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Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team aged 40 in an unexpected reversal of his decision to hang up his boots last year. The former captain, the fourth-highest men’s international goalscorer of all time, played his last match for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier.Chhetri said last year that “instinct” told him the match against Kuwait should be his last and he bowed out in front of nearly 59,000 fans in Kolkata. But on Thursday, India head coach Manolo Marquez announced the return of India’s most-capped player for the March international window.India are out of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and are now targeting the Asian Cup in 2027.”The qualification for the Asian Cup is very crucial for us. Given the importance of the tournament and the matches ahead, I discussed with Sunil Chhetri about making a comeback to strengthen the national team,” Marquez said in a statement from the All India Football Federation.”He agreed, and so we have included him in the squad.”India play a friendly against Maldives on March 19, in preparation for an Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on March 25.Football has struggled to find its feet among the 1.4 billion people of India, where the sport is dwarfed by the nation’s longstanding cricket obsession. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter once called India a “sleeping giant” of football.Chhetri is a sporting icon in cricket-mad India.The diminutive striker, who is 1.7 metres (5ft 7in) tall, made his debut against fierce rivals Pakistan in 2005 and scored India’s only goal.Chhetri had two brief but unsuccessful spells in Portugal and the United States, but has spent most of his career in India.In 2009 he was offered a contract by London club Queens Park Rangers, in England’s second tier, but he could not get a work permit.

China’s foreign minister on Friday vowed Beijing would “firmly counter” US pressure, after Donald Trump heaped  tariffs on Chinese goods and torched off a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of a key political meeting, Wang Yi warned the “law of the jungle” could take hold in the world if nations were to pursue purely their own interests.Touting Beijing’s cooperation in the fight against the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, Wang said Washington should not “repay kindness with resentment, let alone impose tariffs without reason”.”There are around 190 countries in the world,” Wang said.”Imagine if every country emphasised their own priority and believed in strength and status, the world would fall back into the law of the jungle,” he added.Washington’s current policy, Wang said, was “not how a responsible major country behaves”.”China-US economic and trade ties are mutual,” the veteran diplomat said.”If you choose to cooperate, you can achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results. If you use only pressure, China will firmly counter,” he added.Wang also called for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, warning “conflict has no winners, and peace has no losers”.”China welcomes and supports all efforts dedicated to peace,” he stressed.And he urged all parties to seek a “comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and increase humanitarian assistance”.The Chinese top diplomat was speaking on the sidelines of the “Two Sessions” political meetings in Beijing, so far clouded by a new administration in the United States that is overturning the international order.Beijing has vowed to fight a trade war with the United States “to the end” as tariffs from Washington buffeted the global economy and threatened to hit Beijing’s lagging growth.The country’s leaders set an ambitious annual growth target of around five percent this week, vowing to make domestic demand its main economic driver as the escalating trade confrontation with the United States hit exports.US President Donald Trump imposed more blanket tariffs on Chinese imports this week, following a similar move last month — levies expected to hit hundreds of billions of dollars in total trade between the world’s two largest economies.

