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Former India captain M.S. Dhoni rolled back the years with an unbeaten 26 as Chennai Super Kings bounced back from five losses to down Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets in the IPL on Monday.Chasing a tricky 167, Chennai rode on an unbeaten stand of 57 between Shivam Dube, who hit 43, and Dhoni to achieve their target with three balls to spare at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium.The 43-year-old Dhoni, who took over as captain from the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad in their previous defeat, strode in at number seven and smashed four fours and a six in his 11-ball knock to silence suggestions that he had lost his touch as a master finisher.”Good to win a game, unfortunately the games haven’t gone our way, it gives a lot of confidence to the team,” Dhoni said after winning his first IPL player of the match award since 2019.”It was a tough game, glad to be on the winning side and hopefully it gives us momentum.”The left-handed Dube, who came in as an impact substitute for the five-time champions, got the winning boundary in his 37-ball knock.The result snapped Chennai’s streak of losses but they still remain bottom of the 10-team table with two wins in seven matches.They started strongly with openers Shaik Rasheed and New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra, who hit 37, putting together a 52-run partnership inside five overs.Pace bowler Avesh Khan struck first to cut short Rasheed’s knock on 27 and Lucknow’s ploy to bring in part-time spinner Aiden Markram worked when the South African dismissed the left-handed Ravindra.Impact substitute Ravi Bishnoi struck with two key blows as he caught and bowled Rahul Tripathi for nine and then had Ravindra Jadeja taken at long-on for seven to dent Chennai’s chase.But Dube took charge and took Chennai over the line alongside Dhoni who walked in to loud cheers from the Lucknow crowd largely supporting Chennai.- Pant hits form -Lucknow suffered their third loss in seven matches but can take consolation from skipper Rishabh Pant’s back-to-form 63 in their 166-7 after being invited to bat first.”We had to keep stitching in partnerships. The wicket was stopping a bit, but we could have got 15 runs more I feel,” Pant said.On his own knock, Pant said: “I am feeling better with each and every game, but sometimes it doesn’t come off. (I’m) Slowly getting into my rhythm, taking every match at a time.”Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who had scores of 0, 15, 2, 2, 21 in his previous five innings, started cautiously with Lucknow on 23-2.The swashbuckling left-hander played six dot balls to Afghanistan left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad in the middle of his knock but finished with four fours and fours sixes in his 49-ball stay.Pant’s innings involved two key stands, adding 50 with Mitchell Marsh, who hit 30 on his return after he missed the previous match, and 53 with Abdul Samad, who made 20.Pant finally fell to Sri Lanka pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana, who took two wickets in the 20th over.Jadeja stood out with figures of 2-24 in his three overs of left-arm spin.Ahmad returned figures of 0-13 in his four overs and tops the bowling chart with 12 wickets this season.

Nepal’s former king has expressed sorrow over last month’s violent demonstrations by pro-monarchy supporters while lending tacit support to their participants in his first public statement on the protests.Gyanendra Shah, the last king of Nepal, was deposed in 2008 at the end of the Himalayan republic’s decade-long civil war. But public support for the restoration of the monarchy has grown in tandem with dissatisfaction over political instability, corruption and slow economic development.Thousands took to the streets in March for a royalist rally that turned violent, with two people killed and more than 100 arrested.In a video posted on Facebook late Sunday, on the eve of Nepal’s traditional new year celebrations, Shah said that while freedom of expression was a beautiful feature of democracy, it was a right that “must be exercised with restraint”. “The recent violence, arson and vandalism during public demonstrations which caused significant human and material losses have deeply saddened us,” he said.Shah added that he viewed “the growing awareness among Nepali people about the nation and its future positively”.”Our belief has always been in a multi-party democracy and a constitutional monarchy that aligns with people’s sentiments,” he said.Nepal adopted a federal and republican political system in 2008 as part of a peace deal that ended a civil war responsible for more than 16,000 deaths.Shah has largely refrained from commenting on Nepal’s fractious politics since, but recently made several public appearances with supporters.He was crowned in 2001 after his elder brother king Birendra Bir Bikram Shah and his family were killed in a palace massacre that wiped out most of the royal family.His coronation took place as a Maoist insurgency was raging in far-flung corners of Nepal.Shah suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament in 2005, triggering a democratic uprising in which the Maoists sided with Nepal’s political establishment to orchestrate huge street protests.That eventually precipitated the end of the conflict, with parliament voting in 2008 to abolish Nepal’s 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.

