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Afghan officials meeting Taliban in Pakistan: foreign news agency
Australian prisoners in Bali's riot jail safe
Pakistan to not support Afghan talks until Kabul backs them: Hina
Obama to address pro-Israel lobby on March 4
US apologises to Afghans for Quran burning
US respects sovereignty, integrity of Pakistan: Nuland
UK court OKs legal claim to be served via Facebook
Syrian forces killed at least 68 civilians
US softens stance on arms for Syria rebels
Radiation from disaster detected off Japan's coast
Gilani telephones Altaf, hails for women convention
England beat Pakistan to avenge whitewash
Fifth-seeded Radwanska advances in Dubai
Davydenko reaches 2nd round of Open 13
Pak-India issues be resolved by dialogue: Kumar

Afghan officials meeting Taliban in Pakistan: foreign news agency

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According to the agency, Afghan officials are holding talks with the Taliban in Pakistan, the head of a provincial peace council in the insurgency s heartland Kandahar said, in a possible signal that Islamabad is boosting its support for Afghan peace efforts. Kandahar peace council head Ata Mohammad Ahmadi said the officials have been meeting for "some time" with mid-level Taliban commander in the southwest Pakistani city of Quetta, where the leadership of the militant group is said to be based. "In the last 10 days, our peace council delegation have gone to Quetta three times in twos and threes," he said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai s government has repeatedly called on regional power Pakistan to support its efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan were strained for months after the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani. Afghan officials blamed Pakistan s intelligence agency, allegations angrily denied by Islamabad. But Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said after a recent trip to Kabul that a lot of the ill will between the neighbors had faded. She said Pakistan would encourage Afghan militant groups to pursue peace if asked by Kabul. Karzai held talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad last week. "We are very optimistic about President Karzai s recent trip to Pakistan and that may have opened the door," Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of Afghanistan s High Peace Council - tasked with reaching out to insurgents - told Reuters. In a statement released on Tuesday, Karzai said: "While emphasizing the importance of Pakistan s support for the peace process, I hereby request our brotherly government of Pakistan to support and facilitate our direct negotiation efforts as part of the peace process." Afghanistan is known to want access to Taliban leaders belonging so the so-called Quetta Shura, named after the city where it is believed to be based. The Kabul government believes they would be the decision makers in any substantive peace negotiations aimed at ending the war now in its eleventh year. Pakistan, seen as critical to efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, has consistently denied giving sanctuary to insurgents and denies that any Taliban leaders are present in the southwestern city of Quetta, near the Afghan border. It is unlikely that any meetings between Afghan officials and Taliban commanders could take place in Quetta without the knowledge of Pakistan s pervasive intelligence agencies. Pakistan may have stepped up its cooperation with the Afghan government by allowing what Ahmadi said were meetings in Quetta. Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment. It was unclear if the reported Quetta meetings were part of broad Afghan government efforts to bring the Taliban into peace talks under the 70-member High Peace Council set up by Karzai.

Australian prisoners in Bali's riot jail safe

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"Indonesian authorities have advised that all Australian prisoners in Kerobokan prison are safe," a DFAT spokesperson told AFP. The 12 include convicted drug carrier Schapelle Corby and the group known as the "Bali Nine", who were caught attempting to smuggle drugs back to Australia from the resort island. Heavily armed Indonesian security forces stormed the notorious jail around dawn to end a riot that kicked off late Tuesday when prisoners set fire to parts of the overcrowded facility.

