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When Mohammad Hanif heard Qatar was opening jobs to Afghans, he joined thousands of others to put his name down for a shot to make a living in the gas-rich emirate, his own country wracked by unemployment.The Taliban authorities announced a deal with Gulf state this month to recruit 3,100 workers from Afghanistan, who started applying on Tuesday at centres across the country.By Wednesday, more than 8,500 people had put their names down from the capital Kabul and surrounding provinces, labour ministry spokesman Samiullah Ibrahimi told AFP, and more than 15,500 people are expected to register nationwide.The Taliban government says the jobs will help fight steep unemployment and poverty in the country of around 48 million people, facing what the United Nations says is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. “Our country has many problems, most people are poor and work odd jobs,” said Hanif, who travelled to western Herat from neighbouring Badghis to register. “I have skills in car mechanics and cooking, and I have certificates to prove it,” said the 35-year-old, adding he was grateful to Qatar for employing Afghans.  Competition is steep, however, with centres swarmed by hopeful applicants ready to present the required passports, identification cards and professional certificates to nab roles ranging from bus driver to cleaner, cook, mechanic and electrician. More than 1,000 people have applied in southern Kandahar for around 375 positions allocated to the region, and in Herat, around 2,000 people lined up on Wednesday to try for one of a few hundred jobs, AFP journalists said. – Doha instead of Tehran -Qatar, where the Taliban opened an office during the two-decade war with US-led forces, is one of the handful of countries to have strong diplomatic ties with Afghanistan’s rulers after they swept to power in 2021. Only Russia has so far officially recognised the Taliban government.Discussions are also underway with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey and Russia to set up similar deals, labour minister Abdul Manan Omari said in a statement on Tuesday. The process “will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the country’s economic situation and reduce unemployment”, said Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs.Nearly half of Afghanistan’s population lives in poverty, and the unemployment rate (over 13 percent) affects nearly a quarter of young people aged 15 to 29, according to the World Bank. Those who do have work often support large, extended families on stretched salaries.High unemployment has been driven by infrastructure hamstrung by 40 years of conflict, drought impacting the crucial agriculture sector and the recent mass removals of Afghans from neighbouring countries, said Noorullah Fadwi, head of an association of job search companies.  This year, nearly two million Afghans have returned to their country after being driven out or deported from Iran and Pakistan, where many had lived for decades. “We are grateful to Qatar and ask other (Arab) countries to hire Afghan workers too, because the situation in Iran and Pakistan is very bad,” said 39-year-old Noor Mohammad, who registered in Herat, hoping for a hotel job.- ‘There is nothing’ -The Taliban authorities have not yet detailed how the Afghan recruits will be housed or their potential working conditions, while pledging to safeguard their rights.Qatar, where foreigners make up nearly 90 percent of the three million-strong population, has faced heavy criticism over the treatment of migrant labourers, particularly during construction leading up to hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar has since introduced major reforms to improve workers’ safety and punish employers who violate the rules.It has dismantled its “kafala” labour system, which gave employers powerful rights over whether workers could leave their jobs or even the country.Mohammad Qasim, 37, said he would not go to Qatar if he could find a job in Afghanistan, but he earned a university degree in education four years ago and has been unemployed ever since.”I tried very hard to find work but there is nothing,” he told AFP, saying he applied to be a cleaner at a centre in Kandahar.At least in Qatar, he said, “I will earn something.”

The opposition leader in Pakistan’s parliament was among more than 100 people convicted Thursday over nationwide protests in support of Imran Khan in 2023, his party said. A statement from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) said six members of parliament, a senator, and a provincial MP, were given 10-year sentences, a week after several others were also convicted. Among them was Omar Ayub Khan, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, who did not attend the protests.He was convicted at an anti-terrorism court in the eastern city of Faisalabad of abetting violence and conspiring to incite riots and arson.”We are going to challenge this in the upper court,” PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan told reporters. “Such verdicts are bad for democracy and the country altogether.”The party officials have been on bail during the trial and have not yet been taken to jail.Nationwide protests that targeted sensitive military installations erupted on May 9 when Khan was briefly arrested in the capital, Islamabad.Khan, who was prime minister between 2018 and 2022, has been in jail for nearly two years on charges he says are politically motivated. His supporters and senior party leaders have also faced a severe crackdown, with thousands rounded up and Khan’s name censored from television.Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, the London-based spokesman for PTI said the latest sentences were “a black day for demoracy”.”Convicting opposition leaders one after another is not a good omen for any democratic system, and it will seriously damage our already fragile democracy,” he said.

