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The West Indies scored 195-4 after being asked to bat against India in their winner-takes-all final Super Eights clash at the T20 World Cup in Kolkata on Sunday.Jason Holder and Rovman Powell smashed 70 off the last five overs to help their side set defending champions India a challenging 196 to stay alive in the tournament. The winners at Eden Gardens will move on to a semi-final against England in Mumbai on Thursday — the losers will go home.The West Indies sprang a surprise at the top of the order, promoting Test captain Roston Chase to open alongside T20 skipper Shai Hope. That enabled them to bring in an extra spinner, Akeal Hosein, with regular opener Brandon King left out.In their defeat to South Africa last week the West Indies slumped to 83-7 but the new-look opening partnership was more assured.Spinner Varun Chakravarthy got the first breakthrough, bowling Hope for 32 after a stand of 68 to a deafening roar from the 67,000 packed into Eden Gardens.Shimron Hetmyer raced to 27 off 12 balls before falling to the faintest of edges off Jasprit Bumrah to make it 102-2.Two balls later it was 103-3 when Bumrah induced Chase, on 40, to chip a slower ball to India captain Suryakumar Yadav.After Sherfane Rutherford fell cheaply, Powell and Holder launched their brutal late assault in an unbroken stand of 76 for the fifth wicket.Powell finished on 34 not out from 19 balls with two sixes and tree fours while Holder was unbeaten on 37 off 22 balls with three sixes and two fours.It could have been better for India but they dropped three regulation catches in a sloppy fielding display, including Chase when he had made just 15.South Africa, the only unbeaten side in the tournament, beat Zimbabwe by five wickets earlier on Sunday and will face New Zealand in Kolkata in the first semi-final on Wednesday.The final is in Ahmedabad next Sunday.

At least nine people were killed during pro-Iran protests at the United States consulate in the Pakistani megacity of Karachi on Sunday, according to a hospital toll seen by AFP.Hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to storm the consulate following the US-Israel strikes on Iran, an AFP journalist saw.Nine people died from gunshot wounds, according to the hospital record. Over 30 more were injured.It was unclear as of Sunday evening who had fired the shots.The chief minister of Sindh province, where Karachi is the capital, said he had ordered a probe into the deaths.Syed Murad Ali Shah “instructed the authorities to conduct a transparent and impartial investigation to establish the facts”, a statement said.AFP journalists said clashes between police and protesters were still ongoing outside the consulate at 3:00 pm local time (1000 GMT).”We don’t need anything in Pakistan that is linked with the US,” a protester, Sabir Hussain, told AFP.”Our government and our forces are supporting the USA.”The protesters chanted slogans against the United States, Israel and their allies.Earlier a crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.Police fired tear gas at the protesters, who dispersed, the AFP journalist saw.In a video circulating on social media, a young demonstrator could be heard saying: “We need to remain united. No power can stop us.””We are setting the American consulate in Karachi on fire. God willing, we are avenging the killing of our leader,” another protester said as he filmed others trying to start a blaze.- American ‘stooges’ -Elsewhere in Pakistan, around 4,000 people took to the streets in the capital Islamabad, where AFP journalists heard overhead gunfire, believed to be to disperse the crowd, and saw tear gas even before the planned start of a rally at 3:00 pm.Zahra Mumtaz, a 52-year-old housewife from nearby Rawalpindi, said: “Our leader has been martyred, and we are not even allowed to protest.””The least the government could do is let us express our grief,” she told AFP, crying.”Our leaders are nothing but stooges of the Americans… The Americans and Israelis will have to pay for this.”In the northern city of Skardu, protesters stormed and set fire to a United Nations office, causing black smoke to rise from the building, an AFP reporter saw.At least three nearby vehicles were completely burned.Thousands of people also took to the streets in the eastern city of Lahore.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday evening that the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a “violation” of international law.The “people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and sorrow and extend the most sincere condolences on the martyrdom” of Khamenei, he wrote on X.”Pakistan also expresses concern over violation of the norms of international law,” he added.The embassies of the United States and Britain both urged citizens in Pakistan to be cautious in the country.

