Sania Mirza began her Aegon International qualifying campaign with a straight-set win over Mariana Duque Marino of Colombia in Eastbourne on Saturday.
Switzerland will be among the eight seeded teams at the World Cup draw in December after they leapt to seventh in the latest FIFA rankings announced on Thursday, while Italy were edged out.
Former World Player of the Year Ronaldinho will learn on Tuesday whether or not his impressive season with AC Milan will be enough to earn him a place at his third World Cup.
The 15-year-old from Aizwal, who is also a world youth silver-medallist, lifted a total of 274 kg (124 kg +150 kg) to finish on top.
Brazil secured their place at the 2010 World Cup with an impressive 3-1 win over arch-rivals Argentina while South America's other candidates jockeyed for the region's other three automatic berths. The defeat left Diego Maradona's side contemplating the dreaded prospect of missing out on the finals but Argentina did cling on to the fourth and final qualifying place after Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0 in another of Saturday's five-match programme.
Gareth Southgate singled out defender John Stones for special praise and defended captain Harry Kane's performance
The Indian football team continued to paint a grim picture as they are languishing down at 156th spot in the latest FIFA rankings.
National artificial intelligence unit stuck for lack of anchor department
Rajat Chauhan ensured India a medal by making the final in the compound section, while Laxmirani Majhi advanced to the bronze medal play-off in the women's recurve in the World Archery Championships, in Copenhagen, on Thursday.
Dylan, 75, was honoured "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," the Swedish Academy said.
Argentine coach Diego Maradona was granted the choice by soccer authorities on Monday to move September's World Cup qualifier against arch-rivals Brazil away from the River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires.
With 12 new deaths owing to swine flu being reported, a World Health Organisation official has said that the deadly pandemic has become 'unstoppable', and all nations need an immediate access to vaccines.A group of vaccination experts concluded after a recent meeting that "the H1N1 pandemic is unstoppable and therefore all countries would need to have access to vaccines."
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has been charged with trespassing and resisting arrest following complaints over a noisy penthouse party at a Miami Beach hotel, police said on Thursday.
Poland coach Adam Nawalka said his team had needed to beat Japan in their final World Cup match on Thursday to prove they were not quitters and bring some joy to their country's football fans after a miserable campaign in Russia.
Argentina have moved to the top of the FIFA rankings for the first time in seven years despite being beaten by Chile in the Copa America final.
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez declared himself delighted with a 3-0 win over World Cup debutants Panama but there were plenty of issues that will encourage England after their own winning start in Group G.
Chanu, who is employed with the Indian Railways, lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the women's 48kg, setting a new national record in the process.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Ten images that show we live an incredibly bizarre world.
Reliance Industries may sell part of its stakes in some of the overseas oil and gas blocks to lower its exploration risk.
Danti is highly focused on diplomatic entities. It may already have full access to internal networks in Indian government organisations.
Despite it all, the participants, from across the American continent, show up as they vie for the medals and glory. Along the way, they give us some moments that are captured for posterity. Here are some eye-catching scenes from the Pan Am Games...
Ronaldinho, who had a disappointing Club World Cup this month, has been elected South American footballer of the year in the annual poll conducted by the Uruguayan daily El Pais.
Which one is *your* favourite?
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
FIFA is probing an alleged confrontation between a Brazilian press official and Chile player Mauricio Pinilla in the tunnel at halftime in their World Cup match in Belo Horizonte on Saturday, the governing body said.
Chileans thrilled with their place in the 2010 World Cup finals will flock to the National stadium on Wednesday looking to celebrate with their team and give a show of thanks to coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona will have to go back to the drawing board after his team's rudderless performance in their 1-0 win over Colombia.
Roger Federer was given a fright before reaching the semi-final of the inaugural Istanbul Open.
Somdev Devvarman kept himself in contention for a berth in the singles main draw of the US Open by advancing to the second round even as it was curtains for compatriot Prakash Amritraj. Somdev, India's top singles player, scored a facile 6-3, 6-3 win over 16th seed and local lad Alex Bogomolov Jr in the first round of the qualifying event on Tuesday night.
The UN working group on the use of mercenaries warned that private security company employees are often provided immunity and are only answerable to their employers. The report said that these 'militarily armed private soldiers' are deployed in war-torn regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Colombia, and are often responsible for serious human rights violations.
Host Steve Harvey wrongly crowned Miss Columbia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner.
Bolivia ended Argentina's 100 percent record under Diego Maradona in style by thrashing them 6-1 at high altitude in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
Champions Manchester City have won their last 10 home league matches scoring a total of 36 goals.
Chris Froome showed again he will attack his rivals on every terrain as the Briton extended his overall lead in the Tour de France with a surprising move in Wednesday's 11th stage, which was won with panache by world champion Peter Sagan.
Striker Adriano, who has been left out of Inter Milan's last two games for indiscipline, was named in Brazil's squad on Monday for this month's friendly against Portugal. World Player of the Year Kaka was also included by coach Dunga but Ronaldinho, who missed last month's World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Colombia, was again overlooked.
The overall standings remained unchanged at the top with Thomas leading defending champion Froome by one minute 39 seconds and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 1:50.
Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher will start in 14th place after replacing his engine.
Belgium and England have already met during the World Cup in a match both teams seemed reluctant to win and on Saturday they will face each other again in a game they both seem reluctant to play. The two sides must pick themselves up and dust themselves down after suffering the crushing disappointment of semi-final defeats to play for the modest prize of third place in a fixture often criticised as pointless.
It will have made uneasy viewing for coach Jorge Sampaoli and emphasised more than ever how reliant his side are on their talisman Messi, who has been struggling with a muscle problem.
