NEW YORK-Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday, defeating French 17th seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2, in windy conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

WASHINGTON-New opinion polls Tuesday made painful reading for President Barack Obama's Democrats, cementing conventional wisdom that they face a pounding by Republicans in November's congressional elections.

HARARE-The UN Children's Fund on Wednesday launched a scheme to provide 13 million textbooks to Zimbabwe's students, in a 50-million-dollar effort to revive the struggling school system.

HOBYO, Somalia-Piracy off the coast of Somalia is booming despite a massive deployment of international warships, with an estimated combined coast of 40 million dollars a day.