An Indian court on Thursday acquitted a firebrand Hindu nationalist nun and former lawmaker, and six others accused of participating in a deadly bombing near a mosque in 2008.The attack killed six people and wounded more than 100 others when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded close to the mosque in Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra.Seven people were tried on terrorism and criminal conspiracy charges, including former MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, in a case that dragged on for years.The prosecution claimed Thakur’s motorbike was used to carry the explosives used in the attack, and that she took part in a key planning meeting before it was staged.However, Judge AK Lahoti ruled Thursday that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence against Thakur and the six others.”Judgements cannot be based on morals and public perception,” Lahoti said, according to Indian legal website Live Law.Defence lawyer Ranjit Nair said the judge noted that the prosecution could not “present any proof against the accused”.Indian parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi called the verdict “disappointing”, saying those killed were “targeted for their religion”.”A deliberately shoddy investigation/prosecution is responsible for the acquittal,” he said in a post on X. Islam is a minority religion in Hindu-majority India, the world’s most populous country.During the trial, India’s counter-terrorism unit said the 2008 bombing was orchestrated to incite communal tensions, local media reported. Thakur, 55, spent nine years in jail before she was given bail in 2017.She later won an election after being fielded by the BJP to run for a seat in the central city of Bhopal.Indian election rules allow anyone to stand for office as long as they have not been convicted of a crime.Thakur courted controversy when she called the radical Hindu assassin of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi a “patriot” — earning her a rebuke from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.She also raised eyebrows for claiming that drinking cow urine had helped cure her cancer and extolling the benefits of drinking a concoction of milk, butter and cow dung.

Both England and India are set to field new-look teams when the decisive fifth and final Test of an enthralling, gruelling, and often spiky series gets underway at the Oval on Thursday.England confirmed Wednesday they will be without captain Ben Stokes after the inspirational all-rounder was ruled out with a shoulder injury — a huge blow to the hosts.In last week’s drawn fourth match at Old Trafford, which preserved his side’s 2-1 series lead, Stokes became just the fourth England cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in the same Test. The 34-year-old is also the leading wicket-taker on either side, with 17 wickets at 25.23, while sending down 140 overs — the most the lively seamer has delivered in any series.”I am obviously disappointed to not be able to finish the series,” an emotional Stokes told reporters on Wednesday, adding: “Bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results.”England, in an exhausting schedule of five Test in under seven weeks, have made four changes to their side at the Oval. Spin-bowling all-rounder Jacob Bethell makes his first Test appearance of 2025, effectively as a replacement for Stokes.Pacemen Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton all come into the team, with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse rested. Liam Dawson has been dropped, with England opting against deploying a specialist spinner.- Bumrah dilemma -India, meanwhile, have still to confirm if Jasprit Bumrah will play at the Oval.Bumrah’s back injury earlier this year prompted India to announce the fast bowler would only feature in three games during the current series.The world’s top-ranked Test bowler made his third appearance at Old Trafford and has little time to recover after bowling a draining 33 overs, during which he took two wickets and conceded 100 runs for the first time in a Test innings.”We are going to take a decision tomorrow (Thursday),” India captain Shubman Gill said Wednesday. “The wicket looks pretty green. So, we will see how it turns out.”India are set to recall Akash Deep, who took 10 wickets in Bumrah’s absence during India’s 336-run win in the second Test at Edgbaston before suffering a groin injury in the next match at Lord’s.The tourists will have to make at least one change, as prolific run-scorer Rishabh Pant has been ruled out after fracturing his foot in Manchester, with Dhruv Jurel taking over as wicketkeeper.India were in dire straits at 0-2 in their second innings at Old Trafford. But Gill, in on a hat-trick, made his fourth century of a remarkable debut campaign as India skipper before further hundreds from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar kept the series alive.The 25-year-old Gill has now set a new record for the most runs scored by an India batsman in a series against England of 722.And he could eclipse Sunil Gavaskar’s all-time India series record of 774 runs, set against the West Indies in 1971, at the Oval.”One day before the last Test match, I am here and I am very excited,” said Gill, thrust into the captaincy following Rohit Sharma’s shock retirement. The series has become increasingly heated, with India refusing to shake hands on a draw early in the fourth Test in Manchester after Gill accused England of ignoring the “spirit of cricket” with time-wasting tactics in the third Test at Lord’s.And on Tuesday there was even an extraordinary row between India coach Gautam Gambhir and Oval groundsman Lee Fortis.Gill, while acknowledging emotions had occasionally boiled over, said: “I think once the match is over, there is mutual respect between both the teams.”Despite India’s superb rearguard action to earn a draw at Old Trafford, former India batsman Gambhir remains under pressure.  Since he took over as head coach, India have won just two and lost eight out of 12 Tests. 

