Column: Stop shrieking about women's tennis noise

On serve and when whipping his forehand, Novak Djokovic's grunt is that of a bullfrog, "WooooAH-UH." Rafael Nadal goes for a throatier, "AAArrgggHH." Occasionally, Andy Murray offers up a more hushed, constricted, "Eeeeeehhh." From Roger Federer, of course, we tend to get the sound of silence.

Yet here is a selection of headlines you'll never read about tennis' top men: "Earplugs ready, it's the scream queen final," ''Shrieks of nature," or "It's squeally not on."

I didn't make those up. Oh-so-witty, that is all stuff written about Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova before their women's final at the Australian Open on Saturday.

Anyone else spot the sexist …

Figure Skating World Championships Results

Results Friday from the figure skating world championships:

Ice Dance

Free Dance

1. Meryl Davis and Charlie White, United States, 110.49.

2. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Canada, 110.03 53.10.

3. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, France, 98.09.

4. Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, Italy, 97.84.

5. Sinead and John Kerr, Britain, 93.32.

6. Alexandra Zaretsky and Roman Zaretsky, Israel, 91.34.

7. Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier, Canada, 91.22.

8. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, Russia, 89.76.

9. Nora Hoffman and Maxim Zavozin, Hungary, 83.52.

…

The Making of the Front-Runner

As the serious stage of the presidential campaign begins thisfall, Hillary Rodham Clinton has clearly established herself in thelead of the race for the Democratic nomination. That makes her themost worthy subject for examination among all the White Houseprospects.

I have been thinking a lot about Sen. Clinton because part of myvacation reading was Carl Bernstein's fine political biography ofher, "A Woman in Charge," published earlier this year. Its 600pages, carefully reported and written with a commendable evenness oftone, offer perhaps the fullest portrait of this potentialpresident.

The single strongest impression it leaves is that this is acomplex, talented …

SKorean businessman to debut fried chicken at first foreign-run restaurant in North Korea

A South Korean businessman plans to begin a fried chicken delivery service in the North Korean capital, with the first foreign-run restaurant in a country that struggles to feed its own people.

Choi Won-ho, head of a fried chicken franchiser that has about 70 restaurants across South Korea, said Friday he is opening a 50-table restaurant in Pyongyang on Nov. 15. It will also deliver chicken and beer to homes.

"I have wanted to be the world's best chicken brand," Choi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"But I thought it makes no sense to conquer the world without sharing food with our compatriots. That's why I went …

Singapore defends Temasek's Bank of America sale

The Singapore government has defended state investment company Temasek's sale of its stake in Bank of America Corp., saying the loss-generating trade didn't reflect a shift to short-term investing.

Temasek sold its Bank of America shares after its 13.7 percent stake in Merrill Lynch & Co _ initially purchased in 2007 _ was converted after BoA bought the brokerage in January. Temasek held 188.8 million Bank of America shares worth about $2.6 billion in January.

"The investment thesis had changed, from the original focus on Merrill's specific businesses to BoA's linkage to the broader U.S. economy," Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said …

Becky certainly back to her best with maximum

THE top six teams in the Boar's Head Hotel Felinfoel BreweryCarmarthen Mixed Darts League were all winners in the penultimategames of the first half.

Top two NKG A and Bizz B, with just one point separating them,both won 10-1 and have now extended their lead to 16 points.

Gremlin Club skipper Kathy Wray stopped the George winning all11, and it was a team of three, father, son and girlfriend Charlie,Gareth and Vicky from the NKG C that saved the brush from the Bizz.

Also scooping ten points were last year's runners-up Boar's HeadA, who just failed to win all 11 as young Daniel Lewis salvaged apoint for his team in the final game.

Third-placed …

Oil Prices Steady at $69 a Barrel

SINGAPORE - Oil prices held steady below $70 a barrel Friday in Asia after jumping above that mark in the previous session the first time in ten months.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose six cents to $69.63 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore.

The contract settled 60 cents higher at $69.57 a barrel Thursday in the U.S. after rising as high as $70.52 and trading above $70 for several hours.

Thursday's jump was driven by concerns over summer supplies following the release of a weekly U.S. government report that showed gasoline inventories dropped unexpectedly as the driving season neared its …