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French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited southern France with a packed schedule on Wednesday, fostering a relationship that Paris sees as an alternative to great power rivalries.Macron took Modi for dinner in the picturesque southern town of Cassis on Tuesday, before Wednesday’s visit to the Mediterranean coast and France’s second-biggest city, Marseille.They began the day with a homage to Indian soldiers who died in France during World War I, at the Mazargues military cemetery south of Marseille.They then inaugurated India’s new consulate general in Marseille, an event that drew a small crowd of cheering Indians.Then it was time for business, with a visit to global sea freight company CMA CGM.Both leaders have been discussing a project called India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a railway and maritime corridor between India and Europe via the Middle East destined to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative.”We see the relevance of (the) IMEC projet,” Macron said during the visit. “Marseille can be clearly the entry point for the whole European market.”At the end of a French-Indian business forum, Macron had already praised IMEC as a “fabulous catalyst” for “concrete projects and investment”.Paris also hopes to sell billions of dollars worth of Rafale fighter jets to India’s navy, as well as submarines of the Scorpene class.And Macron is aiming for increased cooperation with India in the nuclear energy sector, notably with the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).- ‘Acting as a bridge’ -Wednesday’s schedule included a visit to the experimental nuclear fusion facility ITER, an international project aimed at next-level energy generation, in which France and India are involved, as are the United States, Russia and China.”These countries face tensions in geopolitics, but here they are working together,” said the site’s director-general, Pietro Barabaschi. “Here everybody leaves their passport at the door,” he told AFP.Modi has visited France during high-profile events before, including for the traditional Bastille Day parade in 2023 and this week’s French-organised summit on artificial intelligence (AI).Macron said at the weekend that the relationship with India’s premier is part of France’s strategy of seeking an alternative to the superpower rivalry between the United States and China.”India and France are two great powers who are very closely aligned in our desire to work with the United States of America, and to work with China, but we don’t want to be dependent on anybody,” Macron said on French television. “We want to be independent.”A former French government minister, who asked not to be identified, told AFP that Macron had “the right intuition” because “Modi, who is leading an emerging power, has found a balanced position between the Americans, the Chinese and the Russians”.But some observers highlight the political dangers for Macron in sidling up to Modi, who is much criticised for his ultra-nationalist Hindu agenda and alleged autocratic stance at home.”The idea of acting as a bridge between the north and the south is a constant in France’s rhetoric,” observed Bertrand Badie, an international relations specialist at the Sciences-Po university.”But this forces Macron to stay silent on the domestic policies” pursued by Modi, he said.Modi left France in the early afternoon for Washington where he is to meet US President Donald Trump.

Mathew Breetzke became the first batter to score a hundred and a half-century in his opening two one-day internationals as South Africa made 352-5 against Pakistan in Karachi on Wednesday.The 26-year-old followed his 150 against New Zealand in Lahore on Monday with an attractive 84-ball 83, spiced with a six and 10 boundaries, after South Africa won the toss.The winner of this match will play New Zealand in Friday’s final in Karachi. The tri-series is a warm-up for the Champions Trophy that starts in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates next week.Breetzke bettered West Indian batter Desmond Haynes’s aggregate of 195 runs in his first two matches in 1978 before he fell to a brilliant catch off spinner Khushdil Shah.Pakistan’s vaunted bowling attack failed to stop the tourists from scoring a big total, with skipper Temba Bavuma (82) and Heinrich Klaasen (87) also chipping in.Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi (22), one of four changes in the South African team, put on 51 for the opening stand. The captain then built a second-wicket stand of 119 with Breetzke.Bavuma was run out after cracking 13 boundaries in his 96-ball knock.Klaasen lifted the tempo with a rapid 56-ball knock, smashing three sixes and 11 boundaries as the South Africans added 110 runs in the last 10 overs.Kyle Verreynne and Corbin Bosch remained not out with 44 and 15 respectively to take South Africa past 350.Spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi was Pakistan’s best bowler with 2-66.

