Global Pulse

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  • Senegal sack manager Thiaw in wake of World Cup exit

    Senegal sack manager Thiaw in wake of World Cup exit

    Another major international football tournament has ended in disappointment for Senegal, with the national federation confirming the dismissal of head coach Pape Thiaw just days after the Teranga Lions crashed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the knockout round.

    Thiaw had held the senior team’s top coaching role since December 2024, and his tenure was marked by controversy long before the squad arrived in North America for this year’s World Cup. The campaign got off to a shaky start: the side suffered back-to-back defeats to France and Norway in their first two Group Stage matches, leaving them on the brink of elimination heading into the final group fixture against Iraq. In a stunning turnaround, Senegal routed Iraq 5-0 to climb into third place in their group, and claimed the final available spot among the highest-ranked third-place teams to advance to the round of 32.

    What followed was a dramatic and heartbreaking exit against Belgium. Senegal held a commanding 2-0 lead late in regulation time, but allowed two late Belgium goals to force the match into extra time. A controversial penalty converted by Youri Tielemans sealed a 3-2 win for Belgium, knocking Senegal out of the tournament.

    The fallout from the defeat was immediate. Key Senegal midfielder Pape Gueye publicly announced just hours after the loss that he would step away from international football, and would not return to the national side as long as Thiaw and the current coaching staff remained in charge.

    After days of internal review, the Senegal Football Federation (FSF) announced Thiaw’s departure in a formal statement. The body said the decision came “after a thorough evaluation of the sporting results and prospects of the national team”, adding that the dismissal was made “in the best interests of Senegalese football”.

    This World Cup exit is the second major setback for Senegalese football in 2026, and cements a period of turmoil that began earlier this year at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). In that tournament’s final against Morocco in January, Thiaw led his entire squad off the pitch in protest after Morocco was awarded a stoppage-time penalty. After a 17-minute delay, the team returned to the field; Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved, and Gueye scored an extra-time winner that appeared to give Senegal the title. But in March, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) overturned the result, stripped Senegal of the title, and awarded the win to Morocco due to Thiaw’s walk-off protest. Senegal has since filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge the decision and reclaim the title.

    Thiaw, a former Senegal international, was part of the country’s 2002 World Cup squad that reached the quarter-finals in one of the nation’s most famous tournament runs.

  • US Senator Lindsey Graham dies after ‘brief and sudden illness’, his office says

    US Senator Lindsey Graham dies after ‘brief and sudden illness’, his office says

    Veteran Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a towering figure in U.S. defense and foreign policy circles and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has passed away at the end of last week following a sudden, short illness, his office confirmed in an official statement.

    The statement, released shortly after his passing, noted that Graham died on Saturday evening. In the midst of their grief, the senator’s family requested privacy while asking for the public’s thoughts and prayers during this extraordinarily challenging time.

    First elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, Graham built a decades-long career marked by outsized influence in Washington. Over his tenure, he rose to chair the Senate Budget Committee, and emerged as one of the most prominent and frequently cited voices on national security and international affairs across Capitol Hill. Long a fixture in bipartisan and Republican policy debates, he maintained a close political alliance with Trump that shaped many GOP policy positions through multiple presidential cycles.

    In what would be his final public overseas trip before his death, Graham had just returned to the U.S. from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the Friday before his passing. A lifelong and outspoken advocate for robust U.S. military and diplomatic support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invasion, Graham repeatedly warned of the broader geopolitical consequences of Russian victory. In a 2023 interview with the BBC, he argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not limit his expansionist ambitions to Ukraine, adding that a faltering Western commitment to Kyiv would ultimately threaten security in the Indo-Pacific, specifically the status of Taiwan.

    News of his sudden passing has already drawn reactions across political circles in Washington, closing out a decades-long career that shaped U.S. foreign and domestic policy for more than two decades.

  • Germany moves to criminalise denial of Israel’s existence while refusing to recognise Palestine

    Germany moves to criminalise denial of Israel’s existence while refusing to recognise Palestine

    Germany’s federal legislative upper chamber, the Bundesrat, has given its formal approval to a contentious draft law that would impose criminal penalties including up to five years of prison time or substantial fines for anyone who publicly denies Israel’s right to exist or calls for the abolition of the Israeli state. The proposal, which was initially put forward by lawmakers from the German state of Hesse, cleared the upper house in a vote held Friday. It will now head to the Bundestag, Germany’s lower parliamentary body, for deliberation following the body’s upcoming summer recess.

