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Mohammad Haris hit a swashbuckling maiden international century to guide Pakistan to a 3-0 clean sweep of Bangladesh with a seven-wicket win in the third and final Twenty20 international in Lahore on Sunday.Haris, playing in his 17th T20I, carted seven sixes and eight fours in his 107 off just 46 balls as Pakistan chased down a challenging 197-run target in 17.2 overs for their first home T20 international series win in three-and-a-half years.Pakistan won the first two matches by 37 and 57 runs at the same venue.”It’s a massive win,” said Pakistan captain Salman Agha. “I am very happy the way the boys played. The great thing is we managed to play the brand of cricket we wanted to play and we did well in every game.”Bangladesh skipper Litton Das did not hide his disappointment at losing the series 3-0.”We did bat well in this game but didn’t bowl and field well,” said Litton. “Losing a series is always disappointing.” Parvez Hossain smashed four sixes and seven fours in his solid 34-ball 66 to lift Bangladesh to 196-6 in their 20 overs.Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan for one in the first over but Haris, whose hundred came up off 45 balls, added 92 for the second wicket with Saim Ayub and an unbroken 60 for the fourth with Salman Agha who made 15 not out.Ayub hit four sixes and two fours in his 29-ball 45 while Hasan Nawaz scored 13-ball 26 as the home batsmen enthralled a near-capacity 30,000 crowd at Gaddafi Stadium.Earlier, Parvez shared a 110-run opening stand with Tanzid Hasan after the tourists were sent in to bat.The Parvez-Tanzid stand gave Bangladesh an ideal start for their highest T20 total against Pakistan, beating the 175-6 they made against them at Pallekele in 2012.Towhid Hridoy, who scored 25 from 18 balls with a six and two boundaries, then added 49 for the third wicket with Litton who made 22.Fast bowlers Abbas Afridi (2-26) and Hasan Ali (2-38) were the pick of the home bowlers.

Shreyas Iyer led from the front with an unbeaten 87 as Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets on Sunday to set up an IPL final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Chasing 204 for victory in a rain-delayed last playoff, Punjab rode Iyer’s 41-ball knock, laced with five fours and eight sixes, to achieve their target with six balls to spare in Ahmedabad.Iyer hit the winning six as Punjab reached their second IPL final. It will be played at the same venue —  the world’s biggest cricket stadium — on Tuesday.The final will produce a new IPL winner with both Bengaluru, with star batter Virat Kohli, and Punjab in hunt for their first title in the T20 tournament.Punjab lost opener Prabhsimran Singh for six but England’s Josh Inglis set up the chase with quick scoring as he and left-handed opener Priyansh Arya put together 42 runs in 18 balls.Arya fell for 20 and Inglis for 38 after three fours and two sixes.Iyer and left-handed Nehal Wadhera, who hit 48, turned the tide in overs 13 and 14 as the captain smashed England left-arm quick Reece Topley for three straight sixes.Wadhera departed in the 16th over to raise Mumbai’s hopes, but Iyer stood firm as he finished with a masterclass.The second qualifier began two hours and 15 minutes late  due to persistent drizzle after the toss.Punjab elected to field first before rain forced the players indoors for more than two hours. Officials did not cut any overs when play resumed.Five-time champions Mumbai, who posted 203-6, lost veteran opener Rohit Sharma for eight off Marcus Stoinis in the third over but England’s Jonny Bairstow took on the opposition bowlers with regular boundaries.Bairstow, who joined Mumbai ahead of the playoffs and played a key role in their win in the eliminator against Gujarat Titans, made 38 in a 51-run stand with the left-handed Varma.Medium-pace bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak dismissed Baristow, who attempted to play a scoop shot but fell caught behind.Tilak Varma kept up pace with Suryakumar Yadav as the pair put on 72 runs. Both made 44 each.The two fell in the space of three deliveries, but number six Naman Dhir hit an 18-ball 37 to boost the total, which in the end proved insufficient.The league was extended by nine days after being paused due to a military conflict between India and Pakistan and some overseas players including Mumbai imports Will Jacks (England) and Ryan Rickelton (South Africa) left before the playoffs.

