Melbourne,  India's Rohan Bopanna and his Japanese partner Ben McLachlan crashed out of the Australian Open men's doubles event after suffering a straight-sets defeat to South Korean pair of Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song in their first round contest here on Wednesday.

The South Korean pair -- wild

Melbourne, Twenty three-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams on Wednesday eased into the third round of the Australian Open while 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu faced a crushing defeat to bow out of the competition.

No.10 seed Williams, in search for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title, defeated

Bengaluru, Sangita Kumari was one of the top performers for the Indian junior women's hockey team in the recently-concluded Chile tour, where the team remained unbeaten.

Having scored four goals in five matches, Sangita said it was a great feeling to contribute to the team's success, especially after

Chennai,  Joe Root's men came out with a "perfect performance" against India in the first Test, which they won by 227 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, says former England captain Nasser Hussain.

Hussain, however, believes that England should expect India to "come back at them"

Chennai,   India's Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have moved down by a spot while Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah have moved upwards in the respective ICC Test rankings which got updated after the culmination of the first Test which England won by 227 runs on Tuesday.

Kohli, who return

Addis Ababa,  The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the African continent has increased 3,682,097 amid concerns of the spread of the new virus variants, according to health authorities.

On Tuesday, the Africa CDC said the death toll across the continent stood at 95,589, and a total of 3,211,491 peopl

Melbourne,  A quarantine hotel in the Australian state of Victoria was shut down on Wednesday after the detection of two new Covid-19 cases linked to the facility.

The Covid-19 cluster at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport increased to three on Wednesday, which comprises a returnee who left the hotel,

Brasilia,  Brazil registered 1,350 additional coronavirus deaths, as well as 51,486 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

The new figures have increased the overall caseload and death toll to 9,599,565 and 233,520, respectively, reports Xinhua news agency.

Brazil,

New York,  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation in Myanmar, where a military coup was staged on February 1, with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Blinken reaffirmed "the strength of the US-India partnership" and they discussed "issues of mutual c

Kabul, At least two people were killed and five others injured on Wednesday in two separate explosions in Kabul, the latest in a string of violent incidents in the Afghan capital, police said.

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attached to a vehicle exploded at 8.55 a.m. in Kart-e-Parwan, Police District 4,