Halle Berry Moving To Europe

Gabriel Aubry is not to happy these days after finding out that Halle Berry, her boyfriend, and their daughter possibly could be moving to Europe, France to be exact. Halle Berry is asking the judge who is in charge of the custody hearing if she can have permission to move Nahla to France with her and her boyfriend. Gabriel Aubry is stating that over his dead body this is something that is just not going to happen.

Halle Berry has already put her papers to the judge and currently the only thing they are waiting on is the hearing date to be set. Gabriel Aubry feels that Halle Berry is doing this to take his daughter away from him by making sure that he can have no contact with her. Also, Gabriel Aubry is even more upset because if the move is approved Halle Berry’s long term boyfriend Olivier Martinez will also be residing with his daughter.

From the way we see it Halle Berry has a good reason to move. Matter of fact, the stalker who broke in her property numerous times has just been released from jail. So, she will definitely be safer over in Europe.

Be sure to visit trendpk.com where this article was originally published for more celebrity gossip and celebrity news.

PM Gilani appeals against summons for indictment

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister Wednesday appealed against a court summons to face a contempt indictment next week, challenging an order that could ultimately force his weak government into early elections.

Pakistan’s highest court on February 2 summoned Yousuf Raza Gilani to appear on February 13 to face indictment, impatient over the government’s refusal to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

It was a shock move from the Supreme Court that sharply escalated pressure on the embattled prime minister a year before his government would become the first in the history of Pakistan to complete an elected term in office.

Gilani’s lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said he based the appeal on precedents set by top courts in Australia, Britain, France, India and the United States.

“My objection is that the court in its order on February 2 cited no specific reasons for initiating contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister,” he told reporters.

Gilani had appeared before the Supreme Court on January 19, refusing to back down over citing Zardari’s immunity as explanation for his refusal to obey the court’s order to ask Switzerland to re-open corruption cases.

The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008, when Zardari took office.

If convicted of contempt, the prime minister could be jailed for up to six months and disqualified from public office.

Ahsan said there were arguments against indicting the prime minister.

“The president enjoyed immunity and the Swiss authorities have also closed the case. I should not comment further on this issue,” he said.

In order to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court will need to constitute a larger bench of nine judges — not the seven who ordered him to appear.

The court will hear the appeal on Thursday, apparently the only available gap in a tight schedule before the February 13 summons.

Although Supreme Court Judge Nasir-ul-Mulk said there were grounds to proceed against Gilani, members of the government accuse judges of plotting with the army to wage a witch-hunt against the prime minister and president.

Legal experts say that Gilani can only avoid being charged by appealing, apologising or promising to write to the Swiss.

The allegations against Zardari were frozen by a Pakistani political amnesty imposed in 2007, which the courts overturned in late 2009.

Tainted by corruption allegations, Zardari is nicknamed “Mr 10 Percent” and spent 11 years in jail on charges ranging from corruption to murder, although his supporters point out that he was never convicted.

Zardari and his late wife, prime minister Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about $12 million in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in the 1990s.

A Swiss prosecutor has since said it would be “impossible” to reopen the case against Zardari since he benefits from immunity as a head of state.

Former Supreme Court judges said they were not convinced of the grounds for appeal, but said the matter would have to be decided quickly.

“They can simply prolong the case for two or three weeks but apparently they have no solid ground in their defence. They have not come up with a satisfactory plea so far,” said Rashid Rizvi, a former Supreme Court judge.

One former chief justice called on the government to resign.

“It will be good for the country if the government quits and holds elections. The current situation is crippling the economy and people are dying because of poverty and lawlessness,” Fakhruddin Ebrahim told AFP. AGENCIES

Yuvraj vows to return stronger

 

India s cancer-stricken World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh has vowed to return “stronger than ever” to competitive cricket, saying he was responding well to treatment in the United States.

 

The ace all-rounder, named man of the tournament after India s World Cup win in April last year, is currently undergoing chemotherapy for a rare condition, mediastinal seminoma, a malignant tumour located between his lungs.

 

“I have immense faith in the doctors here and by the grace of God I shall be back to my best soon,” Yuvraj said from his hospital in Boston in remarks published in the Times of India newspaper on Wednesday.

