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Updated: January 18, 2010, 8:16 AM ET

Nadal, Roddick advance on rainy day

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending men's champion and second-seeded Rafael Nadal found his rhythm after a slow start to the first set and beat Australia's Peter Luczak 7-6 (0), 6-1, 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the Australian Open.

Nadal won his first Grand Slam singles title on hard courts -- to go with his four at the French Open and his one Wimbledon title -- when he beat Roger Federer in last year's final at Melbourne Park.

The Spanish left-hander dominated the first-set tiebreaker and much of the remainder of the match.

 "I'm always happy to win the first round of a Grand Slam," Nadal said. "Peter was playing really well in the first set but he made three errors in the tiebreak that helped me. I knew it was going to be a tough match."

In other first-round men's matches, U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro beat American Michael Russell 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 and No. 5 Andy Murray defeated South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick beat Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

"First rounds are always a little uncomfortable, especially at a Slam," Roddick said. "You're kind of built up, you're maybe a little bit overanxious. But I thought it was all right."

The match at Hisense Arena, the tournament's second covered court, was suspended at 2-2 in second set so that organizers could close the roof, which had been opened despite rain in the area.

The former No. 1-ranked Roddick, who lost to Roger Federer in the semifinals here last year, warmed up for the season's first major by winning the Brisbane International on Jan. 10.

The 27-year-old American will next play the winner of a first-round match between Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia and Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.

Murray had no such trouble on the main court later Monday, although the 22-year-old British player encountered different conditions to what he expected.

"Little bit weird playing under the roof here -- first time I've done it," he said.

American Mardy Fish, was beaten in his first-round match, losing 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to wild-card entry Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan. American Wayne Odesnik beat Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Federer was scheduled to play his first-round match Tuesday against Russia's Igor Andreev. Rain is again in the forecast.

Police ejected 11 people from Melbourne Park on Monday for disruptive behavior and smuggling flares onto the grounds. A group of Croatian supporters were also denied entry after setting off a flare.

In between rain delays, No. 11-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and Florian Mayer had an impressive comeback to beat Philipp Petzschner 0-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 6-2.

No. 24 Ivan Ljubicic had a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win over 16-year-old wild card entry Jason Kubler, the youngest player in the draw.

Midday 1-18-10 Evening

** until 1-21-10 **

012 013 017 018 026 027 035 036 039 045 048 049 057 058 067 089 125 126 129 134 135 138 139 147 148 156 157 179 189 234 237 238 246 247 256 269 278 279 359 368 369 378 458 459 468 489 579 589 678 679 003 004 008 009 112 116 117 022 224 225 228 229 233 044 144 449 255 558 066 166 669 778 188 288 588 688 099 399 499 899 111 999

January 17, 2010: 4:23 PM ET

Wyclef Jean defends Yele Haiti

By CNNMoney.com staff

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Celebrity musician Wyclef Jean denounced charges that he misappropriated funds from his charity, Yele Haiti, and defended the foundation and his commitment to Haiti relief efforts.

"Let me be clear: I denounce any allegation that I have ever profited personally through my work with Yele Haiti," Jean said in a statement released Saturday. "These baseless attacks are simply not true."

Allegations that surfaced earlier on TheSmokingGun.com claimed the Haitian-born rap star was using money raised by the foundation to fund projects like his production company, recording studio and a live performance, for his personal gain.

According to a 2006 tax filing posted on The Smoking Gun, more than a third of the foundation's total revenue went to such miscellaneous expenses.

The biggest was a $250,000 payment to Telemax, a television production company owned by Jean and fellow Yele board member Jerry Duplessis. Others listed by The Smoking Gun were $31,000 in rent payments for Platinum Sound -- a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Duplessis -- and $100,000 in payment for Jean to perform at a benefit concert.

Jean vigorously defended himself in a YouTube video posted Saturday.

"After digging kids up and finding cemeteries for them ... this is what I come back to, an attack on my integrity and my foundation," Jean said in the video.

He went on to explain that the charges were business expenses for Yele Haiti's fundraising efforts. "You can't put a show together without a production. You need lights, you need a stage ... All of these things have to be accounted for," he said.

Most charities allocate a portion of their revenues toward operating expenses.

Charity Navigator, an organization that evaluates charities, says that the most efficient charities put at least 75% toward programs related to their cause. Charity Navigator does not rate Yele Haiti, but reviewed the group's tax audits after the scandal broke. In 2008, Yele Haiti spent 69% of its budget on Haiti programs, according to Charity Navigator.

In his video, Jean also stressed that he has put $1 million of his own money into the foundation.

Since Tuesday's earthquake, Jean has been in Haiti assisting with relief efforts.

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love."

-- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. --

As of January 18, 2010

Position	Player	Points
1. (0)	Roger Federer (SUI)	10,550 pts
2. (0)	Rafael Nadal (ESP)	9,315 pts
3. (0)	Novak Djokovic (SRB)	8,310 pts
4. (+1)	Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)	6,785 pts
5. (-1)	Andy Murray (GBR)	6,780 pts
6. (0)	Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)	4,930 pts
7. (0)	Andy Roddick (USA)	4,510 pts
8. (0)	Robin Soderling (SWE)	3,410 pts
9. (0)	Fernando Verdasco (ESP)	3,300 pts
10. (0)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)	2,875 pts

As of January 18, 2010

 

Position	Player	Points
1. (0)	Serena Williams (USA)	9,075 pts
2. (0)	Dinara Safina (RUS)	7,800 pts
3. (0)	Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)	6,141 pts
4. (0)	Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)	5,875 pts
5. (0)	Elena Dementieva (RUS)	5,505 pts
6. (0)	Venus Williams (USA)	5,126 pts
7. (0)	Victoria Azarenka (BLR)	4,541 pts
8. (0)	Jelena Jankovic (SRB)	3,965 pts
9. (0)	Vera Zvonareva (RUS)	3,560 pts
10. (0)	Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)	3,450 pts

Updated: January 17, 2010, 1:33 AM ET

Federer highlights benefit

Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer and other tennis stars raised more than $185,000 to benefit Haiti earthquake victims by holding a fundraising match on the eve of the Australian Open.

