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At the border with Iran, Fatima Rezaei distributes food and hygiene products to Afghans forced to return, unable to passively stand by as the deportation crisis grows.The 22-year-old is one of many Afghan volunteers rallying to help their compatriots, despite having little themselves.Since the beginning of the year, more than 1.6 million Afghans, including many children, have returned after being deported or driven out of Iran, which accuses them of pushing up unemployment and crime.”It doesn’t matter whether you have a lot of money or not. I don’t have much, but with the help of Afghans here and abroad, we manage,” said Rezaei. The number of crossings at the Islam Qala border has reached 30,000 on several days, peaking at 50,000 on July 4, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).In response, residents of the western region have mobilised, partly thanks to donations sent by Afghans living in Europe or North America.A journalist for a local television channel, Rezaei travels over 100 kilometres (62 miles) to reach the border from her hometown of Herat.From a stack of cardboard boxes, she distributes baby wipes and sanitary towels to women gathered under a tent and surrounded by around a dozen children.”It is our responsibility to stand by their side,” she said. “The government tries to help, but it’s not enough.”International organisations are helping to register migrants but face massive budget cuts.Meanwhile, Taliban authorities struggle to support the influx of Afghans who have often left everything behind and returned to a country mired in poverty.- ‘We have a duty’ -Unemployed Hosna Salehi volunteers with her parents’ charitable organisation, Khan-e-Meher, to distribute aid, such as infant formula. “Some women with young children tried to breastfeed but didn’t have enough milk due to stress,” she told AFP. “Our fellow Afghans need our support right now. We have a duty to give what we can, no matter if it is a little or a lot.”The show of solidarity “makes us proud”, said Ahmadullah Wassiq, director of Afghanistan’s High Commission for Refugees. “The government cannot solve these problems alone,” he acknowledged, “and the efforts of citizens must be applauded”. The Taliban government says it provides money upon arrival and is establishing towns dedicated to returning Afghans, though it does not specify when they will be ready. In Herat, the nearest major city to the border, some in the most precarious circumstances have been living in parks in tents donated by residents.- ‘Extended a hand’ -Some said they were having to rebuild their lives after returning home.”The only thing we’re worried about is finding work,” said Hussein, 33, who spent more than 10 years in Iran.”There, they told us our papers were no longer valid. We had good jobs, now we need to find work and start from scratch,” said the father-of-two, who was moved by the support he encountered on the Afghan side of the border.”They really helped us and extended a hand,” he said as he waited for a free bus to take him the nearly 1,000 kilometres to the capital Kabul.In Afghanistan, where half the population of around 48 million lives below the poverty line according to the World Bank, “there isn’t much of a culture of volunteering”, said 27-year-old Omid Haqjoo, as he prepared food in vast cooking pots.”But we are trying to promote it… to provide the support that is missing,” he added.After a day of heat in the humanitarian tents at Islam Qala, Salehi felt strengthened by a “life lesson”.”If I was able to help volunteer, I think everyone can,” she said.”And when I go home and think of all the fellow Afghans who smiled at me and prayed for me, that’s enough for me.”

