South Africa trail India after 23 wickets fall on frenetic day of cricket
The second Test between South Africa and India gets off to a manic start as both teams suffer batting collapses. India has suffered a spectacular collapse, losing six batters for no runs as 23 wickets fell on a crazy opening day of their second Test against South Africa at Newlands. Resuming on 153-4 after tea, the home team ran through India’s batting order to bowl them out for 153 in the space of 11 deliveries with Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger snapping up three wickets each. South Africa’s stand-in skipper Dean Elgar was at a loss to explain a frenetic opening day but said South Africa will fancy their chances of victory if they can set India a target of 100 or more. “I would take 100 all day,” Elgar told reporters. “When our bowlers click, they can rip through any batting lineup, and on this wicket, that is possible.” Elgar was out for 4 and 12 in his final Test before retirement, having won the toss and elected to bat first on what he knew would be a tricky surface. “I didn’t know it would play in that way, though. With the naked eye, it did not look so bad,” he said. “But it’s one of those wickets where if you knuckle down, you never know what can happen. Earlier, South Africa were bowled out for just 55 in 23.2 overs, sliding to their lowest total since being readmitted to Test cricket in 1991 after Mohammed Siraj claimed a Test best haul of 6-15. South Africa then reached the close of play on 62-3 in their second innings, trailing by 36 runs overall with Aiden Markram unbeaten on 36 and David Bedingham seven not out. India were looking good in its first innings when Rohit Sharma (39) and Shubman Gill (36) were putting on 55 for the second wicket, the day’s highest partnership. Burger removed Sharma before Gill added 33 for the third wicket with Virat Kohli, then had Gill caught in the gully and dismissed Shreyas Iyer for a two-ball duck. Kohli went on to make 46, sharing a stand of 43 for the fifth wicket with KL Rahul as India went to tea in a seemingly healthy position. However, wickets fell thick and fast after the interval. Ngidi tested Rahul with extra bounce, and he was caught behind. Two balls later, Ravindra Jadeja went to the same bowler, and two balls later, Ngidi snared Jasprit Bumrah. Rabada captured Kohli’s wicket, Siraj was run out and the innings ended when Prasidh Krishna was caught at slip. There were five ducks among the last six dismissed batters. Earlier, South Africa had suffered their own embarrassing collapse before lunch. Paceman Siraj registered his third five-wicket haul in his 23rd Test and his first against South Africa. Bumrah also took 2-25 while Mukesh Kumar picked up two wickets without conceding a run in 2.2 overs. In South Africa’s second innings, Markram came out to attack, hitting six fours in 51 balls. But Elgar was caught at slip for 12 off Kumar, who also removed Tony de Zorzi for one, while Tristan Stubbs was also out for one. South Africa won the opening match of the two-match series by an innings and 32 runs. Adblock test (Why?)
Rory McIlroy would consider playing LIV if it turns into ‘IPL of golf’
McIlroy has softened his stance on LIV Golf and says he has accepted it as ‘part of our sport now’. Rory McIlroy says if LIV Golf was modelled like cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and staged over two months, then he would consider playing in it. The 34-year-old Northern Irishman has been a vocal opponent of the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf, once saying he would retire rather than play in it “if it was the last place to play golf on earth”. However, he has toned it down of late – especially after his friend, fellow Ryder Cup star and formerly a stringent critic of LIV Jon Rahm decamped and is reportedly set to earn upwards of $566.4m. Attracting some of world cricket’s top stars with bumper salaries, the IPL helped make Twenty20 hugely popular, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers. LIV’s circuit is based around team events with its 48 players split into 12 teams. “I would love LIV to turn into the IPL of golf,” McIlroy told the Stick to Football Podcast. “They take two months of calendar. You go and do this team stuff and a bit different and is a different format. “If they were to do something like that I would say ‘yeah that sounds like fun’ because you are working within the ecosystem.” McIlroy previously accused some of those who jumped ship as being duplicitous, but he is beginning to mellow and says it is no longer his job to fight the battle. “I think at this point, I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV golf at the start, and I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Wood’s position,” the former world number one said. “We all turn professional to make a living playing the sports that we do, and I think that’s what I realised over the last two years. I can’t judge people for making that decision.” ‘Part of our sport now’ McIlroy said he had “accepted” that LIV is “part of our sport now”, but he takes issue with the huge sums being paid to players when that could be used to invest in the sport. “The thing I have come to realise is if you have got people, or a sovereign wealth fund, wanting to spend money in your sport – that is ultimately a good thing,” McIlroy said. “But you just want to get them to spend it the right way and spend it on things that are important in the game. “Instead of giving someone $100m, why don’t you put $50m into grassroots programmes for the R&A or USPGA? Spending that money to actually grow the game and not just buy talent would be a way better way.” The four-time major winner said he hoped the divisions sparked by the breakaway would be healed but he feared there was a lack of will to do so. “I hope everyone comes back together,” he said. “You have got guys on both sides that don’t want it to happen. “The LIV guys don’t want to come back to play on the PGA Tour because they don’t think they have been treated very well. “Some of the PGA Tour guys don’t want to see those other guys. “People need to put their egos and feelings aside and come back together and we all move forward because that would be a good thing for golf.” Adblock test (Why?)
