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Pakistan’s brittle batting was exposed again as a Ben Sears-inspired New Zealand won the third and final one-day international by 43 runs Saturday to sweep the series 3-0.The tourists were dismissed for 221 off 40 overs in response to New Zealand’s 264-8, in a match shortened to 42 overs after a delayed start at Mount Maunganui.It followed the pattern of the first two games, with the hosts winning the opener in Napier by 73 runs, followed by an 84-run victory in Hamilton.New Zealand also dominated the preceding T20 series, winning 4-1.Pakistan struggled throughout the tour to adjust to the sustained bounce and movement of New Zealand’s seam attack and their batsmen were again guilty of rash shots at Bay Oval.Aggressive pace bowler Sears claimed 5-34 to follow his five-wicket bag in Hamilton, with four of his victims falling to short-pitched deliveries.Player of the series Sears became the first New Zealander to claim five wickets in successive ODIs and said he simply appreciated a chance to play in the 50-over series, having previously been considered a T20 specialist. “It was a cool couple of days, I’m pretty grateful to get the opportunity against a really good team and it was cool to get some wickets,” said Sears, who adopted the same successful approach in both games.”Same plan, it was just trying to hold it through the middle and just keep that pressure going. It was just cool to be part of that performance.”Fellow seamer Jacob Duffy, who was a handful in both series, took 2-40, including the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan for 37 in the 33rd over to effectively end the tourists’ hopes of victory.Babar Azam top-scored with 50 off 58 balls while opener Abdullah Shafique ground out a sluggish 33 off 56.- Pakistan outplayed again -Pakistan’s innings began badly when opener Imam-ul-Haq was forced to retire hurt for one, having been struck on the jaw by a fielder’s throw when attempting a quick single.Rizwan conceded his team had been outplayed.”It’s a disappointing series. I will give credit to New Zealand, they played really well in all departments of the game,” he said.”They are like true professionals in all departments. And we need to improve and that’s it, we need to play better against the new ball.”Earlier, Rhys Mariu scored a maiden half-century after New Zealand were asked to bat first, with the start of the match delayed for two hours because of a wet outfield.Opener Mariu, playing just his second international match, scored a composed 58 off 61 balls, featuring six fours and two sixes.A number of New Zealand middle-order batsmen made starts but didn’t press on for big scores until captain Michael Bracewell produced a flashy 59 at the death.Bracewell struck six sixes in his 40-ball knock before being caught off the last ball of the innings bowled by Akif Javed.Seamer Javed took 4-62 off his eight overs although Naseem Shah was arguably the best of the Pakistan bowlers, taking 2-54 and bowling with good pace and movement.

Sri Lanka’s leader rolled out the red carpet on Saturday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Colombo balances ties with neighbouring giant India and its biggest lender, China.President Anura Kumara Dissanayake welcomed Modi — the first foreign dignitary to visit Colombo since the leftist leader swept elections last year — with a 19-gun salute.Dissanayake and Modi are expected to sign agreements on energy, defence and health, but the visit’s highlight will be the launch of an Indian-backed 120 megawatt solar power project.The solar plant on the island’s northeastern Trincomalee district had been stalled for years, but reinvigorated with New Delhi’s backing as a joint project.Modi, who praised his “spectacular welcome” to Sri Lanka after arriving in Colombo late on Friday evening, was given an honour guard parade in the capital’s Independence Square.His visit comes as Colombo grapples with the competing interests of New Delhi and Beijing.New Delhi has been concerned about China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka, which it considers to be within its sphere of geopolitical influence.- Regional allies  -Dissanayake’s first foreign visit was to New Delhi in December, but he followed that with a visit to Beijing in January, underscoring Sri Lanka’s delicate balancing act.China has emerged as Sri Lanka’s largest single bilateral creditor, accounting for more than half of its $14 billion bilateral debt at the time the island defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2022.Beijing was also the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka, a move that cleared the way for the island to emerge from that year’s worst-ever economic meltdown.Colombo also signed an agreement announced in January with a Chinese state-owned company to invest $3.7 billion on an oil refinery in the island’s south.It would be Sri Lanka’s largest single foreign investment and is seen as crucial for the island’s economy.New Delhi has expressed concern over China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka.Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka comes after a summit in Thailand and a string of meetings with leaders of regional nations as he sought to shore up India’s relations with neighbours.On the sidelines of the Bangkok BIMSTEC meeting — the grouping of the seven nations on the Bay of Bengal — Modi held a rare face-to-face meeting with Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.Modi also held talks on Friday with the interim leader of neighbouring Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi’s long-term ally Sheikh Hasina and soured relations.India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina’s government and her overthrow sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit last month to China.Modi also met on Friday in Bangkok with his Nepali counterpart KP Sharma Oli, the first since Kathmandu’s leader returned to power last year, as well as Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan.