Counting down the minutes to midnight when a truce with Cambodia is due, Thai evacuee Jeanjana Phaphan is full of a fragile hopes and doubts that peace will prevail.”I’d be so happy if the ceasefire really happens,” said 48-year-old farmer Jeanjana, who fled her frontier home in Phanom Dong Rak district with her three-year-old son a few days ago.”If it’s truly ending, I’m overjoyed —- the happiest I’ve felt in a long time,” she told AFP at a shelter in Surin city, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border.Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders have agreed an “unconditional” ceasefire will begin at midnight on Monday, following five days of combat along their jungle-clad frontier that has killed at least 38 people.Nearly 300,000 people have fled as the two sides fired artillery, rockets and guns in a battle over long-disputed areas home to a smattering of ancient temples.News of the ceasefire sent a ripple of relief, measured with a degree of scepticism, through those who fled since the fighting erupted last Thursday.”If our two countries keep fighting, the hardship and loss will only grow,” Jeanjana said.”When I hear neighbours say their roof was pierced by bullets, it makes me heavy-hearted. The sound of people crying from loss is truly heartbreaking,” she added with a trembling voice and tear-brimmed eyes.”People on that side are civilians too, just like us. On our side we’re just farmers — and I believe they are farmers like us too. Ordinary people working to survive.”- ‘I still have doubts’ – The peace deal was agreed in Malaysia, under the mediation of its Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim following interventions by US President Donald Trump and Chinese negotiators.But sitting on a straw mat next to his wife, 68-year-old farmer Tee Samanjai is thinking not about those high-table talks, but his normal life back on his farm.”The first thing I’ll do when I get home is check on the chickens, fertilise the rice, and take care of the fields,” he said. But his anticipation to return is also clouded with doubt.The past week’s clashes have been the deadliest since 2008-2011 over the territory, claimed by both sides because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia’s French colonial administrators in 1907.”I still have doubts that Cambodia will follow through with what they agreed to,” Tee said.”We may go home, but with unease. There’s no peace of mind. I want to go back, but I don’t trust Cambodia at all. No one in our village does.”Just over the border in Cambodia, camped out at a temple evacuation site in Phumi Bak Thkav, farmer Say Yoeun has much in common with his Thai counterpart.”I am not happy to stay somewhere like this,” said the 55-year-old.”I miss my home and livestock — and I cannot take care of my paddy field.”Cambodian and Thai commanders are due to meet early Tuesday morning if the truce holds, before villagers can return to their homes and start counting the cost of the conflict.For Thai Kavindhra Tiamsai, who evacuated her mother from the conflict zone, the fighting has revealed how locals on the fringes of both countries are marginalised by their governments.”A ceasefire is a good option but also the minimum,” the 33-year-old said. “What we need is a comprehensive, grounded plan that speaks to the realities of rural life.””One that doesn’t assume evacuation is easy — or even possible — when most families have no transport, no money to buffer, and no safety net to lean on.”burs/jts/dhw

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address Monday that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president.Addressing a joint session of Congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal”, while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed.”Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks… for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods.”Someone has to pay for the grave damage and corruption,” he said, adding he would demand a full list of failed flood control projects and make it public. After months dominated by a feud with his vice president that left many voters disillusioned, Marcos’s speech leaned heavily into bread-and-butter concerns.”The people feel a sense of defeat and dismay at the government, especially when it concerns basic services,” he said, referencing disappointing mid-term election results in May.”The lesson for us is very simple. We need to do better. We need to work faster.”Marcos spent much of his 70-minute speech unveiling promises for the second half of his six-year term — from 40,000 more classrooms to new power plants and free dialysis treatments — though he offered little by way of detail.Notably absent was any explicit mention of the rising tensions with China over disputed areas of the South China Sea that figured heavily into last year’s address.After 12 months marked by violent clashes at sea and an increasingly close military relationship with the United States, Marcos said only that the country faced “new threats” to its sovereignty while adding “more allies who can help us in our time of need”.- No shows -Numerous high-profile allies of Vice President Sara Duterte, whose would-be impeachment trial was scrapped by the Supreme Court on Friday, skipped Monday’s address, including the president’s senator sister Imee Marcos.The feud between the Marcos and Duterte political dynasties loomed large over the May mid-terms that saw the vice president’s camp outperform expectations.The duo swept to power in 2022 in an alliance that began crumbling almost immediately.Their feud exploded into open warfare this year with her impeachment and the subsequent arrest and transfer of her father, ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, to face charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over his deadly drug war.The timelines of those two events coincided with a sharp dip in the president’s polling numbers.Marcos had publicly stated that he was against the impeachment while consistently maintaining he was powerless to intervene.- ‘New normal’ -Last week, the Philippine president for the first time blamed climate change for storms which are hitting the country harder and more frequently, saying Filipinos would need to learn how to adapt.”This is not an extraordinary situation anymore… This will be our lives no matter what we do,” he told a cabinet briefing, adding the country should plan for the long-term in addressing natural disasters.”This is the way it’s going to be as far as we know for… many decades to come, so let’s just prepare,” he said.Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, on Monday praised Marcos’s pledge to tackle corruption around flood control projects but warned that follow-through would be everything.”(To) have a really significant effect on his legacy,” Marcos will need to put people in charge that will “not be afraid to go after these politicians”, he said.

