time deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, also Egyptian, is thought to be the front-runner for the role.
'Serious crossroads'
In the recording, Bin Laden refers to the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt but makes no mention of the uprisings in Syria, Libya and Yemen.
"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, with permission from Allah," he says.

"There is a serious crossroads before you, and a great and rare historic opportunity to rise up with the Ummah (Muslim community) and to free yourselves from servitude to the desires of the rulers, man-made law, and Western dominance," he also says.

"So, what are you waiting for? Save yourselves and your children, because the opportunity is here".
Al-Qaeda is generally perceived to have been caught off guard by the Arab Spring uprisings that began in January in Tunisia and swiftly followed in Egypt - toppling the long-time leaders of both countries.
Analysts say that while both al-Qaeda and the West back the uprisings sweeping across several Arab nations, they seek very different outcomes. The West hopes they will lead to democratic reforms, while al-Qaeda wants to see new governments based on their interpretation of Islamic law.

Caroline Wozniacki reaches Brussels Open semi-final

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki moved into the semi-finals of the Brussels Open when Yanina Wickmayer retired injured.

After losing the first two games, Wickmayer had treatment on her back and, at 40-0 down in the third game, pulled out at the Royal Primrose Club.
Wozniacki will now play French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who beat Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-3.

Third-ranked Vera Zvonareva beat Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-0 6-1 to set up a match against Peng Shuai.

Zvonareva - looking for her second title of the season - won the opening 10 games before seeing out a comfortable win.

Peng, who is ranked 31st, defeated Sofia Arvidsson to reach the last four, though she will have her work cut out ending a run of seven straight defeats to Zvonareva.

The tie of the semi-finals is no doubt the Wozniacki-Schiavone match, though. The Italian beat Dane Wozniacki the last time the two met on clay in the quarter-finals of the 2010 French Open.

"She is a great player, so it won't be easy," said Wozniacki, who has beaten her three times on hard courts since then.

And Wozniacki also had words of comfort for quarter-final opponent Wickmayer.

"To see her in so much pain right now, it is unfortunate," she said. "And especially in front of this amazing crowd."

Angelina Jolie's war drama headed for theaters

New details have emerged about Angelina Jolie's upcoming directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey." The drama, which is set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war of the 1990s, will be released in the United States in December, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Shot in both English and Bosnian, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" "illustrates the consequences of the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict," according to a statement.
The movie came under fire in November amidst reports that it featured a romance between a Serb rapist and his Bosnian victim; Jolie has denied it contains such a scene.
"The film is specific to the Bosnian War, but it's also universal," the Oscar winner, who also wrote the script, says. "I wanted to tell a story of how human relationships and behavior are deeply affected by living inside a war."
As for how she came up with the movie's title, Jolie tells Entertainment Weekly, "It's a heavy film. You want to find that title that really helps the audience know what they’re walking into.”

Djokovic seals ATP Tour Finals spot but says Nadal is French favorite

Novak Djokovic's blistering start to the year has secured him a place at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals even before the second Grand Slam event of the year.
The Serbian has won 37 straight matches in 2011, claiming the Australia Open and six other tournament titles. His most recent came at the Rome Masters on Sunday when he defeated world number one Rafael Nadal.
He has now beaten Nadal in four finals this year, and was the man to end the Spaniard's two-year winning run on clay in Madrid just over a week ago.
And it was his victory in the final at Rome that handed the 23-year-old the 1,000 ranking points he required to ensure he will be at the finale of the season in London in November between the best eight players in the world.
Djokovic's last defeat came at the 2010 event at The O2 in the English capital when he lost to Roger Federer in the semifinals.
Since then he has raised his game to such an extent that he could claim the number one ranking from Nadal if he reaches the final of the French Open, that starts Sunday, even if the Spaniard retains his title.
But Djokovic told the ATP's official web site Nadal is still favorite in Paris: "Let us be clear -- he is the king of clay and he is the best player ever to play on this surface.
"I have won against him twice in the last [nine] days which I think is an incredible achievement for me and it has given me a lot of confidence for the French Open.
"But this is only a couple of tournaments this year and he has been dominant on this surface for so many years."
Nadal is the only other player to secure a place at the ATP Tour Finals before the French Open when he achieved the feat in 2009.
After a hectic few weeks, Djokovic says he intends to put his feet up for a few days before focusing on the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
"I am not going to touch the racket for the next four days," Djokovic said.

"I have had enough for now and rest is very important right now to recover, and then I'll get ready for Roland Garros, the most important tournament on this surface."

Queen on first state visit to Republic of Ireland

The Queen is set to begin the first visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch.

Irish police say up to 4,000 people are involved in security for the four-day trip, which comes amid a rise in dissident republican violence.
The Irish army has made safe a "viable" improvised explosive device found on a bus bound for Dublin. Another bomb threat has been investigated in London.
President Mary McAleese will formally welcome the Queen at her Dublin home.
King George V was the last reigning monarch to visit the country, in 1911, when what is now the Republic was then part of the UK.
The Queen was invited to visit by President McAleese, who will formally welcome the monarch at Aras an Uachtarain, her home in Dublin's Phoenix Park.
The president told state broadcaster RTE it was "an extraordinary moment in Irish history - a phenomenal sign and signal of the success of the peace process and absolutely the right moment for us to welcome onto Irish soil, Her Majesty the Queen".
Mrs McAleese said the two countries were "forging a new future - a future very, very different from the past, on very different terms from the past - and I think the visit will send the message that we are, both jurisdictions, determined to make the future a much, much better place."

