From the steely town of Temirtav to the cultural capital of Almaty, the Silk Route winding through Kazakhstan has a lot to offer, finds Sudha Mahalingam
Manchester United ended their one-year Champions League hiatus in emphatic style when Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 destruction of Club Bruges that sent the three-times winners through 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
India's attempts to make some headway in the Great Game in Central Asia may be the reason behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Kazakhstan, says Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman, who is travelling with the PM to the Kazakh capital of Sanya
Ronaldo equals Raul Real Madrid record while Morata emulates Del Piero after scoring in five consecutive matches
A plane belonging to Bek Air Company with 100 people aboard crashed near the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan on Friday, airport authorities said. The plane was travelling from Almaty to the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan but disappeared from radars. Rescue operations are currently underway.
Hardeep sprung a surprise by booking an Olympic quota place for India in Greco-Roman wrestling, which is not the country's forte, after making the 98kg category final on the last day of the Asian Olympic Qualification championship, in Astana, on Sunday.
Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was full of praise for his new Astana team mate Alberto Contador on Thursday.
Manchester United, winners of the competition in 2017, will have a lot of travelling to do to Eastern Europe after being drawn alongside Kazakhstan side Astana, Serbia's Partizan Belgrade and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
China, while blocking India's entry into the NSG previously, has called for a two-step plan that stipulates the need for the NSG members to arrive at a set of principles for the entry non-NPT states and then move forward discussions of specific cases.
Alexander Vinokourov and his Astana team became the latest high-profile casualties in the war against doping on Tuesday, with cycling descending into chaos once again.
UEFA president Michel Platini hit out at FIFA chief Sepp Blatter on Friday, saying the Swiss has stopped serving the cause of football.
Iconic Indian woman boxer M C Mary Kom added another honour to her list of accolades as she was named one of the eight ambassadors for the upcoming World Championships by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) had filed an appeal contesting the ITF Davis Cup Committee's November 4 decision to shift the November 29-30 tie to a neutral venue.
German Marcel Kittel was once again a cut above as he claimed his fifth victory in this year's Tour de France, winning the 11th stage in emphatic style on Wednesday.
Paul Pogba faces a race against time to prove his fitness for Monday's Premier League clash against Arsenal
MC Mary Kom began her campaign in style by outpunching Sweden's Juliana Soderstrom in her opening bout of the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships in Astana.
Former European Cup winners Celtic and Ajax Amsterdam safely negotiated tricky Champions League third-round qualifying ties on Wednesday to move one step away from the lucrative group stage.
Vincenzo Nibali strengthened his stranglehold on the Tour de France when he gained further ground over his rivals in the second Alpine stage won by Poland's Rafal Majka on Saturday.
Where stalwarts like MC Mary Kom failed, Sonia Lather brought home a medal.
Chris Froome remains in contention for a fourth Tour de France title after Team Sky put the pressure on their rivals with a perfectly executed plan in Friday's 13th stage, won on Bastille Day by France's Warren Barguil.
Norway's Kristoff outsprinted Danish world champion Mads Pedersen after 156 km around Nice.
A blond-haired Lionel Messi failed to get on the scoresheet but it hardly mattered as under-strength Barcelona taught Celtic a footballing lesson in a Dublin friendly.
Indian pugilist Sonia Lather was assured of a medal in the 57kgs at the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championship, only the colour had to be decided on Friday in a thrilling final in Astana, Kazakhstan.
It is the first meeting between the two leaders after India boycotted the high-profile Belt and Road Forum.
Star wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt secured an Olympic quota place for India after making the final round of the men's 65kg freestyle event on the second day of the Asian Olympic Qualification in Astana on Friday.
Uppal said India didn't play to its potential but showed great fightback to clinch the tie.
Prajnesh is now ranked 102 in the men's singles rankings with a jump of seven places while Ankita leapfrogged 35 places to a career-high 168 in the women's singles.
Lukas Rosol beat Evgeny Korolev 7-6, 67, 7-6, 6-2 to give the Czech Republic an unassailable 3-1 lead over Kazakhstan and propel the defending champions into the Davis Cup semi-finals on Sunday.
Whether it was Gerd Mueller, Rudi Voeller or Miroslav Klose, Germany have never had a shortage of gifted strikers but when they take on Kazakhstan in their World Cup qualifier on Friday there could be none in their lineup.
Alberto Contador will cement his status as the best grand tour rider of the modern era if he emerges as the winner of the Big Four's battle royale at the Tour de France -- the most highly anticipated race in decades.
Competing against some top players in the world, a depleted Indian team was routed 0-3 by hosts Kazakhstan in their Fed Cup opener, in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday.
The Asian Olympic boxing qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan, did wonders to Vikas Krishan. He did not participate in it, but with three other Indian pugilists -- Shiva Thapa, Sumit Sangwan and Vijender Singh -- booking berths to the London Olympics from the tournament, he got off the media radar.
Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75 kg) and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91 kg) are among the Indian elite men boxers selected for the Asian Continental Olympics Boxing Qualification tournament to be held at Astana, Kazakhstan from April 5-12.
New Delhi has been in 'close contact' with the Bhutan government on the unfolding developments.
Teen boxers Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan struck gold on Thursday, rounding off a brilliant performance by India at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan. The country bagged three berths to the London Games from the tournament to make it an unprecedented seven-strong contingent for the quadrennial extravaganza.
Vijender Singh (75kg) became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games for a third successive time after reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh stood just one win away from securing a berth in the London Games after clinching his pre-quarterfinal bout, along with Manpreet Singh, on a second successive triumphant day for India at the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan on Friday.
Cementing their strategic partnership, India and Kazakhstan on Saturday signed an inter-governmental framework agreement on civil nuclear cooperation and some other key pacts, including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
Amit Kumar (55kg) and Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg) are the first Indian wrestlers to book berths at the London Olympics after clinching gold and silver medals respectively in the Asian qualifying tournament, in Astana, Kazakhstan. However, the fancied Sushil Kumar (66kg) failed to make the cut.
