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India playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai was a pre-tournament decision and the talk of unfair advantage is baseless, the team’s batting coach said on Friday.Rohit Sharma’s team face New Zealand in the title clash on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where India have been unbeaten in four matches.India refused to tour hosts Pakistan in the eight-nation tournament due to political tensions and were given Dubai as their venue in the United Arab Emirates.”The draw that happened, it happened before,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters. “After India winning four matches, if people feel that there is an advantage, then I don’t know what to say about it.”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.South Africa batsman David Miller said “it was not an ideal situation” for his team to fly in to Dubai to wait on India’s semi-final opponent and then fly back to Lahore in less than 24 hours.Even nominal hosts Pakistan had to jump on a jet and fly to Dubai to play India, rather than face them on home soil. The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.”End of the day, I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up,” the 52-year-old Kotak said. “So the only thing they (critics) may say is that we play here. But that is how the draw is.””So nothing else can happen in that. It is not that after coming here, they changed something and we got an advantage,” he added.India have been the team to beat after they topped Group A, which had New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.They then beat Australia in the first semi-final.New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, lost the last group game to India by 44 runs before they beat South Africa in the second semi-final in Lahore.Kotak said the previous result between the two teams will have no bearing on their mindset going into the final.”That depends how the New Zealand team thinks, but I think we should not think that,” said Kotak.”We should just try and turn up and play a good game of cricket because there is no use thinking about the last match.”New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said they are not too worried about India’s advantage.”I mean, look, the decision around that’s out of our hands,” said Stead. “So, it’s not something we worry about too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai. But as you said, we have had a game here and we’ll learn very quickly from that experience there as well.””And if we’re good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I’m sure we’ll be very, very happy,” he added.

Bangladeshi students who overthrew autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina last year have formed a new political party to finish the work that began with her ouster, the group’s leader told AFP.Nahid Islam, 27, was one of the most visible faces of the youth-led protest campaign Students Against Discrimination, which brought down the curtain on Hasina’s iron-fisted rule after 15 years.The sociology graduate resigned last week from the interim administration that replaced her to lead the new National Citizens Party (NCP), arguing that Bangladesh’s political establishment lacked the will for far-reaching reforms.”They were not even interested in the reforms for which young people sacrificed their lives,” Nahid told AFP.”Because we have an obligation to implement what we pledged during the mass uprising and its aftermath, we decided to form a political party,” he said.More than 800 people were killed in last year’s uprising, and Nahid was briefly detained alongside other student leaders in an unsuccessful effort to force them to call off the protests. After Hasina’s toppling, he accepted an invitation to join an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84.Nahid’s decision to helm the NCP necessitated his departure from an administration expected to act as a politically neutral umpire while preparing Bangladesh for fresh elections.Polls are due by March next year and are widely expected to be won by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the country’s oldest political forces.Nahid said that even if he and his comrades could not form the next government, they had inaugurated a political force set to be influential for decades to come.”Nobody knew that there would be an uprising, but it happened,” he said. “I sincerely hope and I believe that we are going to win this time. But this election is not the end of the world… Our target is to sustain this energy for another 50 or 100 or more years.”- ‘Believe in inclusivity’ -The NCP is at loggerheads with its main rival over when the next national election should be staged, with the BNP arguing that fresh polls should be staged as soon as possible to empower a government with a public mandate. “We are often accused of conspiring to delay the election, but that is not true,” Nahid said. But he added that it was “not possible” to stage an election while the country still faced issues maintaining law and order after Hasina’s ouster. His party are also campaigning for a simultaneous vote to establish a citizens’ assembly, to be tasked with root and branch reform of Bangladesh’s constitution aimed at ensuring a lasting democracy. The NCP has sought to position itself as a big tent party, open to all people seeking to bring forward the spirit of last year’s political tumult. But ructions within the party have already spilt over into public view since its founding last month. A gay rights activist was removed from the party’s leadership committee days after it was formed following demands from right-wing groups in the Muslim-majority country. “We believe in inclusivity, but there are certain boundaries set by religious and cultural norms,” Nahid said, adding that the party still had an admirable record on diversity.”We have brought women to the forefront and included representatives from all castes and creeds,” he said. “We will strive to ensure that all citizens can enjoy their rights.”