    A key point of contention around the legislation is the unequal legal status it creates between Israel and Palestine: the draft extends unprecedented legal protections to Israel that the German government has repeatedly refused to grant to a Palestinian state. Berlin has maintained a longstanding policy of rejecting formal recognition of Palestinian statehood, continued to ship large volumes of weapons to Israel throughout its ongoing military campaign in Gaza that global observers have labeled genocide, and kept uninterrupted bilateral trade ties despite widespread international condemnation of Israel’s apartheid policies and accelerating ethnic cleansing practices in the occupied West Bank.

    The new criminal law is just one part of a broader nationwide crackdown on pro-Palestine solidarity activism across Germany. German authorities have moved to restrict peaceful demonstrations, academic conferences, and cultural events organized in support of Palestinian human rights, a pattern that drew formal rebuke from United Nations independent experts last October. Four UN special rapporteurs and two independent legal experts issued a statement at the time accusing German institutions of systematically criminalizing, penalizing, and suppressing completely legitimate activism in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The experts noted that protesters were only advancing widely recognized legitimate demands: halting German arms exports to Israel, ending the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, guaranteeing unimpeded access for humanitarian aid to Gaza, securing formal international recognition of a Palestinian state, and holding perpetrators of documented international crimes accountable.

    Even independent German institutional assessments have raised red flags about the legality of the proposal. The Bundestag’s own in-house research service warned in a May analysis that the Hesse-backed draft is very likely incompatible with Germany’s post-WWII constitution. The assessment concluded the law would effectively create a legally protected special status for one specific viewpoint, directly contradicting the protections for freedom of expression enshrined in Article 5 of Germany’s Basic Law.

    The research service report explained that both denying Israel’s right to exist and calling for the elimination of the state generally qualify as subjective value judgments, not unprotected incitement. Extending the narrow constitutional exception that bans Nazi propaganda to cover this type of political speech about Israel would be extremely difficult to justify under existing German legal principles, the report added. If that extension cannot be legally justified, the resulting restriction on freedom of expression has no basis in Germany’s constitution.

    Global human rights organization Amnesty International has also publicly opposed the legislation. While the group emphasized that the protection of Jewish life in Germany carries unique historical and moral weight, it noted that this proposed initiative poses a massive threat to fundamental freedom of expression across the country. Left Party Member of Parliament Luke Hoß echoed those criticisms, describing the proposal as an obviously unconstitutional act of symbolic politics that will weaken rather than strengthen efforts to combat antisemitism in Germany.

  • Teenage tennis star to play for Ghana in major event

    Teenage tennis star to play for Ghana in major event

    A rising 16-year-old tennis talent from Hadley, Telford, is preparing to compete on an international stage next week, carrying the flag of Ghana at the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup hosted in Gaborone, Botswana. For Gwen Klu, this moment marks the culmination of years of dedicated training and an unexpected journey into competitive tennis that began with a simple school outreach visit.

    Klu’s first encounter with the sport came when a local tennis coach visited her primary school, extending an invitation to train at the Telford Tennis Centre. That casual introduction sparked a lifelong passion, and today, she has spent three and a half years refining her skills at the Ellesmere College Tennis Academy, where she has become a staple competitor for Shropshire’s county-level teams. Her standout performances at junior competitions have earned her an official ITF junior world ranking, catching the attention of national tennis federations across three continents.

    With dual European and West African heritage, Klu holds eligibility to compete for three countries: she was born in the United Kingdom, her father is a former Ghanaian national volleyball player, and her mother hails from France. When Ghana’s tennis federation reached out to extend an invitation to join their national team for the continental tournament, Klu did not hesitate to accept. “Ghana gave me the opportunity first so I just took their call,” she explained, adding that the trip also represents a meaningful cultural opportunity. “I feel like this is quite a good experience and good opportunity to be able to travel different countries in Africa and also to discover the cultures.”