Pakistan to not support Afghan talks until Kabul backs them: Hina

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In an interview with The Guardian, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistan will not support a US-driven initiative to start Afghan peace talks in Qatar until it is clear that they have the backing of the Kabul government. Khar said even after a visit by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to Islamabad last week, it was unclear whether he really wanted his government to hold talks with the Taliban in Qatar. The Taliban has announced its readiness to negotiate with the international community in the Gulf state and has moved some of its officials there with the encouragement of US and other western governments. Over the course of the past two months, Karzai initially objected to Qatar being a venue, recalling his ambassador in protest when the initiative was announced. He then appeared to relent, but recently raised the possibility of separate talks in Saudi Arabia, to the irritation of Washington officials. "We are waiting for him to determine the course of action of his government and once that is done, we will want to be seen to be fully supporting it… The messages from Kabul are a bit confusing. At first they say they are supporting it but they say they are recalling their ambassador because they think they have not been taken into confidence," Khar said. "For us, the dangers of being supportive of something where there is not enough clarity on whether the Afghan government is fully behind it, fully owns it, fully drives it, are too high. The stakes are far too high." She added: "What we expect of Afghanistan and the Karzai government is that they share very clearly with the rest of the world and with us what it is they truly want to do. Yes, they want the path towards peace and reconciliation. They have already said that. But how do they plan to achieve it?" Khar insisted that Pakistan would not actively hinder the effort to hold talks in Qatar, and denied reports that Islamabad had blocked some Taliban officials from flying to Doha to participate. However, in a reminder of the fragility of the Afghan-Pakistani relationship, the foreign minister again rejected Afghan pressure to allow Kabul officials have access to Taliban figures they believe to be in Pakistan, repeating longstanding Pakistani denials that Islamabad has any idea of the whereabouts of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar. "I am not an authority on where Mullah Omar is, but I do know that Pakistani authorities do not know where Mullah Omar is. I know that much," she said, adding: "Pakistan s view is that everything the Afghans ask us which is doable, which is realistic, which is based on facts, we will do… but it has to be based on facts." However, Khar would not say whether Afghan officials would be allowed to meet one of Omar s deputies, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is in Pakistani custody. During his visit to Islamabad on Friday, Karzai expressed frustration with Pakistani policy, saying "impediments" in the relationship should be removed "sooner rather than later". Pakistan s ambivalence over the effort to open a dialogue in Qatar has contributed to the poor state of Pakistan s relationship with the US, which reached a new low in November when Nato cross-border fire from Afghanistan killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Khar is due to meet the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in London this week but she said she had no power to seek an improvement in the relationship until Pakistan s parliament had published the results of its own review. Khar denied that her government was delegating a politically tricky issue, arguing that the parliamentary review of US policy was "something to be proud about" and would improve bilateral relations in the long term. "I think this relationship has been missing a great deal of credibility and a lot of that is because the relationship has always peaked during dictatorships and because a lot of the terms of the relationship are not very transparent," she said. "What this government is doing is trying to get some of that credibility back… Once you are able to do that I think we will turn out to be much more effective partnership." By way of contrast, the minister praised Pakistan s relations with the UK, which she said worked well because they were "predictable", adding that Britain had been understanding over Islamabad s opposition to US drone strikes inside Pakistani territory. At a joint press conference with Khar on Tuesday, William Hague described the British relationship with Pakistan as "deep, long term and strategic." The foreign secretary said Afghan-led efforts towards reconciliation and a lasting peace settlement in Afghanistan were "vital to the long term security of Britain and Pakistan and to the region".

Obama to address pro-Israel lobby on March 4

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US President Barack Obama welcomes this opportunity to speak to the strengths of the special bonds between Israel and the United States," said spokesman Jay Carney. Netanyahu was also to deliver a speech at the meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby on the evening of March 5, after meeting Obama. US politicians often flock to AIPAC to gain backing and air their pro-Israel positions -- with the November election approaching, this year s event is set to be even more hotly political than usual. In his address to the group last year, Obama pledged to stand by the Jewish state through thick and thin, stressing Washington s "ironclad" commitment to Israel s security. His upcoming talks with Netanyahu comes amid rising tensions with Iran, and with increased speculation over whether Israel is planning to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. The US leader was also expected to address the state of US-backed peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, after several rounds of exploratory meetings have failed to spark a move back to direct talks.

US apologises to Afghans for Quran burning

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Press secretary Jay Carney says it was a "deeply unfortunate incident" that does not reflect the respect the U.S. military has for the religious practices of the Afghans. Carney echoed military officials Tuesday in saying that the Quran burning at Bagram Air Field happened unintentionally, and an investigation was being undertaken to understand why it did and ensure it would not happen again. A Western military official said the Qurans were removed from a library at a nearby detention center because they contained extremist messages. Carney did not address those specifics, referring questions to defense officials.