The airline industry’s flagship goal of decarbonising by 2050 is now “in peril” due to climate-sceptic policies, including those of US President Donald Trump, the leading airline association IATA warned on Sunday.The emergence of leaders favouring fossil fuels and recent regulatory rollbacks are “obviously a setback… it does imperil success on the 2050 horizon”, Marie Owens Thomsen, the International Air Transport Association’s senior vice president for sustainability, told reporters.”But I don’t think it’s going to halt or reverse progress. I think it will just slow progress,” she said at the IATA annual industry conference in India.Trump’s Republican administration is supporting the development of fossil fuels in contrast to his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, who had massively supported the production of renewable aviation fuels through tax credits.UN aviation agency members, from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), have set the year 2050 as their goal for achieving net-zero carbon emissions for air travel — an industry often criticised for its outsized role in climate change.- ‘Entirely achievable’ -The air transportation industry has faced growing pressure to deal with its contribution to the climate crisis.Currently responsible for 2.5 percent to three percent of global CO2 emissions, the sector’s switch to renewable fuels is proving difficult, even if the aeronautics industry and energy companies have been seeking progress.To achieve net-zero emissions, airlines rely on non-fossil sources known as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).However, SAF biofuels are still three to four times more expensive than petroleum-based jet fuel.”Another problem, which is related, is the fact that oil is so cheap,” Owens Thomsen said. “I think that also diminishes the sense of urgency that people have.”A barrel of Brent North Sea crude, the international benchmark, stands below $65 as a result of Trump’s tariffs, his call to “drill baby drill” and especially a decision by OPEC+ to hike crude output quotas.This represents an immediate boon for airlines, whose fuel costs represent between a quarter and a third of operating expenses. SAF is seen as a crucial ingredient in hitting emissions targets. The biofuel produces lower carbon emissions than traditional jet fuel and is made from plant and animal materials such as cooking oil and fat.European Union rules require carriers to include two percent of SAF in their fuel mix starting this year, rising to six percent in 2030 before soaring to 70 percent from 2050.Owens Thomsen estimated on Sunday that $4.7 trillion in investment is needed to establish SAF sectors capable of meeting the needs of air transport by 2050.”It is entirely achievable,” she said, adding that the raw materials and technology already exist and simply need to be developed. “The money involved is very comparable to the money that was involved in creating the previous new energy markets, notably obviously wind and solar,” she said.That money could be found just by stopping subsidies to oil producers, she said.”The world is subsidising large oil companies to the height of $1 trillion per year,” she said.”With that money, if it were redirected in its totality, we could solve our energy transition in less than five years.”IATA also indicated on Sunday that it expects global SAF production to double this year compared with 2024 to 2.5 billion litres — slightly down from its previous projections of 2.7 billion litres.”This represents only 0.7 percent of total aviation needs,” IATA Director General Willie Walsh said. 

Indian airline IndiGo said on Sunday it had signed an order for 30 more Airbus A350-900s, bringing its shopping list for the widebody aircraft from the European aircraft manufacturer to 60.”We are placing a firm order for 30 Airbus A350-900s,” said Pieter Elbers, the CEO of IndiGo, which was founded in 2006 and is behind the largest contract by volume in the history of civil aviation — 500 Airbus single-aisle aircraft by 2023.The low-cost carrier, India’s biggest by market share, is positioning itself as a significant player in the long-haul market.”This strategic move will enable IndiGo to spread its wings further and expand its long-haul international network,” the company said in a statement.”This is yet another step in defining the airline’s long-term plans of international expansion.”Benoit de Saint-Exupery, Airbus commercial aircraft vice-president of sales, hailed “IndiGo’s incredible rise”.”You have democratised flying in India, and now you want to expand internationally,” he said.The A350 planes, with ranges of up to 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles), will allow it to expand its network further.Overall, IndiGo has placed orders for around 1,000 aircraft from the A320 family, Airbus’s most successful model and rival of the Boeing 737 MAX, which has endured multiple setbacks after a series of safety scares.- ‘Phenomenal’ -Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which began its annual industry conference in New Delhi on Sunday, said “the development of India’s air connectivity in recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal”.Indian domestic air growth is “running at over 10 percent” per year, Walsh said ahead of the conference.The growth of its economy has made India and its 1.4 billion people the world’s fourth-largest air market — domestic and international — with IATA projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade.Air India, IndiGo’s rival, ordered 100 more Airbus planes last year after a giant contract in 2023 for 470 aircraft — 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing.India’s domestic air passenger traffic reached a milestone last year by “surpassing 500,000 passengers in a single day”, according to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation.The ministry boasts of a sector “experiencing a meteoric rise”.Railways remain hugely popular but travelling by trains crisscrossing a country about three-quarters the area of the European Union is often slow and chaotic.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will address IATA delegates on Monday, has made the development of the air sector a priority since coming to power in 2014.India has doubled its number of airports in the past decade to 157, with plans to have as many as 400 by 2047.Indian airline capacity is expected to reach 230 million seats in 2024, doubling since 2014, according to British aviation data provider OAG.However, such growth comes with immense demands for aircraft, skilled personnel, airports, and aviation safety.Some 10,000 pilots are expected to be trained in the next five years but India also faces a major challenge to supply flight crews, engineers, mechanics, and air traffic controllers.India already has the highest number of women pilots, who make up 15 percent of its captains, three times the global average. 