Afghan and Pakistani troops battled along their border, Afghan residents and officials told AFP on Sunday, with the fighting coming alongside multiple strikes including the former US air base at Bagram.Months of cross-border clashes have flared again since Thursday when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, with Pakistani forces hitting back on the border and from the skies.Residents in multiple areas bordering Pakistan told AFP of fighting, while the Afghan government said three people were killed overnight in drone strikes and shelling.North of the capital Kabul, air strikes “hit Bagram air base”, according to a resident who AFP is not naming for security reasons.A second resident said “it was very strong, which shook the area. There was smoke and fire coming out north of the airport”, describing the dawn raid as “very terrifying”.The provincial spokesman, Fazl ul Rahim Maskin Yar, said Pakistani jets “attempted to bomb” the base, but there were no casualties or damage.Pakistan acknowledged bombing key cities Friday including Kabul and Kandahar, which is home to Afghanistan’s supreme leader, but has not commented on Sunday’s strikes.In Kabul, AFP journalists heard an explosion followed by successive gunfire.Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said “anti-aircraft fire is being directed at Pakistani aircraft”.There was an increased presence of security forces in Kabul on Sunday, with more checkpoints in the city centre.Drones were also heard by an AFP journalist in the border province of Khost, while in Jalalabad city — between Kabul and the border — an AFP photographer saw a jet.The Afghan government’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said Pakistani fire had killed 36 civilians across multiple provinces since Thursday, which Islamabad has not commented on.In Kunar’s provincial capital Asadabad, an 18-year-old said his brother had been killed, a few months after getting married.”When the fighting started, we told him to come with us and leave the area, but he said: ‘I will stay and look after the house,'” said Sajid, who only gave one name. “He was martyred near the mosque while trying to leave,” he told AFP.Multiple residents in Afghanistan’s Khost and Nangarhar provinces told AFP the two sides were engaged in sporadic clashes on Sunday afternoon.At Torkham border crossing — a key gateway for Afghans returning from Pakistan — overnight fighting was reported by the Nangarhar province information department.The spokesman for a military unit reported heavy fighting overnight in Paktia province.Afghan officials said Thursday’s border offensive was a response to earlier air strikes that killed civilians, which Pakistan said targeted militants.- ‘Stop the war’ -On Saturday, AFP spoke to Khost residents who had fled their homes near the frontier.”We demand from the international community and the whole world to put pressure on Pakistan to stop the war,” said 46-year-old displaced resident Javed, who only gave one name.Diplomatic efforts have failed to secure a truce, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar among those engaged in efforts to halt the fighting.Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects.Many attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021, the year the Taliban authorities returned to power in Kabul.This week’s escalation marked the first time that Pakistan has focused its air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations that it said targeted militants.Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said 46 locations across Afghanistan had been hit by air strikes since its operation began.Pakistan has killed 415 Afghan soldiers, the minister said.Islamabad said earlier 12 of its soldiers had been killed. Fitrat, Afghanistan’s deputy spokesman, said more than 80 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 military posts captured.The Afghan government earlier put the death toll among its troops at 13.Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.The violence of recent days is the worst since October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides, with land borders between the neighbours largely shut since.Several rounds of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan last year followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey.

