Scoreboard at tea on the third
day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
     Pakistan 1st innings (overnight 310 for 6)
     S Aslam c Smith b Lyon                 9
     A Ali not out                        205
     B Azam c Smith b Hazlewood            23
     Y Khan b Bird                         21
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Maddinson b Bird      11
     A Shafiq c Smith b Bird               50
     S Ahmed c Renshaw b Hazlewood         10
     M Amir c Wade b Starc                 29
     S Khan run out (Maddinson)           65
     W Riaz c & b Hazlewood              1
     Extras: (B-4, LB-9, W-5, NB-1)        19
     Total (For 9 wkts dec; 126.3 overs)  443
     Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60, 3-111, 4-125, 5-240, 6-268, 7-317, 8-435, 9-443.
     Bowling: Starc 31-6-125-1, Hazlewood 32.3-11-50-3, Bird 34-5-113-3, Lyon 23-1-115-1, Smith 3-0-9-0, Maddinson 3-0-18-0
     Australia 1st innings:
     M Renshaw b Yasir             10
     D ...

Melbourne, Dec 28 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the third

PTI Automatic

Azhar Ali hit the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in Australia on the third day of the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
     Azhar overtook Majid Khan's previous highest score of 158 posted in Melbourne 44 years ago and was just three runs short of Viv Richards' ground best of 208 for a visiting batsman when the declaration came.
     Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq called a halt at 443 for nine shortly after lunch upon the dismissal of Wahab Riaz leaving Azhar unconquered on 205 off 364 balls in almost 10 hours at the crease spread over three days.
     At tea on the third day, Australia were cruising at 131 for one to trail by 312 runs with David Warner on 77 and Usman Khawaja not out 39.
     Warner raised his half-century off 55 balls, reached 5,000 Test runs and was heading for his first Test century at the MCG.
     Wrist-spinner Yasir Shah took the only wicket, bowling Matt Renshaw for 10 with a flighted leg break.
     Azhar batted on after going to lunch on 196 but ...

Azhar hits 205 for Pakistan before Aussies make solid start

Russian anti-doping officials have for the first time acknowledged a massive doping conspiracy in their country that has rocked world sport, the New York Times has reported.
     "It was an institutional conspiracy," Anna Antseliovich, the acting director general of Russia's national anti-doping agency, told the newspaper in an article datelined from Moscow ysterday.
	However, Antseliovich and others interviewed continued to reject the characterization of the doping scheme as "state-sponsored," telling the Times that top government officials were not involved.
	Investigator Richard McLaren said in a new report for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) this month that more than 1,000 Russian athletes in some 30 sports took part in a plan for Moscow sports ministry officials to use banned drugs at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the 2012 London Summer Games and other global events.
	Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told TASS news agency on December 9, when the report was released, that claims 

Russian officials acknowledge doping 'conspiracy' - report

Argentine coach Diego Simeone will remain at Atletico Madrid next season, the club's chief executive officer Miguel Angel Gil Marin said.
     Simeone, 46, signed a contract extension in 2015 that originally tied him to the club until June 2020, an unusually long deal by Spanish standards.
     But in September he reduced the deal to 2018 after talks with Atletico, sparking speculation that he may leave.
     Asked about Simeone's future, Gil Marin said yesterday he will stay at Atletico "this season and the next for sure."
	"He has been with us for five years and it would be reasonable if he stayed with us many more because we are delighted," he added during an interview with private television La Sexta.
     "We continue to grow, both him and the club, and what would be most intelligent for both parts would be to continue."
	Simeone, a former Atletico midfielder, has led the club to a host of trophies since becoming coach in 2011, including the domestic title in 2014 and two ...

Simeone to stay at Atletico next season - club chief

Scoreboard at lunch on the third day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
     Pakistan 1st innings (overnight 310 for 6)
     S Aslam c Smith b Lyon             9
     A Ali not out                    196
     B Azam c Smith b Hazlewood        23
     Y Khan b Bird                     21
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Maddinson b Bird  11
     A Shafiq c Smith b Bird           50
     S Ahmed c Renshaw b Hazlewood     10
     M Amir c Wade b Starc             29
     S Khan not out                    65
     Extras: (B-4, LB-9, W-5, NB-1)    19
     Total: (For 7 wkts; 124 overs)   433
     Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-60, 3-111, 4-125, 5-240, 6-268, 7-317.
     Bowling: Starc 30-6-117-1, Hazlewood 31-11-48-2, Bird 34-5-113-3, Lyon 23-1-115-1, Smith 3-0-9-0, Maddinson 3-0-18-0.

