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The leaders of 22 Indigenous peoples from five continents held prayers for nature in Chile on Sunday at the end of a 46-day pilgrimage around the world.The “Indigenous sages” carried out an ancestral ceremony of the Anasazi people, who lived in the Chaco Canyon before European settlement in what was to become the US state of New Mexico.It was a ritual that, for the first time, brought together peoples from all over the planet — travelling together on a journey that began in Italy and passed through India, Australia, and Zimbabwe before concluding in Chile. During their closing ceremony, representatives of peoples such as the Khalkha of Mongolia, the Noke Koi of Brazil, and the Kallawaya of Bolivia sang, danced, and prayed to the rhythm of drums, around an altar where they lit a sacred fire. “The feathers represent the continents, and today, for the first time, we have the five continents,” said Heriberto Villasenor, director of Raices de la Tierra, an NGO dedicated to the preservation of Indigenous cultures. At the end of the event, the leaders embraced and shared a message, urging greater care for the environment. “We are part of nature. We are not separate from it. We are at a critical moment when so much destruction has taken place, much of it at human hands,” Rutendo Ngara, 49, a representative of the South African group Oba Umbuntu, told AFP. The leaders also shared their concerns about what is happening in their own home regions.”Unfortunately, they are trying to extract uranium in Mongolia. It is an important element that is supposed to remain underground,” Tsegi Batmunkh said. In January 2025, the French nuclear group Orano signed an agreement with Mongolia to exploit a large uranium deposit in the southwest of the country. The leader of Brazil’s Noke Koi people, Yama Nomanawa, called for an end to the “destruction of the Earth” — particularly in the Amazon basin. According to a 2024 study published in the journal Nature, scientists estimated that between 10 and 47 percent of the Amazon region will be exposed to forest loss by 2050, which could lead to widespread ecosystem change. “The Earth is crying out very loudly, but no one is listening. The jungle is screaming; it is not being respected by humans. Let’s protect life, save life here on the planet,” the 37-year-old Brazilian Indigenous leader said.

Ishan Kishan hit an unbeaten 106 and Rachin Ravindra anchored a tense chase as Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings began their Indian Premier league season with victories on Sunday.Kishan struck his first century in the world’s most lucrative T20 tournament to lead hosts Hyderabad to 286-6 and a 44-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the first match of the day.In the second game, left-handed New Zealand batsman Ravindra hit an unbeaten 65 as Chennai beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets at the Chepauk Stadium.Hyderabad posted the second highest total in tournament history after being just one run short of their own best of 287.Kishan hammered a ton in 45 balls to pummel the opposition attack after Travis Head smashed 67 off 31 deliveries in the second match of the league that began Saturday.”To be very honest, the nervousness was there,” said player of the match Kishan.”The environment (in the team) is so calm and composed, you know you just have to go in and believe in yourself like what’s supposed to be done at that point of time.”Rajasthan finished on 242-6 after half-centuries from Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel. Shimron Hetmyer hit 42 off 23 balls.Batting first, Hyderabad’s Australian import Head came out roaring with opening partner Abhishek Sharma and the two gave the team a blazing start.Head hammered fast bowler Jofra Archer for 23 runs in one over to set the pace for the onslaught.Archer went on to concede 76 runs in four overs for the most expensive spell in the IPL.Head and Kishan, playing his first match for Hyderabad, put on 85 runs off 39 balls for the second wicket to lay the foundations for the total.The Hyderabad innings included a remarkable 34 fours and 12 sixes.Last year, Hyderabad posted the highest-ever IPL total of 287-3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Rajasthan ended on 242-6 in their 20 overs.- ‘X-factor’ Noor -Later Sunday, Chennai won with five balls to spare after Ravindra hit the winning six.Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad returned figures of 4-18 to help Chennai restrict Mumbai to 155-9.Ravindra anchored the chase, after skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed 53 off 26 deliveries.Former India captain and 43-year-old Chennai icon M.S. Dhoni, playing in his 18th straight IPL season, walked out to bat for the final few balls.Chennai and Mumbai share an old rivalry, with both teams winning five titles each in the T20 tournament that began in 2008.The hosts fielded first and their bowlers justified Gaikwad’s decision as seamer Khaleel Ahmed rattled the Mumbai top-order, including getting former skipper Rohit Sharma out for a duck in the first over.Left-arm quick Khaleel bowled South African Ryan Rickelton for 13 as he under-edged a delivery onto his stumps.Ahmad took over from Khaleel and turned on the heat with his left-arm wrist spin as he dismissed Mumbai captain Suryakumar Yadav stumped for 29, with Dhoni taking the bails off in seconds to display glimpses of his old glovesmanship.”Noor is an X-factor and good to have him in the team,” said Gaikwad.On Dhoni, the skipper said: “He is still the same, he’s fitter this year and hitting more sixes in the nets this year.”