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner on Thursday said a slower pitch in familiar territory for India in Dubai will make for a tight contest in the Champions Trophy final.The two teams clash on Sunday to decide the winner of the eight-nation tournament held in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.Rohit Sharma’s India are playing all their games at the Dubai International Stadium after they refused to tour hosts Pakistan because of political tensions.They beat Australia in the first semi-final.New Zealand defeated South Africa in the second semi-final in Lahore on Wednesday and now move back to Dubai where they lost the last group match to India by 44 runs.”I guess finals cricket is different, but for us what we have been doing to get us to this point has been good,” Santner said on his arrival in Dubai.”But obviously we have come against a good side, who have played all their games in Dubai and know that surface and we will be better for the run we had the other day against them,” he said.”Obviously the surface will dictate a little bit of how we want to operate. Will be slower than what we got in Lahore, might be more of a scrap.”The tournament’s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the UAE from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.Pakistan tracks produced big totals — the Black Caps posted a Champions Trophy record 362-6 before restricting South Africa to 312-9 in the semi-final in Lahore, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.But Santner said the team has taken the travel in their stride.”It’s all part of the challenge,” said Santner. “We have been to every place here obviously into Pakistan and Dubai. But I think the guys understand that it’s part of it these days.”New Zealand won a tri-series tournament in Pakistan with South Africa as the third team and had many of their players in top form getting into the 50-over tournament.Left-hander Rachin Ravindra hit his second century of this tournament in the semi-final clash and put on 164 runs with in-form Kane Williamson, who hit 102.”Obviously that tri-series before — the tournament was handy in guys getting in form, especially into one of these tournaments which are quite short, three games and you’re into the semis,” said Santner.”We have had a bit of a roll on and hopefully it continues.”The captain added: “We are here now and boys are pretty excited for the challenge ahead. One day off at training but the boys be fizzing and ready for the main event.”

The local government in a resource-rich Philippine province has unanimously voted in favour of a 50-year ban on new mining permits, a decision its supporters said cannot be overridden by Manila.Palawan province, a UNESCO “biosphere reserve” known for its diverse flora and fauna, has become a hotbed for mining as the national government seeks to widen its market share for minerals like nickel, a key component of electric vehicle batteries.But locals have increasingly pushed back against new mine proposals, with environmental groups and activists pointing to effects ranging from deforestation and flooding to the displacement of Indigenous peoples.There are currently 11 mines operated in Palawan, but scores of applications are pending.Environmental lawyer Grizelda Anda, who worked in support of Wednesday’s vote, said Manila would not be able to legally overrule the local government’s decision, which now awaits the governor’s signature.”The (Philippine Mining Act of 1995) provides that you have to get the endorsement of the LGU (local government unit),” she said.The new permit ban also imposes a 25-year pause on applications to renew or expand mining licenses.Existing mines can continue “as long as they do not increase their production” or move into new areas, Anda added.- ‘A really big win’ -“This is a really big win not just for the people but for the environment, especially Palawan, which is our last frontier here in the Philippines,” said Jonila Castro, a spokesperson for the Manila-based Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment.”We hope that many other provinces will have the same moratorium.”Palawan resident Jade Cabasag, 23, whose church advocated for the ban, told AFP she was one of about 100,000 people who had signed a petition in favour of it.”We are more than just a sector that values our faith, but we also value our environment,” she said, adding she was proud she could help in her “own little way”.But the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines criticised the vote, saying in a statement on Thursday that the environmental concerns were overblown given laws it said provided “stringent” safeguards.The decision would also limit “the country’s ability to plan and strategise about its mineral wealth at a time when the global demand for critical minerals is rising”, it said.”The Philippine government has a responsibility to the people to develop its mineral resources responsibly for the good of the many. Palawan cannot and should not limit the national government’s ability to do so.”But mid-term elections in May, when 10 of the Palawan board’s 11 members are up for re-election, could see the new ban undone if there is a dramatic shift in the body’s makeup.