Melbourne, Dec 28 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the third day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Azhar Ali hit the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in Australia as the tourists pounded the home bowlers on the third day of the second Test here today.
     Azhar passed Majid Khan's previous highest score of 158 posted in Melbourne 44 years ago with a four through the slips cordon off Josh Hazlewood.
     At lunch, the tourists were 433 for seven with Azhar unconquered on 196 off 354 balls with recalled pace bowler Sohail Khan hitting out for an unbeaten 65.
     The pair plastered the Australian attack in an beaten run-a-ball stand of 116 that the home side seemed incapable of stopping as the tourists looked to set up a declaration.
     It was Azhar's 12th Test century in his 56th Test and third against Australia and took his aggregate for the calendar year to 1,146 runs at 63.66.
     In October, Azhar joined a select club of batsmen with an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies in Dubai and became the first batsman in day-night Test cricket to achieve a triple century.
     It 

Ali closes on 200 as Pakistan blast Aussie bowlers

An earthquake hit eastern Romania early today, shaking the capital Bucharest, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
	Romania's National Institute for Earth Physics put the quake at magnitude 5.2, while the US Geological Survey gave it a magnitude of 5.6.
	"The epicentre was in the seismic region of Vrancea at a depth of 100 kilometres (60 miles)," the institute's spokesman Mircea Radulian told AFP after the quake hit around 1:20 AM (local time).
	The Vrancea region, northeast of Bucharest, has experienced some of Romania's most deadly tremors, notably in 1977 when a 7.2-magnitude quake killed more than 1,500 people.
	The area sits on the junction of three tectonic plates and is one of the most seismically active areas in Europe.

Earthquake rattles Bucharest

US President Barack Obama today warned against the "urge to demonize those who are different" as he hosted Shinzo Abe, the leader of foe-turned-ally Japan, for a solemn visit to Pearl Harbor.
	Obama, who will leave office next month, also hailed the alliance between the two nations, saying it had "never been stronger."
	In remarks that echoed with history and America's current hypercharged politics, Obama told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that "the character of nations is tested in war, but it is defined in peace."
	"Even when hatred burns hottest, even when the tug of tribalism is at its most primal, we must resist the urge to turn inward. We must resist the urge to demonize those who are different," Obama said.
	"I welcome you here in the spirit of friendship," he told Abe.
	"I hope that, together, we send a message to the world that there is more to be won in peace than in war, that reconciliation carries more rewards than retribution."
	Abe expressed "sincere and everlasting 

Obama, Abe offer condolences at Pearl Harbor in historic visit

US Secretary of State John Kerry will offer a "comprehensive vision" of how to revive the Israel-Palestinian peace process in a major speech today.
	President Barack Obama's administration, including Kerry, is to leave office in four weeks and last week gravely offended Israel by failing to veto a critical UN resolution.
	But US officials said they plan to keep pushing both Israel and the Palestinian leadership to take concrete steps to revive talks on a two-state solution to the conflict.
	State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Kerry believes, "it is his duty in his remaining weeks and days as secretary of state to lay out what he believes is a way towards a two-state solution".
	"It's always important to keep the process moving forward," Toner said. "We haven't given up on this and we don't think the Israelis and Palestinians should do either."
	Officials said Kerry would make the speech to an invited audience, including the Washington diplomatic corps, at the State ...

Kerry to offer US vision of Israel-Palestinian peace today

The Washington Post, purchased three years ago by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will turn a profit in 2016 and expand its newsroom, defying the downward trend in the newspaper industry.
	A memo to staff this month from Post publisher Fred Ryan, obtained by AFP, said the newspaper has been helped by its digital efforts and will be launching new "initiatives" in the coming year.
	"Thanks to the incredible work of the entire team, the Washington Post will finish this year as a profitable and growing company," Ryan said in the memo.
	"In addition to reinforcing our belief that there is a viable business model in quality journalism, this will provide additional funding for several new initiatives that build upon the successes of this year."
	The newsroom was "larger this year than last year, and it will grow even more next year," he added.
	The newspaper will create a new "rapid-response investigative team" to add to the investigations team, and hire more staff for video, breaking news and ...

