LONDON (AP) ― Whatever Rafael Nadal tried to throw at Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday, the Frenchman always appeared one step ahead.Now Nadal is hoping he hasn’t left his passion for the game behind him.Tsonga qualified for the semifinals at the expense of Nadal, beating the second-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 in a decisive round-robin match to join Roger Federer in the last four of the season-ending tournament.Nadal ― who suffered his worst loss ever to Federer

A top Russian TV network said Thursday it had sacked an award-winning news anchor who stunned viewers by inexplicably raising her middle finger after reading US President Barack Obama's name.The bizarre episode happened during a routine afternoon news programme hosted by private REN TV channel newsc

Standard and Poor’s said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration hasn’t made progress in tackling the public debt burden, an indication it may be preparing to lower the nation’s sovereign grade. “Japan’s finances are getting worse and worse every day, every second,” Takahira Ogawa, Singapore-based director of sovereign ratings at S&P, said in an interview Thursday. Asked if this means he’s closer to cutting Japan, he said it “may be right in saying that we’re closer to a downgrad

DUBAI (AFP) -- Two years after its debt crisis rocked global markets, Dubai has emerged as a safe haven in a troubled region, reaping the benefits of building strong service and tourism sectors.But the Gulf emirate, which has so far succeeded in restructuring its mountain of debt, could face tougher conditions if it seeks refinancing in a sickly international market, while a global drop in demand could harm its core sector, analysts say.Before the global financial crisis struck in 2008, drying u

NEW YORK (AP) ― Retailers awaiting the arrival of Black Friday are on the edge. How well they do during the biggest shopping season of the year will have lasting consequences not just on them, but the still-fragile economic recovery.This weekend, many stores will for the first time use midnight openings along with the usual bevy of deals as they try to lure consumers, whose appetite for good-buys has been increasing since the Great Recession.Economists and business executives will be watching cl

BRUSSELS (AP) ― The European Commission backed the introduction of jointly issued eurobonds, coupled with stricter budgetary discipline, as the best way out of a debt crisis that’s threatening the 17-country eurozone.EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday that the countries using the euro currency needed to work more closely together to dovetail their budgetary policies and avoid having one nation endanger all others by not living by its financial commitments. The crisis, whi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ― The upcoming meeting of President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, the rival Palestinian leaders, will signal whether they’re truly ready to share power or largely going through the motions for political gains.Thursday’s talks in Cairo will be their first serious sitdown since the Palestinians’ corrosive split of 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Abbas, leaving him with only the West Bank. Repeated attempts at reconciliation

President refuses to give in to sanctions; Tehran adopts resolution on ties with BritainTEHRAN (AFP) ― A defiant Iran said on Wednesday that it will not back down despite newly announced Western sanctions over its atomic drive, as it took the first steps to hit back at the measures.“The Iranian nation will not back down an iota, and will not allow the slightest move to encroach on the nation’s rights” in terms of its nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech aired on state