Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov is poised to leave Manchester United at the end of the season despite the English champions taking up an extra year's option on his contract, his agent said.

Tehran continues to be hyper-critical of the Indian government on Kashmir, even forcing New Delhi to issue a demarche last year as a protest against Iranian interference in Indian domestic issues. Iranian interference in Indian domestic politics has been going on for a long time with sections of the Indian government suggesting that Iran 'has been buying off journalists, clerics and editors in Shia-populated areas of UP and Kashmir,' says Harsh V Pant.

Israel has lodged a complaint before the United Nations chief over the alleged terror campaign launched by Iran and its "proxy" Hezbollah against Israeli targets in recent weeks, including in India and Thailand.

The Lakme Fashion Week 2012 model auditions, held in Mumbai last week, saw only 10 aspirants chosen from among 350. But win or lose, each one has a dream to follow, a story to tell and a lesson to share. Divya Nair reports.

India's challenge in the singles event of the season's first Grand Slam was over in just an hour and 28 minutes, as Sania Mirza went down to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets, in the first round of the Australian Open, in Melbourne, on Monday. Back after recovering from a knee injury, Sania showed glimpses of a fightback against Pironkova, but it was not enough. The world No. 105 Indian was beaten 4-6, 2-6.

American Mardy Fish and Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov had to be separated by the match referee when they squared up to each other during a changeover in a bad-tempered Hopman Cup encounter on Friday.

World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki arrived in Australia four hours before her match but shrugged off her less than perfect preparations to make a winning start at the Hopman Cup on Monday.

Bulgaria's flamboyant Prime Minister Boiko Borisov is in the running to be named the country's soccer player of the year after Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov got bored of winning.

Fundraisers held in New York, San Francisco and Atlanta for India-based non-government organisation Akshaya Patra that strives for wholesome school kitchens is expected to raise a whopping Rs 5 crore in charities this year. Arthur J Pais reports

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.

UN member states elected 18 countries to serve three-year terms starting next year and three other nations through by-elections held as some countries were stepping down from the 54-member Council before the formal end of their terms.

Manchester United striker has refused to come out of international retirement after several hundred Bulgarian fans made the trip to Romania to urge him to change his mind.

The average worldwide download speed is 580KBps.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Suranjoy Singh pummelled Hungary's Dobradi Zsolt in his opening bout to sail into the second round of the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday. Suranjoy, also an Asian Games bronze medallist, beat Zsolt 24-8 in a lopsided bout of the first Olympic qualifying event.

Arsene Wenger continued re-shaping his struggling Arsenal squad with the signing of Brazilian left back Andre Santos from Turkish club Fenerbahce on Wednesday.

Teen sensation Deepika Kumari clinched the gold medal in the junior section of women's recurve event in the World Youth Archery Championship as India concluded their campaign with one more silver and two bronze medals at Legnica in Poland.

Slavia Sofia midfielder Bozhidar Vasev was stabbed in the back by unknown attackers in downtown Sofia on Tuesday night, police said.

China's Lin Dan eased into the second round of the World badminton championships with a 21-11, 21-10 success over Lithuanian Kestutis Navickas, while Wang Shixian, China's top seed in the women's singles, started her campaign with a comfortable 21-11, 21-14 victory over Bulgaria's Linda Zechiri on Tuesday.

The Northern Hemisphere is sizzling like an ant under a magnifying glass.

A vintage double-decker passenger ship with 188 tourists on board sank on Sunday in Volga River in Russia's east-central republic of Tatarstan. At least one person was killed in the mishap while 102 people are still missing. So far, 85 passengers have been rescued by a passing ship at the accident site, RIA Novosti reported. The double-decker cruise ship Bolgari, which was en route from the Tatar town of Bolgar to Kazan, sank at 13:58 Moscow time on Sunday

Maria Sharapova powered into the Wimbledon semi-finals with an awesome display every bit as spectacular as the thunder claps that rattled the All England Club on Tuesday. The Russian fifth seed, the stand-out name in an unfamiliar looking last eight, roared to a 6-1, 6-1 win over shell-shocked Dominika Cibulkova under Centre Court's roof and now only wildcard Sabine Lisicki stands between Sharapova and her first final here since she won the tournament in 2004.

It took less than two brutal hours at Wimbledon on Monday to disprove the theory that Serena and Venus Williams could march back to continue their domination of the grasscourt slam having hardly swung their rackets in anger for months.

Defending champion Saina Nehwal got off to a flying start at the Indonesian Open Super Series, beating Bulgaria's Linda Zecheri in straight games, in Jakarta, on Wednesday. The fourth seeded Indian took just 29 minutes to get past the unseeded Zechiri, winning 21-12, 21-10.

The top seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi made a shock exit from the ATP Eastbourne event after suffering a straight-set defeat in the doubles quarter-finals.

World number two Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to a foot injury, the tournament said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rohan Bopanna recorded his 100th career doubles win after he and Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi scored a straight-set victory over Spaniards Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at the AEGON International.

Serena Williams made a winning return to action after nearly a year out with victory over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova at Eastbourne on Tuesday.

Tyson Gay sent a warning to his rivals that he still has plenty left in the tank after running the fastest 100 metres this year.

Stuttering England were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Switzerland in their Euro 2012 qualifier on Saturday while Russia's stand-in striker Roman Pavlyuchenko grabbed a hat-trick to secure a 3-1 win against Armenia.

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has no plans to leave the club despite the huge disappointment of being left out of the squad for the Champions League final against Barcelona on Saturday.

The Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi rallied from a set down to score a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the German pair of Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner in the first round of the French Open men's doubles competition, in Paris on Thursday.

India's representation in the singles events of the World Table Tennis Championship was reduced to just four players, three of them women, after six others failed to qualify for the main draw.

India struck gold not once but twice in their maiden appearance at the Winner International Boxing Tournament with Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) and teen sensation Shiva Thapa (56kg) finishing on top in the finals in Belgrade, Serbia.

Commonwealth Games gold medalist Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) and Youth Olympics silver medalist Shiva Thapa (56kg) entered the finals of the Winner's international boxing tournament in Belgrade, Serbia on Saturday.

Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91kg), Manpreet Singh (91kg) and teen sensation Shiva Thapa (56kg) notched up contrasting wins to enter the semi-finals on a mixed opening day for Indian boxers in the Winners' International tournament in Belgrade, Serbia.

Hindi films are seeing a wave of foreign technicians.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand came back to sole third spot after defeating Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan 1.5-0.5 in the 10th and penultimate round of 20th and last edition of Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Monaco.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand defeated challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria 1.5-0.5 in the first round of the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Monaco.

FIFA is investigating six match officials over possible match-fixing in two friendly internationals in Turkey that produced a total of seven penalties last month.

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal overcame a jittery start to defeat spirited Korean Seung Hee Bae and enter the second round of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham.