Roger Federer and Serena Williams win ITF awards

Roger Federer and Serena Williams have been named as 2009's world champions by the International Tennis Federation after topping the year-end rankings.

Federer, who wins the honour for the fifth time, completed a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros before winning his 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

And Williams won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, her 11th major success.

The pair will receive their awards at the annual ITF world champions dinner in Paris in June.

Federer regained the world number one ranking from Rafael Nadal after his Paris victory and his Wimbledon win over Andy Roddick saw him surpass Pete Sampras' haul of Grand Slam titles.

He was also runner-up at the Australian Open and the US Open and helped his country retain its Davis Cup world group status.

"It is an honour for me to be named ITF world champion for a fifth time. It was an incredible year for me both on and off the court," said the 28-year-old Swiss star whose wife Mirka gave birth to twin girls in July.

"To win my first Roland Garros title, break the all-time Grand Slam record and regain the number one ranking is amazing. It means a lot to me to finish the year again at the top."

Williams takes the award for the first time since 2002. As well as her Grand Slam wins, she won the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, sealing the top ranking in the last event of the year.

She also took the doubles year award with sister Venus after taking their career total to 10 Grand Slam titles. In doing so she joins Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis as the only players to become singles and doubles world champions in the same year.

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were named as the men's doubles world champions for the sixth time in seven years.

Gautam Gambhir & Virat Kohli's centuries seal India win

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli both hit centuries to take India to a series-clinching seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their fourth one-day meeting.

In another high-scoring game, Gambhir made a career-best unbeaten 150, his seventh one-day century, and Kohli scored 107 for his first one-day ton.

Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga's 118 had led his side to an imposing 315-6.

But India recovered from 23-2 as Gambhir and Kohli's third-wicket stand of 224 turned the match their way.

The two came together after Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar were dismissed cheaply and rebuilt their side's innings as they achieved the highest successful run chase in a one-day international at Eden Gardens.

Kohli, replacing the injured Yuvraj Singh, was finally out going for his second six with their partnership only 13 runs short of a record third-wicket total.

India needed another 69 from more than 10 overs but Dinesh Karthik helped Gambhir take them home and put them 3-1 up in the series.

After the match Gambhir was chosen as man of the match but gave his award to Kohli.

"When you have someone at the other end who can attack the bowling, especially when you lose early wickets, it takes the pressure off you," said Gambhir.

"With Kohli attacking I was able to take my time to settle down."

Kohli said: "As a kid I dreamed of getting a hundred for India in a one-day game and I have been able to achieve that - it is a great feeling."

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara blamed his bowlers for the defeat, saying: "Once you get 315 on the board you expect your bowlers to really do the job for you.

"But with our bowling we were either too short or too full on either side of the wicket.

The final match in the five-game series takes place in Delhi on Sunday.

BP oil refinery workers in Texas win damages of $100m

A US jury has awarded $100m (£62m) in damages to 10 workers who said a leak at a BP oil refinery in Texas in 2007 had made them sick.

The source of the leak at the refinery south of Houston was never identified and environmental agencies reported no evidence linking it to the refinery.

BP concluded that any toxic substance had come from outside.

But lawyers for the workers argued the odour had come from a sulphur recovery unit at the plant.

They described BP as a serial polluter.

The Texas jury agreed with the lawyers' case and imposed punitive damages.

A hundred workers at the refinery were sent to hospital after being overcome by a toxic substance and a further 90 claims are to come.

The workers said their injuries had included dizziness and sore throats, with one employee passing out after inhaling the substance, but none suffered long-term damage to their lungs, their lawyer said.

'Utterly unjustified'

BP said it was outraged by the verdict reached by the jury in Galveston, and would appeal.

"The verdict, and punitive damages award in particular, is utterly unjustified, improper and unsupportable," it added.

Tony Buzbee, a lawyer for the workers, said his clients were pleased with the jury's decision, adding that he had approached BP before the trial and had offered to settle for $10,000 for each worker.

BP had rejected the proposal, he said.

"They tried to minimise it, attack the credibility of the workers," Mr Buzbee said.

"They simply would not admit that they had released something."

The refinery was the site of a 2005 explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170, the worst US industrial accident since 1990.

It has a history of fires, chemical releases and worker deaths, The Associated Press reports.