 

“I am on medication and doctors have time and again told me that I am responding well and that I would be back playing cricket. I am a fighter and I will return stronger than ever.”

 

A senior Delhi-based oncologist who has been treating the 30-year-old Yuvraj, Nitesh Rohatgi also said Monday the cricketer would be able to start active training by May.

 

“Initially, I was angry and confused. I was even repentant and kept thinking I could have done some things in life differently,” said Yuvraj, an aggressive left-handed batsman and effective spinner.

 

“However, I have a counsellor here who has helped me get over the initial shock of learning that I am suffering from cancer. I have come to terms with it now.”

 

Yuvraj said he drew inspiration from American cyclist Lance Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to win numerous Tour de France titles.

 

“I am currently reading Lance Armstrong s book  It s Not About The Bike . I m sure the book will motivate me and pull me through this difficult time,” he said.

 

Yuvraj had a dream run in the World Cup, scoring 362 runs and grabbing 15 wickets in nine matches. He has not played competitive cricket since taking part in two of three home Tests against the West Indies in November.

 

Thousands of well-wishers, including team-mates, officials and politicians, sent messages of support. “It is the love of family, friends and fans that has kept me going,” said Yuvraj, who has scored 8,051 runs in 274 one-dayers and 1,775 runs in 37 Tests since making his international debut in 2000.

 

“Till a couple of days ago, I was responding to posts and tweets on my accounts on social networking sites, but the sheer volume of comments praying for my well-being would require people to be hired to ensure everyone is responded to.”
Yuvraj also appealed for an end to media speculation about his illness.

 

“I have asked my mother and friends not to speak to the media, as things may get sensationalised,” he said.

 

India piles up arms with China in mind

 

In recent weeks, India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier modernizing its military to face a rising China.

 

India and China have a long history of tension, dating back to a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.

 

China has financed the development of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, virtually encircling India. Beijing s recent efforts to get access to facilities in the Seychelles have prodded New Delhi to renew its own outreach to the Indian Ocean island state off its west coast.

 

With its recent purchases, running into tens of billions of dollars, India is finally working to counter what it sees as aggressive incursions by neighboring China into a region India has long dominated.

 

“The Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean,” James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee last week.

 

India has created new infantry mountain divisions and plans to raise a strike corps aimed at countering aggression by China. Their border still has not been agreed upon despite 15 rounds of talks, and patrols from the two sides frequently face off on the ground.

 

Analysts say that although the probability of a conflict between the two Asian giants is remote, a short, sharp conflict in the disputed Himalayan heights can t be ruled out.

 

“Over the last couple of years, the Chinese have been acting more and more aggressively in the political, diplomatic and military arena,” said retired Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal, director of the Indian army-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi.

 

Indian leaders and defense strategists have watched with alarm as China modernized its forces and extended its military advantage over India. For some in India, countering China is taking precedence even over checking longtime rival Pakistan. “Of late, there has been a realization (in India) that China is the real danger of the future,” Kanwal said.
To compete, India has embarked on a long-overdue drive to modernize its forces and replace their obsolescent, Soviet-era weapons.

 

Its orders for fighter jets, naval frigates, helicopters and armaments have made India the world s largest importer of arms. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9 percent of all the world s weapon imports in 2010, the latest year for which figures were available.

 

Last week s order of 126 combat aircraft, won by France s Dassault, followed a bitter battle by global jet manufacturers hoping to entice India.

 

The initial cost for the 126 planes is estimated at about $11 billion, but on-board weaponry, technology transfers, maintenance, warranties and other costs are expected to almost double the price.

 

The Indian navy last week took command of a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine, renamed INS Chakra-II, at the Russian port of Vladivostok, propelling India into an elite group of countries operating underwater nuclear-powered vessels. Others in the club are the United States, France, Russia, Britain and China.

 

The Chakra-II, on lease from Russia for the next 10 years at a cost of nearly $1 billion, is expected to be inducted into the navy by March. Later this year, India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier.

 

In addition, six Scorpene subs being built in India under license from France in a $5 billion deal are expected to start going into service in 2015, three years behind schedule, said Defense Minister A.K. Antony. Labor problems and difficulties procuring needed technology have hampered the project, he told the Indian Parliament recently. Critics also blame India s sluggish bureaucracy for the delays.

