More than 60 years ago, a bicycle thief in Louisville, Kentucky, unknowingly set in motion one of the most amazing sports careers in history.
The Chinese Communist Party's all important 19th Party Congress is just months away, and President Xi Jinping finds himself confronting unlikely challenges to his pre-eminent position, says former RA&W officer and China watcher Jayadeva Ranade.
'Why not ask for a change of leadership in Qatar, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia? Is there a constitution in Saudi Arabia? Are there elections in Saudi Arabia? Why no talk of democracy in these countries?' 'America said change the leader now, but is now ignoring the feelings of the Syrian moderate majority. Is that democracy,' asks H E Dr Riad Abbas, Syrian ambassador to India, in an interview to Cleo Paskal.
This week's collection of stories that prove we live in a truly mad, mad world
10 takeaways from the prime minister's UN speech.
A round-up of our favourite photographs of the week gone by.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced the launch and asked North Korea to halt its 'provocative actions' and return to compliance with its international obligations.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'I would like to believe that out of this struggle (to effect climate change) will be born a generation that will be able to look upon the world with clearer eyes than those that preceded it; that they will be able to transcend the isolation in which humanity was entrapped in the time of its derangement; that they will rediscover their kinship with other beings, and that this vision, at once new and ancient, will find expression in a transformed and renewed art and literature.'
'We cannot be the country that created the Kamasutra and then we show flowers kiss and a child is born.'
India's unusual tough stand on the arrest of its diplomat Devyani Khobragade has forced the United States to initiate an "inter-agency review" to look into the lapses that happened in the high-profile case that triggered an uproar in India and strained bilateral ties.
'We are dealing with a size of the world that equaled England and France combined. We are talking about 250 years of history.' Sultans of Deccan India, 1500-1700: Opulence and Fantasy -- a first of its kind exhibition anywhere in the world -- opened at the Met, April 20. Aseem Chhabra spoke to Navina Haykel, the curator of the show.
Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the world.
'It was only relatively recently that Subhash Kapoor was able to secure the sources in India, Afghanistan and Cambodia, that allowed him to get the really highest level objects, and that helped propel him in recent years up the ranks.'
Nikhil Lakshman remembers the times he spent with the legendary writer who passed into the ages six days before his 86th birthday.
Mata Amritanandamayi's hospital has developed protein nanomedicines for drug-resistant leukemia and nano-structured wafers to prevent recurrence of brain tumours
'So you have a middle class, and an elite that have seceded into outer space and they look down and say, "What's our bauxite doing in their mountains?" and "What's our water doing in their rivers?" There's a sense of entitlement there.' Arundhati Roy captures minds with her thoughts on capitalism, Indian politics, war, and more in New York.
'I may have been six, but children at that age are aware that there is something called death. I was petrified for Pa, but tried not to show it. I would pray every night, begging for his recovery, at the same time sneaking in a request for a new toy or a pencil set.'
'A plausible American tactic,' Rajeev Srinivasan suspects, 'would be to try and prevent the BJP and Modi from coming to power by splitting the anti-Congress vote using the AAP, and in case that fails, to follow up with a Plan B to make India ungovernable, to create mass conflict through their agents.'
A modern day prince and princess are getting married in Bengaluru this weekend.
When Swedish champions Malmo take on mighty Real Madrid on Wednesday they do so knowing they would probably have to sell their entire squad just to be able to afford a single player from the bench of the Spanish giants.
By undertaking medical mercy missions, the Indian Air Force will win immense political and national goodwill.
'It is vital that objects such as the Harihara -- and collections from South Asia generally -- remain here,' the British Museum tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Here's your weekly digest of photographs that prove that it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world out there!
Who will make the most of the disruptions of 2016 this year? Mihir Sharma's list of probables.
Here are Aseem Chhabra's picks -- 'films that mattered to me, entertained me and will stay with me through the year.'
Sahara chief Subrata Roy may not come out clean in the biggest ever investment fraud that he allegedly did few years ago.
Traders have all but given up attempting to predict where the new-year rout will end
'It is very much a danger.' 'With Tibet following the India tradition of ahimsa and the global visibility of the Dalai Lama who embodies these values, he should be supported by India as a diplomat.' 'It would be in India's self-interest and instead of being embarrassed about his presence, India should recognise this (role).' 'By appeasing China, India does not get anything in return; they (the Chinese have not stopped) claiming Arunachal, part of Kashmir, etc.'
Here are some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by...
The US intends to break up India's strategic partnership with Russia and to continue to interfere in Indian-Iranian relations, apart from inserting itself into the Sino-Indian bilateral discourse, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, analysing the US defence secretary's visit to India.
'For the last 10 years the Congress made the RSS an idea of intolerance, anti-minority, especially anti-Muslim, and an idea of fascism.' 'That has been demolished now by Pranab Mukherjee.'
'What if Modi becomes the fascist the leftists paints him as? What if he does suspend the Constitution and declares himself the ruler, with support from the army? What exactly will you do, Mr Leftie?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
Here's the round-up of this week's hottest stories from the glamour business! :-)
The charm of Kolkata is still alive says Sumit Ganguli.
On Wednesday, the Chinese authorities extended a ban on sales of shares by large shareholders.
The people who know Tibet will continue to fight the good fight. Long, hard, less than hopeful, but always peaceful.
In the light of the global scenario on infiltration for economic gain what Modi said in his speeches in Assam and West Bengal recently was perfectly legitimate. Intellectual dishonesty marks this discourse in our country, argues Ram Madhav.
'One cannot escape the conclusion that Pakistan has won the Paris-Bangkok-Islamabad round. To be able to resume the composite dialogue without making any progress on the Mumbai attack trials is a dream come true for Pakistan.'