Sri Lanka pulled off a stunning comeback against world champions Australia to clinch a 49-run victory in the first one-day international on Wednesday after a century by captain Charith Asalanka.Defending a modest target of 215, Sri Lanka bowled out the visitors for 165 inside 34 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.Asalanka smashed a career-best 127 before chipping in with the crucial wicket of Alex Carey, while Maheesh Theekshana took 4-40 to help scuttle Australia’s chase.”Really pleased with the knock,” Asalanka said. “It wasn’t easy batting out there… Had to settle in and then batting with the tail had to take a few risks, and glad it all paid off.”Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka found themselves in dire straits at 133-8 in the 33rd over, with Australia’s four-pronged pace attack running riot.Asalanka’s strike rate was just shy of a run a ball and included 14 fours and five sixes.His ninth-wicket stand with Eshan Malinga was a stadium record of 79, even though the tailender made just a solitary run from 26 balls.”He hung in there and all we wanted to do was to take the game as deep as possible,” Asalanka said. “If not for that partnership we wouldn’t have got over the line.”Asalanka refused to throw in the towel and was last man out when he was deceived by a cleverly disguised slower delivery from Sean Abbott (3-61).The packed crowd rose to their feet to see him back to the pavilion, while opposite number Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey acknowledged his knock with a pat on the back.  Australia’s chase never really got going, with Asitha Fernando dismissing both openers cheaply before Sri Lanka’s spinners tightened the noose.Dunith Wellalage struck with his very first ball to clean up Smith, who had tormented Sri Lanka with back-to-back centuries in the Test series. Smith misjudged a slog sweep and was out before he had settled in, a huge breakthrough that sent the crowd into raptures.White-ball stalwarts Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head were rested to give other squad members match practice ahead of the Champions Trophy beginning in Pakistan and Dubai on February 19.Australia’s bid to win that tournament has been dealt a major setback with their formidable pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all ruled out.Sri Lanka did not qualify for the Champions Trophy.

Top-order batsman Shubman Gill kept up his good form to hit 112 and help India reach 356 all out in the third and final one-day international against England on Wednesday.Gill put on 116 runs for the second wicket with Virat Kohli, who hit 52, laying the foundation for a challenging total after they were put in to bat first in Ahmedabad.Shreyas Iyer also hit a 64-ball 78 as England’s bowlers struggled, apart from leg-spinner Adil Rashid’s impressive 4-64.Skipper Rohit Sharma departed for one, caught behind off Mark Wood in a disappointing outing after his 119 in the previous match gave India an unbeatable 2-0 series lead.Gill, who took back the opening spot from Yashasvi Jaiswal, raised his third successive fifty after scores of 87 and 60 in the first two wins.Kohli reached a run-a-ball fifty to get back among the runs after an inconsistent Test series in Australia.Rashid got Kohli with a delivery that pitched in the middle and spun sharply to take the bat’s edge and land in the gloves of wicketkeeper Phil Salt.Kohli was dismissed by Rashid in Cuttack and his latest dismissal was the fifth time he fell to the leg-spinner in 10 meetings.Gill, who leads the series batting with 259 runs, kept up the pace and put on 104 runs with Iyer before he was bowled off a googly by Rashid.Iyer reached his second half-century of the series but also fell to Rashid, who struck again when he bowled Hardik Pandya after being hit for two straight sixes.Wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul smashed 40 off 29 balls before late strikes finished the Indian innings, with number 10 Arshdeep Singh run out on the final ball.The series is a tune-up ahead of the Champions Trophy starting next Wednesday in Pakistan and Dubai.Brief scoresIndia 356 all out in 50 overs (S. Gill 112, V. Kohli 52, S. Iyer 78, KL Rahul 40; A. Rashid 4-64, M. Wood 2-45) v EnglandToss: England

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks Wednesday, signing a series of agreements to boost trade and defence ties between the Muslim-majority nations, including a joint venture to build drones.The Turkish leader was visiting Southeast Asia’s largest economy after travelling to Malaysia and before heading to Pakistan on a four-day tour of key allies in the Islamic world.He was greeted at a presidential palace in Bogor, a city south of the capital Jakarta, by a traditional marching band, national anthems and schoolchildren waving flags.”We are committed to increasing trade between the two countries, which is mutually beneficial,” Prabowo said after talks with Erdogan.”We also agree to increase joint production and cooperation in the defence