 

“India s efforts at modernizing its forces have been very slow,” said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a defense analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
Some Indian military experts complain that the country is not doing enough to upgrade its forces to the level befitting the regional power it aspires to be.
“It s not only China that is rising. India is on the ascent too, and it s a trend that will continue for some decades,” said retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.

 

India may be watching China s overtures to its neighbors with alarm, but New Delhi has also embarked on its own effort to reach out to the Southeast Asian and East Asian countries in Beijing s backyard.

 

India has struck a strategic partnership with Vietnam, including helping Hanoi beef up its defense capabilities. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been actively pursuing a “Look East” policy, engaging the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, among others. The policy has resulted in a troupe of high-level visits to India, bolstering trade and economic cooperation.

 

Nowhere is the contest between China and India more evident than in Myanmar, where both of the energy-seeking Asian giants are caught in a race to gain access to the country s natural gas sources.

 

India has regularly conducted defense exercises with countries in the region. It is scheduled to host the navies of 14 Asian countries in maritime exercises later this week; the Chinese and Pakistani navies have not been invited.

 

And, while India is increasing its defense capabilities, China is doing the same, but faster, making it difficult for India to catch up. The Chinese government s military budget is the second largest in the world after the United States.

 

India has raised two mountain divisions of soldiers to add to its existing high-altitude troops. Around 36,000 soldiers and officers of the divisions have been posted in the remote northeast, not far from India s Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims as part of its territory.

 

A proposal for a mountain strike corps is awaiting clearance by India s Cabinet, and an independent armored brigade for the mountain region also is in the works. India hopes to show it can strike deep beyond its neighbor s borders to serve as a deterrent for any Chinese aggression, Kanwal said.

 

“India is building up its capability for offensive operations in the mountains with a view to taking the fight into Chinese territory,” Kanwal said.
 

Nickelodeon Acquires New Tween Comedy Series, Life With Boys

TrendPK.com:Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids, announced today a global broadcast acquisition with Classic Media and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana for the new half-hour series, Life With Boys. The 22-episode series created by Michael Poryes ( Hannah Montana and That’s So Raven), starring Torri Webster as “Tess” and Madison Pettis as “Allie,” is produced by Nelvana and Helion Pictures.

“We are excited to partner with Classic Media, Nelvana and Helion Pictures on this exciting new property,” said Jules Borkent, Senior Vice President, Programming and Acquisitions, Nickelodeon. “Life With Boys is a perfect addition to our programming line-up, and we feel the tween series will enhance our global audience’s TV viewing experience.”

“Nickelodeon is the perfect platform for this new series from Michael Poryes which we all believe will be a breakout hit,” said Chloe van den berg, Executive Vice President, International, Classic Media.

“Life With Boys has enjoyed success in Canada and the UK and we are delighted that audiences in the US and around the world will finally meet these wonderfully real and memorable characters,” said Jerry Diaz, Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Distribution, Nelvana Enterprises.

The partnership covers exclusive TV rights in the US and Pay TV rights for regional Nickelodeon channels, across Europe, including Germany, Benelux, the Nordics, as well as Latin America and Asia. Broadcast rights for the UK have been previously secured by Nickelodeon in an earlier announced deal with Helion Pictures.

Each half-hour episode follows 14-year-old Tess Foster as she navigates her way through the turmoil of teen life while living at home with her single, overprotective dad and three brothers. Although Tess adores the four important men in her life, they do have four totally different perspectives. Despite the shortcomings of being the only girl in a male household, the boys can sometimes offer solid advice. Whether it’s building up the courage to talk to a boy, dealing with an obnoxious one, or coping with the repercussions of being the only girl on the boys’ wrestling team, Life With Boys sheds a comedic light on many of life’s difficult moments.

