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India’s spinners struck regular blows to dent West Indies’ reply as the hosts extended their dominance in the second Test after a fluent century from skipper Shubman Gill on Saturday.The tourists were 140-4 at stumps on the second day, still trailing India by 378 runs at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.Shai Hope, on 31, and wicketkeeper-batsman Tevin Imlach, on 14, were batting at close of play after left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets.Gill led from the front with his unbeaten 129 — his fifth hundred of the year in eight Tests — after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s run out on 175 in the second over of the day following a mix-up with the captain.”Misunderstandings happen and it’s part of the game,” Jadeja told reporters. “Thankfully we are in a good position after that and put up a tall score.”Jadeja added that they would try to get the tourists out early on day three even though “there is not much spin on the wicket”.In reply to India’s mammoth first-innings 518-5 declared, opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul (34) and Alick Athanaze (41) offered some resistance before departing. Chanderpaul edged a short-of-a-length ball from Jadeja to slip where KL Rahul caught it after a couple of juggles to end a 66-run second-wicket stand.Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav sent back Athanaze and in the next over skipper Roston Chase was dismissed for a duck off Jadeja.Hope kept up the fight after he survived a close lbw appeal, which India reviewed but lost as ball tracking confirmed the umpire’s call.- Freak catch -“We know it’s very challenging, but I know we have capable batters who can do it,” West Indies spinner Jomel Warrican said. “The wicket is turning a lot more compared to day one, so we just have to apply ourselves and back our ability.”In the second session, West Indies opener John Campbell fell for 10 as Sai Sudharsan somehow took a stunning and slightly lucky reflex catch at forward short-leg.The left-handed Campbell attempted a slog sweep off Jadeja and Sudharsan instinctively held on to the ball with his helmet, chest and hands as he ducked for cover.Gill, who started the day on 20, took on the West Indies attack with his classy strokeplay, hitting 16 fours and two sixes in his 10th Test century.Gill scored three runs off left-arm spinner Khary Pierre to reach a hundred and raised his bat to acknowledge a raucous weekend crowd.He and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who made 44, shared 102 runs for the fifth wicket and put on quick runs peppered with regular boundaries after the lunch break to turn the screw on the West Indies.Earlier, the left-handed Jaiswal added just two to his overnight score before departing after the dramatic run out.Attempting a single after pushing the ball to mid-off, Jaiswal set off, but Gill had his back towards the striker and was ball-watching, and Imlach was quick to rattle the stumps.Gill kept calm and put on 91 runs with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made 43 before Warrican got him out for his third wicket.India are hot favourites to sweep the two-match series after winning the opener by an innings.

India’s spinners struck regular blows to dent West Indies’ reply as the hosts extended their dominance in the second Test after a fluent century from skipper Shubman Gill on Saturday.The tourists were 140-4 at stumps, still trailing India by 378 runs at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.Shai Hope, on 31, and wicketkeeper-batsman Tevin Imlach, on 14, were batting at close of play after left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets.Gill led from the front with his unbeaten 129 — his fifth hundred of the year in eight Tests — after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s departure on 175 in the second over of the second day.In reply to India’s mammoth first-innings 518-5 declared, opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul (34) and Alick Athanaze (41) offered some resistance before departing. Chanderpaul edged a short-of-a-length ball from Jadeja to slip where KL Rahul caught it after a couple of juggles to end a 66-run second-wicket stand.Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav sent back Athanaze and in the next over skipper Roston Chase was dismissed for a duck off Jadeja.Hope kept up the fight after he survived a close lbw appeal, which India reviewed but lost as ball tracking confirmed the umpire’s call.In the second session, West Indies opener John Campbell fell for 10 after Sai Sudharsan somehow took a stunning and slightly lucky reflex catch at forward short-leg.The left-handed Campbell attempted a slog sweep off Jadeja and Sudharsan instinctively held on to the ball with his helmet, chest and hands as he ducked for cover.Gill, who started the day on 20, took on the West Indies attack with his classy strokeplay, hitting 16 fours and two sixes in his 10th Test century.Gill scored three runs off left-arm spinner Khary Pierre to reach a hundred and raised his bat to acknowledge a raucous weekend crowd.He and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who made 44, shared 102 runs for the fifth wicket and put on quick runs peppered with regular boundaries after the lunch break to turn the screw on the West Indies.Earlier, the left-handed Jaiswal added just two to his overnight score when a mix-up with Gill saw him heading back to the pavilion.Attempting a single after pushing the ball to mid-off, Jaiswal set off, but Gill had his back towards the striker and was ball-watching, and Imlach was quick to rattle the stumps.Gill kept calm and put on 91 runs with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made 43 before Jomel Warrican got him out for his third wicket.India are hot favourites to sweep the two-match series after winning the opener by an innings.