US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap harsh tariffs on Indian exports and a “penalty” on purchases of Russian weapons and energy will cost thousands of jobs and could fundamentally change the nature of bilateral ties, experts said Wednesday.Months of negotiations between the two countries over an interim trade deal had stalled in recent weeks over Trump’s sweeping demands and New Delhi’s reluctance to fully open its agricultural and dairy sectors to US imports.On Wednesday, two days before the deadline for the reintroduction of Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs”, the US president announced that Indian shipments to the United States would be hit with a 25 percent tariff.He added that an unspecified “penalty” for acquiring military equipment and oil from Russia would also kick in from August 1.Kirit Bhansali, Chairman of India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said the move was a “deeply concerning development” that would have “far-reaching repercussions across India’s economy” and threaten “thousands of livelihoods”.For his sector alone, the United States is India’s “single largest market, accounting for over $10 billion in exports — nearly 30 percent of our industry’s total global trade,” he said.”A blanket tariff of this magnitude will inflate costs, delay shipments, distort pricing, and place immense pressure on every part of the value chain — from small karigars (artisans) to large manufacturers,” he added. “We recognise the need to address trade imbalances, but such extreme measures undermine decades of economic cooperation.”Indian goods exports to the United States amounted to $87.4 billion in 2024, according to US data, with top sectors including pharmaceuticals, gems, textiles and smartphones.- ‘Completely unacceptable’ -Trump’s targeting of India with such a high rate of levies would complicate ongoing negotiations for a more comprehensive trade agreement, said Biswajit Dhar, of the Council for Social Development think tank. “It was already a difficult set of negotiations, but both sides said we were making progress. And there was no hard and fast deadline,” he said, referring to previous dates for the imposition of his tariffs that Trump had extended unilaterally.Dhar added that Trump’s threatened “penalty” for India’s ties with Russia was “completely unacceptable for a sovereign state”.”A sovereign state can’t be told who to maintain relations with. Whether it’s Russia or China or whoever. You can’t browbeat a country into accepting your conditions,” he said.Analysts warned that US-India relations may be entering new territory, after years of warming as Washington has cultivated New Delhi as a counterweight to rising Chinese power.”President Trump’s messaging has damaged many years of careful, bipartisan nurturing of the US-India partnership in both capitals,” said Ashok Malik, of business consultancy The Asia Group, in a social media post.”Politically the relationship is in its toughest spot since the mid-1990s.”Praveen Donthi of the International Crisis Group said the announcement underscored the fact that Trump did not “differentiate between friends and foes when it comes to tariffs”.”In the past when India purchased S400 missile system from Russia, there were no sanctions because of the bipartisan consensus that existed in the US about India because of its value as a democratic counterweight to China. “But now that’s gone.” The move could have far-reaching consequences, including seeing New Delhi attempt “to mend its relations with Beijing,” he said.

India has recovered a set of relics linked to early Buddhism more than a century after they were removed from the country during the British colonial period, officials said Wednesday.The Piprahwa gems date back to around the third century BC and were unearthed in 1898 by Englishman William Claxton Peppe in northern India.India’s culture ministry said it secured the return of the gems, which had been slated for auction in Hong Kong in May, in partnership with Mumbai-based conglomerate Godrej Industries Group.”These relics have long held immense spiritual value for the global Buddhist community and represent one of the most important archaeological discoveries in India’s history,” the ministry said in a statement.The gems will be put on public display soon, it added, without giving further details. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the recovery as a “joyous” occasion for India’s cultural heritage. “It may be recalled that the Piprahwa relics were discovered in 1898 but were taken away from India during the colonial period,” he said in a post on social media. “When they appeared in an international auction earlier this year, we worked to ensure they returned home,” he added.”I appreciate all those who have been involved in this effort.”In May, the culture ministry issued a legal notice to Sotheby’s, the auction house that had organised the sale of the gems, demanding it be cancelled and the relics returned to India.The ministry also called for an apology and full disclosure of provenance documents. Sotheby’s postponed the auction in response. The auction house said in a statement Wednesday that it was “delighted to have facilitated the return of the Piprahwa Gems to India”. “Sotheby’s is thrilled to have played such a central role in securing this historic outcome,” it added.The gems were excavated at the Piprahwa village near the Buddha’s birthplace and have been attributed to a clan linked to the religious figure.”This is one of the most significant instances of repatriation of our lost heritage,” culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.