Hundreds of Chinese nationals freed from Myanmar online scam centres flew home through Thailand on Thursday, as the kingdom said it aimed to repatriate 1,500 such workers a week.Thailand, Myanmar and China have been making efforts in recent weeks to clear out illegal cyberscam compounds on the Thai-Myanmar border where thousands of foreigners — mostly Chinese nationals — have been working.Under pressure from key ally Beijing, Myanmar has cracked down on some of the compounds, freeing around 7,000 workers from more than two dozen countries.Around 600 Chinese nationals were returned from Myanmar through Thailand two weeks ago, and last week the three countries held talks in Bangkok to arrange further transferrals.Thai media broadcast footage on Thursday of coaches bringing hundreds of Chinese workers from Myanmar and offloading them on to planes destined for China at Mae Sot airport.The Thai border force later said that 456 Chinese nationals were sent back on six China Southern chartered aircraft.Thai foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters that the government plans to repatriate 1,500 people per week, or 300 each weekday, with “regular repatriations of Chinese nationals every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.”Mondays and Tuesdays would see other foreign nationals including Africans repatriated, he said, with the ministry coordinating with foreign embassies to help with “immediate” repatriations.The remaining freed workers have been languishing for weeks in sometimes squalid conditions in holding camps near the Thai border while officials organise their repatriation.Many workers say they were lured or tricked into taking the work — defrauding strangers online with investment, romance and gambling scams — and suffered beatings and abuse.A Rwandan scam centre worker who asked to remain anonymous told AFP on Wednesday that he had been trafficked into one of the compounds where he was tortured and had his money taken from him.”It’s a big challenge. If I get home I will have a big challenge also,” he said.Unsanitary conditions at the overcrowded makeshift encampments have raised concerns about possible disease outbreaks.”There are sick people… they need be repatriated onto the Thai side as early as possible,” Nikorndej said.burs-sjc/pdw/dhw

New Zealand have vowed to “find little ways to win moments” against India after making Champions Trophy history to power into Sunday’s final.The Black Caps posted a Champions Trophy record 362-6 before restricting South Africa to 312-9 in Wednesday’s semi-final in Lahore. They now face India in Dubai to decide the winners of the eight-nation 50-over tournament.Rohit Sharma’s India are playing all their games in Dubai after they refused to tour hosts Pakistan because of political tensions.India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage but batting all-rounder Daryl Mitchell said that would have no bearing on Sunday’s result.”Final is a new day,” Mitchell said after scoring 49 against South Africa.”Really excited to be stuck into that challenge and will adapt to whatever surface and conditions we get on the day, and will find little ways to win moments throughout that game.”The tournament’s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the United Arab Emirates from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of Dubai’s international cricket stadium.”We don’t quite know how the Dubai pitch is like,” said Rachin Ravindra, one of the heroes of New Zealand’s semi-final win with a 101-ball 108.”We know our game against India it did turn and Aussie v India (semi-final) didn’t turn so much, so I think we pride ourselves in adapting and playing the situation in front of us.”India unleashed four spinners against New Zealand in the group phase and Varun Chakravarthy returned figures of 5-42 to bowl the Black Caps out for 205 in their chase of 250.Rohit’s side were unchanged in their four-wicket win over Australia as the spin-heavy selection came up trumps again, albeit on a pitch that turned a little less this time around.”They are all pretty good,” Mitchell said of India’s slow bowlers.”But we have got some pretty good spinners ourselves.”

Rations will be halved for around one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from next month due to a lack of funds, the United Nations food agency has said.Huge numbers of the persecuted and stateless Rohingya community live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most arriving after having fled from a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.Successive aid cuts have already caused severe hardship among Rohingya in the overcrowded settlements, who are reliant on aid and suffer from rampant malnutrition.The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in a letter on Wednesday that “severe funding shortfalls” had forced a cut in monthly food vouchers from $12.50 to $6.00 per person.”Unfortunately, we have still not received sufficient funding, and cost-saving measures alone are not enough,” the letter said.Md. Shamsud Douza of Bangladesh’s refugee agency told AFP that his office would meet community leaders next week to discuss the cuts.A decision by US President Donald Trump’s administration to make drastic cuts to foreign aid has sent shockwaves through humanitarian initiatives worldwide.But WFP’s Kun Li said that the United States remained a donor for Rohingya aid and the ration cuts reflected a “funding gap across multiple sources”.Funds raised were only half the $852 million sought by foreign aid agencies, she told AFP.Wednesday’s letter comes days before a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is slated to meet Rohingya refugees to mark the annual Muslim Ramadan fast. The 2017 crackdown in Myanmar — now the subject of a UN genocide investigation — sent around 750,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh with harrowing stories of murder, rape and arson.Bangladesh has struggled to support its refugee population. The prospects of a wholesale return to Myanmar or resettlement elsewhere are remote.Rohingya living in the camps around Cox’s Bazar are not allowed to seek employment and are almost entirely dependent on limited humanitarian aid to survive.Large numbers of refugees have attempted hazardous sea crossings in an effort to find a better life away from the camps, including more than 250 Rohingya who arrived in Indonesia in January.