The Indian Premier League season reaches the halfway point this week as 10 teams battle for supremacy in the high-octane Twenty20 cricket tournament.AFP Sport highlights five talking points from the opening weeks of the 2025 IPL:- Chennai slump -Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to five IPL crowns in the past, but the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman is struggling to inspire the bottom-placed team.The 43-year-old former India World Cup-winning captain has been among the runs batting down the order, but age seems to have diminished his finishing powers and Chennai have won only one of their six matches.When captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was injured before their last game, Dhoni found himself leading Chennai again. But they collapsed to 103 all out against Kolkata, who romped to an eight-wicket win with 59 balls to spare.The team need to find a spark soon, but commentator and former Australia skipper Michael Clarke noted on JioStar that Chennai’s approach was “conservative” and their aim seems to be “avoid a big defeat”.- Lefties on top -Left-arm spinners have proved crucial in keeping control of run rates in the middle overs, with Chennai’s Afghanistan wrist spinner Noor Ahmad leading the bowling charts with 12 wickets.Orthodox leftie Sai Kishore has also been able to choke the scoring rate for Gujarat Titans, as has wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav of Delhi Capitals. Yadav picked up two more dismissals Sunday to join Kishore on the 10-wicket mark.Another left-arm wrist spinner, Vignesh Puthur, emerged as a talent to watch after the 24-year-old took three wickets on debut for Mumbai Indians, despite not yet playing senior representative cricket for his state.- Openers sparkle -Priyansh Arya and fellow left-hander Abhishek Sharma have lit up the IPL with their swashbuckling batting at the top of the order.Arya hammered a 39-ball century for Punjab Kings, the fourth fastest IPL century of all time, including nine sixes.Four days later, Arya and Punjab were on the receiving end when Abhishek took 40 balls to reach his hundred.He went on to bludgeon 141 in 55 balls, with 14 fours and 10 sixes, as Sunrisers Hyderabad overhauled Punjab’s 245 to pull off the second highest chase in IPL history.Openers Sai Sudharsan (Gujarat), Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow), Travis Head (Hyderabad), Phil Salt (Bengaluru) and Virat Kohli (Bengaluru) have also made rapid fifties to get their side off to great starts.- Hot and cold stars -Kohli has carried his Champions Trophy form into the IPL with 248 runs including three half-centuries, but fellow big names Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant have struggled.India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit has scored 0, 8, 13, 17 and 18 in his five outings for Mumbai.Lucknow splashed a record $3.21 million for wicketkeeper-batsman Pant but have seen no return yet for their money as their new skipper has managed just 40 runs. Shreyas Iyer is one player who has justified a big auction price — $3.17 million — by hammering 250 runs, including a best of 97 not out, for Punjab.- Rahul fires Delhi  -Delhi Capitals have never won the IPL but have made a strong start, led by new captain Axar Patel. They got off to four straight wins before falling to their first defeat on Sunday to lie second behind Gujarat.The Capitals revamped their side in November’s auction and the new set-up is working so far with senior batsman KL Rahul leading the way having scored 200 runs in his four appearances.Delhi edged Lucknow by one wicket in their opening win and Axar vowed to “make it a habit” under his captaincy to get the better of the tight encounters, so vital for IPL success.Another team looking for a first IPL title are Punjab, under Shreyas Iyer, and they have ridden on the form of Arya, Iyer and Prabhsimran Singh, who has scored 133 runs, to record three wins from five matches.