'Profitable' Washington Post will expand newsroom

Donald Trump has designated his company's chief lawyer as a top international negotiator, the US president-elect's transition team announced today.
	Jason Greenblatt, the executive vice president and chief legal officer for the Trump Organisation -- which oversees the Republican's business empire -- will serve as special representative for international negotiations, the team said in a statement.
	The statement did not offer precise details on the duties of the position but on Friday CNN cited an unidentified source who said Greenblatt's portfolio would include the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Cuban relations and trade agreements.
	Greenblatt advised Trump on the Arab-Israeli conflict during the campaign, according to the statement.
	The president-elect said Greenblatt had negotiated "substantial, complex" transactions on Trump's behalf and was well suited to the new position that will include "assisting on international negotiations of all types, and trade deals around the ...

Trump names company lawyer as intl negotiations representative

Airbus said today it was postponing for a year the planned delivery of 12 A380 superjumbos to Dubai's Emirates airline, without offering reasons for the delay.
	The aerospace giant will "change its pace of its deliveries by delaying the delivery to Emirates of six A380 planes from 2017 to 2018 and six others from 2018 to 2019," it said in a statement.
	Despite the delay, Airbus restated its aim announced earlier this year of delivering 12 planes annually from 2018.
	In November, Emirates complained of "technical difficulties" with the Trent 900 engines produced by British firm Rolls Royce for the A380.
	In April 2015, Airbus selected Rolls Royce for the lucrative deal to provide the engines for 50 of its A380s that was worth a record at the time of USD 9.2 billion.
	Emirates, the biggest client for superjumbos, took delivery of its A380 in November and has ordered 142 in total.
	A380s with the Rolls Royce motor are already being operated by other airlines such as Qantas and Singapore .

Airbus delays delivery of 12 A380s to Emirates

US prosecutors announced criminal charges today against three hackers who allegedly made USD 4 million in illicit profits from insider trading of information pilfered from law firms advising on corporate merger.
	The three defendants, two from Macau and one from China, successfully breached the computer networks of international law firms with New York offices by unlawfully obtaining a firm employee's credentials and then installing malware on the server of the law firm, the US Attorney's office in New York said.
	The malware permitted the hackers to monitor law firm communications about more than a dozen transactions in 2014 and 2015 that were discussed or contemplated, including some deals that were never consummated.
	The hackers then bought shares of companies that would later be acquired, winning great profit.
	The hackers allegedly made USD 380,000 on trades of Intermune, a drug maker bought in 2014 by Germany's Roche; USD 1.4 billion in trades on Altera, which was bought by ...

Arrest in USD 4mn US insider trading case from law firm hacks

British author Richard Adams, the author of the much-loved classic novel Watership Down about a community of rabbits, has died at the age of 96, a statement on the book's website said today.
	"Richard's much-loved family announce with sadness that their dear father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away peacefully at 10 pm on Christmas Eve," the statement said.
	The tear-jerking tale is about a group of rabbits searching for a new home after the destruction of their warren, encountering perils along the way.
	The book, his first novel, was published in 1972, made into an animated film in 1978 and was later into a television series which ran from 1999 to 2001.
	He told an interviewer that the book started out as a story he told his two young daughters during a long car journey and the novel is dedicated to them.
	The book is taught in British schools and he even created "Lapine", a fictional language, for it.
	Adams also wrote Shardik and The Plague Dogs.

'Watership Down' author Adams dies aged 96

Hollywood star Carrie Fisher -- best known for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" saga -- died today, days after suffering a massive heart attack on a transatlantic flight, according to a family statement given to People magazine.
	"It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning," family spokesman Simon Halls said in a statement on behalf of Fisher's daughter.

'Star Wars' actress Carrie Fisher dead at 60: reports

George Michael's family said today they were "touched" by emotional tributes to the late British pop icon, as flowers, candles, balloons and cards piled up outside his homes.
	"The family and close friends of George have been touched beyond words by the incredible outpouring of love for him in the hours and days since his death," the singer's publicist said in a statement.
	"Contrary to some reports, there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death and from the bottom of our hearts we thank those who, rightly, have chosen to celebrate his life and legacy".
	Tearful fans were seen laying tributes on the pavement outside his mansion in Highgate in north London, as well as the house in the village of Goring on the River Thames west of London where he died.
	"Love never dies just gets stronger!!" read one card in Highgate, placed next to some white tulips.
	A flag of Cyprus, where Michael's father came from, could also be seen hanging on the railing outside.
	In Goring, one ...

