MIAMI: The Miami Heat clinched their second successive National Basketball (NBA) championship on Thursday, beating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in the decisive seventh game of an epic series.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Spain broke the record for the biggest margin of victory at the final phase of a FIFA tournament by crushing minnows Tahiti 10-0 at the Confederations Cup in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: In a big relief to former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, CBI and income tax department will shortly tell the Supreme Court that they have found no element of "criminality" in the transcripts of her taped conversations. The two agencies have jointly transcribed the conversations, recorded in connection with the 2G scam, over a period of three months.

BURDWAN/KOLKATA: Unable to handle the rebuff from Kamduni villagers, chief minister Mamata Banerjee launched an unprecedented attack on intellectuals on Thursday, saying TV talks shows were fielded by "rogue" channels and a section of the panelists were "associated with pornography".

SRINAGAR (UTTARAKHAND): It was hard on Shiru Singh when the waters first came on June 14. Last year's rain had eaten off part of his roof and he was hoping sales from his small electronics shop in a slightly awkward corner of Srinagar town would be enough to stop the constant nagging of his worried wife.

NEW DELHI: Security forces engaged in rescue work in Uttarakhand on Thursday claimed to have cleared the Kedarnath temple and Gaurikund of all survivors. Rescue work is now focusing on areas that have remained inaccessible even by air. These include places such as Rambada and Mundkatiya that fall between Kedarnath and Gaurikund and have been worst affected by the deluge.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Brazil on Thursday, as a protest movement over the quality of public services and the high cost of staging the World Cup gathered steam.

ATHENS: Greece's coalition leaders failed to agree to on how to resume state television broadcasts during their third round of talks this week, deepening a nine-day impasse that has renewed fears of political instability in the country.

CARDIFF: Of the 365 days in a calendar year, the Welsh say, it rains for close to around 240 days in Cardiff. That should leave the locals here with just about 125 days of dry weather.

FORTALEZA (Brazil): Brazil superstar Neymar scored one goal and set up the other to give hosts Brazil a 2-0 win over Mexico in their Group A game and all but assure them of a place in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup in Fortaleza on Wednesday.