    Klu will compete in the tournament’s Africa III group, where her team will face off against athletes from 10 other African nations, including regional tennis powerhouses Algeria, Nigeria, and Tunisia. The group stage follows a round-robin format, with the top two finishing teams earning promotion to the higher-tier Europe-Africa II division. Despite the stakes of the competition, Klu says she is keeping her focus simple: playing her best tennis, no matter the opponent. “I’ve had a few people from Nigeria, for example, that I’ve already played against, so I’m not bothered about who I’m playing really. I just want to go there and do my best,” she said.

    Looking ahead beyond the tournament, Klu shared that she hopes her performance in Gaborone will attract potential sponsors to support her budding tennis career. Currently, all competition and training costs are covered by her family, and additional financial backing would allow her to pursue more high-level competitive opportunities as she advances in the sport.

  • Vietnam police detain captain after speedboat capsizing kills 15 Indian tourists

    Vietnam police detain captain after speedboat capsizing kills 15 Indian tourists

    A tragic maritime accident off the coast of Vietnam’s popular Phu Quoc Island has left 15 Indian tourists dead after a sightseeing speedboat overturned just minutes after departing a nearby island on Saturday afternoon. Vietnamese law enforcement has detained the vessel’s captain as investigations into the deadly incident get underway.

    The 36-passenger craft — carrying 32 Indian tourists and 4 Vietnamese crew members — flipped less than 500 meters from shore shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai, a small islet located off the southern tip of Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island. Authorities confirmed Sunday that 57-year-old captain Nguyen Hong Hai has been taken into custody, facing formal investigation over suspected violations of national waterway transport safety regulations.

    All 15 deceased passengers were participants in an incentive corporate trip organized by Lava International, an Indian consumer electronics and smartphone manufacturer. The excursion was planned for the company’s employees, distributors and retail partners, the firm confirmed in statements following the accident.

    Ashish Kumar, a Lava distributor from Guntur, India who witnessed the crash from the nearby shore, recalled the chaotic scene to the Associated Press. The tour group had split into three separate speedboats to travel between the area’s islands. When the first boat departed and began to capsize, Kumar and his group immediately began shouting for help. Nearby boats rushed to the scene, but by the time rescuers arrived, many passengers had already been overcome by rough open water.

    Ha Van Loc, a local boat captain who was operating in the area at the time of the 12:40 p.m. accident, told Vietnamese state outlet VN Express that he spotted the overturned vessel with around a dozen people clinging to its upturned hull. Dozens more passengers, many of whom were not wearing their required life jackets, struggled against churning 3-meter-high waves. Loc explained that rough conditions prevented his larger vessel from getting close enough to pull all survivors aboard, for fear that his boat’s propeller would injure people floating in the water. He and his crew threw rope-tethered life buoys to struggling passengers, pulling four survivors to safety within 10 minutes. Loc then filmed the scene to alert other nearby boat operators, prompting a mass rescue response that brought nearly a dozen additional local boats and official rescue teams to the site within minutes.

    Despite the rapid response, choppy seas with waves reaching up to 10 feet slowed rescue operations significantly. Smaller jet skis ultimately proved far more maneuverable than larger vessels, ferrying survivors back to shore one by one. Reports from surviving passengers indicate that the captain did instruct all guests to put on life jackets before departure, but many passengers instead carried the flotation devices in their hands. When the boat overturned, multiple passengers were trapped inside the hull, forced to escape through the vessel’s bow or side windows.

    Eyewitness Kumar also noted that no dedicated emergency medical personnel were waiting on shore when survivors were brought back to land. Local tourists and tour company staff took turns administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation and oxygen to unconscious victims before emergency personnel arrived. Two emergency resuscitation doctors and a nurse were eventually dispatched to the site, and all 17 injured survivors were transported to Phu Quoc Sun Hospital for treatment.

    Updates from the Indian Embassy in Hanoi, shared via social media on Sunday, confirmed that 16 of the 17 survivors have already been discharged from medical care and are en route back to India. One survivor remains in a Vietnamese hospital in critical condition. The embassy added that the remains of the 15 deceased victims are being transferred to Ho Chi Minh City to complete official formalities before being repatriated to India by air. Officials confirmed that 10 of the dead were from India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, three from Andhra Pradesh, and two from Kerala.