Spinner Karn Sharma returned figures of 3-36 as Mumbai Indians pulled off a stunning 12-run IPL win on Sunday to end Delhi Capitals’ dominant run this season.Chasing 206 for victory, Delhi looked to be cruising at 135-2 when Karun Nair departed on 89 and leg-spinner Karn soon triggered a collapse to bowl out the hosts for 193 in their home Feroz Shah Kotla ground.It was Delhi’s first defeat after four wins in this edition of the T20 tournament. Five-time champions Mumbai got back to winning ways with just their second victory in six matches.Needing 23 runs off the last 12 balls, Ashutosh Sharma raised hopes with two boundaries off Jasprit Bumrah but the last three balls of the 19th over threw up three run-outs as Mumbai celebrated.The win dampened the return of Delhi’s Nair, who hit a valiant knock off 40 balls in his first IPL match after three years.Nair, 33, came in as an impact substitute with Delhi on 0-1 after Jake Fraser-McGurk fell to the first ball of the team’s chase.Nair, who hit an unbeaten 303 against England in a home Test in 2016 but soon lost favour with the selectors, reached his fifty — first after seven years in IPL — off 22 balls to set up the chase in a stand off 119 with Abhishek Porel.Karn, coming in as impact player, broke the stand as he cut short left-hander Porel’s 33-run knock, and soon left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner bowled Nair to hurt Delhi.Karn dismissed Tristan Stubbs for one and then caught and bowled KL Rahul for 15 as Delhi lost their way.Earlier, Tilak Varma smashed 59 and put on a key stand with Naman Dhir, who hit an unbeaten 38, to help Mumbai reach 205-5.South African left-hander Ryan Rickleton, who hit 41, put on a brisk opening stand with fellow opener Rohit Sharma to set the pace.Rohit made 18 but failed to convert his start after being trapped lbw off Vipraj Nigam, and extend his batting flop in this season of the IPL. He has 56 runs from five matches.Rickleton, a wicketkeeper-batsman, kept up the runs with Suryakumar Yadav, who hit 40 off 28 balls, before being bowled by left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.Suryakumar’s entry made Varma change gears as he went after the bowling as the two hammered 60 runs.Kuldeep claimed his second wicket to send back Suryakumar and Nigam dismissed skipper Hardik Pandya in the next over but the runs kept coming.The left-handed Varma, who departed in the last over, then took the total past 200 with the help of Dhir.

Abhishek Sharma lit up the IPL on Saturday with a spectacular 141 off 55 balls to steer Sunrisers Hyderabad to the second-highest successful chase in tournament history of 246 as they downed Punjab Kings by eight wickets.Earlier, Nicholas Pooran continued his incredible form with 61 to help Lucknow Super Giants end Gujarat Titans’ winning streak of four matches, coming out on top by six wickets.The 24-year-old Abhishek put on the best stand so far this season of 171 with opening partner Travis Head, who hit 66, in a chase achieved with nine balls to spare.”We didn’t talk (about) anything,” Abhishek said of the mood ahead of the chase. “It was just natural play for us. The partnership boosted me up.”Punjab hold the record winning chase of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens last year.Abhishek’s individual score is the third highest in IPL history behind Chris Gayle (175 not out for Bengaluru) and Brendon McCullum (158 not out for Kolkata) and the largest in 12 years.”This one is very special, because I wanted to break that losing streak,” added Abhishek. “Losing four matches back to back was very tough. But we never talked about it in the team.”Shreyas Iyer’s 82 and a late blitz of 34 by Marcus Stoinis steered Punjab to 245-6, but the total proved inadequate as the Sunrisers openers took their team off the bottom of the 10-team table with just a second win in six matches.Abhishek started as he meant to go on, reaching his fifty in 19 balls.Australia’s Head fell to leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal after hitting nine fours and three sixes in his 37-ball knock.But Abhishek raised his century in only 40 balls as he roared, punched the air and waved a piece of paper with a message reading “this one for the orange army”, referencing the Sunrisers fans.Arshdeep Singh eventually dismissed Abhishek, who hit 14 fours and 10 sixes, with 24 to win and Heinrich Klaasen saw Hyderabad home with an unbeaten 21 off 14 balls.- ‘Phenomenal’ Pooran -Earlier in Lucknow, opener Aiden Markram, who hit 58, and the in-form Pooran set up the home team’s chase of 181 before they secured victory over Gujarat with three balls to spare.Markram shared partnerships of 65 with fellow opener Rishabh Pant and 58 with Pooran, who struck his fourth half-century of the campaign to go past Gujarat opener Sai Sudharsan as the leading runscorer this season with 349, at a remarkable strike-rate of 215.”I think one thing is for sure is that we are happy to have Nicholas Pooran in our team,” said Pant of the West Indies star.”You want someone like him on your side and not batting against you. The way he is reading the game right now, the way he is batting is phenomenal.”Gujarat lost top spot in the 10-team table, with Lucknow behind in third with four wins from six matches.South Africa’s Markram stepped up in the absence of his in-form opening partner Mitchell Marsh, who missed the match due to the illness of his daughter.Skipper Pant was promoted to open but failed to strike form despite an early reprieve when Gujarat wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dropped a catch down the leg-side.Pant hit four boundaries before he lofted fast bowler Prasidh Krishna to deep third man, falling for 21 from 18 balls.Pant is still waiting to justify his record auction price of $3.21 million and has only managed 40 runs in five innings.Pooran hammered his fifty in 23 balls before falling to Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.But he had already done the damage with one four and seven sixes in his 34-ball blitz.Impact substitute Ayush Badoni hit an unbeaten 28 and sealed the win with a four and six after a late wobble.