An Islamic State operative who allegedly helped carry out the 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport during the chaotic US military withdrawal from Afghanistan appeared in a Virginia court Wednesday.Mohammad Sharifullah has confessed to scouting out the route to the airport, where the suicide bomber later detonated his device among packed crowds trying to flee days after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the Justice Department said.The blast at the Abbey Gate killed at least 170 Afghans as well as 13 US troops who were securing the airport’s perimeter.Sharifullah appeared in a court in Alexandria, near the US capital Washington, wearing light blue prison garb and a black face mask. He was officially appointed a public defender and provided with an interpreter.He did not enter a plea. His next appearance will be in the same courthouse on Monday, and he will stay in custody until then, the judge said.Sharifullah — who the US says also goes by the name Jafar and is a member of the Islamic State Khorasan (ISK) branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan — was detained by Pakistani authorities and brought to the United States.President Donald Trump triumphantly announced his arrest Tuesday in an address to Congress, calling him “the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity.”ISK militants gave Sharifullah a cellphone and a SIM card and told him to check the route to the airport, according to the Justice Department’s affidavit in the case.When he gave it the all-clear, they told him to leave the area, it said.”Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at HKIA described above and recognized the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative he had known while incarcerated,” the affidavit said, using an alternative acronym for the group.Sharifullah is charged with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.”- Moscow attack link -Trump thanked Islamabad “for helping arrest this monster.””This evil ISIS-K terrorist orchestrated the brutal murder of 13 heroic Marines,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.Sharifullah also admitted to involvement in several other attacks, the Justice Department said, including the March 2024 Moscow Crocus City Hall attack, in which he said “he had shared instructions on how to use AK-style rifles and other weapons to would-be attackers” by video.The United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans who had rushed to Kabul’s airport in the hope of boarding a flight out of the country.Images of crowds storming the airport, climbing onto aircraft as they took off — and some clinging to a departing US military cargo plane as it rolled down the runway — aired on news bulletins around the world.In 2023, the White House announced that an Islamic State official involved in plotting the airport attack had been killed in an operation by Afghanistan’s new Taliban government.- ‘Leverage US concerns’ -Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging his country’s role in counter-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan, and promised to “continue to partner closely with the United States” in a post on X.Pakistan’s strategic importance has waned since the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has seen violence rebound in the border regions.Tensions between the neighboring countries have soared, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil who launch attacks on Pakistan.The Taliban government denies the charges and in a statement said Sharifullah’s arrest “is proof” that ISK hideouts are on Pakistani soil.ISK, which has claimed several recent attacks in Afghanistan, has staged a growing number of bloody international assaults, including killing more than 90 people in an Iranian bombing last year.Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at the Wilson Center, said on X that Pakistan was trying to “leverage US concerns about terror in Afghanistan and pitch a renewed security partnership.”