Afghanistan said on Sunday that the war in neighbouring Iran would negatively impact the whole region and expressed “deep regret” over the violence flaring in multiple countries.The Iranian flag was lowered to half-mast at the country’s embassy in Kabul, an AFP journalist said, and a black cloth hung over the entrance following the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli attack.”The recent political and security developments in the region have created unprecedented tensions that will have long-term negative effects on the entire region,” foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi wrote on X.”The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expresses its deep regret over the attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, and expanded by Iran to target the Gulf countries,” he added.Balkhi condemned “the killing of innocent civilians” and called for diplomacy “preventing further escalation of the conflict”.Iran shares a more than 900-kilometre (560-mile) border with Afghanistan and the countries have considerable economic ties.At the Islam Qala border crossing on Sunday, an AFP journalist said it remained open and a black flag had replaced the Iranian standard.strs-qb/rsc/mjw

The biggest disruption to global air transport since the Covid pandemic continued Sunday, with thousands of flights affected and busy Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai and Doha shuttered as Iran lashed out after US-Israeli strikes.Israel and Iran traded new attacks Sunday, after Tehran hit both the Dubai International Airport — the world’s busiest for international traffic — and Kuwait’s main airport during its retaliatory strikes one day earlier. Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had all announced at least partial closures of their skies Saturday after the US and Israel attacked Iran, bringing civilian air traffic over the Middle East to an abrupt halt. Notable airlines that cancelled services included Emirates, Etihad, Air France, British Airways, Air India, Turkish Airlines, and Lufthansa.Flight tracking site FlightAware said that more than 6,700 flights had been delayed and 1900 cancelled globally as of 1000 GMT Sunday, on top of thousands the day before.- Airspace closures -Iran swiftly closed its airspace as the strikes began “until further notice”, said the spokesman of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.Israel also closed its airspace to civilian flights, Transport Minister Miri Regev announced.Qatar’s civil aviation authority said it had temporarily closed the Gulf state’s airspace.Iraq shut down airspace, state media said. The United Arab Emirates said it was closing its skies “partially and temporarily”.Syria closed part of its airspace in the south along the border with Israel for 12 hours, the Civil Aviation Authority said.Jordan’s air force was conducting drills to “defend the kingdom’s skies”, its military said.Kuwait closed its airspace.- Middle East and North Africa airlines -Gulf carriers Emirates and Etihad cancelled 38 percent and 30 percent of their flights respectively, Cirium said.Qatar Airways suspended all flights from Doha. It cancelled 41 percent of total flights, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.Syria Air, the country’s national carrier, cancelled all flights until further notice.Egypt’s national airline, EgyptAir, announced the suspension of its flights to cities across the Middle East, including Dubai, Doha, Manama, Abu Dhabi, Beirut and Baghdad among others. – European airlines -Russia’s air transport authority Rosaviatsia said all commercial flights to Israel and Iran were cancelled “until further notice”. Turkish Airlines cancelled flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan until March 2.Air France cancelled its Dubai, Riyadh, Beirut and Tel Aviv flights until Sunday, extending its earlier suspension. British Airways said it was not flying to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 4, and cancelled flights to the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday.Swiss International Air Lines suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until March 7, and cancelled flights from Zurich to Dubai scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.Germany’s Lufthansa, which comprises Swiss and ITA Airways, cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil and Tehran until March 7. The airline group and its subsidiaries suspended flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi until Sunday.- North America airlines -Delta Air Lines suspended New York–Tel Aviv flights until Sunday.American Airlines “temporarily suspended” Doha-Philadelphia flights.United flights to Tel Aviv are cancelled until Monday, and flights to Dubai until Sunday.Air Canada said it cancelled flights from Canada to Israel until March 8 and to Dubai until March 3.- Asia-Pacific airlines -India’s two largest private carriers IndiGo and Air India suspended flights to all destinations in the Middle East.Pakistan International Airlines, the flag carrier of the country that borders Iran, said it had suspended flights to the UAE, Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait.Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific suspended flights to Dubai and Riyadh.Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia’s flag carrier, temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha “until further notice”, the company said in a statement Sunday.Singapore Airlines and Singapore’s Scoot cancelled six flight routes in the region until the end of Sunday, local media reported.Philippine Airlines flights from Manila to Doha, Riyadh to Manila, and Dubai to Manila were cancelled on Saturday, as well as one Doha-Manila flight on Sunday.Other major airlines including Australia’s Qantas and Japan’s All Nippon Airways did not announce any flight cancellations. – Africa airlines -Ethiopian Airlines cancelled its flights to Amman, Tel Aviv, Dammam, and Beirut. Kenya Airways has suspended its flights to Dubai and Sharjah until further notice. burs-sbk/st

