Cheteshwar Pujara is not known to score at a fast clip but but the slowness of the MCG track was something that bogged down even India's dogged No 3 during the first innings of the third Test against Australia.
"We have to bat like the way the wicket is behaving and what the situation is. On this pitch, every batsman has to play a lot of balls to score runs. If it were a different wicket maybe I would have scored 140-150 after playing so many deliveries. But in Test cricket it is important to read both situation and pitch when batting," Pujara, who scored  106 off 319 balls in India's first innings total of 443/7 declared.
Pujara admitted that the pitch is extremely difficult to bat on and the runs put on board is good enough to challenge Australia.
"It is a tough pitch to score on. If we look at first two days number of runs scored are very less and in a way I would say that 200 in a day is a tough task, so I think we have enough runs on the board," said Pujara.
The variable bounce ..

On different track, I could have scored 140-150: Pujara

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Via Sundari Octavia keeps a watchful eye on her small children as they sing and dance -- part of a trauma healing programme for kids displaced by Indonesia's deadly tsunami.
Octavia was with dozens of parents lining the edge of a futsal pitch turned evacuation shelter in the town of Labuan Thursday, where relief workers played games with children to take their minds off the disaster.
The 30-year-old, her husband and three children -- two sons aged three and five and a baby boy -- survived the killer wave that killed more than 400 people and left many homeless.
But they have little left beyond the clothes on their back and some meagre belongings strewn on the floor.
"My house was swept away by the waves," Octavia told AFP, as she sat on a tarpaulin, clothes drying on a fence behind her.
"I only brought few things with me, everything else is gone." At another relief centre in hard-hit Kalianda, volunteers handed out drawings for kids to colour along with stuffed animals and other ...

Songs and toys for Indonesia's disaster-zone kids

We mirror the emotions of those we see online and seek out people who share our emotions, according to a study that examined over 2000 video blogs, or vlogs on YouTube.
Being affected by others' emotions is known as "contagion," said researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
People also seek out others like themselves, or in this case, people with similar outlooks and moods, known as "homophily."
"Our research is a reminder that the people we encounter online influence our everyday emotions - being exposed to happy (or angry) people can make us more happy (or angry) ourselves," said Hannes Rosenbusch, lead author of the study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
With almost five billion videos watched on YouTube daily, the researchers focused on vlogs and vloggers.
Vloggers share emotions and experiences in their videos, providing a reliable source of data.
The researchers focused on studying more popular vlogs, with a minimum of 10,000 .

Video bloggers and viewers share emotions: Study

Ex-China spymaster Ma Jian was jailed for life over corruption, a court in northeastern China announced Thursday.
"Ma Jian's behaviour constituted the crime of accepting bribes, forcing others to trade and insider trading," the Dalian Intermediate People's Court in Liaoning province announced in a statement.
Ma pleaded guilty and has decided not to appeal, the court said, adding that his political rights have been revoked for life and all his personal assets confiscated.
A former deputy head of China's ministry of state security, Ma was put under investigation for corruption in 2015 and expelled from the Communist Party the following year.
The hearing was held behind closed doors in August because of state secrets involved, the court said.
From 1999 to 2014, Ma used his position at the ministry to help Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui further his business interests, receiving over 109 million yuan (USD 15.9 million) in bribes, the court said, detailing several instances where the two ...

Ex-China spymaster Ma Jian jailed for life over graft

A Singaporean blogger is fighting back after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sued him for defamation for sharing an article on Facebook linking the leader to a corruption scandal.
Singapore has long been criticised for restricting free speech and other political rights, as well as slapping critics with financially ruinous libel suits.
Observers say the government is increasingly targeting online criticism -- the case against blogger Leong Sze Hian comes the same month the editor of a news portal was charged with defamation.
The prime minister lodged the defamation suit against Leong earlier in December for posting on his Facebook page a link to an article alleging that Lee was the target of an investigation in neighbouring Malaysia over the scandal at sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Lee said the article, originally published in a Malaysian news portal, was false and without basis and that Leong had reposted the link to smear his reputation.
But Leong, a regular critic of government ...