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "One hundred years on from the last time a British monarch visited Ireland, I think there is a great sense of history and occasion."

He added: "I think the real effect... will be a marker that just as we are solving some of the problems there have been between us in the past, just as we are helping each other through these difficult economic times, now is a great moment for people in Britain and people in Ireland to remember what it is we share."
The Queen will attend events at Trinity College Dublin, the National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge and at Croke Park stadium.
Croke Park is the home of Gaelic games where in 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, British forces fired into the crowd at a football match, killing 14 spectators and players.
The Queen is also to make a speech at a state dinner at Dublin Castle.
There are plans for the Queen and Prince Philip to visit the Irish National Stud in County Kildare, as well as the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary and a technology park in Cork.
Former prime minister Sir John Major, who helped to establish the Northern Ireland peace process in the early 1990s, said the Queen's visit would "put a seal" on the relationship between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
"One thing you discover if you travel round the world is that the Queen has become iconic," Sir John told the BBC's Newsnight.
"If you're abroad and people talk about the Queen, they mean our Queen and I think the symbolism of her visiting Ireland - given the history of the past - will be seen as a very big event and an absolutely pivotal event in building an even better relationship in the future."
Controlled explosion:

The bomb on the bus was discovered on Monday night in Maynooth, County Kildare, to the west of Dublin.

About 30 people who were on board the bus were taken off and transported to Dublin in another vehicle.
The device was later made safe in a controlled explosion carried out by an Irish army bomb disposal team.
The coded bomb threat relating to London, which was received on Sunday, was the first issued by Irish dissidents outside Northern Ireland in 10 years, officials said.
However, the threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism, which stands at severe, has not been changed.

Dublin Castle, where the Queen will attend a state dinner, is under guard

Sir John said he was not worried about possible trouble during the visit.
"I think you can find people who will demonstrate against anything or anyone on any occasion, so I think there may well be a handful of people who will demonstrate, but that plainly - from what we've seen in the nine months of preparation - is not the view of the overwhelming majority of the Irish people.
"I am absolutely certain that the Queen and the [Duke of Edinburgh] will get a fantastic reception."
As part of the security operation in Dublin, thousands of manhole covers and lamp-posts have been checked, and parking restrictions started on Monday.
Former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern said the four-day visit was hugely significant, and showed the "maturity" of the relationship between the country and the Queen and British government.
"Except for a tiny minority, people welcome this," he said.