Sri Lanka signed a deal with Japan Friday to restructure $2.5 billion in loans, marking the first agreement with bilateral creditors who had pledged debt relief to the cash-strapped nation last year.Japan said it was granting concessions on a 369.45 billion yen ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan, which the International Monetary Fund considers essential for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.”The development of Sri Lanka, which is located at a strategic point in the Indian Ocean, is essential for the stability and prosperity of the entire Indo-Pacific region,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement.”Japan intends to further contribute to the sustainable development of Sri Lanka.”Colombo’s finance ministry said Tokyo had played a “pivotal role” in helping Sri Lanka restructure its debt.”Its leadership, commitment, and constructive engagement have been instrumental in helping Sri Lanka navigate the challenges of economic recovery,” the ministry said in a statement.Sri Lanka announced last June that it had reached an understanding with all its bilateral lenders to delay repayments until 2028.Formal agreements were delayed due to protracted negotiations, making Friday’s deal with Japan the first with an official creditor of the South Asian nation.China remains Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, accounting for $4.66 billion of the $10.58 billion borrowed from other nations. Japan is the second-largest lender, with just over $2.5 billion in loans.The government of leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which came to power in September, had hoped to finalise debt deals before the end of last year.The island nation defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, such as food and fuel.Its economy has since recovered following an IMF rescue package and the implementation of austerity measures aimed at repairing the government’s ruined finances.In November, Dissanayake announced that Sri Lanka would honour a deal secured by his predecessor to restructure $12.55 billion in international sovereign bonds, a key condition for maintaining the $2.9 billion, four-year IMF bailout loan.A majority of private creditors to the South Asian nation agreed in September to a 27 percent haircut on their loans.As part of the agreement reached in September and ratified by the new administration, bondholders will also take an 11 percent haircut on overdue interest payments.Sri Lanka secured its IMF bailout in 2023 after doubling taxes, withdrawing energy subsidies, and raising the prices of essential goods to shore up state revenue.The new government has vowed to keep up the reforms in line with the IMF bailout. 

Thousands of sanitation workers were toiling on Friday to clean up 20,000 tonnes of waste left behind by hundreds of millions of Hindu devotees after India’s Kumbh Mela mega-festival.The massive sanitation drive has been underway since the six-week gala drew to a close last week in the northern city of Prayagraj.Hundreds of millions of people visited the city during the festival according to government figures, with mounds of discarded clothing, plastic bottles and other waste now littering the grounds. “We have deployed 15,000 workers to clear up some 20,000 tonnes of waste generated from the festival,” Prayagraj municipal commissioner Chandra Mohan Garg told AFP.The Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, staged every 12 years at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.It is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.Workers were also busy dismantling a temporary infrastructure, that includes 150,000 portable toilets.In several places, open areas were used as makeshift toilets, posing a challenge to the army of sanitary staff. “The dedication towards cleanliness… will continue to inspire efforts to keep Prayagraj, and its sacred rivers, clean for generations to come,” the government said in a statement this week.The Kumbh Mela was also a testament to the “collective spirit of maintaining a cleaner and more sustainable environment”, it added.