Benazir Raufi stands alone in her restaurant, her staff and customers too afraid to visit after Pakistan’s government announced it was cancelling the residence permits of hundreds of thousands of Afghans.Islamabad announced at the start of March that 800,000 Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) would be cancelled — the second phase of a deportation programme which has already forced 800,000 undocumented Afghans across the border.”If I’m deported, it will destroy me. Either my heart will stop, or I’ll take my own life,” 45-year-old Raufi, who was 13 years old when her family fled civil war in Afghanistan in the 1990s, told AFP.”Pakistan gave us our smile and now those smiles are being taken away.”Ten Afghan women who worked for her have refused to leave home after the restaurant in Rawalpindi was raided by police — facing deportation to a country where women are banned from studying, certain jobs and visiting some public places like parks.”I have no one to return to. The Taliban won’t accept us,” Raufi added, her voice cracking. The government’s deadline for ACC holders to leave voluntarily has been pushed back to April, but harassment by authorities has been underway for months, according to activists. Those born in Pakistan, married to Pakistanis, or living for decades in the country are among those to have their government residence permits cancelled.The deportation campaign comes as political ties between the neighbouring governments have soured over Pakistan’s rapidly deteriorating security situation along the border. Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade in Pakistan, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks — nearly half of them security forces personnel — according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil, a charge the Taliban government denies.The Taliban government has repeatedly called for the “dignified” return of Afghans to their country, with Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urging countries hosting Afghans not to force them out.- ‘No future for my daughter’ -“I have freedom (in Pakistan) — I can visit the park, and my daughter can go to school,” Dua Safay, who fled when the Taliban government returned to power in 2021.”There’s no future for me or my daughter in Afghanistan,” added Safay, whose real name has been changed.Some 600,000 Afghans have crossed the border into Pakistan since the Taliban government implemented their austere version of Islamic law.”They will be sent back to a country where conditions are extremely harsh, especially for women and children,” according to Moniza Kakar, a Pakistan-based human rights lawyer.”These people fled to escape persecution. Forcing them back into that fire is a violation of international law.”Millions of Afghans have travelled to Pakistan over the past four decades, fleeing successive conflicts including the Soviet invasion, a civil war and the post-9/11 US-led occupation.The ethnic Pashtun belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which borders Afghanistan shares close cultural and linguistic ties with Afghan Pashtuns.Around 1.3 million Afghans with resident cards issued by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are allowed to remain in the country but have been banned from the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.”Over 1,000 people have been moved to detention centres in the past three to four days, while thousands are leaving voluntarily all over Pakistan,” Kakar added.- ‘They’ll call me Pakistani’ -Many families fear being mistreated or extorted for money by the authorities if they are detained, or of being separated from relatives.”If I have to go, I’ll go in tears, with a broken heart,” said 43-year-old Naimatullah, who was born in Pakistan and has never been to Afghanistan. “They (people) won’t even see me as an Afghan — they’ll call me Pakistani. I am a nobody.”After the deadline, Samiullah, who was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and is married to a Pakistani woman, will be considered an illegal foreigner.”My wife will not be able to go with me, my daughters are from here. It is a constant struggle. I can’t get caught,” the 29-year-old told AFP.Tens of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan who are waiting to be relocated to Western nations also fear being deported.Most are advised by Western nations to cross into Pakistan where their asylum claims take months to be processed.Among them is Samia Hamza, a 31-year-old women’s rights activist and mother of four, currently in the northwestern city of Peshawar.”They gave us a support letter but the Pakistani police does not recognise it,” she told AFP.”We need to stay one more month in Pakistan, then we will receive our visa to Brazil and leave.”