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai returned to her Pakistan home village on Wednesday, 13 years after surviving an assassination attempt by militants.Yousafzai was a 15-year-old schoolgirl when Pakistan Taliban militants boarded a bus and shot her in the head in the remote Swat Valley near the Afghanistan border.She has made rare visits to the valley since, but it was the first time she returned to her childhood home in Shangla since being evacuated to the United Kingdom after the attack. “As a child, I spent every holiday in Shangla, Pakistan, playing by the river and sharing meals with my extended family,” she said on X. “It was such a joy for me to return there today — after 13 long years — to be surrounded by the mountains, dip my hands in the cold river and laugh with my beloved cousins. This place is very dear to my heart and I hope to return again and again.”Yousafzai was accompanied by her father, husband and brother for the high-security visit by helicopter which lasted just three hours.Authorities have been cautious in allowing her to return to Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where militancy has soared following the return of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul in 2021. The area was sealed off for several hours to provide security for her visit on Wednesday, which included a stop at local education projects backed by her Malala Fund.”Her visit was kept highly secret to avoid any untoward incidents,” a senior administration official told AFP on  condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.”Even the locals were unaware of her plans to visit.”The Pakistan Taliban is a separate but closely linked group to the Afghan Taliban and controlled swaths of the border regions at the time Yousafzai was shot. Militants had ordered girls to stay home, but she continued to secretly go to school and wrote a blog about her experience. She went on to become an education activist and the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner at age 17. In January, she addressed Muslim world leaders at an education conference in Islamabad where she called for action against the Afghan Taliban, who have banned teenage girls from going to school.Her hometown visit comes in a week marred by violence in Pakistan, with 18 civilians and soldiers killed in an overnight suicide attack on a military compound in the same province. “I pray for peace in every corner of our beautiful country. The recent attacks, including in Bannu yesterday, are heartbreaking,” Yousafzai said of the attack.

An Islamic State operative who allegedly helped carry out the 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport during the chaotic US military withdrawal was to appear in a Virginia court Wednesday, the Justice Department said.The bomber detonated a device among packed crowds as they tried to flee Afghanistan, killing 170 Afghans and 13 US troops securing the perimeter, days after the Taliban seized control of the capital.The Department of Justice (DOJ) said a member of the Islamic State Khorasan (ISK) branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan who had admitted to “helping prepare” for the attack would appear in court near the US capital Wednesday.The man, named Mohammad Sharifullah, had told FBI agents that his help included “scouting a route near the airport for an attacker,” the DOJ said.ISK militants gave Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, a cellphone and a SIM card and told him to check the route, according to the affidavit in the case.When he gave it the all clear they told him to leave the area, it said.”Later that same day, Sharifullah learned of the attack at HKIA described above and recognized the alleged bomber as an ISIS-K operative he had known while incarcerated,” the affidavit said, using an alternative acronym for the group.Sharifullah has been charged with “providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.”In his first address to Congress since returning to the White House, Trump announced on Tuesday that Pakistan had assisted in the arrest of “the top terrorist responsible for that atrocity.”He thanked Islamabad “for helping arrest this monster.””This evil ISIS-K terrorist orchestrated the brutal murder of 13 heroic Marines,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.Sharifullah also admitted to involvement in several other attacks, the DOJ said, including the March 2024 Moscow Crocus City Hall attack in which he said “he had shared instructions on how to use AK-style rifles and other weapons to would-be attackers” by video.The United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans who had rushed to Kabul’s airport in the hope of boarding a flight out of the country.Images of crowds storming the airport, climbing atop aircraft — and some clinging to a departing US military cargo plane as it rolled down the runway — aired on news bulletins around the world.In April 2023, the White House announced that an Islamic State official involved in plotting the attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate had been killed in an operation by Afghanistan’s new Taliban government.- ‘Leverage US concerns’ -Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging his country’s role in counter-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan.He promised to “continue to partner closely with the United States in securing regional peace and stability,” in a post on X.Pakistan’s strategic importance has waned since the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has seen violence rebound in the border regions.Tensions between the neighboring countries have soared, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil who launch attacks on Pakistan.The Taliban government denies the charges and in a statement said Sharifullah’s arrest “is proof” that ISK hideouts are on Pakistani soil.ISK, which has claimed several recent attacks in Afghanistan, has staged a growing number of bloody international assaults, including killing more than 90 in an Iranian bombing last year.Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute director at The Wilson Center, said on X that Pakistan was trying to “leverage US concerns about terror in Afghanistan and pitch a renewed security partnership.”