Australia lead China 2-0 in Davis Cup

SYDNEY: Straight sets wins for Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic on Friday gave Australia a 2-0 lead over China in their best-of-five Davis Cup tie.

Veteran two-time grand slam winner Hewitt beat China’s top-ranked men’s player Zhang Ze, while Tomic saw off rising youngster Wu Di in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I first round tie.

“One day I hopefully can win the Davis Cup,” said Tomic, 19, after his 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over world number 502 Wu at the Geelong Lawn Tennis Club.

Seasoned Davis Cup campaigner Hewitt, who reached the fourth round of last month’s Australian Open along with Tomic, said Wu’s form was better than his ranking.

“Wu is the best 500 player I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Hewitt defeated Zhang 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) and will now hope to win the tie when he partners Chris Guccione in the doubles on Saturday. AGENCIES

Raymond Davis Row Creates Rift Between ISI & CIA

Raymond Davis Case: The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is ready to split with its US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) because of frustration over what it calls heavy-handed pressure and its anger over what it believes is a covert US operation involving hundreds of contract spies, according to an internal document obtained by a US news agency, an influential Washington based paper reported. According to a statement drafted by the ISI for the media but never released, an already-fragile relationship between the two agencies collapsed following the shooting death of two Pakistanis by Raymond Davis, a US contracted spy.

“Post-incident conduct of the CIA has virtually put the partnership into question,” said the media statement drafted after the issue of American shooter become public. A copy of which was obtained this week by the said news agency.

“It is hard to predict if the relationship will ever reach the level at which it was prior to the Davis episode,” the statement said. “The onus of not stalling this relationship between the two agencies now squarely lies on the CIA.”

Centre not silent on Davis issue: Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday refused to comment on US national, Raymond Daviss case, who is alleged of killing two Pakistanis, saying that the Punjab government is investigating the issue and nothing could be said until the report comes.

Talking to media, the PM rubbishes the notion that the federal government is doing nothing over the issue; the matter is sub judice in the court thus I wont said anything in this regard, he maintained. Referring to the economic problems, the Premier said that the country is faced with economic crunch but that has not assumed the form of crisis.

Mohmand bomb death toll hits 102, worst this year

YAKAGHUND: As Adnan Khan sifted through the rubble in this northwest Pakistani village Saturday, his grief mingled with a sense of disbelief.

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Mohmand bomb death toll hits 102, worst this year

Pakistan on brink of Davis Cup tie

WELLINGTON: Pakistan led New Zealand 2-1 in their Asia/Oceania Group II Davis Cup semi-final Saturday after Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi backed up from a marathon singles win to partner Aqeel Khan to doubles success.

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Pakistan on brink of Davis Cup tie

Djokovic: Our team can reach Davis Cup final

SPLIT, Croatia: Ahead of playing Croatia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals this weekend, world No.

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Djokovic: Our team can reach Davis Cup final

bayou country superfest

BATON ROUGE, La. — Bayou Country Superfest organizers expect at least 80,000 people from across the United States and Europe to file into LSU Tiger Stadium Memorial Day weekend.

Superfest producer-director Quint Davis said the number of ticket holders far exceeds his initial projections for the star-studded music festival, which takes place Saturday and Sunday, May 29-30.

“It’s unbelievable and counterintuitive,” said Davis, chief executive officer of Festival Productions Inc.-New Orleans, which stages the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Essence Musical Festival.

“We are proving a small number of people right and a much larger number of people wrong,” Davis said.
“We are proving a small number of people right and a much larger number of people wrong,” Davis said.
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No one, however, is complaining since robust ticket sales means a bigger boost to the Baton Rouge area’s economy.

A study done on the concert headlined by Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney showed a projected economic impact of $25 million, Davis said. That amount should be bigger since the study was based on an attendance of 30,000, organizers said.

“We think the festival is going to have an impact beyond East Baton Rouge Parish and the immediate nine-parish area,” said Paul Arrigo, president and chief executive officer of the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We think it’s going to affect all of southeast Louisiana.”

Businesses across the area already have received an economic boost because of the upcoming music festival, Arrigo said.

Hotels and motels are booked, flights to and from Baton Rouge are just about full, and restaurant owners are scheduling extra staff, he said.

Davis Cup

Latest Update:The International Tennis Federation has decided to move Pakistan’s next Davis Cup match to New Zealand because of security concerns.
The federation says it has informed the Pakistan and New Zealand teams that their Asia-Oceania Group 2 semifinal will instead be played in New Zealand in July, rather than in Pakistan or at a neutral venue.
New Zealand tennis officials have previously expressed reluctance to play in Pakistan because of security issues.
The Pakistani city of Lahore, which was originally expected to host the Davis Cup match, was hit by two suicide bomb blasts on March 12 that killed more than 50 people.
Several other sporting events have been cancelled in Pakistan since the Sri Lanka cricket team’s bus was ambushed in Lahore one year ago.

Davis Cup Match Moved From Pakistan Over Security

The International Tennis Federation has decided to move Pakistan’s next Davis Cup match to New Zealand because of security concerns.
The federation says it has informed the Pakistan and New Zealand teams that their Asia-Oceania Group 2 semifinal will instead be played in New Zealand in July, rather than in Pakistan or at a neutral venue.
New Zealand tennis officials have previously expressed reluctance to play in Pakistan because of security issues.
The Pakistani city of Lahore, which was originally expected to host the Davis Cup match, was hit by two suicide bomb blasts on March 12 that killed more than 50 people.
Several other sporting events have been cancelled in Pakistan since the Sri Lanka cricket team’s bus was ambushed in Lahore one year ago.

Obama to hold Afghan war cabinet meeting today

US President Barack Obama will convene a meeting of his Afghan war cabinet today to assess the first major offensive of his troop surge strategy against the Taliban.
The meeting in the secure White House Situation Room also comes after the reported capture by US and Pakistan spies of the Taliban’s top military commander, in what was apparently a huge blow to the Afghan insurgency. Obama will meet top officials including Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command. War commander General Stanley McChrystal and US ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry were due to take part in the meeting by video conference, the White House said. US and other media reported on Tuesday that Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi several days ago. The White House refused to confirm the arrest, which would mark a watershed in the US campaign against the Taliban. US, NATO and Afghan troops meanwhile pressed on with a major assault against the Taliban bastion of Marjah in southern Afghanistan, key to Washington’s new strategy for turning around the troubled war.

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Obama to hold Afghan war cabinet meeting today was first posted on February 17, 2010 at 12:37 pm.

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