Real Madrid and Atletico each slipped 10 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona after an intense Madrid derby finished goalless and the Catalans picked up an 11th victory in 12 games by winning 3-0 at Leganes.
hitting the continent from Tuesday -- posing a threat to life. Authorities have urged children and older people to stay indoors and issued severe warnings against dehydration and heatstroke. The heat wave is being caused by a 2,000-mile wide plume of hot air dubbed the 'Saharan bubble' which is being blown from Africa by an unusually strong jet stream.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis notched up their 38th straight win to reach the semi finals of the women's doubles event of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Saturday.
Sania Mirza is a rocking fashionable mother-to-be.
Ana Ivanovic celebrated her 24th birthday by successfully defending her Tournament of Champions title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 victory over Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues on Sunday.
Real Madrid equalled a Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten in all competitions by crushing struggling Granada 5-0 on Saturday to go six points clear at the top of La Liga.
A sloppy Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to Real Betis on Saturday in a further blow to their hopes of retaining the La Liga title.
Richard Gasquet maintained his unbeaten record to help guide France into the Hopman Cup final on Thursday before vowing to adopt a more attacking approach in a bid to shake up the established order in men's tennis.
Rediff readers share pictures and tell us how their lives have changed in the last decade.
Manchester City marched into the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Sania Mirza was ousted from the Indian Wells WTA Premier tournament after suffering a straight set defeat against World No 26 Anabel Medina Garrigues, at Indian Wells on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said security forces exchanged gunfire with one of the suspects, who blew himself up inside a home he was hiding in on Friday. Five people, including a woman, were arrested in security operations in Mecca, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said.
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta lifted a ninth Liga title after his side beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Sunday in an emotional final game for the midfielder at the Nou Camp while Fernando Torres scored twice in his final game for Atletico Madrid.
Fernando Verdasco fought off a valiant effort by former world number one Lleyton Hewitt to help Spain get a 2-1 win over hosts Australia in the Hopman Cup on Sunday.
Both sides had shots cleared off the line but Real were left feeling more disappointed after winning the tactical battle but failing to take their chances.
Barcelona were hit with more bad news on Sunday when centre back Gerard Pique was ruled out for about two weeks with a calf problem.
Top seed Marion Bartoli squandered two match points before she had to retire with an ankle injury in her opening match at the Tournament of Champions against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Rediff.com gives you a glimpse of the jubilant Catalan team...
Mexican side Guadalajara have fined two players for a goal celebration in which one pretended to shoot the other in the head, sparking outrage in the country where drugs-related violence has claimed 44,000 lives.
Hamilton is seven points clear of Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas after five of the 21 races.
The Briton's latest victory, in a Tuscan Grand Prix that was twice red-flagged and re-started, left him one shy of the Ferrari great -- a record once held up as a milestone to withstand the test of time.
From Venice and the tower of Pisa, dozens of UNESCO World Heritage sites are deeply threatened by rising sea levels, researchers warned Tuesday. According to a study by researchers at the University of Kiel, in Germany, all but two of 49 United Nations-recognised icons of human civilisation rimming the Mediterranean Sea risk being damaged by the rising watermark, soil erosion, or both, with few options for protecting most of them.
Sania Mirza, on Sunday, reached her first ever French Open women's doubles quarter-finals with partner Elena Vesnina but Mahesh Bhuapthi's campaign ended after suffering a second round defeat in the mixed doubles along with Jie Zheng.
Real Madrid full-back Dani Carvajal was lucky to escape without a red card after he threw a punch at Atletico Madrid forward Mario Mandzukic in Tuesday's 0-0 Champions League quarter-final, first leg draw at the Calderon.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Argentina look lost and have no leadership after the 3-0 loss to Croatia which left them on the verge of a disastrous early exit from the World Cup, in an audio message leaked to Spanish and Argentine radio stations.
'In Mecca and Medina, cow slaughter is not allowed'
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday night.
'The more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The earth-sheltered mansion is noted for its design and the technology it incorporates.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has admitted he is feeling extremely gutted after his collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton at Spanish Grand Prix, which ended his seven-race winning streak.
Prime Minister Khan, in his address, said Pakistan will never fight any other country's war in future and his government's foreign policy will be in the best interest of the nation.
Over 1.5 million Muslims from around the world have flooded into the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for the annual Haj pilgrimage.
Newly-wed Sania Mirza will return to competitive tennis at a WTA event starting on June 7 in Birmingham after three-month gap during which she got married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Lionel Messi scored his maiden goal for Paris St Germain in Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League victory against Manchester City.
The Indian ace and Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual, seeded seventh, lost 3-6, 3-6 to the unseeded Chinese combination of Jie Zheng and Yung-Jan Chan in the first round. Sania bowed out of the singles on Monday.
Real Madrid have signed Spain right-back Alvaro Odriozola from Real Sociedad on a contract until 2024, the European champions said on Thursday.
Jelena Jankovic thrashed local favourite Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-0 to make the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open but it was a gutsy display from Aravane Rezai that caught the eye on Thursday.
An Indian man who managed to board an Air India flight at Medina in Saudi Arabia without ticket or passport and hid in the toilet to travel Jaipur, has been booked under the Passport Act even as his interrogation so far has not revealed any intention to cause any harm.
The singer announced the news on Instagram with a pic of her gorgeous ring.
Australia's gruelling summer conditions claimed three more victims on Monday when Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli all pulled out of the Sydney International because of injury and illness.