Federer helped organize the event Sunday dubbed "Hit for Haiti."

The 15-time Grand Slam winner was joined at Rod Laver Arena by reigning Australian Open champions Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, 2008 winner Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, U.S. Open women's champion Kim Clijsters and Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur.

The admission price was about $10 and the 15,000-seat stadium filled to capacity for the exhibition. All the players wore microphones on the court, adding to the entertainment.

Chile shifts right as billionaire wins presidency

• By Alonso Soto and Simon Gardner
• 2 hrs 37 mins ago

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Billionaire Sebastian Pinera was elected Chile's president on Sunday in a political shift to the right after 20 years of leftist rule and will try to build on policies that made the economy Latin America's most stable.

Pinera won almost 52 percent of Sunday's run-off vote, the first time the right has wrested power from the center-left since General Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship ended, signaling Chile is moving on from the former strongman's bloody legacy.

Pinera's victory over ex-President Eduardo Frei of the ruling leftist coalition marks a shift to the right in South America, a region dominated by leftist rulers from Venezuela to Brazil. The Harvard-educated airline magnate takes office in March.

The market favorite's win helped boost Chile's bourse to new life intraday highs on Monday morning.

Pinera, 60, has vowed to give Chile's state a business-like overhaul to boost efficiency, promising to create a million jobs and boost economic growth to average 6 percent a year. The economy shrank in 2009, its first recession in a decade.

Critics say Pinera's plan depends too heavily on the private sector generating jobs and banks on a steady global recovery maintaining copper demand.

He could also struggle to push reforms through a divided Congress, and has promised to form a national unity government.

"The problems we face in the future are great, the obstacles we face are very challenging and we need unity now more than ever," Pinera said on Sunday evening, standing next to Frei.

"We will form a government of national unity which will build bridges of understanding and knock down walls of division," he added, offering an olive-branch to what could be tough opposition from a fractured left.

Chilean stocks, already rallying on a recovery from global crisis and high prices for top export copper, forged ahead, buoyed by Pinera's election win.

Investors are also watching closely for the promised sale of his more than 25 percent stake in flagship airline LAN, one of the region's leading carriers, as well as other assets as he sets aside his empire to avoid conflicts of interest.

Pinera has already placed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investments in a blind trust.

LEFT IN DISARRAY

Support for the ruling leftist coalition dwindled, with voters saying it should have made better use of billions of dollars in copper boom revenues that were stashed away in a sovereign wealth fund.

There also was growing frustration that an old guard has dominated politics in Chile, also a major salmon, wine and fruit exporter.

"I think the country deserves a change. The same people have governed for a long time," said 18-year-old nursing student Joanna Garcia, waving a flag outside Pinera's campaign headquarters. "I think Pinera will do things very well."

Pinera has said he will maintain prudent fiscal policies and expand social programs to include Chile's large middle class, which has complained of neglect.

His economic program also includes an overhaul to state giant Codelco, the world's top copper miner, and sell a minority stake to improve its efficiency.

"Policy continuity seems assured as neither the opposition nor the government coalition question the main pillars of the disciplined and market-friendly macro policy mix in place," said Alberto Ramos, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs in New York.

A divided Congress and likely resistance from powerful mining unions will mean Pinera will have to reach out to his opponents to be able to push through legislation, meaning he could be forced to water down some of his policy plans.

Possible further fragmentation of the left could make it harder for Pinera to seal deals.

An extreme sports enthusiast who flies his own helicopter, Pinera succeeded in distancing himself from the legacy of Pinochet's rule, when more than 3,000 people were killed or "disappeared" and around 28,000 were tortured.

Frei, whose 1994-2000 presidency was shaken by recession, sought to cast the Pinera-led right as Pinochet's heirs, but ultimately failed to galvanize the left.

MLK Day 1-18-10

543, 118, 249, 321, 323, 240, 260, 574, 594, 147

663, 311, 106, 130, 493, 683, 121, 367, 803, 813

201, 657, 879, 073, 713, 842, 111, 666, 333, 888

1115, 1468, 3948, 2769, 1885, 8811, 8501, 2467

Midday & Evening

** until 1-22-10 **

803, 813, 823, 833, 843, 853, 863, 873, 883, 893

050, 051, 052, 053, 054, 055, 056, 057, 058, 059

303, 313, 323, 333, 343, 353, 363, 373, 383, 393

000, 111, 444, 555, 666, 777

"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity."

- Unknown -

Midday & Evening

** until 1-18-10 **

100, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901

006, 106, 206, 306, 406, 506, 606, 706, 806, 906

000, 111, 444, 555, 777, 888

"The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown."

- Carl Jung -

TGIF 1-15-10

145, 414, 236, 114, 110, 087, 827, 356, 545

311, 052, 907, 531, 438, 367, 937, 579, 111

7718, 4484, 5419, 1944, 4665, 4701, 4801