Singaporean blogger fights back against PM libel suit

Australian opener Aaron Finch Thursday said the MCG pitch is deteriorating quicker than anticipated and all three results are possible in the third Test despite a slow Indian first innings that finished at 443 for seven.
The hosts were eight for no loss at stumps in response.
"It's not your traditional Australian wicket where you have three slips and a gully all day and you bang away, and the ball seams and carries like we saw in Perth. There, a lot of dismissals were behind the wicket," Finch said.
At the end of day's play, he added, "On such pitches, I think you've just got to adapt your gameplan and regardless of what the wicket is, you've got to be good enough to adapt and change your plans and execute on the day."
Cheteshwar Pujara struck a classy century and combined with captain Virat Kohli (82) to put India in control on the second day.
Finch said, "This wicket is probably deteriorating more than we thought it would. Even tonight it was skidding through, there were a couple ...

All three results possible in third Test: Finch

/ -- Huawei released AI Fabric, Intelligent and Lossless Data Center Network in the AI Era.
The white paper presents the urgency and necessity of building an intelligent and lossless data center network by seizing AI opportunities to monetize data value. It elaborates on the unique technical advantages and customer benefits of using AI Fabric to build an intelligent and lossless network with zero packet loss, low latency, and high throughput. The release is a valuable reference for building next-generation data center networks.
According to data analysis, 67 percent of CEOs among 2,000 cross-border companies have identified digitalization as the core of their strategies.
Using AI to mine intelligence from the enormous amounts of data generated during digitalization is a common practice. Huawei's Global Industry Vision (GIV) predicts the AI procurement rate will reach 86 percent by 2025 - and leveraging AI to make decisions, reshape business models and ecosystems, and rebuild customer .

Huawei Releases an AI Fabric White Paper, Helping to Build an Intelligent and Lossless Data Center Network

British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has warned of his "very deep concerns" about Chinese technology giant Huawei being involved in the use of 5G on Britain's mobile network,  The Times reported Thursday.
"I have grave, very deep concerns about Huawei providing the 5G network in Britain. It's something we'd have to look at very closely," Williamson was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"We've got to look at what partners such as Australia and the US are doing in order to ensure that they have the maximum security of that 5G network," he said.
"We've got to recognise the fact, as has been recently exposed, that the Chinese state does sometimes act in a malign way," he said.
Williamson's comments echo similar warnings from MI6 spy agency chief Alex Younger who earlier this year said Britain would have to make "some decisions" about the involvement of firms such as Huawei.
Britain's government earlier this year announced the West Midlands region in central England would become the 

Britain voices 'grave' concerns over China's Huawei

A Pakistani separatist wanted over an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in November has been killed in a suicide blast in Afghanistan, his group has confirmed.
Aslam Baloch was believed to be one of the leaders of the Balochistan Liberation Army, one of a myriad of insurgent groups fighting in Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province.
He was killed on Tuesday along with four others in a blast in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the group said in a statement issued late Wednesday in which they vowed to continue their fight for Baloch independence.
Kandahar police chief Tadin Khan confirmed a suicide bombing had taken place in the provincial capital, killing two civilians. Another Afghan official who spoke anonymously said Baloch and a second member of the BLA were the targets of the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Four people were killed when militants attacked China's consulate in the port city of Karachi in November.
The BLA ..

Pakistani militant wanted in Chinese attack killed in Afghanistan

France's Vinci Airports on Thursday sealed a deal to acquire a majority share in London's Gatwick airport, Britain's second biggest, for 2.9 billion pounds (USD 3.67 billion).
Vinci said it would hold a 50.01-per cent stake in Gatwick, which is Europe's eight biggest airport with a total passenger traffic of 45.7 million in 2018, by the first half of next year.
The other 49.99 per cent will be held by Global Infrastructure Partners, the current owners.
Gatwick was forced to close its only runway repeatedly between last Wednesday and Friday due to reports of mystery drone sightings nearby, impacting nearly 140,000 passengers.
"The transaction represents a rare opportunity to acquire an airport of such size and quality and fits extremely well with Vinci Concessions' long-term investment horizon," a company statement said.
Gatwick "operates the busiest single runway in the world. In 2017, it hit a world record of 950 flights in a day. The airport constantly innovates in all areas of ...