About Classic Media
Classic Media, one of the world’s largest independent entertainment companies, is a leader in reinventing the classics of yesterday and creating the entertainment classics of tomorrow. The Company owns and manages a globally-recognized portfolio of well-known family and pop-culture entertainment brands, including Casper the Friendly Ghost®, Where’s Waldo?®, Lassie®, The Lone Ranger®, and new brand Life With Boys™. Big Idea Entertainment, a member of the Classic Media family, is the leading faith-based studio and producer of children’s programming, including the best-selling animated series, VeggieTales®. Classic Media programming is distributed in more than 170 territories worldwide and showcased in multiple formats, including TV, film, home video, consumer products, publishing, digital, and music. Visit us at www.classicmedia.tv

About Nelvana
Nelvana is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The Company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), W Network, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network (Canada), CosmoTV, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW AM 980, 99.3 The FOX, Country 105, 630 CHED, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CJR.B). Experience Corus on the Web at www.corusent.com.

About Helion Pictures
Helion Pictures was created by Managing Director Steven Bawol to create long-running fiction series’ for the international market and has been responsible comedies like “One for the Road” for Channel 4 in the U.K., interactive fiction like “Boy Meets Girl” for Swedish broadcaster SVT and Nickelodeon U.K.’s successful live-action comedy series, “Renford Rejects” and “Genie in the House”. Bawol co-created “Section de Recherche”, France’s most successful one-hour police series for TF1, France’s largest broadcaster. Currently, he is Executive producer of “The Borgias”, a drama series created by Tom Fontana for Canal +, and has shows in development with Starz, Channel 4, TF1, Broadview TV and Cybergoup Studios.

About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

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French trade deficit hits high, competitiveness at issue

PARIS: France’s trade deficit hit a record high of just shy of 70 billion euros in 2011 as sharply rising energy import costs and lower export growth combined to underline the country’s struggle to keep competitive globally.

Farm produce and luxury goods such as handbags and perfume were the exceptions, France’s customs office said on Tuesday, in a dismal year for exports that contrasted sharply with bumper returns in neighbouring Germany.

It said there was a deficit of 69.6 billion euros, at the lower end of government forecasts but still 35 percent higher than in 2010.

In Germany, the main engine of European growth and a global exporting superpower, data due on Wednesday is expected to show a trade surplus of around 156 billion in 2011.

The imbalance has become an issue in France’s presidential campaign, with President Nicolas Sarkozy blaming a relatively higher cost of labour.

France’s figures, however, also reflected a long-time reliance on domestic rather than foreign demand as the main generator of economic growth.

They showed an 11.7 percent increase in imports, measured in terms of value in euros, and an 8.6 percent rise in the value of exports in 2011, compared with export growth of 14 percent in 2010.

Along with luxury goods, healthy agri-food exports, notably of grains and drinks, helped offset weaker export growth in the car and aerospace sectors and a contraction in pharmaceuticals.

Higher world oil prices raised the import bill, which while up 11.7 percent in 2011 from the previous year rose a slightly less striking 7.6 percent when the impact of dearer energy import costs was stripped out of the calculation.

Exports to European Union countries grew at a slower pace of 7.5 percent in 2011, down from 11.5 percent in 2010, while the growth beyond the bloc shrank to 8.8 percent from 18.6 percent.

A significant slowdown in exports to Asia was offset in part by sales of wine and aerospace equipment to China, while within the EU, German demand for exports from France remained relatively healthy, the customs office said.

“Today’s figures are clearly not good but I am happy at the same time to see that our foreign trade position is becoming an issue as the presidential election approaches,” trade minister Pierre Lellouche told reporters.

“Foreign trade and the national debt are benchmarks of a country’s independence … It’s time to shake off this idea that industry is a dirty thing and that the domestic market is the only route to economic growth,” he added.

Three months from an election, Sarkozy and his centre-right government have used the competitiveness argument to justify proposing a reduction in corporate contributions to public welfare funding, offset by a 1.6 percentage point rise in VAT sales tax next October, to 21.2 percent.

Sarkozy badly trails Socialist candidate Francois Hollande in the polls ahead of a two-round presidential vote taking place on April 22 and May 6 and followed by parliamentary elections in June. Hollande and even some in Sarkozy’s own camp oppose the idea of a VAT rise. AGENCIES

Madonna world tour to start on May 29

LONDON; Madonna will go on tour from May for the first time in three years, starting in Israel before moving on to Europe, with legs in South America and Australia, where she has not performed for 20 years, tour promotion company Live Nation said on Tuesday.