industry.”Prabowo said that would include joint training for soldiers and closer collaboration on counter-terrorism and intelligence.A dozen agreements on trade, energy, higher education and religious affairs were signed by ministers and officials, including a deal to manufacture drones in Indonesia, as the pair watched on.Prabowo earlier called Erdogan “my close friend, my brother” after his arrival and said both sides were also trying to accelerate the signing of a free trade agreement.The leaders held their nations’ first High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting before the agreements were signed.Erdogan said the pair talked about global issues including Syria and the Palestinian cause, alongside future deals seeking to boost their trade to $10 billion a year.Indonesia and Turkey’s trade in 2024 was worth $2.4 billion, according to Indonesia’s trade ministry.The leaders last met in July for talks in the Turkish capital Ankara before then-defence minister Prabowo was officially inaugurated as Indonesia’s president.Relations between the two countries grew closer under Prabowo’s predecessor Joko Widodo, who paid a state visit to Turkey in 2017.In 2023, Indonesia purchased 12 Turkish drones worth around $300 million in a push to upgrade its ageing military.Both are members of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation where they are staunch supporters of Palestinians and vocal critics of Israel.

The unfathomable scale of the world’s largest religious festival in India overshadows many nations in size — and for the economy, its impact is just as dramatic.”Business is booming everywhere for everyone across our city,” said taxi driver Manoj Kumar, whose northern Indian home of Prayagraj has swelled from its normal seven million residents dozens of times over.Religion, politics and the economy are deeply intertwined in India — and the six-week-long Hindu festival of the Kumbh Mela gives one of the clearest examples.The Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has poured in funds for large-scale infrastructure upgrades.”We are seeing an unimaginable transformation of our city,” 37-year-old Kumar said.”There are new roads, bridges, additional flights and trains, new hotels and restaurants, and an unmet demand for workers.”The Kumbh’s extraordinary scale provides a major job boost, with millions of visitors splashing out on accommodation, transport and food.Kumar’s daily earnings shot up to around $250, roughly eight times as much as usual.”I’ve had some of the busiest 18-20 hour workdays of my life with little or no rest,” he said. “But I am not alone in benefiting — this is a life-changing event.”- ‘Big driver’ -The state government — led by firebrand Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state and a key leader in Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — controls lucrative service contracts for its running. It is impossible to independently verify government statistics of a religious celebration that critics say is being cashed in on by Hindu nationalist leaders to burnish political credentials.That includes the reported more than 435 million pilgrims to have taken a ritual river dip so far — with the festival running until February 26 — that organisers say is based on artificial intelligence assessments from surveillance camera networks.It also includes the whopping $24 billion Adityanath projects it will contribute to the economy — that’s the equivalent of more than the population of the United States and Canada splashing out the entire annual GDP of Armenia.They are staggering statistics even for the world’s most populous nation of 1.4 billion people.Devendra Pratap Singh, president of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand states, puts the figure as even higher — at about $30 billion. “Our economy would obviously grow because of this mega event,” he told AFP. “We’re seeing its benefits at every stage, with impacts on transportation, hotels, food, and every other sector.”With the festival funnelling religious tourism on a vast scale, local reports say the state also expects $3 billion in additional government revenues including taxes and fees.”How gods drive India’s consumer economy,” The Economic Times newspaper said in a report last month. “The Kumbh is the most visible part of a big driver of India’s economy, the festival cycle.”Major household brands see the Kumbh as ripe for opportunity, setting up shops and pouring in advertising. In the crowded tent city along the river banks, where pilgrims come to take ritual dips, an army of vendors sells everything from food and clothes to prayer items, flowers and festival memorabilia.