Indian airline IndiGo said on Sunday it had signed an order for 30 more Airbus A350-900s, bringing its shopping list for the widebody aircraft from the European aircraft manufacturer to 60.”We are placing a firm order for 30 Airbus A350-900s,” said Pieter Elbers, the CEO of IndiGo, a company founded in 2006 and already behind the largest contract by volume in the history of civil aviation — 500 Airbus single-aisle aircraft by 2023.The Indian low-cost carrier, the country’s biggest by market share, is positioning itself as a significant player in the long-haul market.”This strategic move will enable IndiGo to spread its wings further and expand its long-haul international network”, the company said in a statement.”This is yet another step in defining the airline’s long-term plans of international expansion”.The A350 planes, with ranges of up to 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles), will allow it to further expand its network.Overall, IndiGo has placed orders for around 1,000 aircraft from the A320 family, Airbus’s most successful model and rival of the Boeing 737 MAX, which has endured multiple setbacks after a series of safety scares.Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which began its annual industry conference in New Delhi on Sunday, said “the development of India’s air connectivity in recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal”.Indian domestic air growth is “running at over 10 percent” per year, Walsh said, ahead of the conference.The growth of its economy has made India and its 1.4 billion people the world’s fourth-largest air market — domestic and international — with IATA projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade.Last year, India’s domestic air passenger traffic reached a “historic milestone, surpassing 500,000 passengers in a single day”, according to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation.The ministry boasts of a sector “experiencing a meteoric rise”.Railways remain hugely popular but travelling by trains crisscrossing a country about three-quarters the area of the European Union is often slow and chaotic.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is slated to address IATA delegates on Monday, has made the development of the air sector a priority since coming to power in 2014.India has doubled its number of airports in the past decade to 157, with plans to have as many as 400 by 2047.

Fugitive former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a “systematic attack” that amounted to crimes against humanity in her attempt to crush the uprising that toppled her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday.Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 after Hasina’s government launched its crackdown, according to the United Nations.Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka.Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina’s ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League.”Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,” ICT chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court in his opening speech.”The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.”Islam lodged five charges each against Hasina and two other officials that included “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising”.Prosecutors say such acts are tantamount to “crimes against humanity”.- ‘Not an act of vendetta’ -Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges as politically motivated.As well as Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun — who is in custody but did not appear in court on Sunday — and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is also on the run.The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina’s government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026.The hearing is being broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.Prosecutor Islam vowed that the trial would be impartial.”This is not an act of vendetta but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity,” he said.Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina’s phone conversations and records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown, as part of their probe. The prosecution argues that Hasina ordered security forces, through directives from the interior ministry and police, to crush the protesters.”They systematically committed murder, attempted murder, torture, and other inhuman acts,” Islam said. Prosecutors also allege that security forces opened fire from helicopters after Hasina’s directives.They also accused Hasina of ordering the killing of student protester Abu Sayeed, who was shot dead at close range in the northern city of Rangpur on July 16.He was the first student demonstrator killed in the police crackdown on protests and footage of his last moments was shown repeatedly on Bangladeshi television after Hasina’s downfall.The ICT court opened its first trial connected to Hasina’s government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day that Hasina fled the country.Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.Separately on Sunday, the Supreme Court restored the registration of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to take part in elections.Hasina had banned Jamaat-e-Islami and cracked down on its leaders.Bangladesh’s interim government banned the Awami League in May, pending the outcome of her trial, and those of other party leaders.

Fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a “systemic attack” to try to crush the uprising against her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday.Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched its crackdown, according to the United Nations.Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule, and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka.The domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina’s ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League.”Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, ICT chief prosecutor, told the court in his opening speech.”The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.”Islam lodged charges against Hasina and two other officials of “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising”.- ‘Not an act of vendetta’ -Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges as politically motivated.As well as Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun — who is in custody, but who did not appear in court on Sunday — and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who like Hasina, is on the run.The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina’s government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026.The hearing is being broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.Prosecutor Islam vowed the trial would be impartial.”This is not an act of vendetta, but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity,” he said.Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina’s phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe. The ICT court opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day Hasina fled the country.Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.Earlier on Sunday, the Supreme Court restored the registration of the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to take part in elections.Hasina banned Jamaat-e-Islami during her tenure and cracked down on its leaders.In May, Bangladesh’s interim government banned the Awami League, pending the outcome of her trial, and of other party leaders.

Bangladesh will open the trial on Sunday of fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity related to the killings of protesters by police, prosecutors said. Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule, and has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka.”The prosecution team … is set to submit charges against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina,” said Gazi MH Tamim, one of the prosecutors.Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations.The domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Hasina and her now-banned Awami League party.The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina’s government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026.The hearing is expected to be broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.Prosecutors submitted their report into the case against Hasina last month with the court on Sunday expected to open proceedings by issuing formal charges.ICT chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said on May 12 that Hasina faces at least five charges, including “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising”.Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina’s phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe. Hasina remains in self-imposed exile in India and has defied an arrest warrant and extradition orders from Dhaka to face trial in person.She has rejected the charges as politically motivated.The same case is also expected to include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. They face similar charges.The ICT court opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day Hasina fled the country.Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.

Torrential monsoon rains in India’s northeast triggered landslides and floods that swept away and killed at least five people in Assam, disaster officials said Saturday.India’s annual monsoon season from June to September offers respite from intense summer heat and is crucial for replenishing water supplies, but also brings widespread death and destruction.The deaths recorded are among the first of this season, with scores often killed over the course of the rains across India, a country of 1.4 billion people.The monsoon is a colossal sea breeze that brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall.Rivers swollen by the lashing rain — including the mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries — broke their banks across the region.But the intensity of rain and floods has increased in recent years, with experts saying climate change is exacerbating the problem.Assam State Disaster Management Authority officials on Saturday confirmed five deaths in the last 24 hours.A red alert warning had been issued for 12 districts of Assam after non-stop rains over the last three days led to flooding in many urban areas.  The situation was particularly bad in the state capital Guwahati.City authorities have disconnected the electricity in several districts to cut the risk of electrocution.Several low-lying areas of Guwahati were flooded, with hundreds of families forced to abandon homes to seek shelter elsewhere.Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government had deployed rescue teams. “We have been reviewing the impending situation for the last three days”, he said in a statement, saying that supplies of rice had been dispatched as food aid.South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon.On Monday, lashing rains swamped India’s financial capital Mumbai, where the monsoon rains arrived some two weeks earlier than usual, the earliest for nearly a quarter century, according to weather forecasters.

Thousands of Afghans protested across the country on Friday against the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, responding to a nationwide call by the Taliban authorities.Large crowds gathered in several cities after Friday prayers waving Palestinian flags and burning pictures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”We are out in support with Gaza. And to show the world that Gaza is not alone, we are standing with them. Wherever Muslims are oppressed, we strongly defend them and condemn it,” said 28-year-old Jannat, who goes by one name, in the capital Kabul.Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March, ending a six-week truce.Israel has in recent days partially eased a total aid blockade on the Palestinian territory that it imposed on March 2.The blockade led to severe shortages of food and medicine with the United Nations warning that “100 percent” of Gazans are at risk of famine. Taliban Prime Minister Hassan Akhund condemned on Friday Israel’s actions in Gaza, labelling them a “genocide” and expressing growing concern over the escalating violence against Palestinian civilians. “The situation continues to deteriorate daily, in blatant violation of fundamental humanitarian principles,” he said in a statement.   The Taliban government, which is not internationally recognised, has long maintained vocal support for the Palestinian cause and regularly condemns Israeli actions in the occupied territories.