Facebook's stealth attack on Google exposes its own privacy problem

(WIRED) -- OK, here's the deal. A big corporate PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, tried to entice USA Today to lambaste a Google feature called Social Circle, on privacy grounds. It also encouraged a security blogger to write an op-ed attacking Google on the product.
Burson would not say the name of its client. But instead of taking the bait, USA Today did due diligence and consulted experts who said that Social Circle was small potatoes compared to more pressing privacy stories.
Instead it published a story about the Burston "whisper campaign" against Google on behalf of a secret client.
Meanwhile the blogger released a damning transcript of his exchange with the sleazy folks from Burson.
Most people would have assumed that the client was Microsoft or AT&T, Google rivals already actively involved in seizing every possible opportunity to take its foe down a notch. But last night we learned that the cowardly accuser was Facebook. Thus exposed, Facebook has 'fessed up.
This is a stunning story for a number of reasons.
But here's what makes the least sense -- if there were privacy problems about Facebook information in Google Social Circle (which has now been transformed into a different product called Social Search), they may well have been a result of Facebook's own practices.
Facebook was griping that Google is getting information about its users without permission. But some information that users share with Facebook is available publicly, even to people who aren't their friends in in their social networks -- or even are members of Facebook.
It's not because outsiders raided the service and exposed that information. It's because Facebook chose to expose it.
Facebook used to have an implicit promise with its users. Basically the deal was what goes on Facebook stays on Facebook. But over the past couple of years Facebook has chosen to alter the deal.
Certain profile information became available outside of Facebook, easily searchable via Google and other means. (Users can opt out of showing this but relatively few do.) Some of that profile information includes a few of the people on the user's friend list. By repeatedly pinging public profiles, it's possible for Google or anyone else to figure out pretty much all your friends.
This information is a lot easier to unearth from inside Facebook, but actually logging into Facebook to purloin information would indeed be troublesome. For one thing, it would violate the terms of service agreement.
Is Google doing this? One of the Burson operatives implied that it is. But Google says the company does not go inside Facebook to scrape information, and I find this credible. (If Facebook has logs to prove this serious charge, let's see them.)
When Google launched Social Search, it also said specifically that it was not going to learn about Facebook connections by mining the Web as described above. Just how Google does get Facebook information is complicated, but as Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land concluded after an extensive look, much of it seems to be by permission.
Things should be more clear when Google prepares a more detailed briefing on this, which I assume it is preparing at this moment. Or maybe Facebook will directly spell out its charges now that it's been outed.
But even if Google did scrape information from the public web, would that be so bad? You can argue whether or not Google would be crossing a privacy line by doing this. (And, remember, Google says it is not mining that public information.) But it's an argument with a pro and con. What you cannot argue is that is not Google but Facebook that puts some Facebook information into the open Web.
That is why Facebook's campaign is so weird. If outsiders are going to examine how third-party companies get information about Facebook's users, you can't help but question why some Facebook information, by default, shows up on the open web.
Also, consider this excerpt from the letter Burson's operative named John Mercurio wrote to gin up an attack without Facebook's fingerprints on it. "Google's latest plan," he wrote, "totally disregards the intimate and potentially damaging details that could be revealed, including sexual orientation, political affiliation, personal connections, etc..."
This is ironic since, in my experience, Facebook user profiles with such information are much easier to view that they were in the early days of the service. Unless people actively take steps to opt out, it's possible for "friends of friends" (i.e., strangers) to view someone's personal information on Facebook.
And it was also remarkable that the Burson operative wailed about the privacy implications of letting millions of people examine a Facebook user's friend list. In my experience the vast majority of Facebook users do not take the steps to hide their connections, a list which is open by default to half a billion Facebook users.
Any responsible journalistic (or congressional) examination of the Burson charges would wind up asking questions about these Facebook privacy issues.
Given this, I conclude that Facebook was running a smear campaign against itself.
Over the next couple of years, the privacy practices of many companies -- especially Google and Facebook -- will come under severe scrutiny. Essentially it is neither company that is the cause of our privacy dilemma. It is the internet itself. The internet makes a broadcast of what once was a whisper.
The internet raises to the top of our attention embarrassing items that once would have faded into obscurity. The internet allows strangers and the ill-intentioned to aggregate innocuous personal data into a devastatingly revealing dossier.
The internet also allows companies to monetize our private information without our full knowledge. (Burying snoop tactics in the dense text of a privacy policy is not a justification.) And that gives profit-making firms a powerful incentive to abuse our privacy.
These companies want our trust. They even want us to hold off strong legislation and allow them to self regulate. And now here comes Facebook, doing one of the dumbest things imaginable.
It tried to beam attention on a privacy problem of a rival, but exposed itself as a sneaky maligner. Furthermore, the sorts of privacy fears Facebook evokes are exactly the sort that makes people worried about Facebook.

Not the greatest way to win our trust.

Spain earthquake: Lorca residents assess damage

Residents in the Spanish town of Lorca are assessing the damage from quakes that killed nine people and forced thousands to spend the night outdoors.

The mayor of the historic town, with a population of 90,000, said: "Almost no-one slept in their homes".
Some 20,000 buildings are believed to have been damaged in what was Spain's worst earthquake for 50 years.
The magnitude 5.2 tremor hit early on Wednesday evening, around two hours after a quake measuring 4.4.
Those who died - including at least one pregnant woman and a child - were killed by falling masonry in the second tremor.
Regional officials say at least 130 people have been injured, with several in a serious condition.
'Very scared' Lorca's Mayor Francisco Jodar said most of the town's population had spent the night sheltering in their cars, streets, public squares or other towns.
Some camped out in an outdoor basket ball court, and others used children's playgrounds.

"We have provided them with blankets, food, water and both medical and psychological attention," he said.
"It is very sad to see neighbours spending the night in the street," he added. "There is desperation and fear that there could be another seismological event."
Many people were queuing at first light for food and hot drinks from emergency workers.
Some were returning to their homes to assess the damage, although many were ordered to keep away until a safety assessment of their buildings had been carried out.
"We are very scared, because ours [house] didn't collapse, but they are very damaged," one resident, Jose Crespo, said. "All the village has fallen, everything... All the buildings have been affected."
"We know we live near a fault line but we never thought this would happen," another resident Pepe Tomas, 56, told the AFP news agency. "People are afraid. No-one here has ever seen anything like this before."
The Red Cross says it has moved in 24 ambulances and set up three field hospitals.
Hundreds of military teams are now in the town, searching the rubble for victims and survivors, beginning the clean-up and checking which buildings are safe to enter.
Schools and some roads remain closed, although some train services have now been restored, Spanish media reports.
Medieval town The most powerful earthquake struck the town, in Murcia region, at 1847 (1647 GMT), at a depth of just 10km (six miles). The shock could be felt as far away as Madrid.
"These [tremors] were like huge pushes from below, then violent shakes left and right. It was quick, but completely terrifying," Lorca resident Angel Dominguez.
Hundreds of residents and workers streamed out of buildings and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces amid fears of further tremors.
Witnesses described seeing rubble and masonry rain down on people as they fled.
Some 350 ambulances were used to evacuate 400 patients from two hospitals in the town, regional officials said.
Lorca is an ancient town, with many medieval buildings and streets badly damaged in the quake.
A Spanish cameraman had a lucky escape after TV pictures captured the dramatic moment the bell tower from a 17th Century church crashed to the ground just metres from him.
Spain has hundreds of earthquakes every year but most of them are too small to be noticed.
Murcia is the country's most seismically active area and suffered tremors in 2005 and 1999. It is close to the large faultline beneath the Mediterranean Sea where the European and African continents meet.