The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in several northwestern districts that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.The attacks, which included a suicide bombing on a police training school, were carried out on Friday in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.Militancy has surged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the withdrawal of US-led troops from neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021 and the return of the Taliban government in Kabul.Eleven paramilitary troops were killed in the border Khyber district, while seven policemen were killed after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gate of a police training school in Dera Ismail Khan district, which was followed by a gun attack.”Seven police personnel were martyred and 13 were injured in the attack, while six terrorists were also killed,” Muhammad Hussain, a senior local police official, told AFP.Five people, including three civilians, were killed in a separate clash between militants and paramilitary troops in Bajaur district, security officials told AFP on Saturday.The Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attacks in messages on social media. The group is separate to but closely linked with the Afghan Taliban.The attacks came hours after Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of “violating Kabul’s sovereign territory”, a day after two explosions were heard in the capital.Pakistan did not say if it was behind the blasts in Kabul but said it had the right to defend itself against surging border militancy.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “strongly condemns” Friday’s attacks, his office said in a statement.”Such cowardly acts by terrorists cannot shake our resolve against terrorism,” the statement said. “We are determined to completely eliminate terrorism from the country.”- ‘Enough is enough’ -Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to expel militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, an accusation that authorities in Kabul deny.The TTP and its affiliates are behind most of the violence — largely directed at security forces.Including Friday’s attacks at least 32 Pakistani troops and three civilians have been killed this week alone in the border regions, while dozens of militants were also killed.More than 500 people, including 311 troops and 73 policemen, have been killed in attacks since January up to September 15, a military spokesman said on Friday.Earlier this year, a UN report said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities”, referring to the Taliban government in Kabul.Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament on Thursday that several efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop backing the TTP had failed.”We will not tolerate this any longer,” Asif said. “United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil.”He warned that any response could cause collateral damage. “Everyone will have to bear the consequences, including those providing the hideouts,” he said.”Enough is enough,” he added. “The Pakistani government and army’s patience has run out.”

India struck early with a freak catch after declaring their first innings on 518-5 with skipper Shubman Gill hitting an unbeaten 129 on day two of the second Test against the West Indies on Saturday.West Indies opener John Campbell fell for 10 after Sai Sudharsan somehow took a stunning and slightly lucky reflex catch at forward short-leg at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.The left-handed Campbell attempted a slog sweep off Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin and Sudharsan instinctively held on to the ball with his helmet, chest and hands as he ducked for cover.West Indies were 26-1 at tea, trailing India by 492 runs.Tagenarine Chanderpaul, on 13, and Alick Athanaze, on two, were batting at the break.India lost overnight batter Yashasvi Jaiswal for 175 soon after they resumed on 318-2 but Gill took on the mantle with his 10th Test century.Gill, who started the day on 20, took on the West Indies attack with his classy strokeplay, hitting 16 fours and two sixes.Gill scored three runs off left-arm spinner Khary Pierre to register his fifth hundred this year and raised his bat to acknowledge a raucous weekend crowd.He and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who made 44, shared 102 runs for the fifth wicket and put on quick runs peppered with regular boundaries after the lunch break to turn the screw on the West Indies.Visiting skipper Roston Chase bowled Jurel with a delivery that stayed low and Gill soon declared the innings.Earlier, the left-handed Jaiswal added just two to his overnight score when a mix-up with Gill saw him heading back to the pavilion in the second over of the day.Attempting a single after pushing the ball to mid-off, Jaiswal set off, but Gill had his back towards the striker and was ball-watching, and wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach was quick to rattle the stumps.Gill kept calm and put on 91 runs with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made 43 before Jomel Warrican got him out for his third wicket.India are hot favourites to sweep the two-match series after winning the opener by an innings.