Pakistan on Sunday charged a Baloch rights activist with terrorism, sedition and murder after she led a demonstration which ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents.Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights advocates, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it has been targeted by Islamabad with harassment and extrajudicial killings.Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.On Friday, she and other activists took part in a sit-in protest outside the University of Balochistan in the provincial capital of Quetta.They demanded the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.Police launched a pre-dawn raid on Saturday, arresting Baloch and other activists, during which at least three protestors died. Both sides blamed each other for the deaths.Mary Lawlor, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said she was “very concerned” at Baloch’s arrest.Baloch and other protesters have been charged with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.Hamza Shafqaat, a senior administrative official in Quetta, said that Baloch and other activists were held under public order laws.Her lawyer, Imran Baloch, confirmed she was detained in a jail in Quetta.Baloch was barred from travelling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine awards gala of “rising leaders”.Protests among the Baloch are often led by women. Baloch, now in her 30s, began her activist career aged 16 when her father went missing in what his supporters said was an alleged “enforced disappearance”. His body was found two years later.Earlier in March, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) — which accuses outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources — launched a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.

England fast bowler Jofra Archer returned the most expensive bowling figures in the Indian Premier League on Sunday when he was hammered for 76 runs in his four overs as Rajasthan Royals were put to the sword by the Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen.Hyderabad were invited to bat first and posted a mammoth 286-6, falling one short of their best of 287, which remains the T20 tournament’s highest ever total.Archer’s analysis eclipsed that of Gujarat Titans’ seam bowler Mohit Sharma who went for 73 in a match last year. Archer had a bad start when he gave away 23 runs in his first over as Hyderabad’s Travis Head smashed him for four fours and a six.Head went on to make 67 from 31 balls, setting the stage for Ishan Kishan who clubbed an unbeaten 106 off 47 balls with 11 fours and six sixes. The Hyderabad total included a remarkable 34 fours and 12 sixes.Last year, Hyderabad, led by Pat Cummins and runners-up in the previous edition, posted the highest-ever innings total of 287-3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2024.

New Zealand’s ruthless pace attack carved up Pakistan to deliver a crushing 115-run win in the fourth Twenty20 on Sunday and clinch the five-match series.The home side moved 3-1 ahead after defending 220-6 in Mount Maunganui and then dismissing a ragged Pakistan for just 105 in the 17th over.Jacob Duffy claimed 4-20 and fellow seamer Zak Foulkes 3-25 as Pakistan suffered their biggest T20 loss by runs against all nations, eclipsing a 95-run defeat against New Zealand in Wellington nine years ago.The tourists were reduced to 9-3 after two overs with Duffy bagging two scalps in his first over, both caught by wicketkeeper Mitch Hay.Duffy’s first victim was Hasan Nawaz for one, two days after the Pakistan opener blasted a maiden century in game three in Auckland to keep the series alive.Teetering at 56-8, Pakistan’s innings had some credibility restored thanks to 44 off 30 balls from all-rounder Abdul Samad.The only other batsman to score in double figures was Irfan Khan with 24.Pakistan captain Salman Agha said New Zealand’s bowlers exploited some helpful conditions under lights.”They bowled really well and they outplayed us,” Salman said.”I mean, the ball talked. It was swinging and it was turning as well. But we are international cricketers, so we have to adapt that and we have to be better.”We need to regroup and we need to win the last game.”It was New Zealand’s second biggest T20 win by runs, nearly surpassing their 119-run drubbing of the West Indies in 2018 at the same Bay Oval venue.Earlier, Finn Allen raced to 50 off just 20 balls, putting on 59 for New Zealand’s opening stand with Tim Seifert, whose 44 took 22 deliveries.Seifert was the first of three batsmen dismissed by seamer Haris Rauf, who claimed 3-27.Allen struck six fours and three sixes while captain Michael Bracewell was nearly as effective at the death, blasting 46 not out off 26 balls.Bracewell was delighted with his team’s all-round response to the loss at Auckland.”Bouncing back only a day or so after the performance at Eden Park was outstanding,” he said.”It shows the benefit of those guys batting so well at the top, they got us well ahead of the game.”All the seamers bowled brilliantly tonight. It’s nice when you give bowlers a go, like Zak Foulkes coming into the match. Three wickets for him was a brilliant performance.”Game five is in Wellington on Wednesday.