Pro-Iranian protesters angered by the death of Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei tried to storm the US consulate in Pakistan’s Karachi on Sunday, leaving eight dead, and the fortified Green Zone hosting Washington’s embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.Iranian state media confirmed the death of Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and sworn enemy of the West, on Sunday, after the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack.In the Pakistani megacity of Karachi, hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to enter the US mission, an AFP journalist saw.At least eight people were killed in the protests and at least 20 were injured, Muhammad Amin, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation rescue service said, adding most had bullet wounds.A crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.Police fired tear gas at the protesters who dispersed.Videos on social media showed youngsters smashing the windows of the main building of the consulate as the American flag could be seen flying over the compound, whose perimeter is topped with barbed wire.Thousands of people were also taking to the streets in the eastern city of Lahore and in northern Skardu, with a demonstration expected in the afternoon near the diplomatic enclave housing the US embassy in the capital Islamabad.- Khamenei death ‘hurt us’ -In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis, many dressed in black, attempted to storm the compound housing the American embassy on Sunday despite a heavy security deployment.Ali, a masked protester, told AFP “the martyrdom of Sayyed Ali Khamenei has hurt us”.”We are here because we want the withdrawal of the occupying American forces from Iraq,” he said, referring to US-led coalition troops who have recently reduced their presence and are now mostly stationed in northern Iraq.Protesters, who had gathered in the Iraqi capital since early Sunday, hurled stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas.A security source told AFP earlier that “their attempts have been thwarted so far, but they keep trying”.In Indian-administered Kashmir, several thousand Shia Muslims joined street demonstrations in the main city Srinagar.Protesters holding red, black, and yellow flags converged on the main square.Many of them chanted anti-Israel and anti-US slogans during the emotionally charged but largely peaceful gathering.”This day we are all very heavy-hearted. We are mourning our beloved leader who was martyred,” Syed Towfeeq, 40, told AFP.”We all have a message for the (US President Donald) Trump… We will always stand against your oppression.”Similar protests were held in other places across Kashmir and other parts of India with a sizeable Shia Muslim presence.burs/jfx/mjw

Pakistan’s shortcomings were laid bare during their lacklustre T20 World Cup campaign which ended Saturday when the team failed to reach the semi-finals.From the captain Salman Agha, who was criticised for not being a T20 player, to slow batting rates and the use of all-rounders not up to the job, Pakistan were shown to be behind the times in the rapid-fire format.Former wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal believes there is a huge gulf in standard between Pakistan and the top sides such as India, West Indies, South Africa and England. “Other teams have evolved to the demands of Twenty20 cricket, but neither our team nor our players meet those standards,” Akmal told AFP. “It is like other teams are playing on the moon and we are on earth. We only beat smaller teams but lose to top teams.”Pakistan had high hopes for the T20 World Cup after sweeping Australia 3-0 in a pre-tournament series.They boasted a quintet of spinners that should have been suited to the turning pitches in Sri Lanka where they played all their matches. But they received a rude awakening in their first match against the Netherlands when only they squeezed home by three wickets in the final over thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s 11-ball 29. – ‘Failed to handle pressure’ -Like most of his predecessors at World Cups, Agha blundered in the pressure-cooker match against India, which only went ahead after the Pakistan government U-turned on a boycott just days before the encounter.Agha won the toss and asked India to bat. The decision backfired badly as Pakistan conceded 175 and were hammered by 61 runs.Agha inexplicably held back his mystery spinner and chief weapon Usman Tariq to the 11th over, by which time opener Ishan Kishan had scored his match-shaping 77 and India were well on their way to a winning total.”How on earth did you bowl at a venue which was suited to batting first,” questioned former Pakistan player Basit Ali. “After India scored 175 our batters failed to handle the pressure of a chase.”Agha also held back Tariq’s second over against England, after he took a wicket in his first, allowing captain Harry Brook to build a sparkling match-winning century.”It was weak captaincy from Agha,” said Akmal, who also took aim at the head coach Mike Hesson and the selectors.  “We were also not helped by head coach Mike Hesson, who has an obsession for bit-and-pieces all-rounders who were neither complete bowlers, nor good batters.”Pakistan’s insistence in sticking with the out-of-sorts Babar Azam did nothing to help their shaky batting.The star batsman’s slow scoring at number four interrupted the side’s rhythm.He was dropped for the final match against Sri Lanka on Saturday where Pakistan finally posted a total in excess of 200, but it proved too little too late as New Zealand progressed on net run rate.”We are all fans of Azam but he disappointed us by not adapting to the demands of T20 cricket,” said one Pakistan fan, Saud Baloch, who resigned from his job in the United Arab Emirates to go to the World Cup.”The whole Pakistan fandom is not only disappointed but angry.”But we know nothing will change and we will continue to mourn such defeats in future.”