A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India launched Wednesday, designed to track subtle changes in Earth’s land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.Dubbed NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft blasted off around 5:40 pm (1210 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast, riding an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket.Livestream of the event showed excited schoolchildren brought to watch the launch and mission teams erupting in cheers and hugging.Highly anticipated by scientists, the mission has also been hailed by US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a milestone in growing cooperation between the two countries.”Congratulations India!” Dr Jitendra Singh, India’s science and technology minister wrote on X, calling the mission a “game changer.””Our planet surface undergoes constant and meaningful change,” Karen St Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science division, told reporters ahead of launch.”Some change happens slowly. Some happens abruptly. Some changes are large, while some are subtle.”By picking up on tiny shifts in the vertical movement of the Earth’s surface — as little as one centimeter (0.4 inches) — scientists will be able to detect the precursors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.”We’ll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and of course, we’ll see wildfires,” added St Germain, calling NISAR “the most sophisticated radar we’ve ever built.”India in particular is interested in studying its coastal and nearby ocean areas by tracking yearly changes in the shape of the sea floor near river deltas and how shorelines are growing or shrinking.Data will also be used to help guide agricultural policy by mapping crop growth, tracking plant health, and monitoring soil moisture. In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will begin an approximately 90-day commissioning phase during which it will unfurl its 39-foot (12-meter) radar antenna reflector.Once operational, NISAR will record nearly all of Earth’s land and ice twice every 12 days from an altitude of 464 miles (747 kilometers), circling the planet near the poles rather than around the equator.- Microwave frequencies -As it orbits, the satellite will continuously transmit microwaves and receive echoes from the surface. Because the spacecraft is moving, the returning signals are distorted, but computer processing will reassemble them to produce detailed, high-resolution images. Achieving similar results with traditional radar would require an impractically large 12-mile-wide dish.NISAR will operate on two radar frequencies: L-band and S-band. The L-band is ideal for sensing taller vegetation like trees, while the S-band enables more accurate readings of shorter plants such as bushes and shrubs.NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and India’s ISRO shared the workload, each building components on opposite sides of the planet before integrating and testing the spacecraft at ISRO’s Satellite Integration & Testing Establishment in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.NASA’s contribution came to just under $1.2 billion, while ISRO’s costs were around $90 million.India’s space program has made major strides in recent years, including placing a probe in Mars orbit in 2014 and landing a robot and rover on the Moon in 2023.Shubhanshu Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, recently became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to reach the International Space Station — a key step toward India’s own indigenous crewed mission planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan (“sky craft”) program.

India captain Shubman Gill said the head groundsman at the Oval had sparked an “unnecessary” row with coach Gautam Gambhir following the latest flashpoint in a fractious series against England.Gambhir shared terse words on Tuesday with Lee Fortis at the Oval, the London venue for the fifth Test.India trail 2-1 in the series ahead of the deciding match, which starts on Thursday.Former India batsman Gambhir was caught on camera wagging his finger as Fortis towered over him, repeatedly stating: “You can’t tell us what to do.”Gambhir was also heard adding: “You’re just the groundsman, nothing beyond.”Surrey groundsman Fortis is understood to have been keeping a protective eye on the playing area during India’s practice session, with plenty of cricket still to be played on it this season.But India have insisted they simply wanted to have a look at the pitch and had done nothing to spark any kind of reaction from Fortis.”What happened yesterday, I thought, is just absolutely unnecessary. I mean, it’s not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket,” Gill said on Wednesday.The skipper, who has scored 722 runs in the four Tests so far, added: “As a captain, I don’t know what the fuss was all about.”The series has become increasingly heated, with India refusing to shake hands on a draw early in the fourth Test in Manchester to allow Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja to reach centuries, a decision that angered England.Gill previously accused England of ignoring the “spirit of cricket” with time-wasting tactics in the third Test at Lord’s, where India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was fined for the aggressive send-off he gave to Ben Duckett.But he said the incidents were not connected.”I think I have already explained what happened at Lord’s and about even the incident that happened on the last day in the previous Test,” he said.”Both the teams have been very competitive. And sometimes when you are competitive, you know, in the heat of the moment, you do or say things that you might not do (otherwise).”But I think once the match is over, there is mutual respect between both the teams.”Despite India’s superb rearguard action to earn a draw in Manchester, Gambhir remains under pressure.  Since he took over as head coach, India have won just two and lost eight out of 12 Tests. 