China’s number two leader on Sunday called for “dialogue” with Washington, during a meeting in Beijing attended by prominent US business executives and a key congressional ally of President Donald Trump.Relations between the world’s two largest economies have plunged in recent weeks, as blanket tariffs imposed by Trump threaten China’s trade prospects.Premier Li Qiang’s comments came during a meeting with Trump supporter Steve Daines, a Republican senator from Montana.His visit has been viewed as a bid to ease strained relations, with an eye toward setting up a summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.”Our two sides need to choose dialogue over confrontation, win-win cooperation over zero-sum competition,” Li told Daines.CEOs of major firms including FedEx, Pfizer and Qualcomm were also present.Li said he hoped Washington would “work together with China to promote the steady, sound and sustainable development” of relations.Earlier on Sunday, Li told the China Development Forum that Beijing would pursue economic globalisation despite “fragmentation”, a thinly veiled reference to trade turmoil sparked by Trump.- ‘Rough waters’ -Chinese leaders have been attempting to steer a shaky economy onto a more stable path since the end of the pandemic, particularly by boosting consumption.They are seeking to position the country as a defender of the multilateral economic system, as Trump wages tariff wars with major US trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico.”China will firmly stand on the correct side of history, that of fairness and justice, and act in a righteous manner amid the rough waters of the times,” Li said at the annual forum, attended by business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook.Beijing will “adhere to the correct direction of economic globalisation, practice true multilateralism and strive to be a force for stability and certainty”, Li said.In an apparent reference to renewed trade wars sparked by Trump, Li said that “global economic fragmentation is intensifying” and that “instability and uncertainty are on the rise”.- ‘Candid dialogue’ -Talks were also expected to discuss the flow of the deadly drug fentanyl and its precursor chemicals from China into the United States.Trump says his new tariffs on China are due to Beijing’s failure to stem shipments of the chemicals, which underpin a devastating drug crisis.Beijing insists it has already cracked down on the illicit production and trade of drugs, describing the issue as one for Washington to solve.Daines on Saturday also met with Vice Premier He Lifeng, a close advisor to President Xi Jinping on economic matters.During his meeting with Daines, He said that China “firmly opposes the politicisation, weaponisation and instrumentalisation of economic and trade issues”.The vice premier added that China was willing to “engage in candid dialogue” with the United States, saying they had “many common interests and broad space for cooperation”.The tariffs imposed by Trump amount to a 20 percent blanket hike on Chinese overseas shipments to the United States.China’s exports reached record heights last year, but observers warn that turbulence in the global trading system could soon force Beijing to find other ways to boost activity.Beijing says it is targeting growth this year of around five percent — the same as last year and a goal considered ambitious by many economists.

