England and Tunisia players swatted away swarms of gnats that flew into their eyes and mouths during their opening World Cup game in Russia's riverside city of Volgograd on Monday.
As we head into the final year of US President Barack Obama's term, here's a look back at the great images taken by the official White House photographers in 2015.
The death of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, triggered a worldwide outpouring of affection and admiration for one of the best-known figures of the 20th century.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
From the FIFA World Cup finals to the spot-fixing scandals that rocked Indian cricket, we pick the key sporting events on the 2014 calendar.
Here's your weekly dose of stories that are weird, true and funny!
A superb 83rd minute free-kick from captain Neymar gave Brazil a winning start under new coach Dunga as they beat Colombia 1-0 in a fiercely contested friendly on Friday.
A day before Ambassador Meera Shankar was to return home after completing her tenure in the US in the summer of 2011, her maid, without informing anyone, left her official residence on the outskirts of the city never to return.
'Movie theatres, despite their diminished stature, will continue to play a role in our culture. Just like cinema. After all, we have at least another big centennial to commemorate in our lifetime,' says Murali Kamma.
India was the flavour of the year, at least in the FMCG sector, as multinationals hiked stakes in their subsidiaries lured by long term potential of the country, while homegrown executives made their way to top hierarchy of global firms in 2013.
By piling more pressure on governments, central banks risk not accomplishing much and yet provoking a political backlash that could threaten their independence.
'Having a voice at the table means the other side has to show up to listen. It became clear that wouldn't happen,' says actor Maulik Pancholy, one of the 10 members who resigned from the US president's advisory commission on Asian Americans.
Thursday's savage murder of writer Avijit Roy in Dhaka raises troubling questions about religion-inspired terror in Bangladesh.
More than 60 years ago, a bicycle thief in Louisville, Kentucky, unknowingly set in motion one of the most amazing sports careers in history.
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
The world had lost an opportunity to know long-term toxic effects of Methyl Isocyanate which had leaked from the Union Carbide factory on the night of December 2, 1984, because government research agencies have lost track of a bulk of survivors, says Dinesh C Sharma.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram overcame Rajiv Ouseph of England to enter the men's singles final of the $50,000 Yonex Dutch Open Grand Prix, in Almere, The Netherlands.
'Every Ali obituary I read made the point that he 'transcended his sport' -- a reference to the many battles he fought with America even as he fought in America.' 'What the obituaries leave out is that Ali equally transcended the boundaries of geography and of information -- as witness the Chennai teen who assimilated that most mobile of fighters through still images shorn of context.'
