Hingis edges Seles, keeps streak alive

Top-seeded Martina Hingis, the world's No. 1-ranked women'splayer, displayed another dimension of her growing game in beatingfourth-seeded Monica Seles 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) for the Family Circlechampionship Sunday in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

A week after destroying Seles 6-2, 6-1 in 44 minutes to win theLipton Championship in Key Biscayne, Fla., Hingis needed more thantwo hours to notch her sixth title this year. Her streak of 31victories is tied for sixth-best all time, but it looked in dangerwhen she trailed 5-0 after only 14 minutes.

"I was just hoping she didn't do the same score to me as I didto her," Hingis said. "I liked last week a lot better."Seles, who …

Hopman Cup tennis results

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Results Saturday at the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis tournament at Burswood Dome (matches are best-of three; women's singles, men's singles, mixed doubles):

France 2, …

Celtics handle Kobe onslaught and lead Lakers 3-2

It's looking a lot like 2008 again, with Paul Pierce carrying the Boston Celtics to victory in the NBA finals and leading them to the brink of yet another title.

Pierce scored 27 points _ his best performance of this year's finals _ and the Celtics withstood 38 points from Kobe Bryant to beat the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers 92-86 on Sunday night and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 6 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles, and a victory then or in Game 7 in L.A. on Thursday would give the Celtics a record 18th NBA title.

The Celtics have never blown a 3-2 lead in the NBA finals.

"It was our biggest game of …

MAIL

FILE UNDER: OUR BAD

Editor's Note: Last week, a slightly different version of this letter in our mail section generated a supernova of confused reader response the likes of which we haven't seen in years. We were content at first to sit back and laugh at everyone, but then we noticed something. Due to a slight slip of the finger-you know how close "R" and "9" are on the keyboard-the license plate number we printed was, how you say ... totally wrong. D'oh! Here's the correct version. Sorry, Ro. And everyone who checked with the Department of Motor Vehicles and then wrote letters to the editor answering Ro's letter, revise them and send them again next week.

Last week, as I …

Finding her place

When Roshan Jamal came to Canada in the 1970s, she longed for an inclusive Muslim community like the ones she grew up with in India and Africa. While Toronto did have a small Muslim population at the time, it wasn't a good fit culturally for Jamal and her family.

"I didn't have a place where I felt I belonged," says the 60-year-old CA, who searched for a mosque where men and women were treated equally. "I didn't know where we could go."

So when a local philanthropist approached Jamal in 2002 with an offer to head up a new Islamic centre that would stress gender equality and provide a forum for open dialogue, the then-partner at RSM Richter in Toronto knew it was an …

Top US Mideast diplomat quits government

The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East will step down from his post and move to the private sector at the end of the week, as President-elect Barack Obama's transition team weighs possible successors, State Department officials said Wednesday.

David Welch, a career diplomat and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, has told his staff his last day on the job will be Friday, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, expected Thursday.

Welch is the first of the department's assistant secretaries to leave since Obama's election last month.

…

Yule lights charge up family

Dwane Thomas jumps into Christmas with both boots on, bravelydonating his whole electric bill to the spirit of the holiday.

Each year Thomas, a vice president of a wholesale electricalsupply company, builds a panoply of lights and figurines at hisNaperville home.

Then on weekends he joins the outdoor display, dressed in aSanta suit.

Transferred frequently around the country, the 38-year-oldThomas, his wife and two children brought family traditions ofholiday displays with them when they moved to Naperville four yearsago.

"It's a very homey, cozy feeling," explained his wife, Cheryl,of decorations that inside include 12 Christmas trees, four of …