Russian president backs FIFA chief amid corruption scandal engulfing football’s governing body FIFA chief Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel Prize for his stewardship of the football governing body, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Football’s governing body was thrown into further turmoil in May when 14 sports marketing executives and officials, including several from FIFA, were indicted in the US ...

Bangladesh’s rain-hit first Test against South Africa that ended in a tame draw is considered as the country’s giant stride towards a high point in the longer version cricket, a format in which they often found them in wanting. The Chittagong Test was delicately poised before the rain washed out the last two days to bring a tame end of ...

Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam has died at the age of 83. Mr Kalam served as India’s 11th president from 2002 to 2007 and was popularly known as “Missile Man” after pioneering the country’s military missile programme. He died on Monday after collapsing as he delivered a scientific lecture. India has declared seven days of national mourning. The former ...

China’s central bank said it would continue to inject funds into the stock market, a move aimed at stabilising stocks after a major sell-off. Chinese equities were again in negative territory on Tuesday after falling 8.5% the previous day. The decline put an end to three weeks of relative calm for the market after a 30% drop in June which ...

Ankara says alliance may have “duty” to become more involved, days after Ankara launched air strikes in Syria and Iraq. NATO has offered political support for Turkey’s campaign against fighters in Syria and Iraq at a rare meeting in Brussels, as Ankara said the alliance may have a “duty” to become more involved. The extraordinary meeting at the NATO headquarters on ...

US President Barack Obama has warned that Africa could not advance if its leaders refused to step down when their terms ended. He also called for an end to the “cancer of corruption”, saying it took money away from development . Mr Obama made the comments in the first ever address by a US leader to the 54-member AU at ...

Singer Bobby Brown has paid tribute to his daughter Bobbi Kristina, describing her as “an angel”. Bobbi Kristina, 22, died on Sunday. She had been in a coma since being found face down and unresponsive in a bath at her home on 31 January. Initial tests have found no significant injuries and no obvious underlying cause of death, according to ...

The Turkish president has said that Turkey cannot continue the peace process with the Kurds amid attacks by Kurdish militants on Turkish targets. It came as Nato discussed Turkish campaigns against the Islamic State (IS) group and Kurdish militants. Turkey has been hit by a series of attacks – including 32 killed by IS-linked militants in the Kurdish-majority town of ...

More than 1,000 tech experts, scientists and researchers have written a letter warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons. In the latest outcry over “killer robots”, the letter warns that “a military AI [artificial intelligence] arms race is a bad idea”. Among the signatories are scientist Stephen Hawking, entrepreneur Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The letter will be ...

Actress Katrina Kaif on Saturday sought to dispel rumours that she had got engaged to Ranbir Kapoor and said she had no marriage plans for now. “I’m glad you asked that but I’m definitely not engaged. I know you guys are so sweet and you seem to want me to get married but there are no such plans now. So ...