MADRID: Japan's world number 14 Kei Nishikori dumped defending champion Roger Federer out of the Madrid Masters at the third round stage on Thursday as he beat the 17-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and cricket star Imran Khan made final impassioned appeals for votes before thousands of supporters on Thursday as campaigning wrapped up for Pakistan's landmark elections.

CLEVELAND: Prosecutors said on Thursday they may seek the death penalty against Ariel Castro, the man accused of imprisoning three women at his home for a decade, as police charged that he impregnated one of his captives at least five times and made her miscarry by starving her and punching her in the belly.

WASHINGTON: As the US Congress opened a debate on comprehensive immigration reforms, a poll found wide variation in the Americans' views on how to deal with 11 million undocumented immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will on Friday take up Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt's plea seeking review of its March 21 judgement upholding his conviction under the Arms Act and sentencing him to five years in jail in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

CHENNAI: Former Union health minister and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss was released from Puzhal prison on Thursday after a Tindivanam court granted him conditional bail in a case registered against him for allegedly making inflammatory remarks. He will have to report daily to the T Nagar police station in Chennai.

MOHALI: It's billed as a match between one man in sublime touch versus a team which is packed with in-form players who are maximizing their potential to the hilt.

LONDON: One of the most storied journeys in world football will end when the current English Premier League comes to a close later this month.

HYDERABAD: The Sunrisers Hyderabad's attack, which had bamboozled visiting sides on five previous occasions and had converted the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium into a fortress, came apart on Wednesday night as the batting might of the Chennai Super Kings was felt in full measure.

One must actually see to believe who is the boss at Manchester United. It is undoubtedly Alex Ferguson. Just the walk through the tunnel to the pitch leading his team into the dugout, waving at the fans, the gait and the swagger with a packed stadium going crazy over a man is proof enough of the fact that Ferguson is the monarch in this part of the world.