    Phu Quoc Island, located off Vietnam’s southern coast, is one of the country’s top beach tourism destinations, drawing millions of domestic and international visitors annually to its white sand coastlines and clear tropical waters. Hon May Rut Ngoai, the departure point for the fatal trip, sits roughly 10 kilometers south of Phu Quoc’s main tourist areas.

    India has emerged as one of Vietnam’s fastest growing international tourism markets in recent years. Vietnamese officials project the country will welcome roughly 750,000 Indian visitors in 2025, a nearly 50% increase from 2024 numbers. Industry leaders attribute the rapid growth to expanded direct flight connections between major Indian and Vietnamese cities, as well as Vietnam’s flexible liberalized e-visa policy for Indian travelers.

  • ‘We should all be excited’ – Messi set for first England meeting

    ‘We should all be excited’ – Messi set for first England meeting

    For 20 years of senior international football, across more than 200 appearances and 125 goals for his country, Lionel Messi has never shared a pitch with England’s men’s national team. That long-awaited gap in the 39-year-old’s legendary career will finally close this Wednesday, when Argentina and England lock horns in a 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final at Atlanta, kicking off at 20:00 BST and airing live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The historic showdown became possible only after a hard-fought quarter-final against Switzerland, where Argentina clawed their way to a 3-1 extra-time victory despite the Europeans holding momentum for large stretches of regular play.

    Though Messi went goalless against Switzerland – his first scoreless match of this tournament – he still remains tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe for the tournament’s Golden Boot lead with eight strikes, and retains his status as the men’s World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer. Ahead of the unprecedented meeting, football pundits have weighed in on what England can expect from the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, and just how much of a threat the Inter Miami forward poses.

    BBC pundit Micah Richards called the matchup one that all football fans should be excited for, noting that England’s biggest challenge will be containing an otherworldly talent who cannot be marked through traditional means. “Marking him is impossible because he doesn’t run back. He goes into little spaces where he shouldn’t really be. He switches on at the right times [and] he’s got the best technique. His spatial awareness is fantastic. He’s got a great shot,” Richards said. He added that Messi, like England’s own Jude Bellingham, carries an unmatchable on-pitch personality and aura, calling Messi’s aura “next level” among all active footballers.

    Former England striker Chris Sutton offered a more tempered perspective, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that England should view the matchup as an exciting opportunity rather than a daunting one. “I think Thomas Tuchel and the England players will be relishing the prospect of playing this Argentina team in its current guise, its current form, because this isn’t a great Argentina team but they do have a habit of finding a way,” Sutton explained. Ex-England forward Wayne Rooney echoed that take, pointing out that Messi offers little defensive output for Argentina, which could be an exploitable weakness – but warned that the captain can single-handedly change a match with moments of unrivaled quality. “He doesn’t run back, but he has big moments a bit like with Jude Bellingham. He has big moments and moments of quality. The thing with Messi is his decision-making – he comes to life in moments of the game and he makes the right decision,” Rooney said, adding that consistent concentration and communication between England defenders will be key to limiting the Argentine icon.

    South American football expert Tim Vickery emphasized that this semi-final is the matchup Argentina has been waiting for. “Lionel Messi couldn’t possibly end an international career, over 200 matches, without playing the team that Argentina fans see as their biggest rival,” Vickery told 5 Live, recalling that Argentine fans already chanted “he who doesn’t jump is an Englishman” during the Switzerland quarter-final, a taunt that will likely echo through Atlanta on Wednesday.

    The England-Argentina rivalry is one of the most storied and dramatic in international football, with decades of iconic moments shaping the feud. From Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal that knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, to David Beckham’s controversial red card at the 1998 World Cup, every encounter between the two sides has delivered high-stakes drama. What makes this semi-final even more historic is that it will be the first meeting between the two nations in nearly 21 years, and the first ever for Messi in a senior Argentina shirt.

    Messi made his senior Argentina debut in 2005 at 18, after leading the nation to a World Youth Championship title earlier that year. Just months after his debut, England and Argentina met in a friendly in Geneva – but Messi was forced to watch from the sidelines, suspended after being sent off just 30 seconds into his senior debut against Hungary. In that goalless (for Messi) contest, Argentina twice took the lead before Michael Owen scored two late dramatic goals to hand England a 3-2 victory under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. That friendly remains the only senior meeting between the two nations since Messi entered the international scene, leaving the Wednesday semi-final as a completely new milestone for both sides.