China’s number two leader told a gathering of business executives in Beijing on Sunday that the country would pursue economic globalisation despite “fragmentation”, a thinly veiled reference to trade turmoil sparked by US President Donald Trump.The China Development Forum convenes after weeks that have seen Trump slap multiple rounds of tariffs on goods from the country, threatening a vital lifeline as economic challenges persist.Chinese leaders have been seeking to steer a shaky economy onto a more stable path since the end of the pandemic, particularly by boosting consumption.They are also now seeking to assert the country’s role as a staunch defender of the multilateral economic system, as Trump wages tariff wars with major US trading partners including China, Canada and Mexico.”China will firmly stand on the correct side of history, that of fairness and justice, and act in a righteous manner amid the rough waters of the times,” Premier Li Qiang said.Li’s speech came at the opening of the annual forum, attended this year by prominent business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook.The country will “adhere to the correct direction of economic globalisation, practice true multilateralism and strive to be a force for stability and certainty”, Li vowed.And in apparent reference to renewed trade wars sparked by Trump, he added: “today, global economic fragmentation is intensifying”, while “instability and uncertainty are on the rise”.Beijing has in recent weeks expressed an open attitude toward engaging with Trump for trade talks.US Senator Steve Daines on Saturday met with He Lifeng, China’s Vice Premier responsible for economic matters, during a visit to Beijing viewed as a bid to ease strained relations.Daines is also meeting with Li on Sunday for talks that are expected to involve the cross-border flow of fentanyl and the deadly drug’s precursor chemicals from China into the United States.- ‘Candid dialogue’ -Trump says his new tariffs on China are due to Beijing’s failure to stem shipments of the chemicals, which underpin a devastating drug crisis.Beijing has insisted that it cracks down harshly on the illicit production and trade of drugs, describing the issue as one for Washington itself to solve.During his meeting with Daines, He said China “firmly opposes the politicisation, weaponisation and instrumentalisation of economic and trade issues”.The Vice Premier added that China is willing to “engage in candid dialogue” with the United States to resolve issues.The two countries have “many common interests and broad space for cooperation”, he added.The tariffs imposed by Trump since taking office in January amount to a 20 percent blanket hike on Chinese overseas shipments to the United States.The country’s exports reached record heights last year, but observers warn that turbulence in the global trading system could force Beijing to find other ways to boost activity.Data released Monday indicated an uneven recovery during the first two months of the year.Retail sales charted a moderate increase from the previous January-February period, though unemployment rose to its highest level recorded in two years.Beijing says it is targeting growth this year of around five percent — the same as last year and a goal considered ambitious by many economists.

Pakistan detained a leading female Baloch rights activist on Saturday for holding a sit-in in southwestern Balochistan at which three protesters were also killed, police said.Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights advocates, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group from the southwestern province of Balochistan, which alleges being subjected to extrajudicial harassment, arrests and killings by Islamabad.The Pakistan government says its forces are fighting separatist militants who target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich province that borders Afghanistan and Iran.”She, along with 17 other protesters, including 10 men and seven women, has been arrested,” a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.”It is currently being assessed what charges should be filed against them,” he added.The protesters had been holding a sit-in on Friday outside the University of Balochistan, demanding the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.The Baloch Yakjehti Committee, a support group led by Baloch, said she was arrested along with other protesters in a “brutal pre-dawn crackdown by state security forces”.The confrontation left at least three protestors dead a provincial government spokesman said, with both sides blaming each other.- ‘Cease to use force’ -It comes after the province saw a dramatic train siege this month that officials said resulted in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.The assault was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of several separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources.”The authorities must immediately cease to use force against peaceful protestors and release those arbitrarily detained,” demanded the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in a statement.”The use of disproportionate and unlawful kinetic means by the state must cease immediately to pave the way for a purposeful political solution,” it added.Baloch was barred from traveling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine awards gala after being named on the 2024 TIME100 Next list of “rising leaders”.She began her activist career at the age of 16 in 2009 when her father went missing in an alleged “enforced disappearance”. His body was found two years later.Protests and advocacy among the Baloch are generally led by women, who say their male counterparts have suffered the worst in a decades-long state crackdown.

