Cristiano Ronaldo rescued Portugal with a speedy hat-trick to avoid a slip-up in Northern Ireland, while Netherlands dropped their first points as Spain and Germany took easier steps towards World Cup qualification.
Davis Cup hero Andy Murray won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for 2015 at a star-studded reception in Belfast on Sunday.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and paceman Shafiul Islam returned to the Bangladesh side on Monday in a 15-man squad for a tour of Ireland and the Netherlands.
Defender Rio Ferdinand will be omitted from England's Euro 2012 squad which is due to be announced by new national team manager Roy Hodgson said, according to British media.
'If you perform well, if you do your best, it stays with the viewer. That's how you grow.'
He received the DSc (Econ) for distinction in economics.
A former cop and Chelsea fan has reportedly apologised for his role in the racist incident on the Paris Metro but has denied being a racist.
Former world snooker champion Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins has died at the age of 61, the BBC reported on Saturday.
Opener Joe Burns, wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, spinner Aston Agar, all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and the pace duo of James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile were selected to the senior team for the ODI series against England and Ireland later this month by virtue of their fine performances in the ongoing Australia 'A' team's tour of India.
Pakistan completed a 2-0 triumph in the one-day international series against Ireland in Belfast, winning the second match by five wickets. Pakistan, chasing 239, won with eight balls to spare thanks mainly to half-centuries from Younis Khan (64) and Umar Akmal (60 not out).
'Of the people here in Europe who have watched The Story of Film: A New Generation, the most talked-about clip is the one from Ram Leela.'
The company already employs 1,000 at its base in Londonderry and 400 in Belfast. In May 2008, it had created 800 jobs, which was widely hailed in the region.
Why did Amanda Murphy, a 28-year-old woman, leave her hometown of Belfast in Ireland to set up a school in faraway Thirumangalam in southern Tamil Nadu?The answer lies in the simple question a small boy asked her at an orphanage in Madurai, which Murphy was visiting with her friend Anita Roddick in 1990, when the duo was undertaking some volunteer work while traveling through India.
FIFA said on Monday it would investigate a coin-throwing incident which halted Northern Ireland's World Cup Group Three qualifier against Poland for five minutes at Windsor Park on Saturday.
England were given a fright by Ireland in their first match since regaining the Ashes, winning by two runs in a rain-affected one-day international match in Belfast on Thursday. Only four players that played in the victorious fifth Test against Australia at the Oval on Sunday made the England line-up which struggled to 203 for nine off 50 overs in cool conditions.
According to a research from Queen's University in Belfast, a good morning session at least three times a week, decreases the risk of heart attack or stroke by half and a regular session improves circulation, thereby reducing blood pressure.
"Viagra has become a widely used recreational drug. It is mixed with cocaine, for example, and is sold in clubs. Our work leaves open the possibility that there could be a cumulative effect from taking Viagra, however, which could pose serious fertility problems in later life," The Observer newspaper quoted lead researcher Dr David Glenn as saying.
Australia and India are set to play three, and possibly five, matches in Belfast, Northern Ireland this June.
SAL will perceive a person's facial expression, voice and then engage with him in a discussion. When engaging with a human, it will adapt its own performance and pursue different actions depending on the non-verbal behaviour of the user.
Rookie leg-spinner Piyush Chawla took 3 for 29 as India crushed Ireland by 9 wickets.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Zaheer Khan were rested because of injuries, while Rohit Sharma was handed his international debut.
Craving for the limelight? Why don't you try the best pastime known to mankind -- gossiping. According to a new research, the gluing chitchat keeps people's behaviour in check because folks want to look good to others and don't want to be thought badly of. Experiments conducted by a team from Queen's University, Belfast, showed that people were more generous if they were told that their actions would be gossiped about.
A cluster of high networth investors from Ireland is looking at private equity investments of at least 200 million pounds sterling (about $ 395 million) in high-growth companies across real-estate, IT and education sectors.
Johnson will be only the second British leader since Indian independence to attend the annual Republic Day parade in New Delhi as Guest of Honour, after former prime minister John Major in 1993.
- George Best, one of the most talented footballers to grace the 'beautiful game'.
The pilgrimage of a true GoT fan.
Although he failed with the bat, Sachin Tendulkar made up by taking two wickets in the third and final one-day international against South Africa in Belfast on Sunday.
Rahul Dravid's side was ruled to be one over short of its target at the scheduled finish of the Ireland innings, an International Cricket Council statement said.
Man of the match Jacques Kallis claimed two wickets, two catches and scored an unbeaten 91 as South Africa beat India by four wickets in the first ODI.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajit Agarkar and S Sreesanth, who are down with viral flu, were left out for the first ODI.
The Indians are hoping to erase the bitter memories of the 4-0 loss in South Africa by winning the three-match series, beginning in Belfast on Tuesday.
The match was reduced to 31 overs a side following a near five-hour delay in start due to rain.
Zee Television has accused the Indian Cricket Board of adopting double standards.
They will face India on June 23 and South Africa the following day ahead of a three-match ODI series between the two test-playing nations in Belfast.
'There is a part of me that says it is a great time to tell stories from my own land.' 'But then opportunities are coming my way from all over the world.' 'So one foot is here and one foot is in the West.'
Alex Ferguson has been ruled out of attending Manchester United's two pre-season friendlies -- by his wife Cathy.
Standing in the first slip and observing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's match-reading skills convinced Sachin Tendulkar that he was ready for India captaincy, something he told the BCCI when he was asked for his suggestion back in 2007.
'It is only because of Yuvraj that we are holding this trophy,' Tendulkar said.
India beat South Africa by six wickets in a rain-truncated 31-overs-a-side third and final ODI and clinched the series 2-1.