An explosion followed by successive gunfire were heard in central Kabul on Sunday, AFP journalists reported, with the Taliban government saying Afghan forces were shooting at a fresh incursion by Pakistani aircraft.Months of cross-border clashes have flared since Thursday when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, with Pakistani forces hitting back on the border and from the skies.”Anti-aircraft fire is being directed at Pakistani aircraft in Kabul,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Sunday, referring to guns being fired overhead.Pakistan acknowledged bombing key cities on Friday including Kabul and Kandahar, which is home to Afghanistan’s supreme leader. The Afghan authorities have accused Pakistan of killing civilians in multiple attacks, which Islamabad has not commented on.In rural southern Kandahar, construction workers said they were hit Sunday by two air strikes, which the manager of the site said killed three people.”Everything went dark before our eyes,” said 20-year-old Enamullah, who only gave one name. “I came from Kabul just to earn a piece of bread.”Afghan officials said Thursday’s border offensive was a response to earlier air strikes that killed civilians, which Pakistan said targeted militants.In addition to those killed in Kandahar, the Afghan government’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani fire has killed 30 civilians across eastern Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces since Thursday.Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.- ‘Everyone just got out’ -On the road between the Afghan capital Kabul and the border, an AFP journalist in Jalalabad heard a jet and two explosions on Saturday. Afghan security forces said they had downed a Pakistani fighter jet and captured its pilot, which Islamabad denied as “totally untrue”.On Saturday, residents in Paktika told AFP exchanges of fire were ongoing, while in Khost some people had fled their homes near the frontier.”The bombardments started, children, women, everyone just got out,” said Mohammad Rasool, 63, who had reached another district.”Some didn’t have shoes, some weren’t veiled,” he told AFP.Diplomatic efforts have failed to secure a truce, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar engaged in efforts to halt the fighting. China said it was “working with” both countries and called for calm.The United States backed “Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks”, Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with her Pakistani counterpart.Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government rejects.Many attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021, the year the Taliban authorities returned to power in Kabul.This week’s escalation marked the first time that Pakistan has focused its air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations that it said targeted militants.Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, told AFP that gunmen he said were associated with the Pakistani Taliban had attacked a checkpoint in the northwest. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that attack.”Pakistan’s immediate and effective response to aggression continues,” Zaidi said Friday, giving a figure of nearly 300 Afghan soldiers and militants killed.- ‘Open war’ -Pakistan’s information minister said on Saturday that 37 locations across Afghanistan had been hit by air strikes since its operation began.Islamabad said earlier 12 of its soldiers had been killed.Fitrat, Afghanistan’s deputy spokesman, said more than 80 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 military posts captured.The Afghan government earlier put the death toll among its troops at 13.The defence ministry in Kabul has also said it carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory over the past two days, which observers said could have been drones.Islamabad declared “open war” on Friday against the Taliban authorities, while the Afghan government called for “dialogue” to resolve the conflict.This month’s violence is the worst since October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides, with land borders between the neighbours largely shut since.Several rounds of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan last year followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey.Saudi Arabia intervened this month after repeated breaches of the initial truce, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.burs-pbt/rsc/hmn

