SHARJAH: Defending champions West Indies believe they can bounce back from their two consecutive Super 12 defeats when they clash against Bangladesh in their must-win Twenty20 World Cup match in Sharjah, batter Nicholas Pooran said on Thursday. The two-time champions, who won the trophy in the shortest format of the game in 2012 and in 2016 when the last edition …

Rashid Khan has pleaded with Afghanistan and Pakistan fans to behave when the two neighbours meet in the T20 World Cup on Friday after a match in England two years ago was scarred by fighting and a pitch invasion. Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid played in that 50-over World Cup game at a packed Headingley in Leeds in 2019. His side suffered …

Pakistan are scheduled to face Afghanistan tonight in their Group 2 fixture of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai, and here are our five reasons why Babar Azam and Co should not take their neighbours lightly. 1- Afghan spinners truly are world-class This is not something we or the world is saying just to hype up the Afghans or …

A new drama series based on the life of late Argentine footballer Diego Maradona promises to reveal little-known details about the turbulent life and times of the legendary player and has already caused controversy in his homeland. The series, which was being filmed for Amazon Prime Video when Maradona died of a heart attack in November 2020, tells the story of his …

LE HAVRE: Britain denounced France’s seizure of a British boat in French waters and warned Paris against further retaliation on Thursday, in a rapidly deteriorating row over post-Brexit fishing rights. French Seas Minister Annick Girardin said the Cornelis Gert Jan, a scallop dredger, was escorted to the northern port of Le Havre overnight after its crew failed to prove it …

JERICHO: Palestinian authorities on Thursday unveiled one of the largest floor mosaics in the world, in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, after years of restoration. Resembling a fine carpet, the vast mosaic covers 836 square metres (8,998 square feet) at the Hisham Palace, an Ummayad Islamic desert castle dating from the eighth century. The images, seen on dozens …

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently lost about 20 kilograms, but remains healthy and is trying to boost public loyalty to him in the face of worsening economic problems, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday. The National Intelligence Service gave the assessment during a closed-door parliamentary briefing, saying it used artificial intelligence techniques, an analysis …

WASHINGTON: A senior Pentagon official has informed Congress that Pakistan continues to give the United States access to its airspace and the two sides are also talking about keeping that access open. US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl shared this information with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday during an open/closed hearing on “Security in Afghanistan and …

CAIRO: Sudan’s strongman fired at least six ambassadors, including the envoys to the US, the European Union and France, after they condemned the military’s takeover of the country, a military official said on Thursday. The diplomats had pledged their support for the now-deposed government of Prime Minister Abddalla Hamdok. Their dismissal came hours before the United Nations Security council issued …

LONDON: Lawyers for Julian Assange on Thursday dismissed US assurances about the treatment awaiting the WikiLeaks founder if he is extradited from Britain, as two days of hearings wrapped up in London. Britain’s High Court said it would issue a ruling at a later date, after Washington appealed against a lower court’s decision to block Assange’s extradition to face a …