The 2012 World Tour will be the first for the Grammy Award-winning 53-year-old Material Girl since her “Sticky & Sweet Tour” in 2008 and 2009 and will stop in more than 20 European and Middle Eastern cities including London, Edinburgh, Paris, Milan, Abu Dhabi and Berlin.

The tour starts on May 29 in Tel Aviv and then visits Abu Dhabi and Istanbul in early June before moving on to Europe. The European leg concludes on August 21st in Nice, France and the North American leg will end in Miami, with the date yet to be confirmed, the company said in a statement.

Dates for the South American and Australian legs and locations were not yet set and additional cities and venues are to be announced, they added.

The announcement came just days after Madonna’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Feb 5, with a record 114 million people tuning in to watch the glitzy, Cleopatra-themed show, which was lauded by critics but resulted in an apology from television network NBC and the NFL for a rude gesture made by British hip hop star M.I.A. during the show. AGENCIES?

Hundreds lose life in freezing Europe

 

Bitterly cold weather sweeping across Europe claimed more victims on Sunday, brought widespread disruption to transport services, and left thousands without power with warnings that low temperatures would continue into next week.

 

Hundreds have lost their lives in eastern Europe as freezing weather sweeps across the continent westwards, while major airports warned that services would be delayed or cancelled.

 

Steven Keates, a weather forecaster at Britain s Met Office, said the severe wintry conditions were expected to last, and spread to other areas.

 

“It will still be very cold, maybe not quite the exceptional temperatures we ve seen this last week, but still very cold,” he told Reuters.

 

“(It will be) perhaps turning increasingly unsettled across southern and eastern Europe, so that will probably bring a risk of snow for Italy across to Greece and up round the Balkan countries.”

 

A state of emergency was declared in Bosnia after the cold snap claimed its seventh victim, and avalanches and strong winds cut off hundreds of villages in eastern parts.

 

Helicopters were needed to deliver aid packages to mountainous areas and take the sick to hospital.

 

Greece also declared an emergency situation in the western Peloponnese peninsula after heavy rain caused flooding and an 82-year old woman drowned while trying to escape her house.

 

Nine more deaths from freezing temperatures were registered in Ukraine overnight, emergency services said, taking the death toll to 131 from a nine-day cold spell, the most severe in the country for six years with night temperatures down as low as minus 33 Celsius (minus 27 Fahrenheit) in parts.

 

Many of the dead were homeless people with bodies being found in the streets under snow, in rivers and in doorways. More than 3,000 heated tents have been set up around the country to provide makeshift accommodation for the homeless.

 

In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked local authorities to waive the ban on admitting inebriated individuals to homeless shelters as eight more people died taking the death toll to 53, PAP news agency reported.

 

The extreme cold also caused the death of at least three people in Hungary, national news agency MTI said, and at least five people froze to death in Lithuania over the weekend in Lithuania as the temperature fell below -30 Celsius overnight.

 

Transport networks were also badly hit as the chilling weather moved west, prompting severe weather warnings to be issued across much of France and Britain.

 

London s Heathrow, Europe s busiest airport, said it had cancelled about half of its normal services as more than 15cm (6 inches) of snow fell in parts of England overnight and temperatures dropped to almost -10 Celsius.

 

Many of Britain s other airports were forced to shut runways overnight and warned of further disruption, while rail services were affected and motorways near London were brought to a standstill, forcing some divers to abandon their vehicles.

 

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower received a coating of snow and more downfalls were expected to bring problems to the French capital s main airports.

 

The French death toll rose to five, after a 12-year old boy died of hypothermia after falling into a frozen pond in eastern France and two homeless people were found dead.

 

Meanwhile about 86,000 Italians were left without power because of trees falling on power lines, Livio Gallo, head of state power company Enel told SkyTG24 television. The deaths of 13 people were blamed on the bad weather,
Italian police said, including three men who died of heart attacks while shoveling snow.

 

Two highways in central Italy that cross the Apenines remained closed, the Interior Ministry said, while in Rome, schools and public offices are to remain closed until at least Tuesday, Mayor Gianni Alemanno said.

 

He urged people to get out and clean sidewalks, and said the city had handed out 2,350 free shovels.  While the cold snap has brought death and misery across Europe, some made the most of the conditions.