Priest (2011)

Movie Info

Genre: Western, Action & Adventure, Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Synopsis: PRIEST, a western-fused post-apocalyptic thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest (Paul Bettany) from the last Vampire War who now lives... PRIEST, a western-fused post-apocalyptic thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest (Paul Bettany) from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece (Lily Collins) is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) who possesses otherworldly fighting skills. -- (C) Sony 

Rated: PG-13 – See Full Rating for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and brief strong language
Running Time: 1 hr. 27 min.
In Theaters: May 13, 2011 Wide

Distributor:Screen Gems/SONY PICTURES
Directed By: Scott Stewart

Written By: Cory Goodman, Min-Woo Hyung

Leonardo DiCaprio And Bar Refaeli Call It Quits

Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio and girlfriend, Bar Refaeli have finally called it quits.

The 36-year-old actor and the Israeli-born supermodel who have been dating on and off for five years now, have ended their relationship as neither is ready to settle down, reported New York Post online.

"It was amicable, they're still friends and they are still talking. They just grew apart and went their separate ways. Neither are ready to settle down, and both have busy careers that have been taking them in different directions," said a source close to the former couple.

This is not the first time that DiCaprio and his 25-year-old girlfriend have called off their relationship.

They split up for six months in 2009 after dating for four years, before reuniting last year.

The 'Inception' star had previously said that he was put off by seeing the failed marriages of others and is unsure if he will ever marry.

"I don't know whether I'll ever get married. I've seen too many supposedly happy marriages go down. I've been as shocked as anyone.

"No one can look at the marriages of other people and make a judgement. I don't know the private lives of the actors I work with. I just know if they are good actors or good directors," the actor explained.

Cannes Film Festival to Heat Up With Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie

She is set to arrive Thursday for “Kung Fu Panda 2,” days before he arrives for “Tree of Life.”

Get ready for the Cannes Film Festival to heat up: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are about to walk the red carpet.

Jolie is expected to arrive Thursday for Kung Fu Panda 2, while Pitt is due next Monday for the Terrence Malick drama The Tree of Life. The couple are expected to walk the red carpet together for his premiere.

The pair have a history at Cannes.

In 2008, Jolie’s Panda costar Jack Black let it slip that she was expecting twins (Jolie hadn’t confirmed the news up until that point).

"You're gonna have as many as [the] Brady Bunch when you have these," he said during a chat with Today show's Natalie Morales.

Asked if Black’s remarks were true, Jolie responded, "Yeah, yeah, we've confirmed that already. Well, Jack's just confirmed it actually."

In the past, Jolie also has wowed critics with films she’s premiered at the fest, including the Clint Eastwood drama Changeling.

Pitt also has showcased some of the best works of his career at the festival, including in 2009 when he premiered Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Gaga raises funds for poor

London, May 11 (IANS) Pop star Lady Gaga has reportedly raised $47.4 million for a charitable organization, which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty.

Cotactmusic.com reports that Gaga arrived at the Robin Hood Foundation's annual gala in Manhattan in a giant glowing egg. The money raised at the event is said to go toward the Robin Hood Foundation's veteran and poverty programmes in New York City.

Other performers included veteran singer Tony Bennett, comedian Seth Meyers and Kid Rock, who sang with 300 military personnel in the aisles.

The guests at the gala event included Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber and Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady.

Dawood Ibrahim is not in Pakistan: Malik

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has denied that Dawood Ibrahim was living in Pakistan and said that just 'by marrying a lady in Pakistan does not give a certificate that he is in the country'.

'I think marrying a lady in Pakistan does not give a certificate that Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. But if you have any information we will be happy to have a look into it,' Malik said in an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN's deputy foreign editor Suhasini Haidar.

He added: 'If we get hold of him naturally we will look into it. But as far as our information is concerned, he is not here.' Dawood Ibrahim is wanted for various crimes committed in India, including the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai.

On the Samjhauta Express blast case, he said: 'In Samjhauta blast, the charges were pressed against Pakistan but the investigation later showed it was wrong.

'Should I say that it was an Indian intelligence failure that it could not be detected earlier by India. What is important is the determination and what do you want to achieve. Pakistan has got resolve to act against terrorists.'

On the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack trial, he said: 'I spoke to (P.) Chidambaram (Indian home minister) when he was here and also over phone. I have explained him the situation of voice samples. I've made a point today that under evidence Act here, and may be in India, the identification mark is thumb impression and not the voice sample.

'You can't take the voice sample. The lower court has rejected the plea and now we have moved to High court. This shows our interest to give the voice sample.

'But I don't want to use any extra judicial method. I assure Chidambaram and people of India that we are at it but we can't go beyond the law. We will use every possible legal means to get it.