Protesters displayed a banner calling Myanmar’s junta chief a “murderer” as he joined a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday, a week after a huge earthquake killed thousands and left desperate survivors pleading for food and shelter.More than 3,000 people are confirmed dead after the 7.7-magnitude quake and the United Nations estimates that up to three million may have been affected in some way — many left without shelter after their homes were destroyed.Many nations have sent aid and rescue teams but there is little sign of Myanmar’s ruling military helping survivors on the ground in some of the worst-hit areas.Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing held talks with leaders from Bay of Bengal littoral nations at a plush Bangkok hotel on Friday.The decision to invite him drew criticism, and protesters outside the venue hung a banner from a bridge reading: “We do not welcome murderer Min Aung Hlaing.”The latest death toll in Myanmar stands at 3,145, with 4,589 injured and 221 missing, according to state media. In Bangkok, 22 people were killed, most of them crushed when a tower block under construction collapsed.In Sagaing, the central Myanmar city close to the epicentre of last week’s quake and where an estimated 80 percent of buildings have been damaged, AFP journalists witnessed desperate scenes in recent days as hundreds of exhausted, hungry survivors scrambled for supplies.Teams of citizen volunteers from around Myanmar piled into Sagaing in trucks laden with water, oil, rice and other basic necessities.With so many homes in Sagaing and neighbouring Mandalay left uninhabitable by the quake, survivors have been sleeping in the streets for a week, and are badly in need of proper shelter.A patch of land in Mandalay — a dustbowl covered in trash — has sprouted a tent city of people from ruined homes or others too scared to return because of aftershocks. “There are many people who are in need,” cab driver Hla Myint Po, 30, now living in tents with his family, told AFP.”Sometimes when donors bring things it’s chaos.”While the crisis rages in Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing sat down Thursday night for a gala dinner with fellow leaders from the BIMSTEC group at the $400-a-night Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok.The veteran general ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a 2021 coup, triggering a bloody civil war, and has been accused of war crimes and serious human rights abuses. Min Aung Hlaing is under multiple global sanctions and the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has sought an arrest warrant for him for alleged crimes against humanity committed against Rohingya Muslims.The junta has carried out dozens of attacks on its own people since the quake, the UN said, including more than 16 air strikes since the military joined rebel groups in declaring a temporary ceasefire to allow aid to get through.However, the junta chief was given red carpet treatment by the Thai government as he arrived for the meeting with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and other leaders from Bay of Bengal nations.The BIMSTEC leaders issued a statement after their talks offering condolences to quake victims and survivors.- ‘Deplorable’ –  Myanmar’s shadow opposition National Unity Government (NUG) condemned Min Aung Hlaing’s presence at the summit, calling it an affront to justice “given the immense suffering he has inflicted on the people of Myanmar”.”Allowing the junta leader and his representatives to participate in regional and international forums risks legitimising an illegal regime,” the NUG said in a statement.Yadanar Maung of the Justice for Myanmar campaign group said it was “deplorable” that Thailand and BIMSTEC welcomed him.Shunned and sanctioned by many Western countries since the coup, the junta has turned to close allies China and Russia for support as it struggles to get the upper hand in a complex, multi-sided civil war.BIMSTEC is Min Aung Hlaing’s first foreign trip outside of China, Russia or Belarus since he attended another regional summit in Indonesia in 2021 soon after the coup.The Bangkok meeting afforded the isolated leader a rare chance for face-to-face diplomacy and he took advantage by holding meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paetongtarn.India’s foreign ministry said the so-called Quad Partners — which also include Australia, Japan and the United States — welcomed “recent commitments to temporary, partial ceasefires”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with the interim leader of neighbouring Bangladesh on Friday, the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi’s long-term ally and soured relations.Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, took charge of Bangladesh in August 2024 after India’s old ally Sheikh Hasina was toppled as prime minister by a student-led uprising and fled to India by helicopter.India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina’s government and her overthrow sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit last month to China — India’s biggest rival.Bangladesh has also moved closer to India’s arch-enemy Pakistan during the festering diplomatic dispute.Tensions between India and Bangladesh have prompted a number of tit-for-tat barbs between senior figures from both governments. New Delhi has repeatedly accused Muslim-majority Bangladesh of failing to adequately protect its minority Hindu citizens — charges denied by the caretaker administration of Yunus.Yunus posted a picture on social media on Friday showing him shaking hands with Modi. His press secretary Shafiqul Alam said later the “meeting was constructive, productive, and fruitful”.Their meeting took place on the sidelines of a regional summit in Thailand.Yunus also shared a photograph of the two men smiling as he handed Modi a framed picture of themselves a decade ago, when the Indian leader honoured the micro-finance pioneer in 2015 with a gold medal for his work supporting society’s poorest.- ‘Spirit of pragmatism’ -Vikram Misri, the secretary of India’s foreign ministry, told reporters that Modi “reiterated India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh”.Modi said he wanted a “positive and constructive relation with Bangladesh based on a spirit of pragmatism”, Misri added, repeating New Delhi’s concerns about alleged “atrocities” against minorities in Bangladesh.Yunus, according to Alam, also raised with Modi Dhaka’s long-running complaint about what it says are Hasina’s incendiary remarks from exile.Hasina, who remains in India, has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges including mass murder.Dhaka has requested that India allow Hasina’s extradition to face charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government.Misri said Modi and Yunus had discussed the extradition order but there was “nothing more to add” at present.Yunus also raised concerns about border violence along the porous frontier with India, as well as issues of the shared river waters that flow from India as the Ganges and the Brahmaputra wind towards the sea.Misri said that the “prevention of illegal border crossing” was necessary.Yunus’s caretaker government is tasked with implementing democratic reforms ahead of fresh elections slated to take place by June 2026.Modi and Yunus had dinner on Thursday night, sitting next to each other alongside other leaders from the BIMSTEC regional bloc in Bangkok, but the bilateral meeting on Friday was the first since relations frayed between the neighbouring nations.burs-pjm/pbt

Pacific island nations hit hardest by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are querying the “unfair” impost, and they are fearful of the impact.The United States has punished Fiji, Vanuatu and tiny Nauru for running trade surpluses with the economic superpower, slapping them with duties far above its new 10-percent baseline.Besides squeezing their finances, analysts say the US levies are making Pacific countries wary of their historic ally, which has already cut humanitarian aid programmes.”It’s just another reason to have less trust in the US, stacked on top of the US aid freeze,” said Blake Johnson, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank.It also creates opportunities for China to expand its ties from aid to trade, he said, as Beijing vies with the United States and its allies for influence in the geographically strategic region.Among the Pacific countries’ biggest sellers in the United States are the traditional narcotic kava drink, and spring water under the brand Fiji Water — owned by Los Angeles-based The Wonderful Company.The 22-percent tariffs on Vanuatu are expected to impact exports and hurt kava farmers, a spokesperson for the prime minister said.-‘Just suck them up’ -Vanuatu was hit by the tariffs after running a US$6.6 million surplus in its trade of goods with the United States last year, according to UN data. Jonathan Naupa, owner of Vanuatu kava exporter Mount Kava, said demand for kava was high and he had no plans to cut prices for the US market.”We are going to keep our prices right where they are — the American public can just suck them up,” he told AFP, adding that there was a growing global market for kava exports.He welcomed Trump’s move.”I actually think it’s a good thing that he’s done this because it will make the Americans realise that they need to treat our cultural product with a bit more respect,” he said.”With the shortage of kava in Vanuatu, I don’t see prices going down, and I hope my fellow exporters also try to follow suit and not drop their prices.”Nauru’s main exports include the remnants of its once-vast phosphate deposits and the sale of fishing rights, but it was not clear what made up its 2024 goods trade surplus with the United States of $1.4 million — about the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.It faces a 30-percent US trade tariff.Fiji runs a larger surplus in the trade of goods with the United States of about $252 million helped by exports of  Fiji Water, kava and fish, and it now faces a 32-percent tariff across the board.