    Messi’s career goal record against other nations shows his consistent dominance across every level of opposition. He has scored 11 goals in 12 matches against Bolivia, his favorite opponent, seven goals against both Venezuela and Ecuador, and five and six against South American giants Brazil and Uruguay respectively. Against European opposition, he has scored three goals each against Croatia, Switzerland, and France – including a memorable double in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup final victory over France. Of all the nations Messi has faced more than once, only Qatar has managed to keep him off the scoresheet across two meetings.

  • US, UK and 12 other nations reaffirm 2016 ruling invalidating China’s claims in South China Sea

    US, UK and 12 other nations reaffirm 2016 ruling invalidating China’s claims in South China Sea

    On Sunday, a coalition of 14 nations led by the United States and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement from Manila reaffirming that China’s sweeping territorial claims over the South China Sea lack any legal foundation, in a public backing of the landmark 2016 international arbitration ruling.

    The statement was timed to mark the anniversary of the July 12, 2016, decision handed down by a permanent arbitration tribunal based in The Hague. The tribunal was convened under the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the global treaty that governs all maritime activity. The joint statement describes the arbitration outcome as a definitive, final and legally binding milestone that settles core legal questions around competing claims in the strategic waterway.

    The arbitration case was first launched by the Philippines in 2013, one year after a tense months-long standoff at a contested shoal ended with China taking effective control of the feature. China declined to participate in the proceedings, and has refused to acknowledge the ruling ever since it was issued. Beijing continues to assert sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, a critical global shipping chokepoint that has been labeled one of the most dangerous potential conflict flashpoints in East Asia.

    The waterway is claimed in whole or in part by multiple governments: China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Repeated territorial standoffs between claimant states have played out in the region for decades, with confrontations growing more frequent and high-risk in recent years.

    Beyond the U.S. and UK, the other signatories to Sunday’s statement are the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia. In the text, the coalition explicitly rejected “China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on ‘historic rights,’” echoing the core finding of the 2016 tribunal.

    The 2016 ruling sided overwhelmingly with the Philippines’ legal arguments, concluding that UNCLOS provides no legal support for China’s claims to historic resource rights in areas of the South China Sea beyond its internationally recognized territorial boundaries. UNCLOS, which entered into force in 1994, has been ratified by more than 170 countries and regions including both China and the Philippines.

    The 14-nation statement condemned destabilizing unilateral actions across the disputed waters, singling out the use of coast guard vessels, military assets and maritime militia to intimidate and obstruct lawful maritime and air operations conducted by other states. “Such actions endanger the safety of personnel and fishermen and seriously degrade regional peace and security,” the statement read.

    The coalition stressed that freedom of navigation and overflight, as enshrined in UNCLOS, must be protected and preserved, and called for all territorial disputes to be resolved through peaceful diplomatic means consistent with the 1982 UNCLOS framework.

    China had not issued a public response to Sunday’s joint statement as of press time. But in recent public comments through its embassy in Manila, Beijing has repeatedly made clear it will never recognize the 2016 ruling, which it labels “illegal, null and void.” “The award will not alter the historical and factual basis for China’s sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea and their adjacent waters,” the embassy said in a previous statement, adding that the outcome “will not weaken China’s resolve and determination to safeguard its sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

    Territorial tensions in the South China Sea have spiked in recent years, most frequently involving Chinese forces and vessels alongside Philippine and Vietnamese fishing fleets and government vessels. Chinese coast guard vessels have been documented using high-powered water cannons, military-grade laser dazzlers, and dangerous blocking maneuvers against Philippine vessels and fishermen from other claimant states. These actions have led to high-seas collisions and multiple high-risk near encounters between aircraft and vessels in the area.

    Washington has repeatedly pressured Beijing to comply with the 2016 arbitration ruling. Both the current Biden administration and previous Trump administration have reaffirmed that as part of the long-standing mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines — America’s oldest treaty ally in Asia — Washington is legally obligated to come to the Philippines’ defense if Filipino forces, civilian or military vessels, or aircraft come under armed attack in the South China Sea.