 

Snowboarders took to the streets of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo after it was blanketed by a record snowfall of 107 cm.

 

The traditional Sartai horse race on ice also went ahead in Lithuania and local media reported more than a dozen men and women from a health club went swimming in a lake near Vilnius.

 

Meanwhile in Belgium, police found that overnight temperatures of about -10 Celsius were so low that machines to test motorists  alcohol levels did not work.

 

Czechs, Russia lead 2-0 in Fed Cup

 

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova took more than two hours to put defending champion the Czech Republic in control of its Fed Cup tie with Germany, while Italy s Francesca Schiavone surprisingly lost to give Ukraine a boost on Saturday.

 

The Czechs led 2-0 in Stuttgart, Russia led Spain by the same score in Moscow, Italy and Ukraine were 1-1 in Biella, and Belgium and Serbia were 1-1 in Charleroi.

 

Germany was without its best player, an injured Andrea Petkovic, but pushed the Czechs hard in both singles.

 

Iveta Benesova overcame Sabine Lisicki 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, then Kvitova was, twice, two points from losing to Julia Goerges in the second set, but pulled through 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 in 2 hours, 21 minutes.

 

Goerges, who beat Kvitova in their only previous match, hit some superb service returns and twice broke back in the final set to put the pressure back on the Czech star.

 

She can clinch the Czechs a spot in the semifinals in April by winning the first reverse singles on Sunday against Lisicki.

 

In Biella, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone lost a home Fed Cup match on clay for the first time in seven years when she was picked apart by unheralded Lesia Tsurenko from Kiev 6-1, 6-2.

 

Tsurenko, ranked 110 spots below Schiavone at 121st, dominated with a strong serve and accurate volleys in just her third tie.

 

She evened the tie after Australian Open quarterfinalist Sara Errani beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-3.

 

In Moscow, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova won their opening singles as expected and without trouble.

 

Sharapova accounted for Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-2, 6-1 and Kuznetsova put away Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-1.

 

Sharapova was nervous because she lost her opening singles of her last tie in Moscow, last year against France. But Soler-Espinosa wasn t up to taking advantage of it. Sharapova can send Russia into a sixth successive semifinals in Sunday s first match against Suarez Navarro.

 

Belgium or Serbia will face the Russia-Spain winner in the semis, and the tie in Charleroi was evenly poised after the first day.

 

Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic first put Serbia in front by saving two set points in a 7-5, 7-5 win over Kirsten Flipkens, then Yanina Wickmayer hit back with 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Bojana Jovanovski, winning the last four games.

 

The minus-7 C temperature outside the Spiroudome almost overwhelmed the indoor heating, leaving the players and fans shivering. Jankovic joked she might turn out on Sunday in a coat and hat.
 

Berdych, Simon, Monfils reach Open Sud semis

 

Tomas Berdych finished off Nicolas Mahut of France with his 14th ace in a 6-3, 6-4 victory Friday to reach the semifinals of the Open Sud de France.

 

The top-seeded Czech outplayed Mahut in the first set, hitting 18 winners and making only two unforced errors.
Mahut fought back in the second but double-faulted to give the 2010 Wimbledon finalist a 4-3 lead.

 

Berdych will next face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who edged fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

 

Kohlschreiber hit 18 aces, taking a 3-0 lead in the final set to play his second semifinal this season after reaching the last four of the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.

 

Meanwhile, second-seeded Gilles Simon outlasted French wild card Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-2, and will meet compatriot and defending champion Gael Monfils, who cruised past Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 6-3.

 

Simon won the all-French match when a backhand from Rufin sailed long.

 

Rufin was let down by his serve in the final set, double-faulting five times and landing only 38 percent of his first attempts.

 

Simon took the first-set tiebreaker on a forehand error from Rufin.

 

Rufin hit two consecutive forehand winners to lead 6-2 in the second tiebreaker and leveled at one set apiece when Simon netted a backhand.

 

The third-seeded Monfils broke serve twice to win the first set when Nieminen sent a backhand volley into the net.

 

Nieminen, who won the Sydney International last month, hit a forehand wide to trail 3-1 in the second set.

 

Monfils did not face any break points and clinched victory when Nieminen netted a backhand return.
 

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