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Pakistan’s Asia Cup match with the United Arab Emirates began one hour late Wednesday as the fallout rumbles on from a handshake row with arch-rivals India.The game in Dubai belatedly went ahead following a delay while the Pakistan Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council held talks.The PCB had demanded the removal of Andy Pycroft as match referee for the must-win group game against the hosts.The Zimbabwean oversaw Sunday’s politically charged clash with India, after which the victorious India team refused to shake hands with the Pakistan players.The PCB alleged that Pycroft told Pakistan skipper Salman Agha and Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav not to shake hands at the toss.Following urgent talks with the ICC on Wednesday, the PCB released a statement saying: “The ICC’s match referee, Andy Pycroft, has apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team.”He remained match referee for the UAE encounter.If Pakistan beat the home side they will face India again this weekend in the next stage of the eight-team regional T20 tournament.Wednesday’s game had originally been scheduled to start at 6:30 pm (1430 GMT).The PCB’s subsequent statement said: “Andy Pycroft termed the September 14 incident a result of miscommunication and apologised.”The ICC has expressed its willingness to conduct an inquiry into the code of conduct violation that occurred during the September 14 match.”Pakistan’s seven-wicket defeat to India was the first time the rivals had faced off in cricket since the countries fought a brief but deadly border conflict in May.

Australian teen sensation Gout Gout advanced to the semi-finals of the 200 metres at the world championships on Wednesday and immediately vowed to keep emulating Jamaican legend Usain Bolt.The 17-year-old has been compared to Bolt, the 11-time world champion and eight-time Olympic gold medallist, for his similar age-grade progression.Bolt was in the National Stadium in Tokyo to witness the youngster’s senior international debut.”He is the GOAT (greatest of all time),” Gout Gout said of Bolt after qualifying from his heat in third spot in 20.23sec.”Usain Bolt, he’s the actor everyone looks up to, so I’ve just got to keep looking up to him and try and be like him, too.”Gout Gout showed no outward sign of nerves, instead basking in the attention alongside the likes of Olympic champions Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo and a clutch of other experienced sprinters.”It feels pretty good, it’s great to be out here competing on the world stage so I’m just happy to be here and I can’t wait for the semi,” said Gout Gout, born to South Sudanese parents who fled the war-torn country via Egypt and arrived in Australia in 2006.”It’s a great experience for me, running against the big dogs, it’s great to be out here and just excited for more.”I just got through to the semis so it is definitely great to know that I’m up against the top 24 in the world pretty much, so it’s just a great experience.”Nerves, he admitted, had been conquered — and a mindset fixed.”Obviously I was a bit nervous but you’ve just got to get out here, have some fun and just enjoy being out here,” he said.”There’s expectation wherever I go so it is what it is, I’ve just got to get out there and do my thing and have a bit of fun.”I definitely enjoyed myself, even though it was a bit hot, but it’s definitely great.”- ‘Run like the wind’ -Gout Gout has a personal best of 20.02sec this season and he acknowedged that dipping under the 20-second barrier — the mark of world-class 200m sprinting — was the aim in Tokyo.”Sub-20, that’s the goal, so let’s see in the semi,” he said.”I just felt that in my heat, everyone wasn’t up against me apart from the top two so I just picked who’s in control of the last 50, last 30 and just qualified, so that’s what I needed.”Gout Gout said he would continue to focus on himself, instead of being star-struck by rivals lining up in the next lanes to him.”These are the biggest athletes in the world and some that I admired when I was younger so I’m just focusing on myself and I’m doing very well so I’ll just keep doing that.”It’s not really hard, my mindset is pretty good so just go out there and do my thing.”The lanky Gout Gout played down concerns over his starts, which he admitted were “not my strong suit”.”As soon as I get into running, I’m chilling so yeah, it’s good,” he said.”I just run with freedom, free here, just go out there, run like a horse, run like the wind.”