US respects sovereignty, integrity of Pakistan: Nuland

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The US State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland has said that the American administration "respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan" and is not supporting the demand raised in a Congressional resolution, tabled by the Republican Dana Rohrabacher, for the right of self-determination of Balochi people. She also confirmed receiving protest from Pakistan. "With regard to the legislation on the Hill, yes, we did hear from Ambassador Rehman.  And we also heard in Islamabad from the government. And in response to that, we again clarified our position. Members of Congress introduce legislation on many foreign affairs topics, but they don’t in any way imply US government endorsement of those positions". She remarked that "we don’t generally comment on pending legislation". However, when this statement was challenged by another journalist on the grounds that the spokesperson had commented on such issues in the past, she conceded that it was a matter of discretion. "We comment on what we choose to", she maintained. "With regard to Balochistan itself, we encourage all the parties in Balochistan to work out their differences peaceably and through a political process. So we would like to again make clear that we respect Pakistani sovereignty in this regard", she reiterated the comments made in an earlier briefing by her last week after the hearing on Balochistan in the Congress subcommittee chaired by Dana Rohrabacher. When asked about the self-determination in Balochistan, as some of the lawmakers and some of the Balochistan people are saying, she again clarified in categoric terms that it was not the US administration s viewpoint. "That is not what we are saying. I think you understand our position very well", she observed. On the Pakistani parliament s review of relationship with United States, she said that the recommendations were still awaited. "With regard to the parliamentary review, our understanding is the process is still ongoing. So we will, obviously, await the conclusion of that process so that we can have a consultation on the results with the Pakistani government". On the proposed meeting of Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of a summit in London, she was non-committal. "I don’t have any bilateral meetings for the Secretary’s upcoming travel to confirm at the moment. I would expect that tomorrow we’ll have a little more detail on this".- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC

UK court OKs legal claim to be served via Facebook

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Lawyers in a commercial dispute were last week granted permission to serve a suit against a defendant via the popular social networking site. Justice Nigel Teare permitted the unconventional method of service during a pretrial hearing into a case which pits two investment managers against a brokerage firm they accuse of overcharging them. A former trader and an ex-broker, Fabio De Biase and Anjam Ahmad, are also alleged to have been in on the scam. Jenni Jenkins, who represents Ahmad, said lawyers in the case had been trying to track De Biase in order to serve him with legal documents. She said that a copy of the suit was left at his last known address, but that it wasn t clear whether he was still living there. The lawyers didn t have his email address, so they applied for permission to send him the claim through Facebook. Jenkins, an associate with London-based law firm Memery Crystal, said the lawyers were confident that de Biase s account was still active. "The counsel told the judge that someone from the firm had been monitoring the account and they d seen that he s recently added two new friends, which made the judge chuckle," she said. De Biase was given extra time to respond to the claim "to allow for the possibility that he wasn t accessing his account regularly," she added. Ordinarily, British legal claims are served in hard copy either in person, by mail, or by fax  although unconventional means are occasionally employed if the people involved are hard to pin down. In December, a British judge made headlines for filing an injunction against London-based protesters from the Occupy movement via text message. The Judicial Office for England and Wales confirmed Tuesday that Teare had allowed lawyers to serve their claim through Facebook. A spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to give her name, said it was the first time anyone had been served via the site "as far as we re aware." Facebook declined a request for comment on the issue.