A disappointed Salman Agha said his team had “underperformed” after they exited the T20 World Cup on Saturday, but held back from making an “emotional” decision on his future as Pakistan captain.Pakistan were knocked out on net run rate despite beating Sri Lanka in their final Super Eights match in Kandy on Saturday.”We have underperformed in the whole tournament,” Agha told reporters.”We are out of the semis due to our failure in decision-making in pressure situations.”Opener Sahibzada Farhan became the only player to score two hundreds in the same T20 World Cup as Pakistan posted 212-8.But they failed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 and New Zealand went through to the semi-finals.”Farhan was outstanding in the tournament but none of the other batters could come up to expectations,” said Agha, who only managed 60 runs in seven tournament matches.Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka hit 76 not out off 31 balls with eight sixes as Sri Lanka scored 207-6 to lose by five runs.A rained-off Super Eights opener against New Zealand and a defeat to England left Pakistan needing to beat Sri Lanka by a massive margin to advance.”(Head coach Mike) Hesson and I take the responsibility as we selected the eleven for the matches,” said Agha, who added he would not make an immediate call on whether to stand down as captain.”I will go back and take some time to decide,” he said. “Because at this point of time stepping down would be an emotional decision.”

A law regulating artificial intelligence went into effect in Vietnam on Sunday, making it the first country in Southeast Asia with a comprehensive framework on the booming technology.Passed by the National Assembly in December, the law focuses on the risks posed by generative AI, requiring human oversight and control along the lines of the European Union’s landmark AI Act.Many nations are moving to address the dangers of chatbots and image generators — from misinformation to online abuse and copyright violations — but few have enacted legislation.The legislation, which is in force as of March 1, “paves the way for Vietnam to deeply integrate with international standards while maintaining digital sovereignty”, the government said in a December report.It requires companies to clearly label AI-generated content such as deepfakes that cannot readily be differentiated from reality.It also requires them to disclose to customers when they are interacting with an artificial rather than human agent.The law applies to developers as well as providers and deployers of the technology, whether they are Vietnamese organisations or foreign entities operating in the country.Vietnam has set ambitious double-digit growth targets for the next five years, with expansion of the digital economy a key part of its development strategy.AI and the data economy are “pillars” of a “more sustainable and smarter new development” model, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was quoted as saying Wednesday on the government’s website.Under the law, the government will establish a national AI computing centre, improved data resources and large language models in Vietnamese.- ‘Not the final word’ -So far only a handful of countries have implemented far-reaching regulatory frameworks on AI.The United States has opposed what Vice President JD Vance called “excessive regulation”, warning it could stifle innovation in the key sector.In January, South Korea became the first country to have an AI law take full effect, while the European Union is gradually phasing in a set of rules that will become completely applicable in 2027.While Vietnam’s law is a regulatory milestone, analysts said its impact would depend on how the government enforces it and on what guidance it issues on implementation.The law is “not the final word” but rather a “decisive starting point”, Vietnam-based LNT & Partners law firm said in an analysis on its website.”It establishes responsibility, human control, and risk management as the governing themes of AI regulation,” the firm said.However, it added, “the true impact will depend on implementing decrees, sectoral regulations, and enforcement practice”.Patrick Keil, senior legal adviser at law firm DFDL, called the law “a significant statement of national ambition” but told AFP businesses will continue to face some uncertainty about their obligations until the government issues further guidance.At an AI summit hosted by New Delhi in February, 91 countries and international organisations called for “secure, trustworthy and robust” AI.But their declaration, signed by the United States and China, was criticised by AI safety campaigners for being too generic to protect the public.