Striker Wayne Rooney and left-back Ashley Cole joined defender Ledley King on England's lengthening list of training absentees and added to manager Fabio Capello's selection problems on Monday.

Slovenia are growing in confidence at the World Cup having beaten Algeria and seen England and the United States take points off each other in the opening round of Group C matches.

Slovenia chalked up their first ever World Cup win when a dreadful mistake by Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi handed them a 1-0 victory in their opening Group C match on Sunday.

Slovenia beat Algeria 1-0 with a late goal from Robert Koren, just six minutes after the North Africans were reduced to 10 men when substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off in a World Cup Group C game on Sunday.

England's leading players closed ranks on Sunday to defend goalkeeper Robert Green and take inspiration from a chequered World Cup history following their 1-1 draw with the United States.

United States coach Bob Bradley praised his team for the way they fought back for a 1-1 draw against England albeit helped by a goalkeeping clanger in their opening Group C game on Saturday.

Lionel Messi mesmerised Nigeria in a magical display to confirm Argentina as one of the World Cup favourites but a goalkeeping bungle against the United States set England off to a disappointing start on Saturday.

England manager Fabio Capello will talk to Robert Green before deciding whether to keep faith with the goalkeeper whose embarrassing gaffe on Saturday handed the United States a 1-1 draw.

Algeria's coach Rabah Saadane has dropped his team captain for the opening World Cup clash with Slovenia on Sunday after a build-up marred by poor results, injuries and reports of dressing room discontent.

South Africa may fall victim to a terrorist attack during the World Cup it is hosting in less than two weeks, according to a report in the Sunday Times, quoting an investigative group and other sources.

Experienced striker Brian Ching was surprisingly left off the United States World Cup squad on Wednesday when coach Bob Bradley named his final squad of 23 for South Africa.

The United States were given an early World Cup wake-up call when they were beaten 4-2 at home by the Czech Republic in their opening warm-up game on Tuesday.

England's bid for glory at the World Cup will be hurt by the exhaustion of their players after a long season of fast-paced Premier League football, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday.

The fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, from June 11 to July 11.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Saturday embarked on a four-day visit to Iran during which its controversial nuclear energy programme and the proposed IPI gas pipeline project are expected to figure prominently in the bilateral talks.

David Beckham has talked with England manager Fabio Capello about the possibility of a coaching role at the World Cup in South Africa, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder said on Friday.

Injured United States striker Charlie Davies was ruled out of this year's World Cup after failing to make the preliminary squad named on Tuesday.

Uncapped Manchester City mid-fielder Adam Johnson and Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Michael Dawson were surprisingly named in England's provisional 30-man World Cup squad on Tuesday.

The fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, from June 11 to July 11.

Larsen & Toubro, India's largest engineering, construction and technology company, is aggressively expanding its footprint across various places abroad

US watchdog lauds India's IPR efforts, but picks holes in legal framework.

India, a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, was not invited to a luncheon meeting hosted by United States Vice President Joe Biden, where he professed that the grouping and his country had similar goals on nuclear security and non-proliferation.

Superseding emergency measures put in place following a foiled terrorist attack on a US-bound aircraft on December 25, America on Friday announced enhanced security measures for all international carriers to strengthen passengers' safety.

The United States is reportedly planning to discontinue its policy of nationality based security checks of America-bound travelers and will now select passengers for special scrutiny at airports on the basis of possible matches to intelligence information, including physical descriptions or a particular travel pattern.

Wayne Rooney's ankle dominated the sports pages on Wednesday with England and Manchester United supporters waiting anxiously for news from Old Trafford about their talismanic striker.

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year on Thursday, beating Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Ghana's Michael Essien for the 2009 award.

England is hungrier than any other country and it would be the toughest challenge of his life to take the side in the football World Cup finals in South Africa in June-July, feels manager Fabio Capello.

World Cup title hopefuls Spain, England and Argentina seized morale-boosting victories in warm-up matches on Wednesday.

The United States needed two late goals, including a stoppage time winner, to beat El Salvador 2-1 in a friendly international on Wednesday.

Though, a counter terrorism white paper released by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today did not name the countries, which will be covered by the new rules, security experts have been quoted by The Herald Sun as saying that Pakistan is "high on the list".

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India is recalling about one lakh units of its flagship export model 'A-Star' to replace a faulty fuel pump part. The company is replacing a faulty rubber gasket in about one lakh cars -- manufactured before August 2009 and sold in domestic as well as overseas markets, to prevent any possible fuel leakage.

The company's overseas sales growth was driven mainly by the export of its flagship model A-Star, which clocked sales of over one lakh units till December 2010, within 11 months of launch.

Striker Obinna Nsofor's second-half goal gave Nigeria third place at the African Nations Cup after a 1-0 win over Algeria in the playoff on Saturday.

Egypt and Ghana have advanced to the African Nations Cup final, maintaining their records as the tournament's most successful teams.

Egypt captain Ahmed Hassan scored three times, including a first-half own goal, as the holders overcame Cameroon 3-1 after extra-time on Monday to advance to the African Nations Cup semi-finals.

Zinedine Zidane put head before heart on Wednesday and tipped Spain to win the World Cup in South Africa this year.

Depleted Ghana beat Burkina Faso 1-0 on Tuesday to advance to the African Nations Cup quarter-finals.

Hosts Angola and Algeria qualified for the African Nations Cup quarter-finals after playing out a goalless draw in their final Group A match on Monday.

Angola burst into celebration on Thursday after the African Nations Cup hosts catapulted to the top of Group A with a 2-0 victory over Malawi.

World Cup-bound teams continued their miserable start to the African Nations Cup on Wednesday with Cameroon suffering an embarrassing 1-0 defeat by neighbours Gabon in their Group D opener.