Any form of entanglement with India or the US on the strategic plane will be anathema to Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa rulers, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Finn lapped the six-km Baku street circuit in one minute, 40.495 seconds, just 0.059 seconds faster than team mate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Russian began observing a two-day mourning in honour of the children killed in Beslan.
Keisuke Honda announced his retirement from international football following Japan's elimination from the World Cup at the hands of Belgium on Monday night.
The Swiss top seed lived up to his billing as the world's best player to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
With a massive final push, which began mid-November, Syrian forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad took over the last remaining rebel strongholds in the historic city of Aleppo on the night of December 12. They only won a ruined city and ruined lives.
Rajeev Srinivasan on why there is the strong possibility that this whole thing is an elaborate charade and how the mainstream might have just played into Trump's showman hands.
A rampant Rafael Nadal turned on the style to beat old rival Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-3 on Saturday and reach his first Italian Open final since 2014. The top-seeded Spaniard will face defending champion Alexander Zverev who overcame fourth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6(13), 7-5 in the other semi-final.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 10 images.
Senior United States intelligence officials said Russia trained and equipped separatists responsible for the shooting down of MH17 with a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine, but noted that the rebels may have targeted the plane presuming it to be a Ukrainian military jet.
One can only imagine how it is at the receiving end of the bomb. The sound is deafening, splinters and rocks fly like missiles and the blast sucks in the air around asphyxiating everyone. The shock waves can be felt for miles around.
Here is how the two countries stack up militarily, according to a report in AlJazeera.com.
Maria Sharapova says she is not looking too far ahead after returning from a doping suspension but concedes she is eager to be competing for the biggest titles in tennis again.
'When Sushma Swaraj was campaigning like a one-man army against Pakistan for the treatment meted out to Chetna Jadhav and her mother-in-law, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was secretly huddled with his Pakistani counterpart in Bangkok.' 'It is becoming impossible to make rational judgments about our government's Pakistan policies,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte got the upper hand on Jose Mourinho for the second time this season as his double-chasing side beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to reach the FA Cup semi-finals on Monday.
'The surge of Saudi nationalism is the last thing Washington wants,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The world may be desirous of peace, but not Kim Jong-un.' 'Should we then accept the old adage that to maintain peace, we should be prepared for war?' asks Rajaram Panda.
The Russian origin aircraft, now capable of effecting mid-air refuelling, is compatible with latest missiles and can launch multi-dimensional attacks.
Both have been robustly muscular leaders who began as immensely charismatic politicians conveying an impression that they were makers of history, raring to go. Both have been hyperactive on the world stage. But in the final analysis, Abe is departing on a sombre note, unceremoniously and apologetically, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Arpi deserves to be complimented for the commitment and hard work that have gone into this production. The frustrations of seeking reliable documentation from the catacombs of the Indian bureaucracy did not deter him from going after the best information available, and the result is one that he can take much satisfaction in. Ambassador Prabhat P Shukla, Member Advisory Council, Vivekananda International Foundation, reviews Claude Arpi's The End of an Era: India Exits Tibet.
World No 1 Serena Williams's 27-match unbeaten run ended with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat by Petra Kvitova in the Madrid Open.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against Sergey Karjakin of Russia to remain in joint second spot in the Sinquefield Cup chess tournament, in St Louis, United States.
The video shows images of the United Kingdom Parliament and Eiffel Tower crashing to the ground.
'Only when India's adversaries are convinced that India has both the necessary political and military will and the hardware to respond to a nuclear strike with punitive retaliation that will inflict unacceptable loss of human life and unprecedented material damage, will they be deterred,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Atletico Madrid slumped to a 3-0 defeat at resurgent Real Sociedad on Thursday which means Barcelona need one more victory to wrap up a 25th Spanish La Liga title while Malaga were relegated after losing 1-0 at Levante.
'Platinum grade support from Washington has not been forthcoming, the christening of the US-Indian ties as a 'defining partnership' notwithstanding,' says A,bassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"We have a nuclear doctrine and a Nuclear and Strategic Force Command chain in position. So we stand by the no-first-use policy," Fernandes told newsmen when asked to comment on calls by some experts to give up the no-first-use policy.
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi asked all Muslims to take up arms and fight on behalf of the group.
Andreas Granqvist did not exactly set the world alight during his two seasons with the Premier League side Wigan, but Sweden's defensive linchpin is ready to show how far he has come when his side take on England in the World Cup quarter-finals.
A MiG-21 Bison of the IAF, piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was downed during a dogfight between India and Pakistan sides on February 27 after the Balakot airstrike
Syria has appealed to the UN to try to "prevent any aggression" against it and said US military action would amount to "support for Al Qaeda and its affiliates," even as President Barack Obama today lobbied with war-weary American lawmakers to convince them for a strike.
Here's a fresh collection of offbeat, quirky stories from around the world.
With this new induction, the country has the capability to launch nukes from land, air and sea.
Serena Williams stayed on track for an eighth Wimbledon title as she fought back to beat Italian Camila Giorgi 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a fiercely contested quarter-final.
Influential world leaders on Thursday braced for a showdown at the G20 summit over an imminent US-led action against Syria, as United States President Barack Obama's plan to launch military strikes cleared the first hurdle with a key Senate committee narrowly approving it.
Naomi Osaka eased into the second round of the Italian Open on Monday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka, on a day in which local favourite Roberta Vinci called time on her career.
While Lyon rallied to hold Leipzig 2-2 after a Memphis Depay strike, it was the English clubs who made a mark on the night. Liverpool and Chelsea moved into the last 16 with contrasting wins and now all four English clubs, including Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, are in the Champions League knockouts this season.
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.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
