Melbourne, Australia  - Nine-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams snapped a three-match loss streak to Elena Dementieva as she knocked the Russian out 6-3,
6-4 in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Dementieva, the fourth-seeded Olympic champion, has now exited the discussion for possibly taking over the top spot.

It was her first loss of the season after winning her first 15 matches, including titles in Auckland and Sydney.

Melbourne, Australia  - Spanish friends Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco should be comfortable in their night semi-final on Friday at the Australian Open, after a cool change drops heatwave temperatures down to the upper 20s degrees Celsius.

Top seed Nadal takes a commanding 7-0 mark into the contest, which could be played under a closed roof at the Rod Laver arena if it is still deemed too hot for safe play.

Sydney  - Alex Bellini fell just 65 kilometres short of his bid to row the 18,000 kilometres of Pacific Ocean between Lima and Sydney.

After nine months at sea, and almost in sight of Australia's east coast, the Italian activated his EPIRB, or emergency beacon, in December and the rescue cavalry was called out.

It wasn't a difficult, dangerous or costly rescue, but it fed into a debate in Australia and New Zealand about curbing the limits of solo seafaring.

Recent research revealed that wearing a face mask can offer protection against respiratory infections like influenza and the common cold. Research team led by Raina MacIntyre, professor and head of UNSW School of Public Health and Community Medicine studied data collected from more than 280 adults in 143 families in Sydney during the winter seasons of 2006 and 2007. The study subjects were randomly asked to wear mask during exposure to a sick child in family.

Melbourne, Jan 28 : Actress Olivia Newton-John's former partne

Sydney  - Adelaide and Melbourne on Wednesday sweltered through one of their hottest days on record.

Adelaide chalked up its warmest day in 70 years, with temperatures reaching 45.5 degrees.

Melbourne, Australia's second-biggest city, reached 42 degrees.

The women's singles quarter-final of the Australian Open in Melbourne was halted for 45 minutes and the roof on the arena closed to shade the tennis players.

Train and tram services were cancelled across the roasting southern states.