India’s participation in military exercises with Moscow and its  purchases of Russian oil “stand in the way of closer ties” with the EU, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday.”Ultimately, our partnership is not only about trade, but also about defending the rules-based international order,” Kallas said, as she announced the bloc’s strategy to strengthen EU-India ties.Alongside other Moscow allies including Iran, India has taken part in Russia’s Zapad (West) joint drills with Belarus this month, part of which took place close to NATO borders.”Participating in military exercises, purchases of oil — all these are obstacles to our cooperation when it comes to deepening the ties,” Kallas said.Despite a lack of alignment over Russia, the European Union and India are working to conclude talks on a free trade agreement by the end of 2025, amid New Delhi’s own tensions with Washington.US-India ties have been strained since President Donald Trump raised tariffs on most Indian exports to 50 percent last month in retaliation for New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.The EU is India’s largest trading partner, with trade between the two economic giants up 90 percent over the past decade, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said alongside Kallas in Brussels.Senior figures from India and the European Union hope to meet for a high-level summit early next year.”Now is the time to double down on partnerships rooted in shared interests and guided by common values. With our new EU–India strategy, we are taking our relationship to the next level,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.The strategy also includes a bid to build stronger ties on defence and security as well as technology and climate issues.

Days after escaping alongside 13,500 others in a giant jailbreak during deadly anti-corruption protests in Nepal, Avinash Rai rubbed his belly after a meal — and strolled back into prison.The 46-year-old convicted smuggler stunned relatives when he turned up at their Kathmandu home during last week’s chaos, in which protesters torched the parliament and toppled the government.The violence left at least 73 dead and saw security collapse across the capital, with inmates streaming out of fire-damaged jails countrywide.”We were in a situation where saving our own lives was a challenge,” Rai, with two small bags slung on his shoulders, told AFP just before he surrendered himself at the gates of Kathmandu’s Nakhu prison.”There were no cops here -— there was massive arson and vandalism. The gate was open after that.”He emerged from prison into violent crowds and fires burning across the city.”It was a really bad time out,” he said referring to the mayhem as he escaped. “Now I’m going in.”Youth-led protests in the Himalayan nation began on September 8, sparked by a short-lived ban on social media, but fuelled by anger at corruption and long-standing economic woes.At least 19 people were killed in a crackdown.A day later, anger over the deaths escalated, triggering an outpouring of rage nationwide — with government buildings set alight and violence erupting in multiple prisons.Rai, jailed for smuggling contraband across the India-Nepal border, has served 20 months of a 22-month sentence and appealed for the new government to “show some leniency”.- ‘Cops searching’ -More than a third of the fugitives — 5,000 out of 13,500 — have been recaptured, police said.Some were caught by Indian security forces as they tried to slip across the long, porous frontier.Many still on the run include hardened criminals.Others, like Rai, handed themselves back in — many convicted of lesser offences or near the end of their sentences.His friend Nagendra Shreshtha, who accompanied him back to jail, said Rai’s family had been shocked when he appeared at their door.”It was just crazy that all these people managed to come out of jail,” Shreshtha said. “We advised him that it made sense to return on his own.”At the prison gates, Rai was not alone.Som Gopali, 40, jailed for five years for assault and with nine months still to serve, hugged his tearful wife as he also handed himself in.”It was a shock when Som phoned me,” said his sister Preeti Yonjan, 42, who also came with him to the jail gate.”I was dumbfounded and took time to process how he was out”.Many families described anguish at their relatives’ return behind bars after a brief taste of freedom.”He couldn’t have stayed out with cops searching for him, and when he has nearly served his time,” Yonjan said.- Things must change’Nakhu prison itself still bears the scars of the unrest.Walls are scorched black, slogans of the “Gen Z” youth protesters are scrawled across the entrance, and community volunteers have been ferrying in donated mattresses, blankets and utensils.”There is burnt soot everywhere,” said local volunteer Savyata Bhakti, 22. “The first night we heard about the escape was tense, and everyone was extra vigilant about safety.”Suresh Raj Aran, 40, whose 23-year-old son Sevak surrendered, said he had fled only to escape the violence inside prison.”My son is innocent and we want him home with his parents, but only through a proper legal process,” Aran said.Outside the prison, families expressed hope that Nepal’s new interim government, leading the country towards elections in March 2026, would improve conditions.The World Bank says a “staggering” 82 percent of Nepal’s workforce is in informal employment, with GDP per capita just $1,447.”Things must change — because if not now then when?,” said Poornima Gopali, 29, waving as her brother Som returned inside.

