But Smith believes the world champions have a quality squad to bounce back in the series.
The IAF has paid French aerospace firms Dassault and Thales about Euro 350 million for 'performance-based logistics'. This requires the vendors to ensure that 75 per cent of the Rafale fleet is combat-ready at all times, notes Ajai Shukla.
The FBI chief said that in the last presidential elections, the Russians were not able to change the actual vote tally, but one day they might.
Australia captain Steve Smith will seek an explanation from match referee Chris Broad over a Decision Review System malfunction during his team's march to victory over West Indies in the second Test on Tuesday.
The following are talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
England captain Joe Root refused to blame his senior players for the tourists' stunning Ashes defeat but lamented his own failures to lead the way with the bat against Australia.
Former Australia captain Mark Taylor resigned from Cricket Australia's (CA) board of directors on Monday, as the fallout from a scathing review into the governing body's culture claimed another victim.
In the fifth of a six-part series, Business Standard visits Coimbatore, often referred to as the Manchester of South India for its promising textile industry, to assess the impact of the note ban.
Formula One champions Mercedes ran their new car for the first time at Silverstone on Wednesday with title holder Lewis Hamilton saying he felt 2019 could turn out even better than last season.
Clinical England beat India by 31 runs at Edgbaston on Sunday to take them back in the top-four in the points table, giving themselves a shot at the semis spot.
Cricket Australia (CA) has come in defence of skipper Steve Smith who has been under fire post the series whitewash in Sri Lanka, followed by defeat against South Africa in the opening Test in Perth, going 0-1 in the three-match series. The debacle didn't end there as the Aussies came out with a dismal batting performance in the Hobart Test as they were bowled out for 85 on Day One itself within the second session. But CA chief executive James Sutherland has backed Smith, citing his age and inexperience, and adding that they have full faith in the latter as a leader.
Shakespeare Wallah had been out of circulation for a long time, but a restored version of the film opened in New York on November 10. It will travel after that to other cities in the US and hopefully, soon to India as well, says Aseem Chhabra, author of the bestseller Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, The Star.
All the parties, fashion and general merriment from the Oscars night!
Humiliated in their previous face-off this season, table toppers Rajasthan Royals will be desperate to seek revenge against a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore in Wednesday's Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru.
Real Madrid's Javier Hernandez struck twice as they came from behind to beat Celta Vigo 4-2 away and keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Liverpool started the ball rolling with a convincing 4-1 win at home to promoted Norwich and City responded a day later with an even more emphatic 5-0 victory at West Ham United.
England beat Pakistan by 330 runs to win the 2nd Test at Old Trafford to level the four-match series 1-1 on Monday.
A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.
Trent Boult top the most valuable players list with Mohammed Shami hold on to second position
Australia's wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin said his team is quite comfortable playing a hard-nosed brand of cricket and would not be affected by the furore caused by David Warner's latest code-of-conduct offence.
Whatever happens in the title battle between Manchester City and Liverpool, which will go down to the final day of the season
'When it comes to technique...you grow up on wickets that are fast and bouncy, when you come to the subcontinent, it is your first series and it is hard to adapt. When you keep coming back, there are no excuses. You should know the conditions'
A look at the records of Spain's Rafael Nadal and Serbia's Novak Djokovic before their title clash at the Australian Open on Sunday (prefix number denotes seeding):
Australia's batting sensation Steven Smith tells Harish Kotian switching over from the Test and One-day mode to T20 will not be a problem for him in the upcoming eighth edition of the IPL.
Australia will trial day-night matches in the domestic Sheffield Shield competition later this year with a view to playing Tests against New Zealand under lights in 2015-16, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Friday.
Divergent is clearly made for its already existent fan base, with the best loved bits and pieces of the book shoved on to screen with hardly any adhesive to keep them together, feels Paloma Sharma.
With Hillary Clinton's email saga getting murkier, Donald Trump has alleged that the former secretary of state set up an illegal server for the purpose of shielding her "criminal conduct" from public and asserted that the action was "willful, deliberate and purposeful".
Mourinho's side failed to turn their domination into more goals and things got edgy late on when Saville's shot evaded Gazzaniga who seemed slow to get down.
Paatal Lok is definitely a must watch show. The credit for its success goes to the writers who enthralled us with their unique characters, but also to the wonderful band of actors who grabbed the opportunity to showcase their frightening raw talent, notes Aseem Chhabra.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh blamed his opening bowlers for the four-wicket loss against Australia in their cricket tri-series match in Melbourne.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
A ruthless India, sporting its new flaming orange and blue colours, will be eyeing pole position with a solid knock-out punch on an already disintegrated England in Sunday's high-profile World Cup encounter. With an unbeaten record in six encounters so far, Virat Kohli's men are all but through to the semi-finals with 11 points, but victory over England will tighten their grip at the top and, in the process, oust the world's No 1 ODI team from the global event.
Stuart Broad has been backed by captain Alastair Cook to lead the attack in the absence of James Anderson as England try to show they can win a major Test match without their all-time leading wicket-taker.
England trail India 0-2 in the five-match One-Day International series, but coach Peter Moores is still confident of a turnaround in his team's fortunes.
Hosts Kerala Blasters did themselves no good after playing a goalless draw against a 10-man NorthEast United FC in a hard-fought Indian Super League (ISL) game at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium on Thursday.
England seamer James Anderson is confident that he has enough skill and experience to compensate for his decreased pace over the remaining years of his cricket career. England's record wicket-taker in the format missed the opening test defeat against Pakistan at Lord's with a shoulder injury but returned for the second match in Manchester. Anderson, who turned 34 over the weekend, took four wickets at Old Trafford as England levelled the four-match series with a 330-run victory but there was a discernable drop in pace for the bowler who has claimed 458 victims in 117 appearances.
James Anderson will join England's Test squad in India next week, and is increasingly hopeful of playing a significant part in the five-match series after making encouraging progress in his recovery from a shoulder injury.
Bernardo Silva has made an encouraging start to the Premier League campaign and the Manchester City midfielder said that feeling more settled at his second season with the champions was a key factor in his performances.
Marcus Rashford's penalty and a deflected strike from Mason Mount helped England come from a goal down to overcome top-ranked Belgium 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday and climb above them in their UEFA Nations League group.
A summary of Tuesday's Group stage matches in the UEFA Champions League.