India on Monday lauded their cricketers for pulling off a “draw that feels like a win” in the fourth Test against England to keep the series alive.India, 2-1 down in the five-match series and a daunting 311 runs behind on first innings, batted out Sunday’s final day to take it to a decider at the Oval, starting Thursday.Captain Shubman Gill struck his fourth century of the series before unbeaten hundreds from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar denied England victory. KL Rahul also scored 90.It was a remarkable fightback after India had lost their first two second-innings wickets without a run on the board on Saturday. “When it comes to India-England, Old Trafford is known for keeping the series alive,” India great Sachin Tendulkar posted on X.It was a “fantastic comeback” said Tendulkar who added that Rahul, Gill, Jadeja and Sundar had shown “great character and fighting spirit”. The Times of India headlined with “The draw that feels like a win”, while espncricinfo.com said it had been a “great escape”.Gill had come into his first series as captain with question marks over his overseas batting record.But he has laid all doubts to rest with a record-breaking run, joining Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar as the only Test captains to score four centuries in a series.His 722 runs are the most scored by an Indian batsman in a series against England, surpassing team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 712 in 2023/24.”Nobody ever doubted Shubman Gill’s talent,” said head coach Gautam Gambhir .”Those who did, they just know to talk cricket but lack understanding of the game. Some people take time to blossom in international cricket. And no one in the dressing room is surprised by what he has done.”Uncapped wicketkeeper Narayan Jagadeesan was on Monday called into the India squad as cover, after Rishabh Pant was ruled out with a fractured foot.Dhruv Jurel is expected to take the gloves in the fifth Test. 

India’s enthralling series in England is going all the way to the finish after the resilient tourists drew the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Sunday.Record-breaking skipper Shubman Gill scored his fourth century of the campaign before Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar also made hundreds as India finished on 425-4 in their second innings — a lead of 114 runs — inside the last hour.England remain 2-1 up in this five-match contest ahead of a quick turnaround to Thursday’s start of an Oval finale. An India victory in south London would ensure a share of the spoils for Gill’s men in a series where the first four Tests have all gone to the last day.Defeat, rather than a draw, looked likely when India collapsed to 0-2 in the opening over of their second innings on Saturday as Chris Woakes struck with successive deliveries following England’s mammoth first-innings 669.But Gill, in on a hat-trick, went on to score 103 in a marathon seven-hour stint as he turned the tide during a stand of 188 with KL Rahul that ended before lunch on Sunday.Jadeja, reprieved first ball when Joe Root dropped a tough slip chance, went on to make 107 not out, his first century of the series following four fifties, with fellow spin-bowling all-rounder Sundar unbeaten on 101 — his maiden Test hundred.- ‘Brave effort’ -“I am extremely pleased with our batting effort over the past couple of days,” said Gill.”I think we were put under a lot of pressure, but the way we responded, especially after losing two wickets, was a very brave effort.”Sundar and Jadeja’s unbroken partnership of 203 on a flat pitch frustrated a toiling England, despite the best efforts of inspirational captain Ben Stokes.This match was a personal triumph for Stokes as he became just the fourth England cricketer to score a hundred and take five wickets in the same Test, his 141 on Saturday following a haul of 5-72 in India’s first-innings 358.But Stokes, who insisted “pain is just an emotion”, repeatedly clutched the top of his leg  — having had hamstring surgery earlier