Russia, Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners in largest release of war
More than 470 prisoners of war return home on both sides after the swap deals stalled in the latter half of 2023. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that 230 of its prisoners were released while Russia said 248 of its soldiers were returned after mediation by the United Arab Emirates. While the two sides have gone through several exchanges during the war, swap deals stalled in the latter half of last year. The latest exchange was the first in almost five months. “More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have been returned from Russian captivity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a post on the Telegram messaging app that included a video of uniformed men celebrating. The prisoner swap on January 3, 2024, was the largest of the Russia-Uraine war [Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Andriy Yermak via Telegram/Handout via Reuters] Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said 230 Ukrainian prisoners, including six civilians, had been released, marking what he said was the 49th exchange between the two sides. Kyiv said this was the largest documented swap of troops so far. Some of the Ukrainians had been held since 2022. Among them were some who fought in milestone battles for Ukraine’s Snake Island and port city of Mariupol. The Russian Ministry of Defence said 248 of its soldiers had been returned after “complex” negotiations by the UAE. Russian officials offered no other details of the exchange. Attacks on Belgorod Also on Wednesday, Russia said it shot down 12 missiles fired at one of its southern regions bordering Ukraine. The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said the situation “continues to remain tense” after Ukraine launched repeated missile and drone attacks. While there have been no reports on casualty numbers from the latest attack, Gladkov said authorities were evacuating residents near possibly unexploded munitions with bomb disposal units called in to evaluate the danger. Defence Ministry technicians were working on disposing of an unexploded projectile, and about 600 residents from 323 houses within a 500-metre (550-yard) radius had been evacuated, he said. Gladkov added that several other villages also came under fire in Wednesday’s attack and a power line was knocked out. Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine fired six Tochka-U ballistic missiles and six guided missiles from a Vilkha heavy multiple rocket launcher. Ukraine has escalated its attacks on Belgorod over the New Year period after Russia launched some of its most significant attacks on Ukraine since the war began. On Tuesday, Kyiv said Moscow had launched more than 300 attack drones and missiles of various kinds across Ukraine since Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that Kyiv’s attacks on Belgorod would “not go unpunished”. Adblock test (Why?)
In 2024, Europe to hunt for new partners to offload asylum seekers
Eight years after the image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying facedown on a beach in Turkey shocked the world, pictures of asylum seekers’ lifeless bodies washed up on the coast of Italy’s Calabria region in February once again stirred global outrage. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responded to the tragic shipwreck just metres away from the coast of Steccato di Cutro by promising to “redouble our efforts”. “Member states must step forward and find a solution. Now,” she said. Yet as 2024 begins, activists and experts told Al Jazeera that 2023 has seen Europe reach for ever more drastic solutions to curb NGO search and rescue operations and outsource its border management to other nations. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated at least 2,571 people died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean – one of the deadliest years ever. Since 2014, the United Nations agency has counted at least 28,320 men, women and children who lost their lives trying to reach Europe. “What is new is the popularity of the idea that you can externalise asylum processing,” said Camille Le Coz, associate director for Europe at the Migration Policy Institute. “That’s something we’re likely going to see more of moving forward despite shaky legal grounds.” Externalising asylum At least 264,371 asylum seekers entered Europe by boat and land in 2023, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees – a 66 percent increase compared with the previous year and the highest figure since 2016. Six of every 10 among them landed on Italian shores. Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson for the IOM, said these numbers were a far cry from those recorded in 2015 when more than a million people reached European shores via the sea. “There is no real emergency,” Di Giacomo told Al Jazeera. “They are very manageable figures, and more should be done to give people who arrive by sea access to a system of protection.” Yet hardliners have sounded the alarm about migration. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was accused in December of adopting “toxic” rhetoric after warning that migration would “overwhelm” European countries without firm action. His comments came during a four-day political event in Rome organised by far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, weeks after his flagship bill designed to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to process their claims was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom. Meloni, who also governs on a staunchly nationalist agenda that focuses on immigration, has warned that Italy would not become “Europe’s refugee camp”. Similarly to her British ally, Meloni had signed a deal to send asylum seekers arriving in Italy to another country. Albania had agreed to process their claims in two facilities run by Italian officials under Italian jurisdiction. The five-year deal, announced in November, was blocked by the Balkan country’s Constitutional Court for violating the constitution and international conventions. Le Coz told Al Jazeera that Georgia, Ghana and Moldova were also in talks with European Union member states to sign deals to conduct part or all of their asylum procedures on their territory. Whether these agreements will be greenlit by courts next year is unclear. “Deals that externalise asylum processing raise questions in terms of human rights standards but also on political and financial costs,” Le Coz said. “In the end, none of these deals are moving forward because their legal grounds are pretty shaky, and so far, they have provided no solutions while incurring many costs.” Amid renewed interest in external processing, the EU has been working on a New Pact on Migration and Asylum to make return and border procedures on European soil “quicker and more effective”. The pact, which reached a preliminary agreement on December 20 after lengthy negotiations ahead of further debate in the coming months, allows member states to fast-track the processing of applications from countries with low approval rates, such as Morocco, Pakistan and India, and foresees tougher rules in case of emergencies, including longer detention periods. NGOs have denounced the pact as a “devastating blow to the right to seek asylum in the EU”, arguing that the measures erode international protection standards. “It will normalise the arbitrary use of immigration detention … and return individuals to so called ‘safe third countries’ where they are at risk of violence, torture, and arbitrary imprisonment,” a group of 50 civil society organisations said in an open letter. “Human rights cannot be compromised. When they are weakened, there are consequences for all of us,” the letter added. According to Le Coz, the impact the pact is going to have on the ground next year remains unclear. “On one hand, there is concern that the system is going too far in terms of quick processing of the asylum claims, and on the other hand, there are political forces betting on the fact that the pact is not going to deliver and that we should move towards further deals with foreign governments like Albania and Rwanda,” the analyst said. Border patrol As Tunisia overtook Libya as the top embarkation point for people heading from Africa to Europe this year, EU officials struck a 1 billion euro ($1.1bn) deal to bolster the bloc’s capacity to prevent refugees from setting out to sea and stabilising Tunisia’s shaky economy. Tunis was called to play a border patrol role similar to previous agreements struck with Tripoli and stop the inflow of refugees into European countries, months after President Kais Saied launched a crackdown against undocumented sub-Saharan nationals, whom he accused of crimes and plotting to change the country’s demographic makeup. Tunisia’s poor economic situation and racial discrimination triggered an exodus towards European shores. “Tunisia used to be a country of arrival for sub-Saharan migrants, but racial discrimination has forced many to leave,” Di Giacomo said. The UN estimated 96,175 people who reached Italy’s shores this year departed from Tunisia, compared with 29,106 last year. Images of Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa receiving more than 6,000 people within
Deadly explosions in Iran during Soleimani anniversary procession
NewsFeed Iranian state media says two explosions have struck a procession marking the anniversary of General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination. The blasts reportedly happened near the slain commander’s gravesite in the city of Kerman. Published On 3 Jan 20243 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinians protest killing of senior Hamas official in Lebanon
NewsFeed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have protested the killing of Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri who was targeted by a drone strike in Lebanon. The UN is calling for restraint, saying the Beirut attack risks a devastating escalation in the region. Published On 3 Jan 20243 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Sierra Leone charges ex-leader Koroma’s guard, 11 others over failed coup
Those charged were part of 85 people arrested in connection with the attempted coup in Sierra Leone on November 26. Sierra Leone authorities have charged 12 people including a member of former President Ernest Bai Koroma’s security detail, with treason in connection with a failed coup in November, the government said on Tuesday. The accused were arraigned before a magistrate in Freetown on Tuesday, the Ministry of Information and Communication said in a statement, adding that they included ex-police and correctional officers. “Other accused persons are expected to be charged in the coming days,” the ministry said. One of those charged was Amadu Koita, a former soldier and bodyguard of former president Ernest Bai Koroma, Koita was widely followed on social networks where he criticised the government of current President Julius Maada Bio. Koita was arrested on December 4, one of 85 people arrested in connection with the events of November 26 when gunmen attacked a military barracks, a prison and other locations in Freetown. They freed about 2,200 inmates and killed more than 20 people in what the authorities deemed a coup attempt by members of the armed forces. The violence sparked fears of another coup in West Africa, where Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea have all experienced takeovers since 2020. Neither Koita nor his legal representative have commented on the charges. Koroma, who condemned the attacks in a statement shortly after they happened, was summoned for questioning in December as part of the police investigation. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Dummy’ candidates, coerced voting: Inside Bangladesh’s election ‘charade’