Several thousand members of a hard-right Pakistan Islamist party began marching towards the capital on Saturday, after violent clashes with police during anti-Israel protests in the eastern city of Lahore.Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) began its protests in Lahore on Thursday and announced plans to march to the US embassy in Islamabad to voice its opposition to the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after two years of war in Gaza.The demonstrations turned violent on Friday, with police launching baton charges and firing tear gas at protesters who had pelted them with rocks, AFP journalists saw.Traffic was disrupted in Lahore and in Islamabad, about 370 kilometres (230 miles) to the north, with authorities also suspending mobile internet connections and closing major roads.Shipping containers were being placed as barriers across major roads in the capital in anticipation of the arrival of the protesters.As many as 50 police officers were injured in Friday’s clashes, a senior police official told AFP, while TLP claims that some of its members had been killed could not be verified independently.The TLP said the protests had originally been organised to oppose the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which Pakistan backed, but was now intended to express solidarity with Palestinians.”We have no demands, apart from showing solidarity with the people of Gaza,” senior TLP member Allama Muhammad Irfan told AFP as the protesters set off for Islamabad.”We have no idea when we will reach Islamabad, but the government is being brutal with us. We are not negotiating with the government at all,” Irfan said.Deputy Interior Minister Tallal Chaudry vowed on Thursday not to let the protesters enter Islamabad.”There is no room for any radical activity in Islamabad,” he told reporters.”Why is an agreement that is acceptable to Hamas and Palestine not acceptable to you?”.Israel declared a ceasefire and began pulling back its troops at around noon on Friday, as tens of thousands of Palestinians began walking back towards their devastated homes.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailed the deal on Thursday as a “historic opportunity to secure lasting peace”.”We will continue to work with partners, friends and the leaders of brotherly nations to ensure that peace, security and dignity for the Palestinian people are established,” he said.The TLP has been behind some of Pakistan’s most violent protests, and frequently calls on the government to expel Western ambassadors.Pakistan has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Prolific opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smacked 173 not out as India moved ominously towards a massive first-innings total in the second Test against the West Indies on Friday.The hosts ended day one on 318-2 after they elected to bat first at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium in a bid to sweep the two-match series.The left-handed Jaiswal made the day his own as he put on a marathon 193-run second-wicket stand with Sai Sudharsan, who scored 87.Jaiswal, who registered his fifth 150-plus score in Tests, and skipper Shubman Gill, on 20, were batting at close of play after Sudharsan’s dismissal was the only wicket to fall in the final session.The 23-year-old Jaiswal reached his seventh Test ton in his 26th match since he began his five-day career in the West Indies in 2023 with a 171 on debut.He raised his bat, made a heart gesture with his hands and blew kisses as a lively crowd applauded. Jaiswal looked fluent as he hit pace bowler Jayden Seales for three fours in the first over after lunch to raise his fifty and kept up the attack with regular boundaries.Sudharsan reached his fifty with a boundary off Khary Pierre then survived a dropped catch on 58 by Jomel Warrican at short mid-wicket off Justin Greaves.The top-order batsman has been fighting for the number-three spot in India’s competitive line-up and looked primed for his first Test ton but Warrican trapped him lbw.Jaiswal stood firm along with Gill as the pair put together 67 runs to tire out the demoralised opposition attack.India started strongly with KL Rahul and Jaiswal putting on 58 runs for the first wicket.Rahul made a rapid 38 before being stumped by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach off Warrican.Rahul had attacked Seales for successive fours, including a rasping cover drive followed by a whip towards the mid-on fence in the first hour of play.Jaiswal’s straight drive off pace bowler Anderson Phillip after the first drinks break also delighted the home fans, who are expecting another big win.Spin was introduced in the 15th over, with Pierre bowling his left-arm orthodox on a tidy line and length.Rahul took on Pierre in the next over and came down the track to hit the first six of the match over long-on, but another ambitious attempt in the next over had him walking back.Strong favourites India came in unchanged from their innings victory in the opener.The visitors, led by Roston Chase, are looking to avoid a second successive Test whitewash after losing 3-0 to Australia at home.