Nepal flew flags at half-mast during a national day of mourning Wednesday for the 73 people killed during youth-led anti-corruption protests that toppled the government.An interim government, which took over after two days of protests last week, declared the day of mourning “in honour of those who lost their lives during the protests”, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.Protests began on September 8, sparked by a short-lived ban on social media, but fuelled by anger at corruption and long-standing economic woes.At least 19 people were killed in a crackdown on the first day.Anger over the deaths escalated, triggering an outpouring of rage nationwide, with government offices, a Hilton Hotel and other buildings set on fire.”The changes we are witnessing today would not be possible without the courage and sacrifice of those who gave their lives during the protests,” Hami Nepal, a key organisation in the protests, posted on social media.Prime Minister Sushila Karki, a 73-year-old former chief justice, has been tasked with restoring order and addressing protester demands for a corruption-free future ahead of elections in six months.Karki has declared the victims martyrs, promising state honours at their cremations.Candlelit vigils will be held.Shopkeeper Pooja Shrestha, 22, said that the day of mourning would bring people together.”Everyone is sad about what happened, the loss of lives — all young people like us,” she said.”Things have improved now, and we hope the new government will bring the changes we need.”A fifth of people in Nepal aged 15-24 are unemployed, according to the World Bank, with GDP per capita just $1,447.- ‘Intense’ -Streets have been back to bustling business since the protests, but were quieter on Wednesday because it was declared a public holiday.But Lokesh Tamang, 17, sitting in a gift shop in Kathmandu, kept the store open hoping for business after it was closed for days during the unrest.He recalled the “intense” violence and mourned the “sad” deaths of the protesters.”We hope that it doesn’t get as bad as it did last week ever again,” he said.Police spokesman Binod Kharel said Wednesday that the death toll from the protests had risen to 73, including police officers and prisoners as they staged a mass breakout.More than a third of the 13,500 prisoners who escaped from two dozen jails during the protests have been recaptured or surrendered themselves, he added.”So far about 5,000 prisoners who had absconded have returned to the prisons, many voluntarily,” Kharel said.

India’s ban on online gambling has shuttered a billion-dollar industry serving hundreds of millions of people and torpedoed the sponsorship of the national cricket team.But players say those determined to bet will find a way to access overseas and unregulated websites while fans of fantasy sport apps can still play, although for prizes and not cash.Adarsh Sharma, an advertising professional who regularly played fantasy sports games, said offshore sites will “see a sudden boom” as Indian gamblers look for a fix.”A habit once formed cannot be broken easily,” he said. “It is an addiction and people will find ways to gamble.”India’s parliament last month passed a sweeping law banning online gambling after government figures showed companies had stripped $2.3 billion annually from 450 million people.Officials said the rapid spread of the platforms caused widespread financial distress, addiction and suicide, while also being linked to fraud, money laundering and financing terrorism.The law has been challenged in court by a top online card games platform.The ban impacts websites and apps for card games and fantasy sports — including India’s wildly popular fantasy cricket — with offenders now facing up to five years in prison.India’s online gamblers will have to use virtual private networks (VPNs) to trick overseas websites into thinking they are not in the country, and also use proxy credit cards for placing a bet.The whole process may seem too cumbersome for an average internet user, but gamblers know how to dodge the rules.”We have done this before and will do it again,” one fan told AFP, asking not to be named. “We will go back to our old ways of making money.”- ‘Love of cricket’ -Technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the law separates still-legal eSports “from betting, gambling and fantasy money games that exploit users with false promises of profit”.Dream11 — which boasts of being the world’s largest fantasy sports platform, with 260 million users — posted notices that “cash games and contests have been discontinued”.It now offers prizes such as cars, phones and fridges instead.Dream11 also pulled out of a $43 million deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), with its logo no longer splashed on the jerseys of the Indian players.Jamshed Noor, a butcher in the capital Delhi, said his top win had been 600 rupees (about $7), a day’s wage for a labourer.”We play it for the love of cricket,” said Noor. “Money was definitely an attraction, but I still play, despite money being off the table now.”The law will also shake up the wider sporting industry, including the hugely lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket competition.”Fantasy platforms are the most aggressive advertisers in IPL and world cricket,” Karan Taurani from Elara Capital said, adding that they would now likely explore the overseas market.Santosh N, of D and P Advisory, estimated that fantasy sports and crypto platforms accounted for up to 40 percent of the advertisement IPL broadcasters earned this year.”The fantasy guys will obviously reduce their ad spends because their business model is at stake — or actually destroyed due to the ban,” Santosh told AFP.That will impact the revenue of the broadcasters, meaning less cash for the league.”When the time comes for the BCCI to renew media rights in 2027, it could very well see a lower renewal premium because broadcasters can’t afford to pay that much anymore,” he said.

