Bangladesh cricketer Tamim thanks fans after heart attack
Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal has thanked fans for their support as he recovers from a serious heart attack he suffered during a match earlier this week.The 36-year-old was leading Mohammedan Sporting Club in a match of the 50-over Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League when he was rushed to a nearby hospital complaining of severe chest pain on Monday. He has since been relocated to a larger medical facility in the capital where he remains under observation.  “It’s the heartbeat that keeps us alive, but we often forget that this beat can stop at any moment, without any warning,” Tamim wrote on social media on Tuesday.”I offer my heartfelt gratitude and love to all of you. Please keep me and my family in your prayers. Without your love, I am nothing.”Elder brother and former Bangladeshi international Nafees Iqbal was by Tamim’s bedside along with other family members. Tamim was in critical condition when he was rushed to hospital, Razeeb Hasan, the medical director at the facility where Tamim received treatment, told reporters on Monday.He also said Tamim had to undergo surgery to implant stents to clear an artery blockage.Tamim scored more than 15,000 runs for Bangladesh in a career spanning 15 years and remains the only Bangladeshi to score hundreds in all formats of international cricket.
Bangladesh’s Yunus heads to China for first state visit
Bangladeshi leader Muhammad Yunus flew to Beijing on Wednesday for his first state visit as frosty relations with neighbouring India spur his caretaker administration to court new friends.The 84-year-old Nobel laureate will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday before returning Saturday after several other high-level meetings. Yunus took charge of Bangladesh last August after the toppling of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after a student-led uprising. India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina’s government and her overthrow sent cross-border relations into a tailspin. “Muhammad Yunus has chosen China for his first state visit and with this Bangladesh is sending a message,” Dhaka’s top foreign ministry bureaucrat Mohammad Jashim Uddin told reporters on Tuesday.Several agreements are expected to be signed on economic and technical assistance, cultural and sports cooperation, and media collaboration between the two countries.”We are expecting declarations on key issues including the economy, investment and economic zones,” Jashim Uddin said.Talks are also expected to touch on Bangladesh’s immense population of Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled a violent military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017. China has acted as a mediator between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the past to broker the repatriation of the persecuted minority, although efforts stalled because of Myanmar’s unwillingness to have them returned. “Rohingya repatriation will be a point of discussion as we all know China previously attempted to broker a deal,” Jashim Uddin said.Yunus will also attend the Investment Dialogue with Chinese Business Leaders and is set to receive an honorary doctorate from Peking University. Tensions between India and Bangladesh have prompted a number of tit-for-tat barbs between senior figures from both governments. They have also almost entirely halted the flow of medical tourism to India by Bangladeshis, thousands of whom crossed the border each year to seek care in their larger neighbour. Jashim Uddin said talks in Beijing would touch on the establishment of a Chinese “Friendship Hospital” in Bangladesh. Yunus’s caretaker administration has the unenviable task of bedding down democratic reforms ahead of fresh elections expected by mid-2026. It has requested India allow Hasina’s extradition to face crimes against humanity charges for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government, to no avail. Yunus has also sought a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bid to reset relations, with both expected to be at the same regional summit in Bangkok next month. His government has yet to receive a response, with Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar saying the request was “under review”.Â
Lula urges Mercosur-Japan deal to counter Trump protectionism
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called Wednesday for a trade deal between South America’s Mercosur bloc and Japan to counter growing US protectionism.”I am certain that we need to move forward in signing an Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and Mercosur,” Lula said during a multi-day visit to Tokyo.”Our countries have more to gain from integration than from protectionist practices,” he said at an economic forum attended by business and political figures from Brazil and Japan.Mercosur’s four members — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — in December struck a free-trade deal with the European Union although it still faces hurdles before final approval.Business groups in Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, have been pressing the government to also strike an agreement with the bloc.The Keidanren business federation “urgently” called in November for “expedited efforts” towards a Japan-Mercosur Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), an accord similar to a free trade deal.”The benefits that a Japan-Mercosur EPA would bring to both parties are immense,” the group said, noting the South American bloc’s population of 300 million people and economic output approaching $3 trillion.But an agreement may be politically hard because of fears about the impact on Japanese farmers of large-scale agricultural imports, particularly from Brazil and Argentina.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Wednesday that he and Lula will “strongly push towards more smooth bilateral trade and investment”.”Business circles of both countries have pushed for early agreement on a Japan-Mercosur EPA. While listening to these voices, we will continue talks towards strengthening bilateral and economic ties,” he said.Lula, 79, arrived in Japan on Monday accompanied by a 100-strong business delegation.He and Ishiba were expected to restate their commitment to free trade — in light of US President Donald Trump’s levies on steel and other imports — in a joint statement expected later Wednesday.”We cannot go back to relying on protectionism. We do not want a second Cold War,” Lula said Wednesday.”We want free trade so that we can ensure that democracy, economic growth and wealth distribution become established in our countries,” he added.Lula and Ishiba, 68, were also expected to discuss the joint development of biofuels ahead of November’s COP30 UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon.