German double biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier was confirmed dead on Wednesday after she was seriously injured by a rockfall on a Pakistani mountain.The dangerous nature of the site made rescue efforts “impossible”, her agency said in a statement issued on Wednesday, which confirmed her death.”Rescue efforts to recover her failed and the operation was suspended,” the statement continued. The accident happened around midday on Monday at an altitude of 5,700 metres (18,700 feet) on Laila Peak in the Karakoram range, according to a statement from her team on her official social media pages.Dahlmeier’s climbing partner was able to sound the alarm after reaching safety.”It was determined that a helicopter rescue is not possible,” Areeb Ahmed Mukhtar, a senior local official in Ghanche district, where the more than 6,000 metre mountain is located, told AFP earlier on Wednesday.”The conditions at the altitude where she was injured are extremely challenging,” he added.Shipton Trek & Tours Pakistan, which organised the expedition, confirmed the ground rescue by a team of four that includes three Americans and a German mountaineer.The 31-year-old was “hit by falling rocks,” her team said on Tuesday, adding no one had yet been able to reach her due to the danger of further rockfalls and the site’s “remoteness”.Earlier, a helicopter managed to fly over the location and rescuers saw that “the experienced mountaineer is at least seriously injured”, it said.”No signs of life were detected.”Muhammad Ali, a local disaster management official, told AFP that weather conditions have been “extremely harsh” in the region for the past week, with rain, strong winds and thick clouds.Dahlmeier, an experienced mountaineer, had been in the region since the end of June and had already ascended the Great Trango Tower.German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued a statement on Wednesday calling Dahlmeier “an ambassador for our country around the world (and) a role model for peaceful, joyful, and fair coexistence across borders.”She won seven world championship gold medals, and at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang she became the first female biathlete to win both the sprint and the pursuit at the same Games.Dahlmeier retired from professional competition in 2019 at the age of 25.She went on to become a commentator on biathlon events for German broadcaster ZDF, and also took up mountaineering.She was a certified mountain and ski guide and an active member of the mountain rescue, according to her team.

A team of foreign climbers were on Wednesday due to launch a rescue mission for German double biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier, days after she was seriously injured by a rockfall on a Pakistani mountain.The accident happened around midday on Monday at an altitude of 5,700 metres on Laila Peak in the Karakoram range, according to a statement from her team on her official social media sites.Her climbing partner was able to sound the alarm after reaching safety.”It was determined that a helicopter rescue is not possible,” Areeb Ahmed Mukhtar, a senior local official in Ghanche district, where the more than 6,000 metre (19,700 feet) mountain is located, told AFP.”The conditions at the altitude where she was injured are extremely challenging, and a team of foreign climbers will launch a ground rescue mission today,” he added.Shipton Trek & Tours Pakistan, which organised the expedition, confirmed the ground rescue by a team of four that includes three Americans and a German mountaineer.The 31-year-old was “hit by falling rocks,” her team said on Tuesday, adding no one had yet been able to reach her due to the danger of further rockfalls and the site’s “remoteness”.A helicopter managed to fly over the location and rescuers saw that “the experienced mountaineer is at least seriously injured”, it said.”No signs of life were detected.”Muhammad Ali, a local disaster management official, told AFP that weather conditions have been “extremely harsh” in the region for the past week, with rain, strong winds and thick clouds.Dahlmeier, an experienced mountaineer, had been in the region since the end of June and had already ascended the Great Trango Tower.The International Biathlon Union said in a statement it was “thinking of Dahlmeier and her family, hoping for good news to emerge soon”.She has won seven world championship gold medals, and at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang she became the first female biathlete to win both the sprint and the pursuit at the same Games.Dahlmeier retired from professional competition in 2019 at the age of 25.She went on to become a commentator on biathlon events for German broadcaster ZDF, and also took up mountaineering.She is a certified mountain and ski guide and an active member of the mountain rescue, according to her team.