India will upgrade its technical mission in Afghanistan to a full embassy, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Friday, as he met his counterpart from Kabul in New Delhi.Russia is the only country to officially recognise the Afghan Taliban government since they seized control of the country in August 2021, although several nations do have embassies in Kabul.India had a large embassy in the Afghan capital until the Taliban takeover, when they withdraw most diplomats and downgraded the facility to a technical mission.”I am pleased to announce today the upgrading of India’s Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy of India,” Jaishankar told Amir Khan Muttaqi.UN-sanctioned Muttaqi’s trip to India — cleared after the Security Council granted him a travel waiver — is expected to be closely watched by neighbouring Pakistan, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.His visit is the first visit by a top Taliban leader to India since they returned to power.”We have a common commitment towards growth and prosperity,” Jaishankar said, in comments broadcast at the opening of the meeting.”However, these are endangered by the shared threat of cross-border terrorism that both our nations face.”The Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law may appear an unlikely match for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, but India has sought to seize the opening.- ‘Close friend’ -Diplomatic dynamics in South Asia are driven by long-running distrust between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi seeking to exploit divisions between Islamabad and Kabul.Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan fought a brief but deadly clash in May, their worst confrontation in decades.Jaishankar praised Kabul’s “solidarity with us in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack”, in which 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir in April. New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing the assault, a charge Islamabad denies.”We appreciate your sensitivity towards India’s security concerns,” Jaishankar added.Muttaqi in reply said that “Afghanistan looks at India as a close friend”, citing aid that India sent following a deadly earthquake in September.”We will not allow any group to threaten anyone else or use the territory of Afghanistan against others”, he added.India said Kabul had also offered mining opportunities to India.”We have a shared interest in boosting trade and commerce,” Jaishankar said. “Your invitation to Indian companies to explore mining opportunities in Afghanistan is also deeply appreciated.” While the Taliban are seeking diplomatic recognition and legitimacy, analysts suggested India was some way off issuing that.”India is not in a hurry to provide diplomatic recognition to the Taliban,” Rakesh Sood, India’s former ambassador to Kabul, said ahead of the meeting.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a sparkling century to put India on course for a big total as they reached 220-1 at tea on day one of the second Test against the West Indies on Friday.Jaiswal, who was 111 not out, reached his seventh Test ton and soaked in the applause at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.The attacking Jaiswal put on an unbeaten 162-run stand with fellow left-hander Sai Sudharsan, batting on 71, as the two made the opposition toil after they elected to bat first.Jaiswal hit pace bowler Jayden Seales for three fours in the first over after lunch to raise his fifty and kept up the attack with regular boundaries.Sudharsan reached his fifty with a boundary off Khary Pierre and survived a dropped catch on 58 by Jomel Warrican at short mid-wicket off Justin Greaves.India started strongly in their bid to sweep the two-match series with KL Rahul and Jaiswal putting on 58 runs for the first wicket.Rahul made a rapid 38 before being stumped by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach off Warrican’s left-arm spin.Rahul had attacked Seales for successive fours, including a rasping cover drive followed by a whip towards the mid-on fence in the first hour of play.Jaiswal’s straight drive off pace bowler Anderson Phillip after the first drinks break also delighted the home fans, who are expecting a big win.Spin was introduced in the 15th over, with Pierre bowling his left-arm orthodox on a tidy line and length.Rahul took on Pierre in the next over and came down the track to hit the first six of the match over long-on, but another ambitious attempt in the next over had him walking back.Strong favourites India came in unchanged from their innings victory in the opener.The visitors, led by Roston Chase, are looking to avoid a second successive Test whitewash after losing 3-0 to Australia at home.

India started strongly but lost KL Rahul to reach 94-1 at lunch on the first day of the second Test against West Indies on Friday.Rahul made a brisk 38 but was stumped off Jomel Warrican’s left-arm spin, bringing an end to a 58-run opening stand after India elected to bat first at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground.Yashasvi Jaiswal was still at the crease on 40, with he and Rahul starting cautiously before stepping up the pace with delightful boundaries.Rahul hit pace bowler Jayden Seales for successive fours, including a rasping cover drive followed by a whip towards the mid-on fence.Jaiswal’s straight drive off pace bowler Anderson Phillip after the first drinks break also delighted home fans.Spin was introduced in the 15th over, with Khary Pierre bowling his left-arm orthodox on a tidy line and length.Rahul took on Pierre in the next over and came down the track to hit the first six of the match over long-on.But another ambitious attempt in the next over off Warrican cost him, with wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach quick with his glovework.Sai Sudharsan, batting on 16, started with a boundary and helped Jaiswal steer India to the break.Strong favourites India came in unchanged after captain Shubman Gill won the toss and batted first in their bid to sweep the two-match series following an innings victory in the opener.The visitors, led by Roston Chase, are looking to avoid a second successive Test whitewash after losing 3-0 to Australia at home recently.However, they are a pale shadow of the team that once dominated cricket.