George Michael's family 'touched' by tributes

Romania's president sparked fresh political turmoil today after blocking a proposal by the leftist party that won elections this month to appoint the EU country's first female and first Muslim prime minister.
	Klaus Iohannis gave no reasons for his rejection of Sevil Shhaideh, put forward by the Social Democrats (PSD), but there was speculation that it was due to her Syrian husband's background.
	"I have properly analysed the arguments for and against and I have decided not to accept this proposal," the president told reporters, calling on the PSD to "make another proposal".
	Shhaideh, 52, who has only five months ministerial experience, is from Romania's small and long-established Turkish minority, but her Muslim faith is not thought to have been the problem.
	Instead the focus was likely on her husband, 54, who worked in the Syrian agriculture ministry for 20 years before emigrating to Romania in 2011 and marrying Shhaideh the same year, according to the PSD.
	Non-profit ...

Romania's first female, Muslim PM rejected

Iraq's premier said today security forces need another three months to eliminate the Islamic State group from the country after launching their offensive against IS in October.
	"The available data indicate that Iraq requires three months to eliminate Daesh," Haider al-Abadi told a televised news conference, referring to the jihadist group by an Arabic acronym.
	Previously, he had vowed that the IS-occupied city of Mosul would be retaken "before the end of the year", a goal that is no longer possible.
	What began as a rapid push into Mosul, which the jihadists have occupied since June 2014, has turned into a hellish block-by-block war, with IS inflicting high casualty rates on advancing Iraqi forces.
	Since the offensive began on October 17, elite Iraqi forces have reconquered several parts of eastern Mosul and are moving closer to the Tigris, the river that divides the city, but IS still occupies the city's west.
	High-ranking officials believe that the battle against IS could drag ..

Iraq PM says needs three months to eliminate IS

Scores at close on the
second day of the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at St George's Park today:
     South Africa, first innings
     (overnight 267-6)
     S Cook c Chandimal b Lakmal           59
     D Elgar c Chandimal b Lakmal          45
     H Amla c Chandimal b Lakmal           20
     J Duminy lbw b Herath                 63
     F du Plessis c Karunaratne b Lakmal   37
     T Bavuma lbw b Herath                  3
     Q de Kock b Pradeep                   37
     V Philander c Chameera b Pradeep      13
     K Maharaj c Chandimal b Lakmal         0
     K Abbott run out (Perera)              0
     K Rabada not out                       0
     Extras (lb3, nb5, w1)                   9
     Total (98.5 overs)                    286
     Fall of wickets: 1-104, 2-105, 3-178, 4-213, 5-225, 6-253, 7-276, 8-276, 9-281
     Bowling: Lakmal 27-9-63-5, Pradeep 21.5-5-66-2, Mathews 13-5-26-0, Chameera 14-1-68-0, Herath 20-4-48-2, De Silva 3-0-12-0.
     Sri Lanka, .

Port Elizabeth, Dec 27 (AFP) Scores at close on the

Ancient spuds recently dug up on Canada's Pacific coast are blackened and surely unedible, but are the first proof, say researchers, that North American natives tended gardens at least 3,800 years ago.
	The excavated potato patch on the ancestral lands of the Katzie tribe in British Columbia is "the first evidence" of gardening by local hunter-gatherers of the era, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances' December issue.
	Archeologists led by Tanja Hoffmann and Simon Fraser University concluded that the inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest had engineered the wetland to amplify production of the wild food plant.
	They installed a rock pavement that "formed a boundary for the cultivation" of the potatoes, which were found in growing position.
	 Also discovered at the site was close to 150 fire-hardened wood tool fragments, believed to have been the tips of "digging sticks."
	Typically harvested from October to February, wapato was an important dietary source of ...

3,800-year-old potato garden discovered in Canada

The president of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot region of northern Cyprus said today that a referendum on reunifying the island could be held in the summer if talks next month went to plan.
	Mustafa Akinci and President Nicos Anastasiades of the internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus are due to meet in Switzerland in January, in a bid to give new momentum to the process.
	"If everything goes well and there is no accident on the way, then a referendum could be on the agenda in the summer months," Akinci told reporters in Nicosia.
	He said there are some 100 issues to deal with in the Cyprus negotiations but the most sensitive amount to just 8-10 issues, including land, property and security.
	Anastasiades and Akinci agreed to resume the talks for the reunification of the divided Mediterranean island after negotiations broke down in Switzerland last month.
	Akinci confirmed he would hold one-on-one talks with Anastasiades before being joined on January 12 by the ...

AFP

AFP

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