96: Newsprint: December 29, 2017

Don’t have time to keep a tab on news throughout the day? CNN News18 brings you the day’s top news and newsmakers in less than 3 minutes! Here are today’s top picks: Doctors say deaths due to asphyxiation and not burns, Narrow exit adds to the evacuation problem

ENTERTAINMENT:-

Amitabh Bachchan has gifted environmentalist Afroz Shah an excavator and a tractor for cleaning up Versova beach. The actor shared a series of photographs from the beach on his Twitter account. Afroz had started the largest beach-clean up initiative with an aim to clean Mumbai's Versova beach with the help of locals. This is not the first time a celebrity has lent his support for the beach clean up. Previously, actors like Randeep Hooda, Anushka Sharma and Dia Mirza have supported the cause.

SPORTS:-

India’s Viswanathan Anand has given a fitting reply to all his critics by regaining the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh and staying unbeaten all through. A win against his arch-rival Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round seemed to have spurred him on, as he demolished Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev in the final in a tie breaker. Anand, who last won this title in 2003, was placed joint second at the start of the final five rounds (11 to 15) on Thursday, but fought back strongly to bag the title on tie-break after a three-way tie with Russians Vladimir Fedoseev and Ian Nepomniachtchi at 10.5 points from a possible 15. Anand then defeated Fedoseev 2-0 in a two-game tie-break to win the championship.

TECH:-

Facing lawsuits and consumer outrage after it said it slowed older iPhones with flagging batteries, Apple Inc is slashing prices for battery replacements and will change its software to show users whether their phone battery is good. In a posting on its website Thursday, Apple apologized over its handling of the battery issue and said it would make a number of changes for customers "to recognize their loyalty and to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple’s intentions."