Author: Publisher
The T20 World Cup begins today in India and Sri Lanka, with a chance for fresh faces to shine in the global spotlight. AFP Sport looks at five young players who could make a big impact over the month-long, 20-team tournament: Cooper Connolly (Australia) A batting all-rounder who bowls left-arm spin, he made his international debut in 2024. Last year against South Africa Connolly became the youngest Australian, at 22 years and two days, to take an ODI five-wicket haul. Connolly, named Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year last month, could make his T20 World Cup debut in Australia’s opening match against Ireland in Colombo next Wednesday. Jacob Bethell (England) The left-handed Bethell comes into the T20 World Cup with huge expectations, thanks to his fluent batting, tidy part-time spin bowling and electric fielding.Born in Barbados, Bethell became England’s youngest captain at 21 years and 329 days when he led the T20 team in Ireland, last September.Bethell, 22, has established himself as an all-format player and struck a coming-of-age Test century against Australia in Sydney last month. As if to prove his all-round credentials on the eve of the tournament, Bethell took four wickets to spin England to a 3-0 T20 warm-up series triumph over Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Kwena Maphaka (S Africa) The teenage left-arm quick seems ready to fire at the T20 World Cup, having added muscle to South Africa’s battery of pace bowlers alongside Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi. Maphaka, 19, made his T20 debut against the West Indies in 2024 and five months later became the youngest Test debutant for South Africa at 18 years and 270 days. His T20 best of 4-20 last year against Australia in Darwin showcased his skills. Coach Shukri Conrad said Maphaka has the “X-factor” in T20 cricket, citing his age-defying pace and skill. Tilak Varma (India) Fearless and fiery, the 23-year-old left-hander has nailed down a spot in a competitive Indian batting line-up after averaging 49.29 in his 40 T20 internationals to date, with two centuries. He missed the recent 4-1 T20 series win over New Zealand with an injury, but played a warm-up this week but should return for India’s opening match against the United States today. Varma, who has a T20 international best of 120 not out, made his debut against the West Indies in 2023 after impressing in the Indian Premier League. Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan) The 21-year-old, part of a world-class Afghan spin attack led by captain Rashid Khan, has travelled the globe to ply his trade in T20 leagues. The left-arm wrist spinner is set for his third appearance at a cricket World Cup. As a teenager he enjoyed a breakthrough 2023 IPL season with Gujarat Titans where he was paired alongside Rashid. In 2025, five-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings splashed $1.19mn on Ahmad, who will be able to draw on his experience of playing in India. Related Story Source link
Wlodzimierz Czarzasty of the Left party speaks in the Polish Parliament, in Warsaw, Poland on December 11, 2023. (AFP/File Photo) The United States embassy will have “no further dealings” with the speaker of the Polish parliament after claims he insulted President Donald Trump, its ambassador said Thursday.Tom Rose said the decision was made because of speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty’s “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against the US leader.”We will not permit anyone to harm US-Polish relations, nor disrespect (Trump), who has done so much for Poland and the Polish people,” Rose wrote on X.Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded the same day, writing on X: “Ambassador Rose, allies should respect, not lecture each other.””At least this is how we, here in Poland, understand partnership.”On Monday, Czarzasty criticised a joint US-Israeli proposal to support Donald Trump’s candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize.”I will not support the motion for a Nobel Peace Prize for President Trump, because he doesn’t deserve it,” he told journalists.Czarzasty said that rather than allying itself more closely with Trump’s White House, Poland should “strengthen existing alliances” such as NATO, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation.He criticised Trump’s leadership, including the imposition of tariffs on European countries, threats to annex Greenland, and, most recently, his claims that NATO allies had stayed “a little off the front lines” during the war in Afghanistan.He accused Trump of “a breach of the politics of principles and values, often a breach of international law”.After Rose’s reaction, Czarzasty told local news site Onet: “I maintain my position” on the issue of the peace prize.”I consistently respect the USA as Poland’s key partner,” he added later on X.”That is why I regretfully accept the statement by Ambassador Tom Rose, but I will not change my position on these fundamental issues for Polish women and men.”The speaker heads Poland’s New Left party, which is part of Tusk’s pro-European governing coalition, with which the US ambassador said he has “excellent relations”.It is currently governing under conservative-nationalist President Karol Nawrocki, a vocal Trump supporter.In late January, Czarzasty, along with several other high-ranking Polish politicians, denounced Trump’s claim that the United States “never needed” NATO allies.The parliamentary leader called the claims “scandalous” and said they should be “absolutely condemned”.Forty-three Polish soldiers and one civil servant died as part of the US-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan. Related Story Source link
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk shake hands after a document signing ceremony at the Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv Thursday, amid…
HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, President of the Olympic Council of Asia and President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, attended the welcome dinner hosted yesterday by Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in Milan, on the sidelines of the 145th IOC session. The session was held in the city of Milan and brought together presidents of national Olympic committees, members of IOC, and presidents of international sports federations. The dinner provided an opportunity to exchange views on a number of issues related to Olympic affairs, within the framework of the side meetings accompanying the IOC session, which contribute to strengthening communication and co-ordination among sports leaders at the international level. The dinner was also attended by HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani,Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Qatar Foundation and a member of the IOC Education Commission. Source link