this year — and also suffered a bicep strain.”When you put in good performances for the team, the joy is dictated by how you feel at the end of the Test and the result,” said Stokes. “Obviously, I’d give the bottle of champagne and the medal (away) in a heartbeat if we were on the right side of the result.”India resumed on 174-2 with KL Rahul 87 not out and Gill 78 not out.Stokes, the leading bowler on either side this series with 17 wickets at 25.23, brought himself on at the start of Sunday’s play after not bowling Saturday and had obdurate opener Rahul, plumb lbw for 90 to a nip-back ball that kept low.And when Gill was caught behind off Jofra Archer, India were still not safe at 222-4.But Sundar and Jadeja, after his first ball reprieve, were largely untroubled.And even when Stokes braved the pain barrier again, Sundar pulled the England skipper for a six and a four off successive balls to reach fifty.Sunday’s closing stages became a question of whether either of India’s fifth-wicket duo would go to a hundred after Gill declined to take a draw immediately at the start of the last hour when Sundar was 80 not out and Jadeja unbeaten on 89.The match ended in farcical circumstances when batsman Harry Brook came on to bowl.Jadeja smashed a woeful Brook delivery for six to complete a 182-ball century before Gill’s two off the Yorkshireman took him to a 206-ball hundred — the last act of the match.”It got to that point where there was obviously only one result left on the table and I wasn’t going to be risking any of my frontline bowlers, especially with a quick turnaround,” said Stokes.Sundar and Jadeja received some verbal abuse from England fielders for carrying on towards the three-figure landmark, with Stokes telling reporters: “That partnership was massive, they played incredibly well and I don’t think there would have been too much more satisfaction at walking off 100 not out than 80 or 90.”

Under the drumbeat of artillery fire near Thailand’s border with Cambodia, farmer Samuan Niratpai refuses to abandon his buffalo herd — stubbornly risking his life to tend his livestock.”At 5:00am every day, I hear the loud bangs and booms. Then I run into the woods for cover,” the 53-year-old told AFP in the village of Baan Bu An Nong in Surin province, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the fraught frontier.His family of five fled to the capital Bangkok on the first day of clashes on Thursday, but he remains behind with their flock of chickens, three dogs and 14 prized buffalo.”How could I leave these buffaloes?” he asked, his eyes brimming with emotion. “I’d be so worried about them. After the strikes I go and console them, telling them ‘It’s okay. We’re together’.”Thailand and Cambodia’s clashes have entered their fourth day after a festering dispute over sacred temples ignited into cross-border combat being waged with jets, tanks and group troops.Peace talks between leaders are scheduled for Monday in Malaysia, the Thai government has said.In the meantime, at least 34 people have been killed on both sides, mostly civilians, and more than 200,000 have fled their homes along the 800-kilometre border — a rural area patched with rubber and rice farms.But on both sides of the tree-clad ridge marking the boundary between the two countries there are many who refuse to evacuate.As nearby blasts shake Cambodian restauranteur Soeung Chhivling’s eaterie she continues to prepare a beef dish, declining to abandon the kitchen where she cooks for troops and medics mobilised to fight Thailand.”I am also scared, but I want to cook so they have something to eat,” said the 48-year-old, near a hospital where wounded civilians and troops are being treated.”I have no plan to evacuate unless jets drop a lot of bombs,” she told AFP in Samraong city, just 20 kilometres from the Thai frontier, where most homes and shops are already deserted.