- ‘Phenomenal’ -Sanjeev Singh, from Adityanath’s office, says the Kumbh Mela makes global festivals look small — pointing to Brazil’s Rio Carnival with some seven million participants or the Muslim hajj in Saudi Arabia with nearly two million.”The sheer scale is mind-boggling,” Singh said. “This is phenomenal.”Hotel owner Deepak Kumar Mehrotra, 67, said his two properties have been fully booked. “Demand has really shot up,” Mehrotra said. “People across all strata are getting really good business.”Rooms, if available, are going for up to 10 times their regular rates — with top-end hotels charging $900-$1,200 per night — almost as much as the annual per capita income in Uttar Pradesh state.Meeting demand has been a challenge, with chefs, drivers and electricians in high demand.Travel agent Shahid Beg Romi, 62, who runs Sangam Travels, said businesses were struggling to “adjust to this drastic change in the footfall” in Prayagraj.”Even small areas 50 miles (80 kilometres) outside Prayagraj are packed,” Romi added. “People are staying and commuting to the Kumbh from there”.The impact is felt in other Hindu pilgrimage sites in the state, including Ayodhya and Varanasi, with devotees journeying on to pray there too.”Such mega-events obviously create new growth and work opportunities,” he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will try on a US visit to pick up where he left off four years ago in wooing Donald Trump, as he offered quick tariff concessions in hopes of avoiding the second-term president’s wrath.For nearly three decades, US presidents from both parties have prioritized building ties with India, seeing a natural partner against a rising China. But Trump has also raged against India over trade, in the past calling the world’s fifth-largest economy the “biggest tariff abuser.”Trump himself has unapologetically weaponized tariffs against friends and foes since returning to office last month. Ahead of Modi’s visit, the Indian government slashed duties on high-end motorcycles — a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic American company whose struggles in motorbike-loving India have captured Trump’s attention.India has “done its groundwork and has already taken positive steps to set a good tone” with Trump, said Lisa Curtis, the National Security Council director on South Asia during Trump’s first term.Modi “has prepared for this, and he is seeking to preempt Trump’s anger,” said Curtis, now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.Modi has also obliged Trump on one of his top priorities — deporting undocumented immigrants.While public attention has focused on Latin American migrants, India is the third source of undocumented immigrants in the United States after Mexico and El Salvador.In an account that drew wide attention in India, some 100 migrants were flown back from the United States in shackles the whole journey. Angered activists in New Delhi burned an effigy of Trump.The main opposition Congress party called the treatment of Indian citizens an “insult” and accused Modi of weakness toward Trump.But Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government — which itself has vowed no tolerance for undocumented migrants from Muslim-majority Bangladesh — has promised cooperation.- ‘Recreate their bonhomie’ -Modi arrives Wednesday in Washington after an artificial intelligence summit in Paris and will see Trump on Thursday, making him the fourth world leader to visit him at the White House since his return, following the prime ministers of Israel and Japan and king of Jordan.Modi assiduously courted Trump during his first term. The two share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote the interests of their countries’ majority communities over minorities and both shifting long-held democratic norms by doggedly pursuing critics.In February 2020, Modi invited Trump before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium, later renamed for the prime minister himself, in his home state of Gujarat.It remains the last presidential trip made overseas by Trump, with the Covid-19 pandemic grounding him soon afterward.”Prime Minister Modi and his advisors hope that he and President Trump are able to recreate their bonhomie of the past and use that to ensure India avoids any negative trade-related actions or sanctions,” said Aparna Pande, a fellow at the Hudson Institute.India, she said, “remains one of the few countries that retains bipartisan support across the aisle in the US.”President Joe Biden kept building relations with Modi including by elevating the Quad — a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, perceived by China as an attempt to box it in — by holding annual summits.India is scheduled to hold a Quad summit this year, which would mean another visit to India by Trump.The Biden administration, however, occasionally offered gentle critiques on Modi’s record on the rights of Muslims and other minorities, an issue unlikely to resonate with Trump.The Biden team issued stronger criticism, albeit privately, after US prosecutors said that India attempted to assassinate a Sikh separatist with US citizenship in New York.Curtis said that she believed that India has “learned a lesson” from Biden’s warning on the plot and that the issue was effectively closed.”I think that the Trump administration is hoping to move on from this issue,” she said.

