Demonstrators burn a poster of former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth during a protest in Ahmedabad May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Amit Dave

Spot-fixing scandal: players, bookies face scrutiny

Cricket, the "gentleman's game", has been hit by a series of gambling-related scandals in international matches in recent years. But S.Sreesanth's case is the first time allegations of "fixing" in the IPL are being heard in a court of law, despite a huge, illegal betting industry that has grown up around the tournament.  Full Article 

Suspected Maoist rebels kill 19 in Congress convoy ambush 2:11pm IST

NEW DELHI - Suspected Maoist rebels killed at least 19 people in Chhattisgarh when they ambushed a convoy carrying regional leaders from the ruling Congress party in dense forest on Saturday, officials said, one of the deadliest such attacks in recent years.

Actors in Japanese military uniforms take pictures of each other while holding a flag demanding the return of uninhabited islets known as Senkaku isles in Japan, Diaoyu islands in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan, to China, during the filming of an anti-Japanese World War Two film at the Hengdian Film City in Zhejiang Province March 2, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song/Files
Bashing Japan On Screen

Why China's film makers love to hate Japan

Shi Zhongpeng dies for a living. For 3,000 yuan a month, the sturdily built stuntman is killed over and over playing Japanese soldiers in war movies and TV series churned out by Chinese film studios. Despite his lack of dramatic range, the 23-year-old's roles have made him a minor celebrity in China. Once, Shi says, he perished 31 times in a single day of battle.   Full Article 

A woman walks as unfilled display boards of currency exchange offices are seen in Bucharest August 8, 2011. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel/Files
Emerging Markets

Frontier Markets booming but risks mounting

With the world's biggest central banks driving yields on safe assets to near zero, some investors are tossing caution to the wind and rushing to buy illiquid and previously overlooked bonds sold by countries with no capital markets track record. But analysts suggest careful selection among countries,and some fund managers even say not to bother with the sector, as its risks outweigh returns.  Full Article 

A broker monitors a screen displaying live stock quotes on the floor of a trading firm in Mumbai May 23, 2013. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/Files
Markets Weekahead

Shares to track GDP, foreign inflows

The govt will release January-March quarter GDP on Friday, which is expected to confirm the economy grew at its slowest pace in a decade.  Full Article | Top losers, gainers in the past week 

Producer Brahim Chioua, cast member Adele Exarchopoulos, director Abdellatif Kechiche, cast member Lea Seydoux and producer Vincent Maraval pose on the red carpet as they arrive for the screening of the film "La Vie D'Adele" in competition during the 66th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes May 23, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
Cannes Film Festival

Cannes draws to a close with cliffhanger ending

The 2013 Cannes festival wraps up with a cliffhanger ending on Sunday, with uncertainty surrounding which film will be declared best picture after a 12-day frenzy of premieres, celebrities, rain and dramatic jewellery thefts.  Full Article | Pictures: Best of Cannes 

Latest Headlines

Champions League

Tracking Sensex: Top five losers, gainers this week

Tracking Sensex: Top five losers, gainers this week

It was a tough week for Indian shares as the BSE Sensex fell nearly 3 percent and the Nifty lost 3.3 percent as U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s suggestion that stimulus measures may be scaled back at one of their next few meetings dented sentiment. Click to find out the top five Sensex gainers and losers for the week ending May 24.  Full Article 

Nicholas Wapshott

Lessons of the London butchers

Sorting real terrorists from the murderous insane must remain at the heart of counterterrorism. Wild talk about revenging the sins of Muslims may be good business for a tabloid cable news station, but it cannot be the standard of a democratic government and its instruments of law and order. Merely shouting “Allah is good!” does not define a crime as an act of terrorism.  Commentary 

OPINION

James Saft

Revenge of the markets

For months, markets have been dancing to central bankers' tune, but that may now be changing. It must have been fun to be a central banker in the early part of 2013. That seems to have ended rather abruptly in the 24 hours beginning with the Bank of Japan's disappointing response to bond market volatility and including Ben Bernanke's anodyne but market-roiling comments on Wednesday on the possibility of a policy taper.  Full Article 

Anatole Kaletsky

The many interpretations of Ben Bernanke

The reaction to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's tediously familiar statement, and release of the equally repetitive minutes of the last Fed meeting, was some of the wildest gyrations seen in the world’s financial markets for months. Why did the financial world react in this manic-depressive way to a statement that was bland and predictable?  Commentary