American tennis legend John McEnroe said Tuesday that there were no likely challengers who could break Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's stranglehold on the game's top tournaments.

"Federer and Nadal are two of the greatest players that have ever lived," McEnroe told reporters ahead of the exhibition Hong Kong Tennis Classic.

Two Afghan policemen stand paralyzed by fear in front of a plastic cup. But this is not some farcical scene from the battle against the Taliban -- it is a sketch from a new clown show in Kabul.

The performance, put on by nine members of the Azdar troupe, seems improbable in a country locked in a nine-year battle between U.S.-led NATO troops and the Islamist militants.

Egypt was on high alert on Monday ahead of the Coptic Christmas holiday following a New Year's Day church bombing that killed 21 people as investigators raced to identify those behind the attack.

Police cancelled leave for top officers and were tightening surveillance of airports and ports to prevent suspects from leaving the country, as new checkpoints were set up across the nation.

New Year revelers around the planet will welcome 2011 in a blaze of fireworks and parties Friday, temporarily banishing the misery of extreme weather which has struck countries across the world.

Some 1.5 million people will cram Sydney's foreshore for fireworks on the Harbour Bridge, with sunshine attracting record crowds in the afternoon even as the country's northeast battled devastating floods.

A virus infecting mobile phones using Google's Android operating system has emerged in China that can allow a hacker to gain access to personal data, U.S. security experts said.

A report this week from Lookout Mobile Security said the new Trojan affecting Android devices has been dubbed "Geinimi" and "can compromise a significant amount of personal data on a user’s phone and send it to remote servers."

South Korea on Friday confirmed its first outbreak of bird flu for more than two years, with more than 100,000 birds slaughtered as authorities bid to contain the lethal virus.

Two poultry farms, one in the central city of Cheonan and the other in the southwestern city of Iksan, were confirmed to have been contaminated by the H5N1 virus, the agricultural ministry said.

NASA said Thursday it has found four more small cracks on the metal supports of the shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank, as the aging shuttle undergoes X-ray testing before its final space mission next year.

Repairs would be made to the cracks in a similar fashion to the cracks discovered after the November 5 launch attempt, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement.

Oil dropped in afternoon Asian trade Friday after US data showed the country's crude stocks declined less than expected, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, dropped 34 cents to 89.50 dollars per barrel in the afternoon.

Australia, Japan and South Korea head into the Asian Cup as clear favorites in a tournament that will test Qatar's ability to host a major event after being controversially awarded the 2022 World Cup.

The three-week football festival, featuring the region's top 16 teams, kicks off on January 7 when the hosts face Uzbekistan ahead of the final on January 29.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz has vowed to show respect and modesty as he sets about his hunt for a second triumph in the grueling 13-stage Dakar Rally which starts on Saturday.

The 48-year-old Spaniard, the world rally champion in 1990 and 1992 who converted to cross country rallying in 2005, led last year's Dakar from the fifth stage to finish ahead of Volkswagen teammates, and chief rivals, Nasser al-Attiyah and Mark Miller.