Observers film ICE agents as they hold a perimeter after one of their vehicles got a flat tyre on Penn Avenue in Minneapolis. – AFP President Donald Trump has not discussed “formal plans” to deploy US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to polling sites at November’s midterm elections, the White House said on Thursday, while declining to rule out their presence near voting locations.Trump said on Monday that Republicans should “nationalise” and “take over” voting in at least 15 unspecified locations, repeating his false claims that US elections are plagued by widespread fraud.His remarks were echoed by Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser and influential right-wing commentator, who repeated false claims that people living in the US illegally vote in large numbers and said on his War Room podcast on Tuesday: “You’re (expletive) right we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November.” …
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the San Siro stadium in Milan, northern Italy, yesterday. (AFP) US pop diva Mariah Carey helped to get the party started yesterday as the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics staged a unique opening ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect both city and mountain life. Carey performed the 1950s Italian song “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” (“In the blue, painted in blue”) with its famous “Volare” (“To fly”) refrain to cheers in Milan’s San Siro stadium. Italian President Sergio Mattarella was introduced to the fans via a recorded video clip in which the 84-year-old was seen travelling through the city on one of Milan’s historic trams. The opening stages also included a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who made Milan his base and died last September. Co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo had its own supporting role in the celebrations from more than 400km (250 miles) away in the mountains, in a spectacle entitled “Armonia” (Harmony) expected to draw a huge global audience on television and online. There was some confusion over access in Cortina. Loredana Vido, from Padova, owner of a second home in Cortina, was blocked at the start of Corso Italia, the town’s main street, and said: “We were not told that everything would be closed off. We were told it was free entry.” Athletes were also parading in the mountain venues of Livigno and Predazzo, in a Games spread over 22,000 square kilometres. The ceremony celebrated the diversity of Italian life, from fashionable Milan to the smaller mountain towns in the Alps that host the outdoor events at the Games, which run until February 22.Some in Cortina were pleased to get a slice of the action without having to trek to Milan and back. For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons, one of the symbols of the Games, will be lit simultaneously and burn throughout the Games – one at Milan’s Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina’s Piazza Dibona. Milan enjoyed a sunny afternoon and the mood outside the stadium was festive as crowds built up. …
“Deep down, I knew what I had experienced was not something any girl should go through,” she emphasised. FGM was once considered an unavoidable rite of passage…
Australia and Indonesia signed a security treaty yesterday, paving the way for closer co-operation and new military training facilities in the latter. The pact will facilitate defence initiatives that include embedding a senior Indonesian officer within Australia’s defence force, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after the signing in Jakarta. Australia will also support the development of military training facilities to boost Indonesia’s ability to conduct joint drills, he said. Canberra has been seeking to bolster its military power in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China’s growing influence. Indonesia has proven more cautious with its foreign policy, not wanting to be seen taking sides and upsetting Beijing, its biggest trading partner. Albanese hailed the agreement as “a historic moment in our nations’ relationship”. “Australia and Indonesia share one of the world’s longest maritime boundaries, which naturally makes us close partners. But today, we are more than just partners, we are close friends,” he added. Source link
A flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists who attempted to reach Gaza last year will set sail for the besieged territory again next month, one member said yesterday. The Global Sumud Flotilla said the new mission set for March 29 would be “the largest co-ordinated humanitarian intervention for Palestine in history” and will mobilise “thousands from over 100 countries”. “We will be sailing from Barcelona, Tunis, Italy and many other ports not yet made public,” Brazilian activist Thiago Avila said. The group said an overland convoy would also leave for Gaza on the same day, without specifying from where. The campaigners sought to break an Israeli blockade by delivering aid to Gaza by sea last October, before they were intercepted by Israel, detained and deported. Israel controls Gaza’s borders and scrutinises all aid coming into the territory. The activists describe their actions as a “non-violent response to genocide, siege, mass starvation, and the destruction of civilian life in Gaza”. Source link
Patrick Reed continued his impressive start to the season by claiming the solo lead at the halfway stage of the Qatar Masters yesterday. At Doha Golf Club, Reed carded a four-under-par 67, finishing his round with a birdie on the par-five 18th to move to 12 under for the tournament. The American holds a one-shot advantage over Joakim Lagergren after the Swede produced a flawless 66 without dropping a shot. Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren is one shot behind the leader after round two. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil Reed, who announced on January 28 that he will leave LIV Golf and return to the PGA Tour in 2027, admitted the round was not without its challenges. “Honestly, today was a little frustrating, especially early,” said Reed, whose only bogey came at the 15th hole. “My ball-striking wasn’t quite as sharp as it was yesterday, but I missed in the right spots and that allowed me to still get balls on the greens. Going round this place and feeling like you didn’t hit it quite as well as you wanted to, and hit 17 greens is always a positive,” the 2018 Masters winner said. USA’s Patrick Reed carded a four-under 67 in the…