- ‘I’d rather die at home’ -Back on the Thai side, Pranee Ra-ngabpai, a researcher on Thai-Cambodian border issues and a local resident, said many who have chosen to stay behind — like her own father — are men who hold traditional and stoic values.”He is still there in the house right now and refuses to leave,” Pranee said. “There’s this mindset: ‘If I die, I’d rather die at home’ or ‘I can’t leave my cows’.”Baan Bu An Nong has been designated a “red zone” — meaning it is high risk for air strikes, artillery barrages and even gun battles between ground troops.But village co-leader Keng Pitonam, 55, is also reluctant to depart. Loading grass onto his three-wheeled cart to feed his livestock, he is now responsible for dozens of neighbours’ animals as well as their homes.”I have to stay — it’s my duty,” Keng told AFP.”I’m not afraid. I can’t abandon my responsibilities,” he said.”If someone like me — a leader — leaves the village, what would that say? I have to be here to serve the community, no matter what happens.”His local temple has become a makeshift donation and rescue hub, parked with ambulances inside its perimeter.”I have to stay — to be a spiritual anchor for those who remain,” said the abbot, declining to give his name. “Whatever happens, happens.”Huddled in a bunker just 10 kilometres from the border, Sutian Phiewchan spoke to AFP by phone, pausing as his words were interrupted by the crackle of gunfire.He remained behind to fulfil his obligations as a volunteer for the local civil defence force, activated to protect the roughly 40 people still staying there.”Everyone here is afraid and losing sleep,” the 49-year-old said.”We’re doing this without pay. But it’s about protecting the lives and property of the people in our village.”burs-jts/dhw

England captain Ben Stokes made a much-needed breakthrough for his side on Sunday’s final day of the fourth Test against India by dismissing KL Rahul despite appearing to be less than fully fit.The match had already been a personal triumph for the all-rounder after he became just the fourth England cricketer to score a hundred and take five wickets in the same Test.Stokes made 141 — his first Test century in more than two years — in England’s mammoth 669 following a return of 5-72 in India’s first-innings 358.This match has also seen Stokes become just the third cricketer in Test history to score 7,000 runs and take 200 wickets after West Indies Garry Sobers and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis.But Stokes, who suffered from cramp while batting, did not bowl at all during the 63 overs India faced their second innings on Saturday’s fourth day as they recovered from 0-2 to 174-2 at stumps, still a deficit of 137 runs.Rahul was 87 not out at Saturday’s close, with skipper Shubman Gill 78 not out.  Stokes was also seen repeatedly clutching the top of his leg, having had surgery on his left hamstring at the start of this year. But with England pressing for a win that would give them an unassailable 3-1 lead in this five-match series ahead of next week’s finale at the Oval, Stokes brought himself on to bowl at the start of Sunday’s play.Already the leading bowler on either side this series with 16 wickets at 24.75, Stokes almost had Gill caught for 81 by a leaping Ollie Pope at short cover.But the inspirational captain did separate India’s stubborn second-wicket duo when he had Rahul, in sight of his third century of the series, plumb lbw for 90 with a nip-back ball that kept a touch low.Rahul had batted for over five hours, facing 230 balls, but India were now 188-3.Fast-medium bowler Stokes, still grabbing the top of his left leg on occasion as well as his right shoulder, then somehow defied a docile surface when a rising delivery popped off a good length to rap Gill, then on 90, on the thumb before deflecting into the side of the batsman’s helmet.Gill, who has already scored three hundreds in his first series as India captain, needed several minutes’ on-field treatment before resuming his innings.Stokes bowled an unchanged spell of 1-12 in eight overs until the advent of the new ball. Chris Woakes, who had reduced India to 0-2 in the first over of the innings, then came back on with India 198-3 off 80 overs.

