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The issue is the spotlight as the United Nations marks the organization’s Fourth Counter-Terrorism Week, bringing together more than 1,000 participants from some 119 countries, representing governments, regional organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector. Alexandre Zouev, UN Acting Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, laid out…
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The issue is the spotlight as the United Nations marks the organization’s Fourth Counter-Terrorism Week, bringing together…
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The issue is the spotlight as the United Nations marks the organization’s Fourth Counter-Terrorism Week, bringing together more than 1,000…
What happens next? That is the awkward question facing English cricket after Ben Stokes announced his retirement from international duty in the middle of a Test match.Stokes explained on Sunday that he felt ‘burnt out’ after four years as England's Test captain following an extraordinary day of drama in the third match of the series against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.Replacing him in the England set-up, both as captain or as a match-winning all-rounder, is going to be all but impossible.The announcement of the impending end of Stokes' England career came as the 35-year-old was involved in a marathon bowling spell, with the series on the line.It was the start of a scarcely credible sequence of events.The crowd in Nottingham gave Stokes a standing ovation before the skipper took a wicket with his next delivery — a stark example of his ability to impact a game by sheer force of will as well as skill. MITCHELL'S GUTSY CENTURYDespite his heroics, the visitors were able to set England a stiff victory target of 373 after Daryl Mitchell's gutsy century.Stokes later promoted himself to open England's innings even though he is normally a middle-order batsman. He blazed his way to a tempestuous 30 off 20 balls, including two sixes, before he holed out — showing little of the calculated risk-taking that underpinned some of his greatest innings.Stokes, who walked off to more applause, had played his last on-field role in an international career spanning 15 years.At stumps England had slumped to 103-4, facing defeat and a 2-1 series loss on Monday. The timing of the captain's announcement and his decision to promote himself to the top of the order, left him open to accusations of self-indulgence.'DRAINING'But if the all-rounder has had enough, perhaps it is no surprise. England suffered a chastening 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia in a series that ended in January and Stokes needed major facial surgery after being hit by a ball the following month.Then came a written warning following a disciplinary incident at a London nightclub after England's win in the first Test against New Zealand, which led to his omission from the second match of the series.’I'll never begrudge any moment where I've walked this team out,’ Stokes told Sky Sports after stumps. ‘It's simply the greatest honour you could ever put on your shoulders as a player.’But he added: ‘As good as it is, there are bits where it does get to you, it does drain you, it does affect you in a negative way.’ 'POTENTIALLY BURNT MYSELF OUT'Reflecting on England's victory in the first Test at Lord's, he said: ‘I put so much time and effort into it I maybe, potentially burnt myself out.’Everyone I spoke to about the day it (retirement) happens, they just say it kicks you straight in the face. And I thought a few weeks ago that it did.’As I was putting my pads on (on Saturday) getting ready to go out there, that was the last nail in the coffin.’Stokes, whose international career was interrupted by a nightclub incident in 2017 that ended with his acquittal on a charge of affray, intends to play on with his county side Durham. 'AFFECTION TOWARDS CRICKET'’Being back at Durham, I found not a reconnection but a new lease of life in my affection towards cricket,’ he explained. ‘And then I just couldn't get that same feeling back here this week (at Trent Bridge), as much as I was trying.’England looked a badly imbalanced team in the second Test at the Oval, with his predecessor as England captain Joe Root leading the side to a heavy defeat.Harry Brook is the official vice-captain but was left in the ranks after his altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand ahead of the Ashes — an incident that led to the imposition of the curfew Stokes breached in London.Brook on Sunday tried to follow his skipper's lead with the attacking Bazball batting that has been a hallmark of England's style since Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum teamed up in 2022.He flayed his first ball for six and holed out off his ninth, prompting former England skipper Michael Atherton to write in The Times: ‘He is not the Test captain in waiting.’But then, who is? Source link
People walk past a collapsed building following the magnitude 7.8 quake in General Santos, southern Philippines, June 8,…
