English news - 25.04.2016

1. Rafael Nadal beats Kei Nishikori to reclaim Barcelona Open title, equals Guillermo Vilas’ clay court record .

Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-5 to win the Barcelona Open for the ninth time, equaling Guillermo Vilas’ record of 49 career clay-court titles.

2. 'King of Congolese rumba' Papa Wemba dies 

Papa Wemba, one of Africa's greatest music stars, has died after collapsing on stage during a festival in the Ivory Coast.

Papa Wemba, who was known as the "king of Congolese rumba" for helping to bring the highly popular sound to an international audience, was 66. 

3. Bryan brothers win Barcelona Open doubles title

Bob and Mike Bryan won the Barcelona Open doubles tennis title after defeating Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas and the Spaniard Marcel Granollers.

This is the Bryan brothers' second title in 2016, after they won the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. 

4. Kerber won Stuttgart Open tennis title 

German woman tennis player Angelique Kerber won the Stuttgart Open title after beating compatriot Laura Siegemund in straight sets in the final.

Kerber, ranked third in the world, defeated Siegemund.

This is Kerber's ninth title throughout her professional career and the second in 2016 after winning the Australian Open's final against United States legend Serena Williams

5. Sandeep Tomar secures Olympic quota place 

Wrestler Sandeep Tomar secured an Olympic quota place for India in the men's 57kg freestyle category with a bronze-medal finish on the final day of the 1st World Olympic Qualifying tournament.

The 25-year-old Sandeep became the fourth Indian wrestler after Yogeshwar Dutt (men's 65kg freestyle), Narsingh Yadav (men's 74kg freestyle), and Hardeep Singh (Greco-Roman 98kg) to book a berth for the RioGames, to be held later this year.

Sandeep qualified for the Olympics by winning the playoff bout after having clinched the bronze medal.

6. Mairaj Bags Silver at ISSF World Cup

Indian shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan started off his campaign at the ISSF World Cup by winning a silver medal in Men’s Skeet.

Marcus Svennson of Sweden beat him in a 2:1 in a shoot-off after both were tied at 14/16 in the gold medal match.

Tamarro Casandro of Italy bagged the bronze medal.

Mairaj shot 122 in qualifying, 15/16 in semi-final stage of six-man final round and then 14+1 in the gold medal match.

His best international performance previous to this was a Team Gold in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship in 2010.

Earlier in the year he became India's first ever Skeet shooter to win an Olympic quota place.

The ISSF World Cup is also serving as a test event for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

7. Nine members take oath in Rajya Sabha

Nine newly-elected members, of them five from the Congress, were administered their oath of membership of the Rajya Sabha.

The members from Congress include Anand Sharma, who won his seat from Himachal Pradesh, Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora from Assam, and Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo from Punjab.

Two members were from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M): Jharna Das Baidya from Tripura, and K. Somaprasad from Kerala.

Besides, Shiromani Akali Dal member Naresh Gujral and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member from Punjab Shwet Malik were also sworn in.

8. Jeetendra, Bhansali conferred Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards 

Veteran actor Jeetendra, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Bollywood star Ranveer Singh were honoured with '74th Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards'. 

Jeetendra, 74, got the lifetime achievement award while Bhansali and Ranveer got special award for direction and acting for their magnum opus "Bajirao Mastani". 

The top honour was given by legendary singer Asha Bhosle. 

Other winners who bagged the honour include Pandit Ajay Chakravorty, Marathi actor Prashant Damle among others.

9. 'Me and Mrs Jones' singer Billy Paul no more.

Singer Billy Paul has died from a serious medical condition at his home. He was 81. 

The singer is best known for his Grammy-award winning 1972 hit, "Me and Mrs Jones." He first burst onto the music scene playing in jazz clubs alongside such music icons as Charlie Parker, Nina Simone and Miles Davis. 

He released his debut album, Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club in 1968 and went on to release 14 other albums through 1988. 

10. Kenya's Kipchoge retains London Marathon title 

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge retained the men's title of the London Marathon with a second fastest time in the event so far.

The 31-year-old Kipchoge, the men's 5000 metre gold medallist at the Athens Olympics, clocked 2:03:04, seven seconds outside the world record of 2:02:57 set by his compatriot Dennis Kimetto in Berlin in 2014.

11. AmCham India elects Pratyush Kumar as chairman

Industry body American Chamber of Commerce in India (AmCham India) on Monday announced that it has elected Boeing India president Pratyush Kumar as its chairman.

According to AmCham India, Kumar was elected at its 24th annual general meeting (AGM) held in New Delhi.

Apart from Kumar, AmCham India elected Richard Rekhy, chief executive officer, KPMG in India and Gulshan Kumar Sachdev, managing director, Quaker Chemical India as its vice chairman.