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India batsman Shreyas Iyer led from the front with an unbeaten 97 to set up an 11-run win for Punjab Kings in a big-hitting IPL clash with Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.Iyer’s 42-ball knock steered the team to 243-5 after being invited to bat first at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.Gujarat finished on 232-5 despite a valiant 41-ball 74 by opener Sai Sudharsan who set up a blazing start to the run chase, featuring a 84-run second wicket stand with England’s Jos Buttler (54).Both sides walloped 16 sixes each across the two innings on the fourth day of the cash-rich Indian Premier League T20 tournament.Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to a title win last year, has already gone some way to justifying his top price tag, after Punjab paid a whopping 3.17 million dollars for him in the November auction.”Ecstatic, to be honest,” said Iyer. “Getting 97 not out in the first match is always the icing on the cake. No better feeling to be honest”The top-order batter started with a boundary off Gujarat’s South African import Kagiso Rabada and three balls later smashed a six.”It was important for me to go ahead and adapt. I got four off the first ball, and that gave an immense boost. That flicked six off Rabada — I think the momentum changed.Iyer allowed attacking opener Priyansh Arya to take charge as the Indian young left-hander hammered 47 off 23 deliveries before being denied his fifty by Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan.Gujarat’s Sai Kishore joined the bowling charge to strike twice in two balls, including trapping Australia’s Glenn Maxwell lbw for a first-ball duck, but Marcus Stoinis avoided the hat-trick.- ‘Got our chances’ -Maxwell walked back without a review but tracking technology later revealed the ball would have gone over the stumps as a dejected Punjab coach Ricky Ponting looked upset.Iyer stood strong as he took on the attack with sixes and fours and found support from Australian hard-hitter Stoinis, who smashed a 15-ball 20 before becoming Kishore’s third wicket.Iyer reached his fifty in 27 balls and kept up the charge as he struck three sixes and a four in a 24-run over off seam bowler Prasidh Krishna. Iyer went past his previous IPL best of 96 but missed out on his century as partner Shashank Singh dominated the strike in the latter stages and finished on an unbeaten 16-ball 44.Iyer and Shashank hammered 81 runs between them in 28 balls to finish with a flourish.”We got our chances when we were bowling and batting,” said Gujarat skipper Shubman Gill. “Too many runs we conceded in the back end of the innings.”In reply, the left-handed Sudharsan and Gill, who hit 33 off 14 balls, handed Gujarat a blazing start but the ever-increasing run-rate made the home team fall behind the chase despite having wickets in hand.Sudharsan fell to left-arm pace bowler Arshdeep Singh and Buttler, after reaching his fifty, was bowled by South African left-arm quick Marco Jansen.Impact player Sherfane Rutherford, a left-handed West Indian hard-hitter, made a desperate effort to pull off a miracle with his 28-ball 46 before falling to Arshdeep in the final over.

Until Taliban authorities took power in Afghanistan, women like Fatima were able to freely sell their hair to be made into wigs, bringing in crucial cash.But a ban last year has forced the 28-year-old and others to covertly trade hair — collected from shower drains or the salon floor — braving the risk of punishment one strand at a time.”I need this money,” said Fatima, 28, one of the few women still in paid private employment in Kabul after the Taliban regained control in 2021.”I can treat myself to something or buy things for the house.”The woman, who withholds her last name for security reasons, sells every 100 grams of hair for little more than $3, a small addition to her monthly salary of $100.Buyers who want to export the locks for wig production abroad “would knock on our doors to collect” the hair, she said.One of those buyers is a man, who also requested anonymity, sending the manes to Pakistan and China from Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries.Taliban authorities have cracked down on the rights of women, imposing what the UN calls a “gender apartheid”.They banned women and girls from universities and schools, effectively strangling their employment hopes.Women have also been barred from parks and gyms, while beauty salons have been shut down.- ‘Not allowed’ -Last year, Taliban authorities imposed vice and virtue laws regulating everyday life for men and women, including banning sales of “any part of the human body” including hair.They have not said what the punishment for violations would be.”We must respect the appearance that God has given to humans and preserve their dignity,” Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) spokesman Saiful Islam Khyber told AFP.He said the trading of hair had become “normalised” in the country and that now “selling body parts is not allowed.”Hair sales are so sensitive that the ministry which handles morality issues burned nearly a ton of human strands in Kabul province in January.The PVPV said in a statement it burned the batch “to protect Islamic values and human dignity”.The restrictions have not deterred Fatima, however.During prayer times, when Taliban officials and forces attend the mosque, Fatima sneaks to a Kabul waste site to hand over her cache of tresses.The few extra dollars are significant, with 85 percent of Afghans living on less than a dollar a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).- Secret salon -At a secret salon in Kabul, two worn-out leather chairs sit in a small, cold room where hairdresser Narges now only receives about four customers a week.Before the 2021 takeover, the 43-year-old widowed hairdresser used to give crop cuts to five to six clients every day.Now, only the wealthiest of her customers brave visiting the salon, and even they sometimes ask if they can take valuable spare hair home with them.”They’re the only ones who can still care about beauty,” she said.For others, the threat of a Taliban punishment is too much to risk.Wahida, a 33-year-old widow whose husband was a soldier killed in 2021, has a constant worry about how she will feed her three children.She still collects hair that has fallen from her eight-year-old daughter’s head and her own, with strands from the root more valuable than those cut with scissors.The unemployed Afghan woman, who now relies almost entirely on charity, stuffs them in a plastic bag to keep them for a potential sale later.”I had a glimmer of hope when I used to sell my hair. Now that it’s banned, I’m devastated. I’m hoping buyers will come back to my door,” she said, sitting in her home.”I know there are places to sell. But I am afraid of getting caught there.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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