- ‘Unfair’ -The beach-fringed tourist magnet says it applies zero or five-percent duty on 96 percent of US imports.Trump’s levy “is quite disproportionate and unfair”, Finance Minister Biman Prasad said in a statement.”We are still trying to get more details on the exact rationale and application of the newly announced retaliatory tariff by the US and will work with our key stakeholders and US counterparts to get this,” he said.Roland Rajah, director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre at the Lowy Institute think tank, said the tariffs were based on the scale of US trade deficits with each country.But it makes economic sense to have a trade deficit with some countries and a surplus with others, he said.”It’s not necessarily driven by particular policy distortions,” Rajah added, making it hard for countries to find a basis for trade talks with the United States.”The other factor for the Pacific is that being small countries and quite small trading partners in the world it might be very difficult for them to get a hearing with the Trump administration, who will have bigger fish to fry at the current moment.”Papua New Guinea, the most populous Pacific island country, said it had no plans to retaliate against the US decision to impose a 10-percent tariff.”We will continue to strengthen our trade relations in Asia and the Pacific, where our produce is welcomed,” Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement.”If the US market becomes more difficult due to this tariff, we will simply redirect our goods to markets where there is mutual respect and no artificial barriers.”

Family members of people killed during former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody crackdown on drugs demanded an investigation Friday into what they say has been a flood of online threats since his arrest.Duterte was detained on March 11 and put on a plane to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands the same day to face a charge of crimes against humanity tied to his drug war, in which thousands of mostly poor were killed.On Friday, the relatives of four of those slain and their lawyer, Kristina Conti, filed complaints asking the National Bureau of Investigation “to identify the names, addresses and IP addresses” of alleged Duterte supporters responsible for online threats and disinformation targeting them.Conti said her own social media pages had been bombarded with “hate speech, expletives and misogynistic remarks”.”People might think that if the victims are gone, the case against Duterte will be dissolved too. So we are taking these threats seriously,” she told reporters after filing the complaints, warning that online threats can escalate into physical harm.Sheerah Escudero, whose brother was found dead in 2017 with his head wrapped in packaging tape at the height of the bloody crackdown, was among the complainants.Escudero said people on social media had accused her of being a liar and a drug addict, with some even sending personal messages telling her she deserved to be killed and beheaded.”We are just calling for justice, but they are twisting our narratives and accusing us of spreading fake news,” an emotional Escudero said.Following Duterte’s arrest, AFP fact-checkers saw dozens of online posts by his supporters targeting the families of drug war victims, seeking to discredit their accounts of extrajudicial killings.In one Facebook post, a photo of a drug war widow holding a portrait of her late husband was altered to claim she was lying about her husband’s death.Conti said they have identified specific pro-Duterte vloggers and pages as responsible for the disinformation that fueled the online attacks.She added the online harassment seemed systematic based on the dates and time stamps, but noted they have yet to determine if these were funded by the Duterte camp.”But definitely, the sentiments are pro-Duterte,” Conti said. The complainants held a meeting with NBI officials who said they would assign an agent to look into their complaints.While no timeline for an investigation has been set, Conti said once the report is completed, they will study the possibility of filing libel or civil cases.