Nepal flew flags at half-mast during a national day of mourning Wednesday for the 73 people killed during youth-led anti-corruption protests that toppled the government.An interim government, which took over after two days of protests last week, declared the day of mourning “in honour of those who lost their lives during the protests”, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.Protests began on September 8, sparked by a short-lived ban on social media, but fuelled by anger at corruption and long-standing economic woes.At least 19 people were killed in a crackdown on the first day.Anger over the deaths escalated, triggering an outpouring of rage nationwide, with government offices, a Hilton Hotel and other buildings set on fire.”The changes we are witnessing today would not be possible without the courage and sacrifice of those who gave their lives during the protests,” Hami Nepal, a key organisation in the protests, posted on social media.Prime Minister Sushila Karki, a 73-year-old former chief justice, has been tasked with restoring order and addressing protester demands for a corruption-free future ahead of elections in six months.Karki has declared the victims martyrs, promising state honours at their cremations.Shopkeeper Pooja Shrestha, 22, said that the day of mourning would bring people together.”Everyone is sad about what happened, the loss of lives — all young people like us,” she said.”Things have improved now, and we hope the new government will bring the changes we need.”A fifth of people in Nepal aged 15-24 are unemployed, according to the World Bank, with GDP per capita just $1,447.Police spokesman Binod Kharel said Wednesday that the number killed during protests had risen to 73, including police officers and prisoners as they staged a mass breakout.More than a third of the 13,500 prisoners who escaped from two dozen jails during the protests have been recaptured or surrendered themselves, he added.”So far about 5,000 prisoners who had absconded have returned to the prisons, many voluntarily,” Kharel said.

Maoist rebels in India are suspending their armed struggle and are ready for talks, they said in a statement, though authorities said Wednesday they were still verifying its authenticity.New Delhi has launched an all-out offensive to crush the decades-long conflict, vowing to wipe out the Maoist rebellion by March 2026, with recent fighting concentrated in the battleground state of Chhattisgarh.The rebels have offered to engage in talks before, including in February when they called for a ceasefire — an offer rejected by authorities.In a statement issued Tuesday to reporters — via intermediaries who have handled Maoist proclaimations before — the Communist Party of India (Maoist) said it would suspend its fight.”We are ready to start dialogue”, the letter read, adding they had decided “to suspend armed struggle”.The rebels rarely issue statements directly via email or messaging apps, as they fear being tracked by the security forces.Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said authorities were still examining the statement, which was dated August 15.”Only after the authenticity of the letter is verified, a decision will be taken,” Sharma told reporters.The Maoist statement said they had shifted their position due to the “changed world order and national situation, and because of the continuous appeals” from New Delhi.India is waging an intense campaign against the last remnants of the Naxalite rebellion, named after the village in the Himalayan foothills where the Maoist-inspired insurgency began nearly six decades ago.More than 12,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed since a handful of villagers rose against their feudal landlords in 1967.The rebel spokesman, Abhay, who uses only one name, said in the statement the group was “committed” to peace initiatives.In recent months, the government has repeatedly warned it intends to stamp out the Maoists. On Monday, security forces killed a senior commander, who had a bounty on his head of about $113,000.The group’s chief, Nambala Keshav Rao, known as Basavaraju, was killed in May along with 26 guerrillas during a firefight with government troops.At its peak in the mid-2000s, the movement counted 15,000 to 20,000 fighters and controlled nearly a third of India, but the rebellion has been dramatically weakened in recent years.