Former India captain Kapil Dev on Saturday said it is too early to judge new Test skipper Shubman Gill and his young team in England despite two defeats.Gill, 25, took over a team in transition after the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the five-Test tour of England.The visitors, who trail the series 2-1, lost the opener before they bounced back to level the series. They then went down in a closely-fought third Test at Lord’s.Ben Stokes’ England are in the box seat in the fourth Test and in sight of clinching the series.”The team came close to winning (at Lord’s) and then lost,” said Dev, who is the president of Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), on the sidelines of the announcement of the second half of the national golf calender.”It’s a new team and it is getting an opportunity. In the coming days, these boys will come back with tournament victories. “Any new team needs time to adjust. The new captain has to learn a lot and this series will be a learning step (for him).”Gill, a top-order batter, leads the series batting with over 600 runs including three centuries and a career-best of 269 in the second Test in Birmingham.Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s best bowler with 14 wickets in five innings despite the collective decision that he play just three Tests to manage his workload.Bumrah, a yorker specialist who bowls with an unusual slingshot action has more than 200 Test wickets in his injury-prone career of 48 Tests.But Dev, who never missed a Test due to injury in his 16-year-old career that ended in 1994 with 434 wickets, defended Bumrah’s decision to skip matches.”I think everybody is different,” the 1983 World Cup-winning captain told reporters.”Times have changed, bodies are different and they are working differently. “He is one of the finest bowlers we have. His action is so awkward, and to sustain it this far, I think it’s fabulous. “We never thought that someone would play so long (with this action) because he puts so much stress on his body. He is still delivering for the Indian team, hats off to him.”Dev said Indian golf is ready to take a leaf out of cricket’s set up in India and expand with the PGTI securing new sponsors and increased prize money for tournaments.

Ben Stokes ended his more than two-year wait for a Test hundred as England pressed for a series-clinching win against India at Old Trafford on Saturday.The England captain started the fourth day of the fourth Test on his overnight score of 77 not out.He went to his century with a leg-glanced four off fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah — his ninth boundary in 164 balls faced.It was all-rounder Stokes’ first Test hundred in over two years following a whirlwind 155 against Australia at Lord’s in June 2023.The 34-year-old celebrated his 14th century in 115 Tests by clenching his fist, looking to the sky and making a crooked finger gesture in honour of his late father Ged Stokes before raising his bat to a cheering crowd.England, already 2-1 up in this five-match series, were now 593-8 — a commanding first-innings lead of 235 runs.His hundred capped a brilliant display with both bat and ball by Stokes, England’s leading bowler this series, after the lively fast-medium bowler had taken 5-72 in India’s first-innings 358.Stokes is just the fourth England player to take five wickets and score a hundred in the same Test after Tony Greig, Ian Botham and the currently sidelined Gus Atkinson.With the pressure of getting to a hundred no longer an issue, Stokes then straight drove Washington Sundar for six — although his expression at the crease suggested he thought he had mishit the delivery — and next ball he reverse swept the off-spinner for four.England resumed in the commanding position of 544-7, already a lead of 186, after Joe Root had become the second-highest run-scorer in Test history during his majestic 150 on Friday.Stokes who had briefly retired with cramp before returning on Friday after completing his first fifty this series, was in excellent touch early Saturday.The left-handed batsman twice cover-drove Mohammed Siraj for superb fours as he went to 88.But at the other end Liam Dawson, playing his first Test since 2017 after replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir, had added just five runs to his overnight 21 when he was bowled by a Bumrah delivery that kept a touch low — a worrying sign for India’s batsmen.Stokes charged down the pitch to drive Bumrah for three to go to 99 and then spent several deliveries one run short of three figures, with the world’s top-ranked Test bowler beating the England skipper on the outside edge.

A bus crash in central Vietnam killed 10 people early Friday, the government said, a week after dozens were killed in a boat accident in the tourist site of Ha Long Bay.The overnight sleeper bus was travelling on a national highway from Hanoi to the central city of Da Nang when it veered off the road, hit the roadside markers and overturned, the government said in a statement.The crash killed 10 people, including two children — all of them Vietnamese. Another 12 people were injured and taken to hospital, the statement said.Five of those killed were domestic tourists travelling to Da Nang for holidays, state media said.”The bus overturned… I couldn’t sit up as my body and my hands were smashed into the side of the bed,” a passenger told the Dan Tri news site.Several of those killed and seriously injured had been occupying the bunks towards the front of the bus and “suffered from the strong impact”, the passenger said.Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for an investigation into the accident.The crash comes a week after a boat capsized in the UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay, killing 38 Vietnamese tourists and crew members.Rescuers are still searching for one missing victim. Only 10 passengers survived the country’s worst boat accident in the popular tourist destination.