Indian actor Manoj Kumar, known for his roles in Hindi-language films with patriotic themes, died on Friday aged 87.The death of the man dubbed “Bharat” Kumar — a reference to the ancient Sanskrit word for India steeped in Hindu religious symbolism — sparked tributes from across the country.Kumar, who was also a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), died in Mumbai due to heart-related complications.  Modi led the condolences, calling Kumar an “icon” of Indian cinema, saying that his works “ignited a spirit of national pride and will continue to inspire generations”.Throughout his career, Kumar was known for acting — and at times directing — films that had a focus on unity and national pride.Born Harikrishan Goswami, he renamed himself in Bollywood tradition — taking on the name Manoj Kumar.He was the recipient of several national awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honour for cinema.Kumar made his debut in Indian cinema in the late 1950s.He went on to star in several films, many with patriotic themes, including “Upkar” (1967),  “Purab Aur Pachhim” (1970) and “Kranti” (1981).

The head of Myanmar’s junta was due to discuss the response to his country’s devastating earthquake at a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday after the death toll passed 3,000.Min Aung Hlaing will join a BIMSTEC gathering — representing the seven littoral nations of the Bay of Bengal — where he will raise the emergency response to last Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake.The junta chief arrived at Bangkok’s plush Shangri-La hotel, the summit venue, amid tight security, AFP journalists saw.Many nations have sent aid and teams of rescue workers to Myanmar since the quake but heavily damaged infrastructure and patchy communications — as well as a rumbling civil war — have hampered efforts.Myanmar has been engulfed in a brutal multi-sided conflict since 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing’s military wrested power from the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.Following reports of sporadic clashes even after Friday’s quake, the junta joined its opponents on Wednesday in calling a temporary halt to hostilities to allow relief to be delivered.UN chief Antonio Guterres, speaking in New York, called for the Myanmar truce to “quickly lead to a beginning of a serious political dialogue and the release of political prisoners.”AFP journalists saw hectic scenes on Thursday in the city of Sagaing — less than 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the epicentre — as hundreds of desperate people scrambled for emergency supplies distributed by civilian volunteers.Roads leading to the city were packed with traffic, many of the vehicles part of aid convoys organised by civilian volunteers and adorned with banners saying where they had been sent from across Myanmar.- Situation ‘devastating’ -Destruction in Sagaing is widespread, with 80 percent of buildings damaged, half severely, UNDP resident representative for Myanmar Titon Mitra told AFP.Food markets are unusable and hospitals are overwhelmed by patients and structurally unsound, he said, with patients being treated outdoors in heat of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).”We have seen children, pregnant women, injured people there. There’s not enough medical supplies,” he said.”If you look at the overall impacted area, there’s possibly three million-plus that may have been affected.”Residents say they still face a lack of help nearly a week after the quake.”We have a well for drinking water but we have no fuel for the water pump,” Aye Thikar told AFP.”We also don’t know how long we will be without electricity,” she said.The 63-year-old nun has been helping distribute relief funds to those left without basic amenities.But many people are still in need of mosquito nets and blankets, and are forced to sleep outside by the tremors that either destroyed their homes or severely damaged them.”People passing by on the road have generously donated water and food to us. We rely solely on their kindness,” she said.- Eyes on summit -While Sagaing residents scrabbled for handouts of water and instant noodles, Min Aung Hlaing prepared to sit down for a gala dinner with fellow leaders at the $400-a-night Shangri-La hotel.The leaders of the seven-member BIMSTEC grouping — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand — will discuss trade, security and other issues, as Asia reels from US President Donald Trump’s swingeing new raft of tariffs.Host country Thailand has also proposed that the leaders issue a joint statement on the impact of the disaster when they meet on Friday.Opposition groups and rights organisations have fiercely criticised Thailand’s decision to host Min Aung Hlaing, accusing him of war crimes in Myanmar’s brutal conflict.His attendance at the summit represents a diplomatic win for Myanmar’s isolated government as it breaks with a regional policy of not inviting junta leaders to major events.Thai foreign ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura defended the decision, saying that the kingdom had a “responsibility” as summit host to invite all BIMSTEC leaders.Min Aung Hlaing’s arrival in the Thai capital came as a junta spokesperson said on Thursday that 3,085 deaths from the quake had been confirmed, with 341 people still missing and 4,715 injured.Bangkok, hundreds of kilometres from the quake’s epicentre, also suffered isolated damage.The city’s death toll has risen to 22, with over 70 still unaccounted for at the site of a building collapse.A 30-storey skyscraper under construction was reduced to rubble in a matter of seconds when the tremors hit, trapping dozens of workers.Rescuers are still scouring the immense pile of debris but the likelihood of finding more survivors is diminishing.burs-pdw/pbt/des/jhb

