Seoul - EU and South Korean negotiators began two days of talks Monday to tackle issues that are holding up a free trade agreement, including industrial tariffs and trade barriers in the automotive industry.

"We are close to a gate that leads to a new era," South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong Hoon, who is leading the talks along with EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, was quoted as saying by the South Korean news agency Yonhap ahead of the meetings in Seoul.

Melbourne - Reigning junior champion Bernard Tomic proved himself a rising force at the senior level as a first-round victory on Monday made him the youngest male winner of a match at the Australian Open.

The 16-year-old whose controversial father has been in trouble with Tennis Australia for outbursts during matches, showed mature form in his first Grand Slam with a 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) first-round win over 73rd-ranked Italian Potito Starace.

New Delhi, Jan 19: Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/ 11 terror strikes, has been remanded in police custody till February 2 in the CST firing case.

Kasab, was last remanded in police custody on January 4 for his involvement in the shootout at the Cama and the Albless Hospital in South Mumbai.

Earlier, additional Metropolitan Magistrate N Shrimangale and Additional Public Prosecutor E B Dhamal were shifted to an undisclosed location for the hearing. Kasab was not brought to for security reasons.

Cairo - Egypt has invited Israeli government officials and representatives of Palestinian groups from Gaza to Cairo for talks aimed at turning the ceasefire in Gaza into a more lasting truce.

Egypt will hold parallel talks with the Israelis and the Palestinians in Cairo on January 22, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a press release Monday.

There was no indication the Israelis and Palestinians would meet face-to-face.

Zaki said Egypt would press both sides to accept the terms of the initiative to end fighting in the Gaza Strip that President Hosny Mubarak presented on January 6.

The Egyptian president arrived in Kuwait on Monday for a long- scheduled Arab economic summit.

London - West Ham United confirmed on Monday that they have agreed a fee to sell striker Craig Bellamy to Manchester City.

The turbulent Wales international had stormed out of training last week - subsequently being omitted from the squad for Sunday's 3-1 win over Fulham - after West Ham turned down bids from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.

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