Opener Hasan Nawaz struck a record-breaking maiden century Friday as Pakistan crushed New Zealand by nine wickets in the third Twenty20 to keep the series alive.After scoring a duck in each of the two opening games — the first innings’ of his international career – Nawaz rebounded with a stunning 105 not out in Auckland as the tourists raced to 207-1 in response to New Zealand’s 204.The 23-year-old’s ton came off 44 balls, the fastest by any Pakistan player in a T20 international.It ensured his team reached the target with four full overs to spare, in a stark reversal of form after heavy losses in Christchurch and Dunedin.Nawaz put his early failures behind him with a sparkling knock featuring shots all around the wicket, including a series of audacious ramp shots.He admitted he was worried about his selection prospects after two failures and thanked captain Salman Agha and vice-captain Shadab Khan for showing faith in his ability.”The way I got out in the first two matches, I was very disheartened, but the captain and Shadab supported me, told me I am a match-winning player and that helped me,” he said.”I wanted to score my first run in international cricket, that’s what I was thinking. After I scored one run, the pressure was released and I wanted to win the game.”The right-hander peppered the short Eden Park boundaries with 10 fours and seven sixes, bringing up victory with successive fours off Kyle Jamieson in the 16th over.The first of those shots took Nawaz to 100, five balls faster than the previous Pakistan record-holder – Babar Azam against South Africa in 2021.Fellow opener Mohammad Haris scored 41 off 20 while captain Salman Agha was unbeaten on 51 off 31.New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell conceded they had few answers to halt Nawaz.”You’ve got to tip your hat to Nawaz there, the way that he played was unbelievable,” Bracewell said.”It’s pretty tough to defend out here but when a guy plays like that, it’s really tough.”Earlier, New Zealand looked well placed after Mark Chapman hit a rapid 94 before they were dismissed in their final over.Chapman dominated after New Zealand were asked to bat, tallying 11 fours and four sixes from just 44 balls faced.The rest of the home side’s batsmen struggled to get going, aside from Bracewell’s 31.Experienced seamer Haris Rauf bowled Bracewell and finished with Pakistan’s best figures of 3-29.Game four of the five-match series is in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

A US judge ordered Thursday that an Indian researcher at a top American university not be removed from the country, following his arrest and threat of expulsion for alleged Hamas ties.The detention of Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in the US capital, came as fears mount in the academic world that freedom of research and speech is being challenged two months into US President Donald Trump’s new term.Suri’s lawyer demanded his release and denounced the arrest as a “targeted, retaliatory detention” that was intended “to silence, or at the very least restrict and chill, his speech” as well as that of others who “express support for Palestinian rights.”Early Thursday evening Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia Court ordered Suri “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order.”The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has also filed an emergency motion to stop the deportation, said Suri was being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.”Ripping someone from their home and family, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint is a clear attempt by President Trump to silence dissent,” said ACLU immigrant rights attorney Sophia Gregg. “That is patently unconstitutional.” On Wednesday, the French government condemned the expulsion of a French space scientist meant to attend a conference in Houston, after officials searched his smartphone and found what they called “hateful” messages against US policy.”Dr Khan Suri is an Indian national who was duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Georgetown University said in a statement.”We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention.”Neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio “nor any other government official has alleged that Mr Suri has committed any crime or, indeed, broke any law whatsoever,” his lawyer said in the court filing.The filing accused the US government of having detained Suri “based on his family connection and constitutionally protected free speech.”- Fellow arrested -Suri — a fellow at Georgetown’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, according to the university website — was arrested Monday at his home in Arlington, Virginia, according to Politico, which first reported on the story. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said on X that Suri was “a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media.”McLaughlin accused him of having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.”The State Department decided the researcher was subject to deportation under a provision of immigration law that allows for expulsion if the visa holder’s presence in the United States is determined to threaten US foreign policy, she added.Hamas is a US-designated terror organization.Georgetown University said it backs its “community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable.”Citing a petition filed by Suri’s lawyer, Politico reported that Suri’s wife is a US citizen of Palestinian descent, and that the couple believes they are being targeted because the government suspects they oppose US policy on Israel.