A total of 166 people were killed in the three-day terror siege by Pakistani militants in Mumbai in 2008. The attack was blamed on Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

'I saw the charge sheet in the US in 26/11 trial. Just writing that name Iqbal, there may be so many Iqbals in India and Pakistan, it is important to find how he played a role. All those five names given to me by Chidambaram we are going to the process.

'We have given a detailed questionnaire to the India authorities and request them to respond to that. If we can arrest Lakhvi or others abetting that, then we don't have any hesitation in arresting anybody by the names given to us. But we need detailed proper information.'

WikiLeaks' Assange awarded top Sydney peace prize

Melbourne: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's Gold Medal for "exceptional courage in the pursuit of human rights".

According to a Foundation statement today, veteran Australian broadcaster Mary Kostakidis praised WikLeaks as an "ingenious and heroic website that has shifted the power balance between citizen and the state by exposing what governments really get up to in name".


Acknowledging that "exposing secrets can be dangerous business", Kostakidis thanked Assange for his "heroic courage" as a whistleblower to take "great risks for our benefit".

In accepting the Gold Medal, Assange said, "The real value of this award, and the Sydney Peace Foundation is that it makes explicit the link between peace and justice. It does not take the safe feel good option of shunning controversy by uttering platitudes.

Instead it goes into difficult terrain by identifying organisations and individuals who are directly engaged in struggles of one kind or another," he said.

Although the Peace Prize is awarded annually by the foundation only three other people in its 14-year history have been awarded the gold award for courage in pursuit of human rights, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Japanese Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks founded by Assange published thousands of cables in which US diplomats gave their often candid views on world leaders, to Washington's acute embarrassment.

Facebook leaked keys to account data: Symantec

US computer security firm Symantec on Tuesday said that Facebook accidentally left a door open for advertisers to access profiles, pictures, chat and other private data at the social network.

Symantec discovered that certain Facebook applications leaked tokens that act essentially as "spare keys" for accessing profiles, reading messages, posting to walls or other actions.

Facebook applications are Web software programs that are integrated onto the leading online social network's platform. Symantec said that 20 million Facebook applications such as games are installed every day.

The tokens were being leaked to third-party applications including advertisers and analytic platforms allowing them to post messages or mine personal information from profiles, according to Nishant Doshi of Symantec.

"Fortunately, these third-parties may not have realized their ability to access this information," Doshi said in a blog post.

"We have reported this issue to Facebook, who has taken corrective action to help eliminate this issue."

Symantec estimated that as of April, nearly 100,000 applications were giving away keys to Facebook profiles.

"We estimate that over the years, hundreds of thousands of applications may have inadvertently leaked millions of access tokens to third parties," Doshi said.

Facebook confirmed the problem, which was discovered by Doshi and Symantec colleague Candid Wueest, according to the computer security firm.

There was no reliable estimate of how many tokens have been leaked since the release of Facebook applications in 2007.

Despite whatever fix Facebook has put in place, token data may still be stored in files on third-party computers, Symantec warned.

"Concerned Facebook users can change their Facebook passwords to invalidate leaked access tokens," Doshi said.

"Changing the password invalidates these tokens and is equivalent to 'changing the lock' on your Facebook profile."

How Osama bin Laden found his youngest wife

Washington: A Yemeni cleric who helped arrange Osama bin Laden's fifth marriage has said the Al Qaeda leader wanted his youngest wife to be of high moral value, according to a media report Tuesday.

Sheikh Rashad told ABC News that he helped arrange 54-year-old Osama's marriage to Yemeni 29-year-old Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah when she was just a teen. During the marriage, Fatah never complained and never made the Al Qaeda leader upset, Rashad said.

Manal Omar, author of "Barefoot in Baghdad" and expert on the role of women in Islam, said that Fatah, along with the other two older wives also discovered in Osama's compound, would be called to do almost anything the Al Qaeda leader wanted, according to ABC News channel.

"Fulfilling the desires of the male leader or husband in the family is a very important duty for women," Omar said.

It was no surprise to Rashad that Fatah apparently tried to defend Osama to the last, rushing the Navy SEALs before she was shot in the leg in the same room where Osama was killed. As a Muslim woman, she wanted to die a martyr, the ABC News channel quoted Rashad as saying.

US investigators have been promised access to Osama's three wives who are currently in Pakistani custody, one US official said, and they hope to learn from them key details about life with the Al Qaeda leader in the Abbottabad compound.

But Imam Omar Saleem Abu Namous of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York said it's possible US intelligence could learn much more than details of Osama's day-to-day life in Abbottabad.

"I think Osama bin Laden may be was intelligent enough or smart enough to give each wife a duty to do," the broadcaster quoted Namous as saying.

Four planets will cluster together next week

Four planets will huddle close together, visible to the naked eye, in the predawn sky next week, according to the editors of StarDate magazine.

"The best view is from the southern states because the path the planets follow across the sky (the ecliptic) stands at a little higher angle relative to the horizon," the magazine's editors said.