Novelist Salman Rushdie described Tuesday the moment a knife-wielding attacker stormed on stage and attempted to kill him in a frenzied attack that left him blind in one eye.”The Satanic Verses” author told jurors at the trial of his alleged attacker, 23-year-old American-Lebanese Hadi Matar, that Matar “was stabbing and slashing” at him.”I was aware of this person rushing at me on my right hand side,” he said, recounting how he was about to speak at an arts event in New York state in August 2022.”I only saw him at the last minute.””It was a stab wound in my eye, intensely painful, after that I was screaming because of the pain,” Rushdie said, adding that he was left in a “lake of blood.”He said it “occurred to me I was dying” before he was stretchered out of the cultural center and helicoptered to a trauma hospital.On Tuesday, Rushdie nodded and waved at his wife Rachel Eliza Griffiths, who was in court for her husband’s testimony on the second day of the trial.Matar’s legal team have sought to prevent witnesses from characterizing Rushdie as a victim of persecution following Iran’s 1989 fatwa calling for his murder over supposed blasphemy in “The Satanic Verses.”Matar is accused of stabbing Rushdie about 10 times with a six-inch blade.As on trial’s opening day, Matar said “Palestine will be free” as he was led into court Tuesday. He did not react as Rushdie began his evidence, biting his nails during the testimony.Rushdie, who wore distinctive glasses polarized in one lens to mask his damaged eye, described his treatment and current health.”The injuries were very serious and it took a long time to recover… the gash (in my neck) was so deep it had to be held together with metal staples,” he said.- Staff, guests fight attacker -Matar previously told media he had only read two pages of “The Satanic Verses” but believed the author had “attacked Islam.”New York-based British-American Rushdie, now 77, was rescued by bystanders.Venue employee Jordan Steves told the court Monday how he launched himself “with my right shoulder with as much force as I could manage” to help others subdue the attacker.He pointed to Matar, sitting just feet away in the ornate courtroom, when asked to identify the attacker.Steves’s colleague Deborah Moore Kushmaul said she picked up the discarded knife and gave it to police.The optical nerve of Rushdie’s right eye was severed, and he told the court that “it was decided the eye would be stitched shut to allow it to moisturize. It was quite a painful operation — which I don’t recommend.”Asked to describe the intensity of the pain over the attack, he said it was “a 10″ out of 10.His Adam’s apple was also partially lacerated, and his liver and small bowel penetrated.”The first thing I said on regaining the ability of speech was ‘I can speak’,” he said to stifled laughter from jurors.”How do you squeeze toothpaste onto a toothbrush with only one hand?” he explained when asked about injuries to his hand received as he tried to defend himself.- Freedom of expression case -Rushdie lived in seclusion in London for a decade after the 1989 fatwa, but for the past 20 years — until the attack — he lived relatively normally in New York.He became the center of a fierce tug-of-war between free speech advocates and those who insisted that insulting religion, particularly Islam, was unacceptable in any circumstances.Last year, he published a memoir called “Knife” in which he recounted the near-death experience.One of Matar’s lawyers, Lynn Schaffer, said Monday that prosecutors would seek to present the case as “open and shut” — but warned that police had made assumptions about Matar.The accused reportedly became more withdrawn and militant in his outlook following a 2018 trip to the Middle East.Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant organization Hezbollah endorsed the fatwa, the FBI has said, and Matar faces a separate prosecution in federal court on terrorism charges.Iran has denied any link to the attacker and said only Rushdie was to blame for the incident.