With big points on offer at Roland Garros, a number of ATP Tour stars made significant moves in the PIF ATP Rankings by producing impressive runs at the clay-court major in Paris.Among them was quarter-finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has hit a new career-high World No. 4 as a result of his run, while finalist Flavio Cobolli has cracked the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time. ATPTour.com looks at the movers in the PIF ATP Rankings as of Monday, 8 June. The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime became the first Canadian man to reach the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments with his last-eight run in Paris. He hung tough through a five-set opener against Daniel Altmaier before advancing to the quarter-finals, where he fell in four sets to Cobolli. Auger-Aliassime has risen two spots to a career-high No. 4 after his run. The three-time ATP Tour champion Cobolli advanced to his maiden major final with a breakout streak on the Parisian clay. The 24-year-old Italian dropped just two sets across five matches prior to the final, in which he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets. Cobolli has now become a Top-10 player for the first time: He is just the seventh Italian man to break the Top 10 in PIF ATP Rankings history (since 1973). ATP rankings 1 Jannik Sinner (ITA) 135002 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 99603 Alexander Zverev (DEU) 73054 Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 44405 Ben Shelton (USA) 39206 Alex de Minaur (AUS) 39057 Novak Djokovic (SRB) 37608 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 37609 Taylor Fritz (USA) 372010 Flavio Cobolli (ITA) 354011 Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 293012 Jiri Lehecka (CZE) 257513 Andrey Rublev (RUS) 246014 Casper Ruud (NOR) 242515 Karen Khachanov (RUS) 232016 Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 231517 Jakub Mensik (CZE) 230018 Luciano Darderi (ITA) 230019 Learner Tien (USA) 227020 Valentin Vacherot (MCO) Source link
FILE PHOTO: The IAEA logo is displayed in front of the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 5,…
Iran’s World Cup squad landed in Mexico yesterday under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row, after the US — in open military conflict with Tehran — refused to issue visas for some team support staff.Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei complained on arrival at Tijuana airport that “we should have been here last week because a 12-hour time difference needs two weeks of adjusting.” He added: “Usually in these tournaments, before technical matters, ethical and human considerations must be respected — which I think for us it was not the case.” The dispute erupted just days before Thursday’s kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.After departing from their training camp in Turkey a day earlier, the Iran team landed yesterday in the Mexican border city of Tijuana. The squad and their coaching staff left their plane amid tight security which included a contingent of Mexican national guard troops. Just a handful of fans waving Iranian flags were present at the airport to welcome them from a distance. The Iranian team will be based in Tijuana throughout the tournament, despite playing their entire group stage in the US — two games in Los Angeles and another in Seattle as they tackle New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in Group G on June 15, 21 and 26.When they do play in the US, it will be the first World Cup to see a host nation receive the team of a country it is at war with. Ghalenoei thanked FIFA for its efforts to help secure entry, but said “we are upset about this behaviour. It has certainly never happened before.” Team captain Ehsan Hajsafi said he wanted to convey his grievance to FIFA about the delay in getting US visas. “Why so late?” he demanded. Hajsafi stressed the difficult backdrop for the team’s participation, as “in the last year, we experienced two imposed wars in our country.” Iran’s team spent nearly three weeks at the training camp in Turkey, using their time there to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the US. On the eve of their departure for Mexico, the players finally received their US visas, Washington’s envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack said on X late Friday. But Iran’s embassy to Turkey said support staff had been denied visas — 15 administrative and management staff are concerned, an Iranian diplomat and state TV said. The embassy slammed what it called “deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team” and called for FIFA “to hold the US accountable for violations of its rules.” Adding to the tensions, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico said Saturday the squad had been notified that, under their visa conditions, the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches. “We can enter in the morning and we must leave the same day,” Iran’s envoy Abolfazl Pasandideh told reporters. That appeared to contradict what the team’s spokesman Amir Mahdi Alavi told state TV earlier. Source link
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