Syrian forces killed at least 68 civilians

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In the most significant incident, at least 33 people were killed in the village of Abdita in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Another 31 were killed in Homs province, including 21 people who died in "intensive shelling" that targeted Homs city s Baba Amr neighbourhood, with the Khaldiyeh and Karm al-Zaytoun districts also blasted. And despite a plea by activists to allow women and children to flee Homs  besieged Baba Amr neighbourhood, more troops were sent to the outskirts of the restive city, with activists expressing fear they were preparing to storm it. Homs-based activist Hadi Abdullah of the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution told AFP "large reinforcements were heading to Homs." "We counted at least 150 shells crashing in Baba Amr within two hours this morning. We gave up counting afterwards," he said. Omar Shaker, another activist, told AFP the neighbourhood had "no electricity, nor fuel," and that "snipers have hit water tanks," rendering the situation "bad beyond imagination." Human Rights Watch emergency director Peter Bouckaert told AFP the watchdog had confirmed the use of Russian-made 240 mm mortars in Homs, which has been under assault for 18 days. "We have little doubt that those extremely powerful mortars are being fired by the regime forces into civilian neighborhoods of Homs. We are talking about a 250-pound mortar round that can only be fired from a heavy specialised armoured vehicle and it requires a nine person crew to operate," he said. AFP was not able to verify the death toll nor the reports of shelling, as foreign reporters are given only limited access within the country. Security forces also opened fire to disperse a sit-in by 2,500 students at the University of Aleppo, the northern city that until recently been spared anti-regime demonstrations. And secular groups demonstrated outside parliament against an article in the draft constitution that would require the president to be a Muslim. The International Committee of the Red Cross called for a daily truce of two hours in Syria so it can deliver vital aid to afflicted areas, after saying a day earlier it was in talks with both sides to halt the violence. The head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, welcomed the call but voiced doubts that the "criminal" regime would commit. And the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, called on Syria to allow aid groups unimpeded access to the country. "This is a major human rights crisis that is now moving into significant humanitarian consequences," Amos said. In Washington, White House press secretary Jay Carney said "we support calls for cease-fires to allow for the provision of humanitarian supplies to Syrians who desperately need it." "Reprehensible actions taken by the Assad regime have led us to a situation where basic supplies, humanitarian supplies are very scarce." And although top US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, has said it was "premature" to arm Syria s opposition, top Republican Senator John McCain called again for the outgunned rebels to be supplied with weapons. But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "from our perspective, we don t believe that it makes sense to contribute now to the further militarisation of Syria. "What we don t want to see is the spiral of violence increase. That said, if we can t get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures," she said. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syria was increasingly under pressure. A Friends of Syria meeting in Tunis on Friday will "demonstrate that Assad s regime is increasingly isolated and that the brave Syrian people need our support and solidarity," she said. The meeting "will send a clear message to Russia, China and others who are still unsure about how to handle the increasing violence but are up until now, unfortunately, making the wrong choices," she added. Russia announced that it will not take part in the meeting because it was being convened "for the purpose of supporting one side against another in an internal conflict," the foreign ministry said. China, meanwhile, refused to commit to attend the meeting. The Friends of Syria group will meet for the first time after being created in response to a joint veto by China and Russia of a UN Security Council resolution condemning the bloody crackdown. It is backed by members of the European Union as well as some Arab nations and the United States. "China has received the relevant invitation," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. "The Chinese side is currently researching the function, mechanism and other aspects of the meeting." In other developments, several hundred people demonstrated in the Gaza Strip calling for the downfall of Assad, whom they called a butcher and a criminal.

US softens stance on arms for Syria rebels

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The Obama administration opened the door slightly Tuesday to international military assistance for Syria s rebels, with officials saying new tactics may have to be explored if President Bashar Assad continues to defy pressure to halt a brutal crackdown on dissenters. In coordinated messages, the White House and State Department said they still hope for a political solution. But faced with the daily onslaught by the Assad regime against Syrian civilians, officials dropped the administration s previous strident opposition to arming anti-regime forces. It remained unclear, though, what, if any, role the U.S. might play in providing such aid. "We don t want to take actions that would contribute to the further militarization of Syria because that could take the country down a dangerous path," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. "But we don t rule out additional measures if the international community should wait too long and not take the kind of action that needs to be taken." The administration previously has said flatly that more weapons are not the answer to the Syrian situation. There had been no mention of "additional measures." At the State Department, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland used nearly identical language to describe the administration s evolving position. "From our perspective, we don t believe that it makes sense to contribute now to the further militarization of Syria," she told reporters. "What we don t want to see is the spiral of violence increase. That said, if we can t get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures." Neither Carney nor Nuland would elaborate on what "additional measures" might be taken, but there have been growing calls, including from some in Congress, for the international community to arm the rebels. Most suggestions to that effect have foreseen Arab nations such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and not the West, possibly providing military assistance. Other officials said discussions are now under way about adding a military component to a package of humanitarian and political aid to the opposition that is to be discussed at a major international conference on Syria this week in Tunisia. More than 70 countries have been invited to meet Friday in Tunisia for a "Friends of Syria" meeting, which follows the failure of the UN Security Council to endorse an Arab plan that would have seen Assad removed from power. The meeting of the "Friends of Syria" in Tunis is unlikely to produce decisions on military aid or even recognition of Syria s disparate opposition groups, according to U.S. officials. But countries are considering creating large stockpiles of humanitarian aid along Syria s borders, the officials said. U.S. officials stressed that discussion of military assistance still is preliminary. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the diplomacy. To maintain the pressure against Assad, Washington is trying to keep as many countries as possible involved in the international coordination against Syria s government, even if there is no consensus strategy on arming the rebels. This week s talks will seek to clarify some of the confusion. The U.S. is trying to get a clearer picture of what promises countries such as Syria s Arab neighbors are making to elements of the opposition; which rebels each government might support; and some agreement on what types of assistance would be helpful or damaging. The backdrop to the discussions is the increasing fear that Syria could descend into an all-out civil war. Meanwhile, the Pentagon on Tuesday disputed reports that Iranian ships docked at a Syrian port over the weekend.