Sri Lanka will ban four species of predatory ornamental fish including Piranhas that have escaped into rivers and lakes, devastating native species and threatening fragile freshwater ecosystems, the fisheries minister said Wednesday.”We want to protect our inland water bodies from invasive species,” Ramalingam Chandrasekar said, adding it was aimed at protecting the livelihoods of fishermen on the island nation.The import, sale and transportation of Redline Snakehead, Knife Fish, Alligator Gar and Piranha, imported from Southeast Asia, will be banned from Saturday, the minister said in a statement.Snakeheads, which can grow to over three feet (one metre), were rapidly multiplying in a lake in the northwestern part of the island, threatening the native species.Officials believe they may have been released into the Deduru Oya lake by owners who could no longer care for them.The fisheries ministry has organised a competition for anglers to catch Snakeheads, coinciding with the ban on Saturday.Sri Lankans are not used to consuming Snakehead fish which is a voracious predator, eating smaller native fish and amphibians and disrupting the ecological balance. Pet owners rearing the four species have been asked to notify the authorities and hand them over so the fish can be confined to state-run aquariums. 

Decked out with fake crystal chandeliers and velvet sofas, cosmetic surgery clinics in Afghanistan’s capital are a world away from the austerity of Taliban rule, where Botox, lip filler, and hair transplants reign.Despite the Taliban authorities’ strict theocratic rule and prevailing conservatism and poverty in Afghanistan, the 20 or so clinics in Kabul have flourished since the end of decades of war in the country.Foreign doctors, especially from Turkey, travel to Kabul to train Afghans, who equally undertake internships in Istanbul, while equipment is imported from Asia or Europe.In the waiting rooms, the clientele is often well-off and includes men with thinning hair. But the majority are women, sometimes heavily made up and always covered from head to toe, more rarely in an all-enveloping burqa.At 25, Silsila Hamidi decided to get a second facelift, convinced her skin had suffered from the stress of being a woman in Afghanistan.”Even if others can’t see us, we see ourselves: looking beautiful in the mirror gives us energy,” said Hamidi, before she went under the knife to lift the upper part of her face, which “was starting to sag”.Skirting details, the medical school graduate said her skin suffers from the “many pressures” faced by Afghan women.Under Taliban government restrictions, women’s access to work has been severely constrained. They can no longer travel long distances without a male guardian, must not raise their voices outside the home and are banned from universities, parks and gyms. – Salons banned, but not Botox – While surgical cosmetic interventions may be booming, hair salons and beauty parlours catering to women have been banned.”If they were open… our skin wouldn’t be in this state, we wouldn’t need surgery,” said Hamidi, who, at 23, had work done on the lower part of her face.The Taliban authorities, who ordinarily forbid altering physical characteristics in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law, did not reply for multiple requests for comment on cosmetic surgery.Those in the sector said it is allowed as it is considered medicine. The government does not interfere with their work, clinic workers told AFP, but morality police check that gender segregation is respected: a male nurse for a male patient, a female nurse for a female patient.Some claim that even Taliban members are clients. “Here, having no hair or beard is considered a sign of weakness,” said Sajed Zadran, deputy director of the Negin Asia clinic, which boasts state of-the-art Chinese-made equipment.Since the Taliban ordered men to grow their beards at least the length of a fist, transplants have become fashionable, said Bilal Khan, co-director of the EuroAsia clinic, which is about to open a second facility.And because not all clients are wealthy, some “borrow money to have hair before their wedding”, Khan added.In the four-storey villa transformed into a clinic, the methods are the same as those used abroad and pose “no risk”, said Abdul Nassim Sadiqi, a dermatologist. At his clinic, it costs $43-87 for Botox and $260-509 for hair implants. – Instagram effect -The sums are a fortune for many Afghans — nearly half of whom live in poverty, according to the World Bank — but a boon for those like Mohammed Shoaib Yarzada, an Afghan restaurateur based in London.Put off by the thousands of pounds (dollars) required in Britain for the same operation, he took advantage of his first visit to Afghanistan in 14 years to have his scalp replenished.”When I enter the clinic, it’s as if I am abroad, in Europe,” he said. To attract new customers, each clinic floods its social media pages with promises of beauty: smoothed skin, plump lips and abundant hair.Afghanistan, like the West, is not exempt from the sway of social media influencers, said Lucky Khaan, 29, co-director of Negin Asia, which registers dozens of new patients every day.”Many patients come without real problems but want to have surgery because they have seen trends on Instagram,” said Khaan, a Russian doctor of Afghan origin, whose face is wrinkle-free.While according to the UN, 10 million Afghans suffer from hunger and one in three lacks access to basic medical care, some, “who lack money for food, prefer to invest in their beauty”, added the surgeon.