  • Lionel Messi’s World Cup scoring streak ends, but his assist sparks Argentina’s win over Switzerland

    Lionel Messi’s World Cup scoring streak ends, but his assist sparks Argentina’s win over Switzerland

    ATLANTA — In a tense, physical FIFA World Cup quarterfinal clash that went the distance, Argentine soccer icon Lionel Messi saw his historic nine-match World Cup scoring run come to an end against Switzerland Saturday night — but the living legend still dictated the match’s outcome, setting up the opening goal to help propel defending champions Argentina to a 3-1 extra-time victory. The win books Argentina’s spot in the tournament semifinals, where they will face off against England this Wednesday in Atlanta.

    The match’s first breakthrough came just 10 minutes in, when Messi crafted a corner opportunity with a brilliant display of close control and skillful footwork. The Inter Miami star sent a pinpoint cross into the penalty area, where Alexis Mac Allister converted a clinical header to put Argentina up 1-0. While the opening goal came from Messi’s playmaking, the 39-year-old took a hard blow to the area near his right eye in the second half, requiring on-field attention from training staff to patch him up for the remainder of the match.

    Switzerland held firm to level the scoreline in the 67th minute, forcing the tightly contested knockout match into 30 minutes of extra time. With fatigue setting in for both sides, Julian Alvarez broke the deadlock with an unstoppable 112th-minute strike that curled into the top corner of the Swiss net, before Lautaro Martinez iced the win with a late closing goal to seal the 3-1 final score.

    Heading into the matchup, Swiss head coach Murat Yakin faced widespread media questioning about how his side planned to contain Messi, who entered the match as co-leader in the tournament’s Golden Boot race alongside France’s Kylian Mbappé. Yakin joked that the question was unsurprising, noting that his staff had prepared multiple game plans to stop the Argentine, adding that the real test would be executing those plans on the pitch. In the end, the Swiss side largely delivered on their goal of shutting down Messi’s scoring: they successfully held the all-time tournament leading goalscorer, who has 21 career World Cup goals to his name, off the scoresheet, snapping his streak that included goals in six consecutive knockout round matches.

    Messi’s run of form at this year’s tournament has already cemented his status as the tournament’s standout player. A little over three weeks before the Swiss clash, Messi opened his World Cup campaign at the same venue with his first-ever World Cup hat trick, leading Argentina to a 3-0 opening group stage win over Algeria. He carried that form through the knockout rounds, notching eight goals heading into the quarterfinal. His tournament has not been without close calls, however: he missed penalty chances against both Austria and Egypt, with the second miss leaving Argentina trailing 2-0 and on the brink of elimination. Even in that high-pressure moment, Messi stepped up to turn the tide: he assisted Cristian Romero’s 79th-minute header to get Argentina on the board, then scored an equalizer four minutes later against Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time winner to send Argentina through to the quarterfinal.

    With many speculating that this tournament could be Messi’s last appearance on the World Cup stage with Argentina’s national team, Argentine head coach Lionel Scaloni heaped praise on the veteran playmaker, comparing his consistent elite performance to that of a well-oiled machine. “Those that are not so much acquainted with him might be surprised, and at 39 years of age some people might think he will not rise to the challenge,” Scaloni said. “But I’ve said this before, as long as he wants to be the best — and I’m not saying this because I’m coaching him — but because if he wants to continue, he will continue to be the best.”

  • Typhoon Bavi brings strong winds and rain to eastern China as more than 2 million people evacuated

    Typhoon Bavi brings strong winds and rain to eastern China as more than 2 million people evacuated

    BEIJING – In the wake of its landfall in China’s eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, Typhoon Bavi has downgraded from a typhoon to a severe tropical storm, though the system continues to batter large swathes of eastern China with gale-force winds and torrential downpours as of Sunday.

    China’s National Meteorological Center confirmed the storm’s weakening in the early hours of Sunday, reporting that maximum sustained winds near the system’s center clocked in at roughly 101 kilometers per hour (63 miles per hour). Meteorologists project the storm will continue tracking northwestward across the eastern half of the country in the coming days.