Before a Myanmar student descends into a classroom entombed in a concrete bunker, she prays for compassion and her community’s safety, knowing her appeal will go unanswered.”May the fighter jets not come. May the pilots show kindness to us. May the bombs not explode,” 18-year-old Phyo Phyo said, recalling her unspoken wishes. She is enrolled in a class of around a dozen at the subterranean academy, founded in June after a junta strike obliterated a nearby school and killed at least 20 pupils and two teachers, according to witnesses.”Our school days used to be free and full of fun,” said Phyo Phyo, a pseudonym used for security reasons.”Ever since the air strikes started, we’ve lost our happiness,” she added. “The students have grown quiet.”Myanmar’s military has increased air strikes every year since it triggered civil war with a 2021 coup, conflict monitors say — a response to guerrilla factions opposed to junta rule besieging its ground forces.The deluges and gales of the May to September monsoons typically offer a reprieve.But partial data from this year’s wet season shows the military conducted more than 1,000 air and drone strikes, killing more than 800 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) organisation, which tallies media reports of violence.A Myanmar junta spokesman could not be reached for comment.The junta is waging a campaign to recapture territory ahead of elections it has said will start on December 28.But rebels have pledged to block the polls in their enclaves, and analysts describe the vote as a ploy to disguise the continuation of military rule.In a rebel-held area, around 110 kilometres (70 miles) north of Mandalay city where junta jets scour the skies, Phyo Phyo and her classmates learn in the dank and dark but relative safety of their underground classroom.It was built in the jungle with donations and resembles a spartan prison cell.”We want education, no matter the obstacles,” Phyo Phyo said.- ‘Superior air power’ – Bowing her head to study Burmese literature — her favourite subject — the teenager is watched over by a poster of Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratic leader ousted by the military in February 2021.Democracy activists formed guerrilla units and found common cause with myriad ethnic minority armed groups, which have long fought the military for self-rule.Their scattered organisation failed to make much headway until a combined offensive starting in late 2023.The back-footed military then stepped up its aerial campaign using China- and Russia-supplied jets against rebels who possess neither their own air fleets nor anti-air defences.”The reason they use air strikes is they feel our revolutionary armed groups have the power to take them down,” said Zaw Tun, a member of the democracy movement’s self-declared National Unity Government in a rebel-held area of northern Sagaing region.”They can’t win the ground battle, but they have the power to attack us with air strikes,” he said. Rarely a week passes without civilians being killed in a mass-casualty bombing, often of schools or monasteries occupied by children or monks, and sometimes also sheltering people already displaced by fighting.”The military targets crowds intentionally because they want to incite fear,” said ACLED Asia-Pacific analyst Su Mon Thant.”When people are more uncertain with their life and desperate, they don’t want to support the resistance cause.”But while “superior power in the air” allows the military to stave off defeat, she said, it is not enough to secure victory — creating a stalemate where casualties mount but front lines stay largely unchanged. While there is no official death toll for Myanmar’s war and estimates vary widely, ACLED reports more than 85,000 people have been killed on all sides. Of those, nearly 3,400 were civilians killed by state forces in targeted air or drone strikes.- Under cover of darkness  – State media has previously described reports of civilian casualties as “false information” being spread by “malicious media”.But for farmers, who slosh through paddies in Sagaing region to tend their rice crops by torchlight, the threat is real.”We transplant paddies at night so that we can focus on hiding in the daytime,” said one farmer who did not share their name.During daylight hours, in central Mandalay region’s Thabeikkyin township, rebels surveil the skies and use crackling walkie-talkies to relay the last-known location of junta jets — an improvised air raid warning system.Thwat Lat sounds the siren up to 15 times daily, voicing the most urgent warnings through a pink and gold microphone plugged into a system of speakers that can be heard from eight kilometres away, sending residents skittering to bunkers.”Every time a person’s life is saved, I feel what I’m doing is worthwhile,” he said during one of his recent 19-hour shifts.But bunkers and siloed schools cannot protect their occupants from psychological wounds. “I have no words to express how nervous I am,” said Khin Tint, 67. “Sometimes I think I am already dead but my heart is still pounding.”