"Peak streak" time arrives for meteor showers

Venus and Jupiter will be easy to spot hanging low in the east as dawn brightens on May 10. They are the brightest objects in the night sky after the Moon. Venus, the brighter of the two, will be to the right of Jupiter.

Mercury will be visible to the lower right of Venus, about the same distance from Venus to Jupiter. It won't be as bright but its proximity to Venus will help you find it. To the lower left of Jupiter you'll find Mars, which may be too low and faint to see without the aid of binoculars.

StarDate magazine is a bi-monthly publication of The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory, which houses many telescopes responsible for a wide range of astronomical research. McDonald Observatory is also pioneering the next generation of astronomical research as a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope.

David Beckham Unhurt In Car Accident

Soccer ace David Beckham escaped unhurt when his Cadillac SUV hit the rear of a stalled vehicle in California.

Beckham was travelling on the 405 Freeway Friday when the accident took place in Torrence, people.com quoted California Highway Patrol as saying.

"Beckham's black Cadillac SUV collided with the rear of a gold Mitsubishi in the carpool lane," Highway Patrol spokesperson Jennifer Connolly said.

The driver of the Mitsubishi complained of minor neck pain and was taken to a hospital.

New videos show Osama watching himself on TV

Washington: Newly released videos show Osama bin Laden watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist videos, revealing that even from the walled confines of his Pakistani hideout, he remained a media maestro who was eager to craft his own image for the cameras.
The videos, released by US intelligence officials on Saturday, were offered as further proof that Navy SEALs killed the world's most wanted terrorist this week. But they also served to show bin Laden as vain, someone obsessed with his portrayal by the world's media.
One of the movies shows bin Laden, his unkempt beard streaked in gray, sitting on the floor, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control. He flipped back and forth between what appears to be live news coverage of himself. The old, small television was perched on top of a desk with a large tangle of electrical wires running to a nearby control box.
In another, he has apparently dyed and neatly trimmed his beard for the filming of a propaganda video. The video, which the US released without sound, was titled ""Message to the American People" and was believed to be filed sometime last fall, a senior intelligence official said during a briefing for reporters, on condition that his name not be used.



The videos were seized from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Officials said the clips shown to reporters were just part of the largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever collected. The evidence seized during the raid also includes phone numbers and documents that officials hope will help break the back of the organization behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.




Intelligence officials have known that bin Laden and al Qaeda monitored the news. But for years, when it was assumed that he was living in Pakistan's rugged, mountainous tribal region, some believed he might not be able to get real-time news.




After the CIA discovered bin Laden's suburban compound, they realized that a satellite dish provided a television feed to bin Laden's compound. The video also reveals that bin Laden had a computer in his home, though officials say there were no Internet or phone lines running from the house.




Bin Laden and four others were killed in a daring pre-dawn raid Monday after US helicopters lowered a team of SEALs behind the compound's high walls. The terrorist leader's death leaves al Qaeda with an uncertain future and represents America's most successful counter-terrorism mission.

Bond 23 To Get USD 45 m From Product Placement

The 23rd movie of the superhit 'Bond' franchise has set a new record for product placement revenue after clocking in USD 45 million with advertising.

Producer MGM and distributor Sony have shattered the previous record of USD 20 million set by Tom Cruise starrer 'Minority Report', reported Huffington Post online.

Corporate influence in 007's adventures is nothing new, he raced around the worldwide in a name-dropped Aston Martin for years before deliberately switching over to a BMW.

Known for his fine taste in luxury, Bond's watches, clothing and other accessories have long been sponsored by those looking for good marketing by association.

In 2006, Forbes noted that Sony had cut back to six brand advertisers in 'Casino Royale', eschewing them for promotional partnerships and higher costs for those that do put their products in the film. In comparison the 2002 film 'Die Another Day' had nine partnerships.

The much-awaited film will be directed by Sam Mendes and will star Daniel Craig.

Review: Luv Ka The End

Luv Ka The End is ostensibly made for the youth of this country by YRF’s new label Y-Films that has been launched, and I’m quoting from the press release here, ‘to create a brand of cinema that will capture the hearts and imaginations of this elusive bunch and rock their world.’ I walked out of the movie depressed. If this is really what the youth wants, we should be afraid, very afraid.

The film is about Rhea, played by Shraddha Kapoor, who is all set to celebrate her 18th birthday by losing her virginity to her boyfriend, Luv played by Taaha Shah. She has dreams in her eyes, which are quickly crushed when she discovers that Luv has only pursued her this long because he is part of some sick internet game, in which scoring a virgin gets him the biggest score. So she and her two best friends set out to take revenge using, among other things, laxatives, itch powder and super glue. As one of them puts it: Luv Nanda becomes Luv Nanga.

This might remind you of the Hollywood teen flick John Tucker Must Die, which was also about girls getting revenge on the local school stud who was cheating on them. But Luv Ka the End doesn’t even manage the innocuous, bubble-gum tone of that film. Debutant director Bumpy dresses it up a girl empowerment story and the women – Shraddha and Pushtiie Shakti, who plays her feisty friend Jugs do have some genuine sock-it-to-them moments.