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, on Saturday opposed a South American request to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams, saying such increases in numbers would lead to “chaos”.The centenary edition, hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco with three matches also being staged in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, is already set to welcome 48 teams – a far cry from the 13 in the inaugural event in Uruguay in 1930. “Personally, I don’t agree,” the Bahraini leader told AFP, adding the 2030 edition had settled on 48 teams “so the matter is settled”. His counterpart from South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL, Alejandro Dominguez, on Thursday called on FIFA to expand the event in a one-off gesture.He also asked for South America to host the first round of one of the groups, instead of just three matches. The global event is due to expand from 32 to 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.”If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams, but someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams,” said Salman on the sidelines of the 35th AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur. “Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”However, the Asian leader refused to close the door on a change after the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, which will host 48 teams. “If we want to discuss subsequent tournaments… that’s a different matter,” he said. UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin, dismissed it as a “bad idea” but FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said the world body would “analyse” the South American proposal. “There are many things that need to be studied, and we will take our time, consult everyone,” he said. 

Fresh US cuts to food assistance risk worsening already widespread hunger in Afghanistan, according to the World Food Programme, which warned it can support just half the people in need — and only with half rations.In an interview with AFP, WFP’s acting country director Mutinta Chimuka urged donors to step up to support Afghanistan, which faces the world’s second-largest humanitarian crisis.A third of the population of around 45 million people needs food assistance, with 3.1 million people on the brink of famine, the UN says.”With what resources we have now barely eight million people will get assistance across the year and that’s only if we get everything else that we are expecting from other donors,” Chimuka said.The agency already has been “giving a half ration to stretch the resources that we have”, she added.In the coming months, WFP usually would be assisting two million people “to prevent famine, so that’s already a huge number that we’re really worried about”, Chimuka said.Already grappling with a 40 percent drop in funding for this year globally, and seeing a decline in funding for Afghanistan in recent years, WFP has had to split the standard ration — designed to meet the daily minimum recommended 2,100 kilocalories per person.”It’s a basic package, but it’s really life-saving,” said Chimuka. “And we should, as a global community, be able to provide that.”WFP, like other aid agencies, has been caught in the crosshairs of funding cuts by US President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order freezing all foreign aid for three months shortly after his inauguration in January.Emergency food aid was meant to be exempt, but this week WFP said the United States had announced it was cutting emergency food aid for 14 countries, including Afghanistan, amounting to “a death sentence for millions of people” if implemented.Washington quickly backtracked on the cuts for six countries, but Afghanistan — run by Taliban authorities who fought US-led troops for decades — was not one of them. If additional funding doesn’t come through, “Then there’s the possibility that we may have to go to communities and tell them we’re not able to support them. And how do they survive?”She highlighted the high levels of unemployment and poverty in the country, one of the world’s poorest where thousands of Afghans are currently being repatriated from Pakistan, many without most of their belongings or homes to go to.