Ligue des champions: à Lyon, défense d’entrer
Vainqueur 2-0 à l’aller la semaine dernière à Munich face au Bayern, Lyon se présente au match retour mercredi (18h45) au Groupama Stadium, fort d’une défense de fer qui n’a encaissé qu’un but en sept matches depuis le début de la compétition.L’OL, qui n’a pas encore perdu en championnat de France, est aussi la dernière équipe invaincue dans l’épreuve européenne après la défaite de Chelsea à Manchester City (2-0), en quart de finale aller.Les Fenottes, cinq buts encaissés en Première ligue, ont donc les moyens de bien résister pour mieux piquer en attaque.Elles l’ont déjà fait à l’aller en ne concédant qu’un tir cadré aux Munichoises contre dix pour Lyon bien que les joueuses de l’entraîneur australien, Joe Montemurro n’ont pas tout bien maîtrisé, notamment dans l’entrejeu.”Nous travaillons bien avec la ligne défensive depuis notre stage d’avant-saison”, a expliqué, mardi en conférence de presse, l’Australienne Ellie Carpenter. “Nous jouons bien et on fait en sorte de ne pas prendre de but. C’est très important car si on n’encaisse pas, nous avons plus de chances de gagner”, a-t-elle encore ajouté dans un français de mieux en mieux maîtrisé.”L’objectif est toujours de faire plus, de chercher à être efficace, de ne jamais encaisser de but et d’en marquer beaucoup. C’est ce qui aide pour la Ligue des Champions”, a affirmé de son côté, la milieu de terrain hispano-néerlandaise, Damaris Egurrola, dans un entretien au quotidien Le Progrès, publié mardi.”Mais quand on est l’OL, gagner ne suffit pas. Nous avons besoin de bien jouer et de marquer beaucoup mais 2-0 sur le terrain du Bayern, c’est quand même très bien”, s’est félicitée cette dernière.”Mais ce n’est pas fini. C’est un match très important. Nous avons deux buts d’avance mais c’est un nouveau match”, a surenchéri Carpenter.Le club allemand doit désormais gagner avec trois buts d’écart pour se qualifier et la tâche s’annonce difficile, surtout si les Lyonnaises marquent, ne serait-ce qu’une fois.”Ce sera incroyable si nous y parvenons dans les premières cinq à dix minutes. Nous allons mettre de l’intensité face à un adversaire qui va commencer très fort pour tenter de marquer”, a poursuivi Ellie Carpenter.Avant ce match retour pour lequel 12.000 spectateurs environ sont attendus, Joe Montemurro a ménagé plusieurs joueuses cadres à l’occasion du déplacement à Saint-Etienne (5-0), le 22 mars, afin de leur amener la fraîcheur nécessaire.La gardienne Christiane Endler, les défenseures Wendie Renard et Selma Bacha et les attaquantes Kadidiatou Diani et Tabitha Chawinga feront leur retour face au Bayern.