Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been voted as the seventh most popular leader in the world in a new poll topped by US President Barack Obama.
He will skip the two Masters series events in Shanghai and Paris next month.
16 firefighters were among those injured in the fire, which gutted the market in Hunan province Tuesday.
Sharapova was broken in the first game but fought back to draw level before going on to take the first set with a hold to love.
Svetlana Kuznetsova opened the defence of her Sydney International title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu on Sunday as the Australian Open warm-up event suffered a pair of big-name withdrawals.
The Russian seized an historic gold medal in the all-round competition at the gymnastics world championships
Here are some of the best moments from Day 2 of his visit.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The Chinese spikers came back from two sets down to beat Russia in five.
'China and India would like to conduct useful and meaningful exploration on this issue,' Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.
Hong Kong's first WTA tennis tournament in more than 20 years suffered a major blow on Sunday with main drawcard Eugenie Bouchard withdrawing on medical advice after suffering from the heat at the U.S. Open.
The Vietnam GM beat Chinese GM Zhang Peng Xiang in the eighth round in the Commonwealth chess championship.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday vowed to work with the United States for healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, calling cooperation the "correct" choice for both the countries.
The tenth annual iPhone Photography Awards received thousands of entries -- all submitted by amateur photographers from more than 140 countries around the world.
Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who is competing in his fifth Games, led the Indian contingent at the parade of nations during the Open Ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Friday night.
The 25-year-old Indian displayed superb putting to lead at the halfway stage of the US $300,000 tournament.
The unexpected defeat to Canada in the quarter-finals also prompted captain Sun Wen to retire.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed he is interested in signing Everton's young centre back John Stones, who has been linked with a 50 million-pounds ($65.72 million) move to the Etihad Stadium.
The two Indians have a half point lead over second placed S Vijayalakshmi in the Asian women's chess championship.
A team of refugees that will compete at this year's Rio de Janeiro Olympics could number as many as 10 athletes, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
A poor transition from prone to the standing series cost Sanjeev Rajput dear as he finished fifth in the 50 metres rifle 3 positions event.
The Indian GM registered his first win with black pieces in the 66th edition of the Corus Grandmasters Chess tournament.
Here's a glimpse at what happened around the world last week.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
World champion Viktor Axelsen staved off a strong challenge from World No 5 Korean Son Wan Ho as Bengaluru Blasters blanked Mumbai Rockets 6-(-1) in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) in Lucknow on Monday.
Advani had said that during his visit in April, Fernandes had raised the issue of the alternate route to Mt Kailash via Leh and that China had rejected this suggestion.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
World number one Simona Halep swatted aside American Nicole Gibbs while Maria Sharapova was flawless in her straight sets victory over Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu in the opening round of the Shenzhen Open on Monday.
Coco Gauff claimed the biggest win of her young career on Friday with a stunning upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open to reach the fourth round. Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams also lost their respective matches earlier in the day. Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Zhang Ning defeated countrywoman Zhou Mi 11-0, 11-8 to win the women's singles crown.
World number two Rory McIlroy has said he still resents the Olympic Games for forcing him to choose between Britain and Ireland and revealed that Tiger Woods sends him texts in the early hours.
If you can name it, someone collects it. Here's a gallery of collectors and their (unusual) obsessions.
The Indian ace swelled his earnings on the the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit to US$62,931.
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