US President Donald Trump has slapped punishing new tariffs on imports of Chinese goods, deepening a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.Beijing has vowed countermeasures in response and warned the new tariffs will cripple global supply chains — and Washington’s own interests.AFP looks at how so-called “liberation day” tariffs — which bring levies on Chinese goods to 54 percent — will hit China:- Why is China so vulnerable? – China’s export-driven economy is particularly sensitive to vicissitudes in international trade.Trade between it and the United States, the world’s two largest economies, is vast.According to Beijing’s customs data, sales of Chinese goods to the United States last year totalled more than $500 billion — 16.4 percent of the country’s exports.US duties also threaten to harm China’s fragile economic recovery as it struggles with a long-running debt crisis in the property sector and persistently low consumption — a downturn Beijing had sought to slow with broad fiscal stimulus last year.But an intensified trade war will likely mean China cannot peg its hopes for strong economic growth this year on its exports, which reached record highs in 2024.”The US tariffs on Chinese imports announced so far this year could fully negate the lift from the fiscal stimulus measures announced so far,” Frederic Neumann, Chief Asia Economist at HSBC, told AFP.And while he said the impact on export competition may be slightly mitigated by the fact that all countries are hit by the levies, he stressed “the drag on Chinese growth is nevertheless significant”.- What impact will the new tariffs have? -The new tariffs slap 10 percent levies on imports from around the world.But China has long drawn Trump’s ire with a trade surplus with the United States that reached $295.4 billion last year, according to the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.The latest salvo adds 34 percent to a 20 percent rate imposed last month, bringing the total additional tariffs on imports from the Asian economic powerhouse imposed by the Trump administration to 54 percent.The tariffs come into effect in stages — a ten percentage point bump on Thursday, followed by the full levy on April 9. China is also under sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminium and car imports. Analysts expect the new levies to take a significant chunk out of the country’s GDP, which Beijing’s leadership hope will grow five percent this year.Julian Evans-Pritchard, Head of China Economics at Capital Economics, said in a note he said he expected the economic hit to range from 0.5 percent to one percent of GDP.Likely to be hit hardest are China’s top exports to the United States — the country is the dominant supplier of goods from electronics and electrical machinery to textiles and clothing, according to the Peterson Institute of International Economics.But analysts also warn that because of the crucial role Chinese goods play in supplying US firms, the tariffs may also have major knock-on effects. “US imports from China are dominated by capital goods and industrial materials instead of consumer goods,” Gene Ma, Head of China Research at the Institute of International Finance, told AFP.”The tariff will hurt US manufacturers as well as consumers.””This trade war not only has a destructive impact on China but also on the global trade system,” Chen Wenling, Chief Economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, said.- How might Beijing respond? -Beijing has yet to specify what exactly its “countermeasures” will involve.But the retaliation could see Beijing hike pre-existing tariffs imposed in response to previous measures.”China’s countermeasures should be reasonable, beneficial and measured,” Mei Xinyu, an economist at the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, told AFP.”They need to be strong and precise, while also avoiding turning the countermeasures into a decoupling of China and the United States,” Mei added.China last month slapped tariffs of 15 percent in imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States. Crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles and pickup trucks also face 10 percent duties.Analysts say those moves are designed to hit Trump’s support base — those in America’s rural heartlands that voted him into office last year.Beijing has called for dialogue to resolve the dispute, but any deal will take time.”There are still chances for the two parties to resume talks in the following months,” Betty Wang at Oxford Economics told AFP.”But historical experience suggests that tariffs are typically quick to rise and slow to fall.”