A suspension of US foreign aid and possible dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will have a major impact on some of the world’s poorest countries, the Washington-based Center for Global Development (CGD) warned Tuesday.For more than 20 economies, a year-long pause on US aid could mean a loss of over one percent of their gross national income, the CGD said in a blog post.And eight economies including South Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan could face a hit of three percent or more, the group added.The impact is especially severe for those eight economies as more than a fifth of their foreign assistance comes from USAID.The value comes up to 35 percent for Afghanistan, 36 percent for South Sudan and 40 percent for Somalia, the post added.While “US support is too large to be fully replaced,” the CGD noted that other providers’ official development assistance could be refocused and this could alleviate some of the worst effects.The poorest countries are among the main beneficiaries of aid from the International Development Association under the World Bank, which provides loans and grants to low-income countries.Other countries such as Germany, Canada, Japan and Sweden could also step up, the CGD added.”While there’s still time to change course and mitigate some of the worst effects, countries around the world would be wise to act now in response to a less globally engaged United States,” said the CGD blog post’s authors Ian Mitchell and Sam Hughes.US President Donald Trump has ordered a 90-day review of USAID, which runs health and emergency programs in around 120 countries, including the world’s poorest.Less than a week after Trump returned to the White House, USAID told non-governmental groups they would have to cease operations immediately because the new administration had frozen its budgets.

Bangladesh’s powerful BNP political party has spoken out publicly for the first time against the interim government after a surge of unrest and a sweeping security crackdown.Police have arrested more than 1,500 people nationwide since Saturday as part of “Operation Devil Hunt”, targeting groups allegedly connected to ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, who was toppled in a student-led revolution in August.Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Bangladesh National Party secretary-general, met interim leader Mohammed Yunus late on Monday to “raise concerns over the incidents that have swept across the country”.Protesters smashed buildings connected to Hasina’s family using excavators — including a museum to her late father, Bangladesh’s first president — on February 5, six months to the day since she fled as crowds stormed her palace in Dhaka.Police stood by as protesters torched the building.”It all happened in front of law enforcement agencies, so the government cannot avoid its responsibility,” Alamgir said.Those protests followed reports that 77-year-old Hasina, who has defied an arrest warrant to face trial for crimes against humanity, would appear in a live broadcast from exile in neighbouring India.There were also clashes between anti-Hasina protesters and members of her Awami League party.Members of the Students Against Discrimination protest group were attacked in the Dhaka district of Gazipur on Friday. The group, whose members are now in the government cabinet, is credited with sparking the uprising against Hasina.The vocal and powerful group then demanded action, sparking the security operation with mass arrests countrywide.”We have seen such drives before,” Alamgir said. “We cautioned the government to protect innocent civilians.”Human Rights Watch warned last month that the police had “returned to the abusive practices that characterized the previous government”.Yunus, 84, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has warned against retaliation after Hasina’s ouster.”The sacrifices we made were aimed at bringing an end to injustices across all sectors,” Yunus said late on Monday.”If we engage in the same kind of actions as the fallen regime, there will be no difference between them and us,” he said.Also on Monday, police took publisher Shatabdi Bhaba into protective custody after dozens of furious Islamist students swarmed his stall at Dhaka’s Ekushey Book Fair.”They had been campaigning to vandalize the book stall,” said Sanjana Mehran, co-founder with Bhaba of Sabyasachi Publishers, saying the chanting protesters were angry over a book by exiled feminist author Taslima Nasrin.Yunus said that such “unwarranted acts undermine the inclusive cultural traditions” of Bangladesh.