India play New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai on Sunday in what could be a last hurrah for veteran stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.The 36-year-old Kohli and skipper Rohit, 37, came into the 50-over tournament with speculation swirling over when they will retire following lean patches in Test cricket.Mainstays of a formidable India side for more than 15 years, the duo retired from T20 internationals after winning the World Cup last year.This weekend could be the end for them in ODIs, with the next 50-over World Cup not until 2027.”I am sure Rohit will lead India to a title. He will have another ICC trophy soon,” former seam bowler Praveen Kumar told The Times of India.”I will only say that Virat and Rohit, give us one more ICC trophy before you retire,” he added.India go into the final at Dubai International Cricket Stadium as favourites and with their confidence sky-high.They have won all four of their matches at the eight-nation tournament, including beating New Zealand by 44 runs in the group phase, although both teams had already reached the semi-finals by then.Rohit’s side have played all their games in Dubai after refusing to visit Champions Trophy hosts Pakistan because of political tensions.Rohit and Kohli came into the competition under pressure.Master batsman Kohli silenced his critics with an unbeaten 100 against arch-rivals Pakistan, then hit a match-winning 84 against world champions Australia in the semi-finals.Rohit’s highest score has been 41 in their opening win over Bangladesh but the opener has been lauded for handing the team quick starts to build totals on at a venue where batting is tough.India, who are looking to win the Champions Trophy for a record third time, also boast a world-class spin attack.They unleashed four spinners in beating New Zealand with Varun Chakravarthy returning figures of 5-42 to help bowl out the Black Caps for 205 in their chase of 250.India were unchanged against Australia as the spin-heavy selection came up trumps again, albeit on a Dubai pitch that turned a little less that time around.- Henry injury doubt -In front of them lies a New Zealand team hoping to win the tournament for the second time, having done so in 2000 in what was the second edition of a competition likened to a mini World Cup.The Black Caps powered into the final by beating South Africa by 50 runs in Lahore.But the victory came at a price with an injury to pace bowler Matt Henry after he landed on his shoulder awkwardly while taking a catch.Henry, who took 5-42 against India in the group phase, is in a race to be fit for Sunday.”Still a little bit unknown at this stage,” head coach Gary Stead said.”He’s obviously pretty sore just from landing on the point of his shoulder. Hopeful he will be okay.”Batsman Rachin Ravindra hammered 108 in New Zealand’s Champions Trophy record total of 362 against South Africa at the batting-friendly Gaddafi Stadium.Ravindra put together 164 runs with veteran batsman Kane Williamson, who hit 102.The left-handed Ravindra, who also bowls left-arm spin, has amassed 226 from three matches after he returned from a nasty hit to his forehead in a tri-series match in Pakistan.The Wellington-born Ravindra is of Indian origin with his parents hailing from Bengaluru.”We don’t quite know how the Dubai pitch is like,” said Ravindra.”I think we pride ourselves in adapting and playing the situation in front of us, so will see what happens in the next couple of days and hope it’s a good cricket wicket.”India might be favourites and will have much of the crowd at the 25,000-capacity Dubai stadium roaring them on, but recent history is actually with New Zealand.They registered a surprise 3-0 Test whitewash in India in October and November last year.The Black Caps also hold a clear advantage over India with nine wins, six losses and one no-result at global white-ball tournaments.

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.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.The mercurial magnate has overturned the international order since returning to office in January, from pushing Ukraine to seek a peace deal with Russia to floating a widely condemned plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza.At a press conference on the sidelines of a key political meeting, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi framed Beijing as a bulwark of stability in an unstable world.He warned the “law of the jungle” could take hold if nations were to pursue purely their own interests.Wang touted Beijing’s cooperation with the United States in the fight against the fentanyl epidemic, in which Washington has accused China of being complicit in justifying its tariffs.Washington should not “repay kindness with resentment, let alone impose tariffs without reason”, he said.”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 said the policy currently implemented by Washington was “not how a responsible major country behaves”.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.He told the attending press that good China-US economic and trade ties benefitted all parties.”If you choose to cooperate, you can achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results,” he added.”If you use only pressure, China will firmly counter.””China and the United States will both exist on this planet for a long time, so they must coexist peacefully,” Wang stressed.- ‘No winners’ in war -The veteran diplomat, however, appeared to side with Trump’s push for peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine.He also called for negotiations between all parties — warning “conflict has no winners, and peace has no losers”.Beijing, he stressed, “welcomes and supports all efforts dedicated to peace”.And he urged all parties to seek a “comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and increase humanitarian assistance”.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.They also raised the country’s military budget by 7.2 percent as Beijing’s armed forces undergo rapid modernisation and eye deepening strategic competition with the United States.- Taiwan, South China Sea -Among key flashpoints in the past year have been the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims.Wang on Friday said the island’s return to Beijing’s control remained the “shared hope of all Chinese people, the general trend of the time, and a righteous cause”.”Using Taiwan to control China is just like trying to stop a car with the arm of a mantis,” he said.And he touched on another key flashpoint, the South China Sea — which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite an international arbitration ruling that declared its stance baseless.Wang accused the Philippines, with which Chinese ships have repeatedly clashed in the disputed waters, of provoking confrontation. “For every Philippine maritime operation, it is the forces outside of the region that write the script and the Western media that undertake the live broadcast,” he said.”The same old theatre is being used to discredit China,” he said.

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.