The World Cup in South Africa will bring joy to millions of people around the globe. But for Messrs Andrey Arshavin, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Petr Cech, Luka Modric and Dimitar Berbatov, the football carnival will be a painful reminder of their teams’ failure to qualify for the mega event. Watching television and reading newspapers may not be easy for the five stars from June 11 to July 11.

Have all the best teams in the world qualified for Fifa’s quadrennial showpiece? No, if one goes by the ranking table of the world football governing body. Notable absentees include Croatia (ranked 9), Russia (11) and Egypt (13). Norway, Israel, Ukraine, Romania and the Czech Republic are the other teams that have failed to

The second biggest sporting show of the universe after the Olympic Games — the football World Cup — will kick off at Johannesburg’s futuristic Soccer City Stadium on June 11.

Actress Khushboo on Friday took the plunge into politics by joining the DMK. The actress met Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi at the DMK headquarters and enrolled in the presence of deputy chief minister M.K. Stalin and other leaders.

The state-appointed justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam commission, which probed the allegations of land-grabbing in Siruthavur in Kancheepuram district, has absolved the AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa of any role in the issue, but observed that the land assigned to landless poor and dalits was purchased illegally.

For Ravichandran Ashwin the wait is almost over. After his selection as the first choice off-spinner in the Indian team to Zimbabwe, Ashwin should realise his dream of representing the country.

Tirumalsetti Suman has reason to be peeved. A fruitful season for the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League was not enough to gain a berth in the India ‘A’ team to tour England next month. Suman does not

Chief minister M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday asserted that the ties between his DMK party and the Congress “are as strong as ever” and dismissed the suggestion seen in some sections of the media that his national ally was behaving like a “big brother” since winning a comfortable count in the UPA-II.

May 3: Is cricket going more and more the baseball way? Evidently so, especially after the advent of the T-20 format. The exciting game is all about the blazing big hits, the length of each being measured by missile tracking systems and put up on television for the enjoyment of viewers.

May 3: World champion Nicol David, handed Dipika Pallikal a 23-minute squash lesson in the women’s semi-finals of the 15th Asian Squash Championship here on Monday.