- ‘Vicious cycle’ -The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, this week urged international donors to keep supporting Afghanistan, saying 22.9 million needed assistance this year.”If we want to help the Afghan people escape the vicious cycle of poverty and suffering, we must continue to have the means to address urgent needs while simultaneously laying the groundwork for long-term resilience and stability,” said Indrika Ratwatte, the UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, in a statement. The statement warned that lack of international aid in Afghanistan could lead to increased migration and strain on the broader region.The call for funding comes as other countries including Germany and Britain have also made large cuts to overseas aid. But the Trump administration cut has been the deepest. The United Sates was traditionally the world’s largest donor, with the biggest portion in Afghanistan — $280 million — going to WFP last fiscal year, according to US State Department figures.But other UN agencies, as well as local and international NGOs are being squeezed or having to shut down completely, straining the network of organisations providing aid in Afghanistan.The Trump administration also ended two programmes — one in Afghanistan — with the UN Population Fund, an agency dedicated to promoting sexual and reproductive health, the agency said Monday. And other organisations working on agriculture — on which some 80 percent of Afghans depend to survive — and malnutrition are impacted. “We all need to work together,” said Chimuka. “And if all of us are cut at the knees… it doesn’t work.”

The search for two missing Nepali climbers has been called off, the expedition organiser said Saturday, five days after they were swept away by a powerful avalanche on Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest mountain.The 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) Annapurna is a dangerous and difficult climb, and the avalanche-prone Himalayan peak has a higher death rate than Everest.Two experienced mountain guides, Ngima Tashi Sherpa and Rima Rinje Sherpa, were ferrying oxygen cylinders for a later summit push when a huge avalanche swept down on Monday.”The search has been called off. We tried to search for them from the ground and through aerial searches but could not find them,” Mingma Sherpa, chairman of the Seven Summit Treks expedition company, told AFP.Two helicopters and five climbers were deployed in the operation. “It is no longer possible for anyone to survive under such snow and ice, and continuing the search would endanger more lives,” Seven Summit Treks posted on Instagram late Friday, announcing the suspension.”We have lost two of our finest guides.”Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.Nearly 500 climbers have been issued permits for the season, including 66 for Annapurna.Avalanches and landslides are common in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, especially during the winter season. Scientists have said that climate change spurred by humans burning fossil fuels is making weather events more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.

President Donald Trump insisted Friday that his tariff policy was “doing really well” despite China hiking levies on US goods to 125 percent in the spiraling trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.Investors dumped US government bonds, the dollar tumbled and stocks seesawed after Beijing’s retaliation against Trump deepened concerns on already traumatized global markets.Trump sent financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10 percent on Wednesday for 90 days — while raising levies on goods from China.”We are doing really well on our tariff policy,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network after China announced its latest hike.”Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.The White House said later that Trump remained “optimistic” about a deal with China, and added that 15 other countries have offers “on the table” during his 90-day pause in their tariffs.But Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added that “the president made it very clear, when the United States is punched he will punch back harder.”The US and Beijing have been trading salvos of increasingly harsh tariffs since last week.Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his first major comments on the tensions on Friday, with state media quoting him as saying his country was “not afraid.”Xi also said the European Union and China should “jointly resist unilateral bullying practices” during talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.- ‘Numbers game’ -Beijing announced after Xi’s comments that new tariffs of 125 percent on US goods would take effect Saturday — almost matching the staggering 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into America.A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said the United States bore full responsibility, deriding Trump’s tariffs as a “numbers game” that “will become a joke.”But China’s finance ministry said tariffs would not go any higher in an acknowledgement that almost no imports are possible at the new level.Trump had reiterated on Thursday that he was looking to do a deal with Xi despite the mounting tensions.”He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters.But American officials have made it clear they expect Xi to reach out first.Pressure was growing on Trump, however, as markets continued to fret.As investors fled the dollar, which is typically considered a key haven currency, Trump attempted to squelch fears on Friday.”We’re the currency of choice. We’re always going to be… I think the dollar is tremendous,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, after the dollar plunged to its lowest level against the euro in more than three years.Meanwhile yields on crucial US government bonds, which are normally seen as a financial refuge, were up again Friday, indicating weaker demand as investors take fright.The White House said however that it had no evidence to support speculation by traders that China was offloading some of its vast holdings — which would increase the cost of borrowing for the US government — in retaliation.Wall Street stocks finished higher Friday, concluding a rollercoaster week on a positive note amid hopes that the market has absorbed the worst headlines about trade conflicts.Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve meanwhile warned of higher inflation and slower growth ahead due to Trump’s tariff policy.- ‘Countermeasures’ -Economists warn that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies will increase prices for consumers and could spark a global recession.Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote bank, told AFP the tariff figures were “so high that they don’t make sense anymore,” but said China was “now ready to go as far as needed.”The rest of the world is still calibrating its response.Trump on Thursday described the European Union — which was originally hit with 20 percent tariffs by Trump — as “very smart” for refraining from retaliatory levies.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will hold talks in Washington on Monday.But the 27-nation bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times it remained armed with a “wide range of countermeasures” including a possible hit on digital services that would strike US tech firms.

President Donald Trump pledged Friday that his tariff policy is working and will benefit the United States and the world, despite China hiking tariffs on US goods to 125 percent in a deepening trade war.Traumatized stock markets seesawed, the dollar tumbled and US government bonds faced renewed pressure after Beijing’s retaliation intensified the confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies.In a message Friday on social media, Trump continued to insist that “we are doing really well on our tariff policy.” “Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.Trump sent global financial markets into a tailspin by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of countries last week, only to abruptly roll them back to 10 percent on Wednesday — although hiking them for China.But the subsequent bounce in the markets has faded with the realization that the Washington-Beijing trade war is still spiraling.Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his first major comments on the tensions on Friday, with state media quoting him as saying his country was “not afraid.”Xi also said the European Union and China should “jointly resist unilateral bullying practices” during talks with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.- ‘Numbers game’ -Then, Beijing announced that new tariffs of 125 percent on US goods would take effect Saturday — almost matching the staggering 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into America.A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said the United States bore full responsibility, deriding Trump’s tariffs as a “numbers game” that “will become a joke.”But China’s finance ministry said tariffs would not go any higher in an acknowledgement that almost no imports are possible at the new level.Trump had reiterated on Thursday that he was looking to do a deal with Xi despite the mounting tensions.”He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries,” he told reporters.But US officials have made it clear they expect Xi to reach out first.Pressure was growing on Trump, however, as markets continued to fret.Yields on crucial US government bonds, which are normally seen as a safe haven, were up again Friday, indicating weaker demand as investors take fright.Trump admitted he had been watching people get “queasy” over the bond market before making his stunning tariffs backtrack.Some traders speculated that China was offloading some of its vast holdings — which increase the cost of borrowing for the US government — in retaliation for Trump’s measures.In a further sign of investor worry, the dollar fell to a three-year low against the euro and prices of gold, another safe haven, surged.Policymakers at the US Federal Reserve meanwhile warned of higher inflation and slower growth ahead due to Trump’s tariff policy.- ‘Countermeasures’ -Economists warn that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies will increase prices for consumers and could spark a global recession.Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote bank, told AFP the tariff figures were “so high that they don’t make sense any more,” but said China was “now ready to go as far as needed.”The rest of the world is still calibrating its response.Trump on Thursday described the European Union — which was originally hit with 20 percent tariffs by Trump — as “very smart” for refraining from retaliatory levies.Top EU officials and Chinese leaders are set to hold their next summit marking 50 years of ties in China in July, Brussels announced. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will meanwhile hold talks in Washington on Monday.But the 27-nation bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times on Friday that it remained armed with a “wide range of countermeasures” including a possible hit on digital services that would strike US tech firms.