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Australia vs India 1st ODI Live Update: David Warner dives to prevent a run out at the SCG© Twitter Despite losing David Warner, Australia are looking comfortable in their aim to set a strong target against India in the first ODI match of their cricket tour, at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 27. Earlier, Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat. Warner grabbed a half-century, with Finch also having crossed the 50-mark. Having already undergone similar COVID-19 norms during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in United Arab Emirates (UAE), the restrictions, repeated tests and quarantines has already added a new dimension to the competition. The Indian cricket team were last supposed to play South Africa inContinue Reading

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India fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the tour to Australia, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a release on Thursday, November 26. Rohit Sharma, who is recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained during the Indian Premier League (IPL), will be next assessed on December 11. He is rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Rohit’s participation in the Test series will be ascertained after the assessment. T Natarajan, who was part of India’s Twenty20 International squad has been added to the One-day International squad as a back-up for Navdeep Saini, who complained of back spasm. “Ishant has recovered completely from his side strain injury sustained during IPL 2020 inContinue Reading

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Virat Kohli on Thursday said there was confusion, uncertainty and “lack of clarity” over Rohit Sharma’s injury saga. Addressing the media ahead of the first ODI between India and Australia in Sydney, Kohli said “It’s been very confusing and a lot of uncertainty and lack of clarity around the situation.” Reacting to the Indian Cricket Team captain’s comments, Bengal’s Ranji Trophy skipper Manoj Tiwary took to Twitter to share a cryptic post, with a reference to former WWE star and Hollywood actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. “Lack of clarity has different meaning when it comes out from the mouth of two different individuals. If u smeeeellllllll Wat d rock is cooking,” he wrote, using Johnson’s catchphrase. Lack of clarity hasContinue Reading

UK government's foreign aid cuts put girls' education at risk

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Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock The UK government’s 2020 spending review includes a cut in international aid, from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. My research shows that this will have severe effects on the lives of girls worldwide. Earlier this year, my colleagues and I at the University of Cambridge published a report highlighting the urgent need for political leadership to address a global learning crisis in girls’ education in low and middle-income countries. That review was commissioned by what is now the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It contained powerful reflections by the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who commented: “This problem has a real cost – not only in loss of talent and potential – but on communities,Continue Reading

A Black participant in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has blood drawn by a white man.

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Following the good news from three separate COVID-19 vaccine trials, optimism that life might be “back to normal by spring” is running high. There are many reasons to temper this optimism as there is a lot we don’t know about the safety and long-term efficacy of these vaccines, as many have pointed out. There are other concerns about vaccine take-up, as raised by news outlets and Twitter users, focusing on the 14% who would refuse a COVID vaccine outright and an additional 14% who would hesitate to take the vaccine. Coverage has been quick to conflate people who are “vaccine hesitant” with conspiracy theorists – drawing comparisons between those wary of the newly developed vaccines and the gullible fools orContinue Reading

Periodic table: scientists propose new way of ordering the elements

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Alexey Godzenko/Shutterstock The periodic table of the elements, principally created by the Russian chemist, Dmitry Mendeleev (1834-1907), celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. It would be hard to overstate its importance as an organising principle in chemistry – all budding chemists become familiar with it from the earliest stages of their education. Given the table’s importance, one might be forgiven for thinking that the ordering of the elements were no longer subject to debate. However, two scientists in Moscow, Russia, have recently published a proposal for a new order. Let’s first consider how the periodic table was developed. By the late 18th century, chemists were clear about the difference between an element and a compound: elements were chemically indivisible (examplesContinue Reading

Why you need to stay home this Christmas – public health expert

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This year, it's safer to celebrate on Zoom. insta_photos/Shutterstock In early November, the UK government put England into its second coronavirus lockdown. With rising infections nationally, strained health services and the threat of yet more deaths, the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said: “There is no alternative”. An important factor in the decision to lock down in November was the hope that restrictions could be eased in time for Christmas. But even though the government has set out its plan for coming out of lockdown on December 2 and introduced a new tier system for that time, the conditions are not favourable. Indeed, many areas in England will be placed in tier 3 restrictions – the highest possible level –Continue Reading

The Conversation

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When a wave of right-wing extremism hit Greece in 2012, few would have predicted that Golden Dawn, one of the groups involved, would grow to become the third largest party in the Greek parliament. This was the beginning of a long period of turmoil in Greek politics that saw a violent street movement become a viable political force. But this neo-fascist “fairy tale” ended in what was considered the biggest Nazi trial since Nuremberg. Golden Dawn has been declared a criminal organisation and its leaders jailed, because of their involvement in unlawful activities – including murders, attacks on migrants, illegal possession of weapons and racketeering. The leadership was also found guilty of ordering the murder of leftist rapper Pavlos Fyssas.Continue Reading