But largely, Luv Ka the End is uncomfortably icky, tediously wannabe and depressingly homophobic. So characters determinedly use youthful lingo like babes, chill, BFF and of course, aren’t afraid of four letter words. Everybody is styled casual cool and we even have a new age mom giving lines like: I know love is hard baby.

But the sensibility of this film is not youthful, it’s juvenile. And that’s before you get to the part where Luv, under the influence of some pill, dresses in drag and breaks into a song that goes: Mera jism, jism, mera badan, badan, main hun taza mutton mutton, khol dilon ke button button.

I’m not sure what demographic that is aimed at but it definitely not for me. I’m going with one and a half star.

SRK's Rs 1 Crore Ra.One Suit Goes Digital

The blue coloured costume made in Los Angeles especially for the 3D action hero flick Ra.One and costing a whopping Rs 1 crore is now being converted into CG (computer generated graphics).

This means the bodysuit donned by Shah Rukh Khan's character G.One that the audience will finally see on screen will be created with the help of special effects.

A well-placed source informs, "The perfectionist SRK is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the film is made well.

He doesn't want to compromise on any front. After seeing the rushes of G. One's look, he felt it wasn't up to the mark and could be improved. So after brainstorming sessions with the animation and marketing team he decided to add special effects to the costume."

"A lot of interesting effects like rays emitting out of the outfit have been added.

It goes perfectly with SRK's character who is made of solid electricity and has come in the real world from a virtual world to fight against Ra.One the evil force."

Director of the movie, Anubhav Sinha said, "It is natural to have myths and legends associated with a superhero film. This will be one of the early legends of G.One."

Lindsay Lohan -- I'm No Scientologist!

Lindsay Lohan is NOT joining the Church of Scientology ... TMZ has learned -- despite reports claiming John Travolta was trying to indoctrinate the actress into his religion.



Sources close to Lindsay tell TMZ, the actress has no plans whatsoever to become a Scientologist -- she hasn't taken any classes with the Church ... and hasn't even been asked to visit by current members.

We're told Lindsay has nothing against the Church -- but she was raised Catholic and plans to stay Catholic ... in fact, she remains an avid practitioner to this day.

It's all in response to several reports on Friday -- that Lindsay made inroads with the Church of Scientology under the guidance of "Gotti" co-star John Travolta ... but it just ain't true.

Osama Bin Laden 'planned 9/11 anniversary train attack'

One plan was to target a US rail route, US officials revealed, although no imminent threat was detected. Officials are examining computers, DVDs, hard-drives and documents seized from the Abbottabad home where Bin Laden may have hid for up to six years.
Several rallies are expected across Pakistan in protest at Monday's raid.
Many Pakistanis are angry at what they see as a US infringement of their country's sovereignty.
They are also critical of the government for allowing the commando operation to happen, although officials deny they were told about it.
Around 1,000 people had already gathered in central Abbottabad following Friday prayers, the AFP news agency reported.
They were setting fire to tyres, blocking a main road and shouting "Down, down USA!" and "Terrorist, terrorist, USA terrorist".
Anti-American sentiment appeared to be high at a similar protest in the south-western city of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
Later on Friday, US President Barack Obama is due to meet some of the troops involved in the helicopter-borne assault.
He will hold private meetings on Friday at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with at least some of the Navy Seals who took part in the raid.
Derail plan Information about the apparent plans unearthed in Pakistan was contained in a joint FBI and Homeland Security bulletin, the Associated Press news agency said.
The bulletin, circulated to law enforcement officials, said the idea to tamper with an unspecified US railway track was found in handwritten notes taken from Bin Laden's compound.

Mr Obama also visited a New York fire department office during the trip

According to the bulletin al-Qaeda operatives planned to derail a train so that it would plunge into a valley, or from a bridge, AP reported.
"While it is clear that there was some level of planning for this type of operation in February 2010, we have no recent information to indicate an active ongoing plot to target transportation and no information on possible locations or specific targets," the warning read.
One intelligence official said the notes revealed the ambition to hit the US with large-scale attacks in major cities and on key dates such as anniversaries and holidays.
One unnamed US official told the New York Times the documents revealed that Bin Laden was not merely a figurehead for al-Qaeda sympathisers worldwide.

"He continued to plot and plan, to come up with ideas about targets, and to communicate those ideas to other senior [al-]Qaeda leaders," the newspaper quotes the official as saying.

Contradictions Meanwhile, further details have emerged about Bin Laden's life in the Abbottabad compound and the exact sequence of events that lead to his death.
A senior Pakistani military official said one of Bin Laden's wives told investigators she had been living in the compound for five years, along with her husband.
New reports of the raid appear to contradict earlier information about the raid.
White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan had originally suggested that Bin Laden was among those who was armed within the compound.
Early accounts of Sunday night's raid had suggested a lengthy exchange of fire throughout the 40-minute operation.
But US officials now say that only one person fired on the US special forces.
He is believed to have been Bin Laden's courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, who was killed at the start of the raid.
Critics have raised concerns about the legality of the operation after the US revised its account to acknowledge Bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead.
However, the US has maintained that Bin Laden was a lawful military target whose killing was "an act of national self-defence".
The US raid against Osama Bin Laden was launched after months of CIA surveillance from a safe house in Abbottabad, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the CIA's operation used satellite imagery and attempted to record voices inside the compound, but was stood down before the military operation was eventually launched.
Pakistan's army has acknowledged "shortcomings" in its own efforts to find Osama Bin Laden but has also threatened to review ties with the US military if another such unilateral operation.