France's Vinci to buy majority stake in London's Gatwick

Scientists have successfully treated a patient with disfiguring sarcoidosis, a chronic disease that can affect multiple organs, with a drug approved for rheumatoid arthritis.
Successful treatment of two other patients with similarly severe disease suggests an effective treatment for an incurable, sometimes life-threatening illness is within reach, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body, said researchers from Yale University in the US.
While some sarcoidosis patients recover without treatment, others suffer damage to the lungs, heart, lymph nodes, skin, and other organs.
Current treatments, including steroids, are not reliably effective for the skin and can cause serious side effects.
Based on clues gleaned from prior studies, the team decided to try the arthritis medication tofacitinib.
The drug blocks a pathway known as Jak-STAT.
For several months, a 48-year-old female ..

Novel therapy used to treat severe, disfiguring disease

Thousands of Taiwanese, taking a page from France's yellow vest movement, protested Thursday for the third time in a week to demand lower taxes and the fair handling of tax disputes.
Wearing yellow vests, they shouted slogans and blared air horns outside the Ministry of Finance in Taipei, the capital city, and waved banners calling Taiwan's tax collection policies illegal. Some wore clear plastic raincoats over their vests in a light rain.
"This is about our futures," said Joanna Tai, a 23-year-old English language graduate student who plans to teach after graduation next year.
"We look at wages in Hong Kong and mainland China. We want to know why there's so much of a gap with Taiwan," she said.
"Then a lot of my classmates want to start companies and be their own bosses but, because of taxes, a lot of small businesses have folded."
The Tax & Legal Reform League, an activist group, called the protest after marshaling about 20,000 people outside the presidential office in an ...

Taiwanese launch yellow vest movement to protest taxes

The United Nations has "unequivocally condemned" the recent attack on a government compound in Afghanistan's heavily populated capital city of Kabul, in which more than 40 people were killed.
Expressing their sympathy and concern, the Security Council issued a statement underlining that the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism needed to be held accountable and brought to justice.
They also urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Afghan Government and all other relevant authorities to this end.
"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," said the statement.
Moreover, they reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, ...

UN 'unequivocally condemns' attack in Kabul

Australia were eight for no loss at stumps in reply to India's first-innings total of 443/7 declared on the second day of the third Test against India here Thursday.
Openers Marcus Harris (5) and Aaron Finch (3) were at the crease at close of play.
Brief scores:
India 1st innings: 443/7 declared in 169.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 106, Virat Kohli 82, Mayan Agarwal 76, Rohit Sharma not out 63; Pat Cummins 3/72)
Australia 1st innings: 8 for no loss in 6 overs.

Australia 8/0 at stumps on day 2, India declare at 443/7

UN chief Antonio Guterres has asked all stakeholders in Bangladesh to ensure that the upcoming general elections are held in an environment free of violence and intimidation, amid reports of arrests and targeted attacks carried out by the ruling party activists.
General elections will be held in Bangladesh on December 30. It will be the 11th election held in the country.
In the run-up to the general elections, UN Secretary General Guterres reiterated the continued commitment of the United Nations for a peaceful and democratic Bangladesh.
"All Bangladeshi citizens, including minorities and women, must feel safe and confident in exercising their right to vote. Civil society and electoral observers should be fully supported to play their role in the process," a statement issued Wednesday by the Secretary General's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
He "calls on all stakeholders to ensure an environment free of violence, intimidation and coercion before, during and after the elections, so .

UN chief calls on stakeholders to ensure peaceful general elections in Bangladesh

His banter with Virat Kohli became a talking point in the Perth Test and Australian captain Tim Paine was at it again from behind the stumps with Rohit Sharma at the receiving end here.
Paine was caught on the stump microphone telling team-mate Aaron Finch that he would join Mumbai Indians IPL team if the stylish Indian hits a six at the MCG, during the post-tea session of the third Test's second day.
"It has been a toss up for me between Royals and Indians. If Rohit hits a six here, I am changing to Mumbai," Paine said to Finch who was the close-in fielder.
Paine's comments behind the stumps went on for a few overs with Rohit, the Mumbai Indians captain, breaking into a smile every now and then.
"Too many Poms at the Royals," Paine said, referring to Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler playing for the Rajasthan franchise.
"You've nearly played for every team now," Paine continued.
"Except Bangalore," Finch replied.
"Except Bangalore?" Paine questioned.
In the Perth Test, Paine was involved in 