Radiation from disaster detected off Japan's coast

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Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima power plant disaster has been detected as far as almost 400 miles (643 kilometers) off Japan in the Pacific Ocean, with water showing readings of up to 1,000 times more than prior levels, scientists reported Tuesday. But those results for the substance cesium-137 are far below the levels that are generally considered harmful, either to marine animals or people who eat seafood, said Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He spoke Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the annual Ocean Sciences Meeting, attended by more than 4,000 researchers this week. The results are for water samples taken in June, about three months after the power plant disaster, Buesseler said. In addition to thousands of water samples, researchers also sampled fish and plankton and found cesium-137 levels well below the legal health limit. "We re not over the hump" yet in terms of radioactive contamination of the ocean because of continued leakage from the plant, Buesseler said in an interview before Tuesday s talk. He was chief scientist for the cruise that collected the data. The ship sampled water from about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to about 400 miles off the coast east of the Fukushima plant. Concentrations of cesium-137 throughout that range were 10 to 1,000 times normal, but they were about one-tenth the levels generally considered harmful, Buesseler said. Cesium-137 wasn t the only radioactive substance released from the plant, but it s of particular concern because of its long persistence in the environment. Its half-life is 30 years. The highest readings last June were not always from locations closest to the Fukushima plant, Buesseler said. That s because swirling ocean currents formed concentrations of the material, he said. Most of the cesium-137 detected during the voyage probably entered the ocean from water discharges, rather than atmospheric fallout, he added. Hartmut Nies of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Buesseler s findings were not surprising, given the vastness of the ocean and its ability to absorb and dilute materials. "This is what we predicted," Nies said after Buesseler presented his research. Nies said the water s cesium-137 concentration has been so diluted that just 20 miles offshore, "if it was not seawater, you could drink it without any problems." "This is good news," he said, adding that scientists expect levels to continue to decrease over time. "We still don t have a full picture," Nies said, "but we can expect the situation will not become worse."

Gilani telephones Altaf, hails for women convention

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Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani telephoned MQM chief Altaf Hussain and felicitated him for holding successful women convention in Karachi. Altaf Hussain thanked the PM and urged the government for legislation of laws to eradicate violence against women. Gilani assured him to empower women by bringing needful amendments in the law.

England beat Pakistan to avenge whitewash

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With it England also avenged Test series whitewash. It was Pietersen’s superb ton that led England to victory chasing Pakistan’s 237. Pakistani spinners early on gave their team a chance, but Pietersen stood firm to guide their team to the victory stand. England has whitewashed the ODI series in reply to Pakistan’s Test series clean sweep.  Kevin Pietersen hit his second successive century to help a resurgent England beat Pakistan by four wickets. The 31-year-old right-hander held the innings together during his 153-ball career-best 130 -- his ninth one-day hundred -- to help England chase down a 238-run target in 49.2 overs at Dubai Stadium. Pietersen helped England recover from 68-4 with a 109-run stand for the fifth wicket with Craig Kieswetter (43) to maintain his team s domination in the series in which they won the first match by 130 runs, second by 20 and the third by nine wickets. By virtue of this win England overtook Pakistan at number five and pushed their rivals to sixth in the ICC (International Cricket Council) one-day rankings and partially made up for their 3-0 loss in the preceding three-Test series. Pietersen hit Junaid Khan for a six and took a single in the next over to reach his hundred off 136 balls and finished with 12 fours and two sixes. His previous best of 116 came against South Africa at Centurion in 2005. Pietersen had lost his opening partner Alastair Cook -- who hit back-to-back hundreds and 80 in the first three matches -- off the second ball of the innings to paceman Khan for four. Jonathan Trott (15), Eoin Morgan (15) and debutant Jos Butler fell in the space of 18 runs before the Pietersen-Kieswetter stand lifted them from 68-4 to 177-5. When Kieswetter was run out, England still needed 61 but Samit Patel (17 not out) in the company of Pietersen brought England within two runs of the win when Pietersen fell to Saeed Ajmal. Tim Bresnan hit the winning boundary. Pakistan promised more than what they made after half-centuries by Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali but were pegged back in the final overs with paceman Jade Dernbach taking a career-best 4-45. Shafiq made a 78-ball 65 for his sixth one-day fifty while Ali notched a 89-ball 58 for his first to help lift Pakistan from the early loss of opener Mohammad Hafeez (one) after they elected to bat. Skipper Misbah-ul Haq chipped in with a 52-ball 46 which included one four and a six. Shafiq, who hit six boundaries, repaired the early loss during his second wicket stand of 111 with Ali but England pegged back Pakistan when Bresnan dismissed Shafiq off an inside edge and debutant left-arm spinner Danny Briggs accounted for Umar Akmal, who made 12. Dernbach had Ali caught off a miscued drive by Morgan to leave Pakistan at 144-4 in the 34th over. Misbah and Shoaib Malik (23) added 58 for the fifth wicket. Pakistan made three changes as experienced batsman Younis Khan was missing for the second match in a row after he failed to recover from a fever, while opener Imran Farhat was left out due to a groin injury. England also gave debuts to Briggs and Butler in four changes from the last game. Both teams now play three Twenty20 internationals in Dubai (February 23 and 25) and Abu Dhabi (February 27).