Top seed Wozniacki sent crashing by Gorges once again

World number one Caroline Wozniacki has crashed out of the Madrid Masters, beaten by Germany's Julia Gorges for the second time in just over a week.
Gorges, ranked 27th in the world, stunned Wozniacki by defeating the Dane in the final of the Stuttgart clay-court event 11 days ago.
And the 22-year-old showed that result was no fluke with an impressive 6-4 1-6 6-3 third round success in the French capital.
Serving social media or backhanded marketing?
"I'm quite proud of the last three weeks, I was able to play more aggressively today and I didn't give her any rhythm," Gorges told reporters after the match.
"I've been working hard on my fitness over the last 18 months and I think it's starting to show results."
Gorges will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last eight, after the Russian caused another shock with a 7-6 6-3 win over Australian fifth seed Samantha Stosur.
Meanwhile, fourth seed Victoria Azarenka continued her impressive run of form with a comfortable 6-0 6-3 win over Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja.
The Belarussian took just over an hour to reach the quarterfinals and has dropped just five games in the tournament so far.
Azarenka is now the highest seed left in the tournament after French Open champion and third seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy was beaten 7-6 6-3 by American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

There were no such problems for sixth seed Li Na of China, but she had to come from behind to beat Barcelona Open winner Roberta Vinci 2-6 6-2 6-1.

Cheryl Cole to judge US X Factor show

Pop star Cheryl Cole has landed a job on the judging panel of the US version of The X Factor, Simon Cowell has confirmed.

The 27-year-old Girls Aloud star, who has worked on the past three series of the UK show, is expected to start filming on Friday.
"I'm so excited to be taking part in the American version of The X Factor," Cole said in a statement.
It is not clear whether she will have a role in the UK version of the show.
Cole will join Cowell and former record boss Antonio LA Reid on the US panel.
"I'm thrilled for Cheryl," said Cowell. "She is massively excited about this show and has been fantastic to work with.
"She is also a complete brat. Most importantly, this girl can spot talent."

Cole has revelled in beating Cowell in two series of the UK version of her show, with two of the acts she had mentored - Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry - being crowned winners.

The star said she cannot wait to continue her winning streak in America.
"I just can't decide whether I am more excited to find and nurture the talent, or for the unbelievable amount of amusement and entertainment I will have watching Simon doing everything and anything he can to beat me.
"He's tried to beat me for three years in the UK and hasn't even come close. His ego must be so bruised. America is gonna love this."

Low profile

Speculation has been rife over the last few months as to whom would appear on the US X Factor show.
Cole's relatively low profile in America had seemed to rule her out of contention in some pundits' eyes.
It is not yet known whether the singer will play a part in the UK version of the show when it begins later this year.
Last month ITV announced Cowell would not be involved in the audition process but may appear in later editions of the British programme.
The X Factor looks for undiscovered talent from the age of 12 or over, who will be given the chance to win a $5 million (£3m) recording contract.

Cole, who divorced football player husband Ashley last year, shot to fame in 2002 when she won a place in Girls Aloud in ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals.

Marriage Is Dead, Says Cameron Diaz

She is one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelorettes but  Cameron Diaz has no plans to tie the knot, ever.

The 38-year-old who was in the top 10 of men's magazine Maxim's annual 'Hot 100' list, said that she considers marriage a dead institution, reported Huffington Post online.

The actress said that she and boyfriend, baseball player Alex Rodriguez are "awesome" together but she has no plans to marry him.

"Marriage is a dying institution. I think we have to make our own rules. I don't think we should live our lives in relationships based off old traditions that don't suit our world any longer," said the 'Charlies Angels' star.

The former model who plays a pot-smoking, man-eater middle school teacher in her upcoming film 'Bad Teacher', has dated actor Matt Dillon and singers Jared Leto and Justin Timberlake in the past.

Daniel Craig Turns Chef On Movie Set

James Bond star Daniel Craig turned chef on the sets of his new movie Cowboys & Aliens, but quickly dropped the role when the entire crew queued up to sample food cooked by him.

The 43-year-old actor plays wrangler Jake Lonergan alongside Harrison Ford in the upcoming action movie, which is based on the popular 2006 graphic novel.

Fellow star Sam Rockwell revealed Craig showed off his cookery skills whenever filming wrapped for the day, reported Empire online.

But the Casino Royale star had to eventually call in caterers when word of his delicious meals spread on the set.

"I cook a few steaks and suddenly there are 50 people there. Then I didn't bother and got some catering people in," said Craig.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?section=Movies&Id=ENTEN20110174920&keyword=hollywood&subcatg=MOVIESWORLD&nid=103441&cp