Paine continues chatter behind stumps, Rohit offers smile

A class of drugs used to treat certain breast cancers could help fight lung cancers that have become resistant to targeted therapies, according to a study conducted in mice.
The study, published in the journal Cell Reports, found that lung tumours in mice caused by mutations in a gene called EGFR shrunk significantly when a protein called p110a was blocked.
Drugs to block p110a are currently showing promise in clinical trials against certain breast cancers, so could be approved for clinical use in the near future, said researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in the UK.
The new findings suggest that these drugs could potentially benefit patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers whose tumours have become resistant to treatment.
"At the moment, patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers are given targeted treatments that are very effective for the first few years," said Professor Julian Downward, who has labs at the Francis Crick Institute and the 

Breast cancer drugs may help treat resistant lung cancers

Former Australian cricketer Kerry O'Keeffe has apologised for ridiculing Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal's first-class career while commentating during the ongoing third Test here, saying he did not intend to demean the debutant.
The former spinner, while commentating for 'Fox Cricket', was quoted as saying that Agarwal's maiden first-class triple century came against "Railways canteen staff".
O'Keeffe was criticised on social media for the comment and the cricketer, who played 24 Tests for Australia, apologised on Thursday for comment on Agarwal, who scored 76 in his maiden Test appearance.
"I was mentioning the runs Agarwal got in first class cricket in India and there's been a reaction," he was quoted as saying by the local media here.
"There was no way I was demeaning the standard, it was tongue in cheek. There are lots of runs scored so apologies if anyone out there took offence," he added.
The 27-year-old Agarwal plays for Karnataka in the Indian domestic circuit and averages ...

Kerry O'Keeffe apologises for 'railway canteen' jibe at Agarwal

A homemade explosive device went off early Thursday in front of a church in central Athens injuring a police officer but there were no immediate claims of responsibility.
The explosion happened at 7:10 am (0510 GMT) in the upmarket Kolonaki area, police said, adding that an arterial road had been sealed off.
The police officer was hospitalised with minor injuries.
Non-fatal attacks targeting centres of power and embassies have been common in Greece in recent years, often blamed on anarchists or far-left groups.
Ten days ago, a homemade bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the Skai media group in a seaside Athens suburb causing major damage. There have been no claims of responsibility.

Police officer injured in blast outside Athens church

The bodies of two South Korean men who drowned while golfing in northern Thailand have been found, police said Thursday, after their wives' buggy collided with their own, knocking them into a river.
The group were on a ferry preparing to cross the river that runs through the course when the men -- who were in one buggy -- were accidentally rammed by their wives in another.  The impact threw them all into the muddy waters, said district police Lieutenant Colonel Suwat Suawatmontri.
The women were promptly rescued by nearby fishermen.
More than 50 rescue workers from the military and police were involved in the search for the missing men -- Jun Yong Sung, 68, and Jaeoong Ha, 76.
One body was found last night about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the accident site, while the other was discovered by villagers Thursday morning "floating near a temple", Suwat said.
"Their wives said both are able to swim but I think the cause of drowning was the strong undercurrent," he added.
The two couples 

S Korean tourists found drowned after golf-buggy collision

Afghanistan's election organisers are again considering postponing April's presidential ballot for two months, an official said Thursday, in an attempt to avoid a repeat of October's shambolic legislative vote.
The remarks come at a sensitive time for Afghanistan as the Taliban step up their bloody offensive and President Donald Trump's plan to slash American troop numbers threatens to derail US-led peace efforts.
The Independent Election Commission, which was skewered over its handling of the parliamentary vote, was meeting with "relevant sides", including potential candidates, to discuss delaying the ballot.
"The purpose is reform and to avoid problems which occurred in the parliamentary election," IEC spokesman Zabi Sadat told AFP.
"No decision is final yet, but we will make an announcement soon." The IEC is still finalising results of the parliamentary vote held two months ago and observers have expressed concern that it would struggle to organise a presidential election in ...

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