Fifth-seeded Radwanska advances in Dubai

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She defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-1, 6-7 (6), 7-5. The 22-year-old Radwanska cruised through the first set in 27 minutes, but she needed another two hours to win her opening match in Dubai. After losing the second set on a tiebreaker, Radwanska struggled to regain concentration in the third and had to come back from 5-3 down to win it 7-5. Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is the top-seeded player in Dubai. The top-ranked Belarusian will meet Julia Goerges of Germany in her opening match on Wednesday. The field also includes defending champion Caroline Wozniacki and U.S. Open winner Sam Stosur, but Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, French Open winner Li Na and Vera Zvonareva all withdrew because of illness and injury on Monday. Earlier Tuesday, two players joined the list of withdrawals. Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia retired with a hamstring injury while trailing Iveta Benesova 3-1, and Maria Kirilenko withdrew from a doubles match with Sabine Lisicki against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Alicja Rosolska. Kirilenko has a neck injury but is set to play in the second round of the singles on Wednesday, organizers said. Later Tuesday, seventh-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy will play Serbia s Ana Ivanovic and sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France will meet China s Shuai Peng in her opening match. Third-seeded Wozniacki will open the defence of her title on Wednesday when she meets Simona Halep of Romania in the second round. Halep advanced Tuesday after defeating Russia s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2. Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic also advanced Tuesday after ousting Croatia s Petra Martic 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Safarova will meet U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in the second round.--AP

Davydenko reaches 2nd round of Open 13

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He beat Andreas Beck of Germany 6-1, 7-5 Tuesday to reach the second round of the Open 13. Davydenko, a semifinalist at the ABN Amro World Tennis final in Rotterdam last week, broke Beck s serve three times in the match. The Russian next faces fourth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina for a place in the quarterfinals. In other first-round matches, Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Albano Olivetti, and Russia s Igor Kunitsyn all advanced in straight sets, while David Goffin of Belgium was up 6-2, 1-0 against Adrian Mannarino when the Frenchman retired. Mahut hit 12 aces in beating Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4 and will play another Frenchman, top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the second round. Olivetti did not face a break point in his 6-4, 6-3 win over Matthias Bachinger of Germany, but Kunitsyn saved seven of the eight he faced before getting the better of Spain s Roberto Bautista-Agut, 6-4, 6-4. Later Tuesday, No. 5 Richard Gasquet of France was playing Go Soeda of Japan.

Pak-India issues be resolved by dialogue: Kumar

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These issues are historical which have become part and parcel of both countries policies. She met National Assembly Speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza in Islamabad. During this, she said that she had come to Pakistan with message of peace and friendship for the people of Pakistan. She said, “We are neighbours to each other, there are similarities between our history and issues; so we should adopt joint strategy for the solution of these issues.” She said that Pakistan and India are faced by same complexities which may be resolved with understanding. Dr Fehmida Mirza said that the issues may be resolved with parliamentary dialogues. Kumar also thanked Fehmida Mirza over declaring India Most Favoured Nation and recorded her message in the book of guests.

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Cricket - Sports

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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