    Before reaching mainland China, Bavi passed just north of Taiwan on Saturday without making a direct landing on the island. Even so, the storm’s outer bands brought hazardous conditions that left more than 130 people injured across Taiwan, according to the island’s fire department. As of 7 a.m. Sunday, the agency confirmed 134 injuries, most of which occurred when residents fell from motorcycles or bicycles amid strong winds or on rain-slicked roadways.

    The National Meteorological Center has warned that hazardous wind and rain conditions will continue to disrupt daily life across dozens of major eastern Chinese cities through Sunday, prompting widespread emergency preparations from regional authorities. State media reports confirm that Shanghai has evacuated more than 290,000 residents from low-lying coastal and flood-prone areas, while Zhejiang authorities have relocated roughly 2.2 million at-risk residents to emergency shelters. Neighboring Fujian province has also evacuated more than 180,000 people to avoid storm-related harm.

    Air travel across the Shanghai region has been heavily impacted by the storm. Official state news outlet Xinhua News Agency reports that the city’s two major international airports – Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport – have canceled approximately 653 incoming and outgoing flights as of Sunday, with more schedule adjustments possible as the storm progresses.

    In Yueqing, a coastal Zhejiang city directly in the path of Bavi’s landfall, storm damage has already been extensively documented. State broadcaster CCTV reports that more than 1,300 trees were toppled by the storm’s strong winds, with at least 700 of those trees completely uprooted from city streets and green spaces.

  • West Indies beats New Zealand by 7 wickets in the 1st ODI to lead the 5-match series

    West Indies beats New Zealand by 7 wickets in the 1st ODI to lead the 5-match series

    PROVIDENCE, Guyana – The West Indies kicked off their five-match one-day international series against New Zealand with a confident seven-wicket victory on Saturday, built on a match-defining 131-run third wicket stand between Keacy Carty and Shai Hope that anchored the hosts’ run chase.

    New Zealand won nothing but regret after being sent in to bat first upon winning the toss. All-rounder Daryl Mitchell, fresh off a match-winning century that secured a test series victory over England just weeks prior, carried the Black Caps’ batting lineup with a top-scoring 65 runs. Will Young chipped in with 49, combining for an 80-run opening partnership with Henry Nicholls who made 27, but the rest of the batting order failed to convert promising starts into big scores. Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner all reached the 20s but could not push on to match-defining contributions.

    By the 40th over, New Zealand sat comfortably at 216 for four, on track to post a total in excess of 300 that would have put the West Indies under serious pressure in home conditions. But a catastrophic late-order collapse changed the entire course of the game: the Black Caps lost their final six wickets for just 33 runs, folding all out for 267. Debutant West Indies bowler Vitel Lawes was the star of the collapse, claiming three key wickets – Nicholls, Chapman and Bracewell – to finish his maiden international outing with figures of 3 for 54.

    The West Indies got off to a solid start in their run chase, reaching 92 for two in the 19th over with opener Akeem Auguste contributing 38 runs from 58 deliveries before Carty and Hope came together at the crease. The pair controlled the tempo of the innings perfectly, keeping the required run rate below one run per over by ticking along at between five and six runs per over, eliminating any sense of urgency or pressure from the chase.

    Carty, who hit his fourth ODI century exactly one year ago, survived a controversial mid-innings scare when he appeared to dislodge the bails with his bat after hitting a six off Jacob Duffy’s bowling. Umpires ruled the shot had been completed before the stumps were disturbed, allowing Carty to continue batting. He made the most of the let-off, moving to 95 off 112 deliveries – just five runs short of his fifth international century – before holing out to Nathan Smith off Michael Bracewell’s bowling.

    After Carty’s dismissal, Hope anchored the remaining overs to see the West Indies across the line, finishing unbeaten on 87. He shared an unbroken 45-run stand from just 31 balls with Sherfane Rutherford, who ended the innings not out on 22. Even with 37 runs needed from the final five overs, the pair remained unflustered, steadily bringing the target within reach before closing out the win. A six from Hope from the first ball of the 49th over and a second six from Rutherford to the fifth ball of the same over wrapped up the chase with seven full deliveries remaining.

    The second match of the five-match ODI series will return to the same Providence venue on Monday, with the West Indies looking to extend their early series lead.