Dhaka, Bangladesh – Hasanul Islam Ador, an elected representative in a rural area in southern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, was taken aback when a group of officials in plain clothes barged into his home last week. Ador said the officers threatened him, saying he should stop campaigning for Zafar Alam, an independent candidate for the national election to be held on Sunday. Alam is a current member of parliament representing Cox’s Bazar for the ruling Awami League (AL) party, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. When Alam failed to secure his party’s nomination for this year’s election, he was asked by the party leadership to run as an independent contender – one of what analysts and critics say are hundreds of so-called “dummy” candidates propped by the party to make the election look free and fair. A ruling party supporter carries a giant portrait of PM Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka [File: Anupam Nath/AP] Hasina, 76, has been in power for 15 straight years – the longest-serving leader in Bangladesh’s history. Her tenure has been marked by allegations of authoritarian rule, targeting of the opposition, the suppression of people’s rights, and large-scale vote rigging in elections held to keep her in power. As she seeks a record fourth term in Sunday’s vote, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has decided to boycott the vote, as it did in 2014. Zia, 78, was jailed for more than two years over corruption charges and was moved to house arrest over health concerns in 2020. She denies the allegation, saying her conviction was politically motivated. A woman holds a placard as BNP supporters form a human chain to mark International Human Rights Day in Dhaka [File: Mahmud Hossain Opu/AAP] The BNP says it does not have any confidence in Hasina presiding over a free and fair election. It demanded Hasina step down to make way for a caretaker government to organise the vote. But the demand was met with a severe government crackdown, which saw tens of thousands of BNP members arrested and at least 11 of them killed by security forces during street protests, raising concerns over valid elections in the garments hub of the world. In September, the United States, the top buyer of Bangladeshi garments, said it was imposing a visa ban on the country’s officials who undermine the democratic election process. Two months later, Human Rights Watch condemned the arrests of opposition members and said “the government’s autocratic crackdown will jeopardise future economic cooperation” with other countries. ‘Mockery of our democracy’ Since the opposition’s boycott call, Hasina’s party had been scrambling to field independent – or “dummy” – candidates to make the election look fair. The “competitive make-up”, as analysts call the move, saw the Awami League fielding candidates like Alam in the fray, but at the same time, ensuring the ballot does not throw up any surprises for the party. To ensure the results are in favour of the ruling party, the government is allegedly using law enforcement machinery and intelligence agencies to intimidate and threaten independent candidates. “The people who barged into my home were from an intelligence agency,” Ador told Al Jazeera. “They came to my house and threatened me to stop campaigning for Zafar Alam and seek votes for a particular candidate.” Police officers outside the closed office of the main opposition BNP party in Dhaka [File: Al Jazeera] Ador and more than a dozen other local representatives in Alam’s constituency wrote a letter to the Bangladesh Election Commission, saying “an intelligence agency had put immense pressure and threatened them” to work for an Awami League candidate. The commission acknowledged receiving such a letter to Al Jazeera, with election officials saying they were “seriously looking into the complaint”. Without the main political opposition contesting, there is little uncertainty as to what the results of the Sunday vote will be. “This election is a charade,” prominent Bangladeshi rights activist Shahidul Alam told Al Jazeera. “It’s a mockery of our democracy – whatever is left of it.” The BNP has not only boycotted the election but has also announced a non-cooperation movement, asking people not to vote on Sunday. As a result, the ruling Awami League’s main concern at the moment is to ensure a “reasonable” voter turnout, according to its official Bahauddin Nasim. To do that, the party has allegedly resorted to “undue” measures. In many constituencies, members of the ruling party have been accused of threatening to strip people of the government’s social benefits schemes if they fail to appear in polling booths on election day. Nearly 13 million people, belonging to the most vulnerable groups, receive direct social benefits from the government, according to the finance ministry’s data. Moreover, getting on the government list of beneficiaries is a process involving 473 elected officials, nearly all of them belonging to the Awami League. Videos, unverified by Al Jazeera, are viral on Bangladeshi social media, purportedly showing ruling party officials threatening the voters. BNP supporters gather for a protest rally in Dhaka [File: Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP] Rumeen Farhana, the BNP’s international affairs secretary, told Al Jazeera that participating in an election, knowing it will be rigged, was “suicidal and a betrayal to the thousands who were hurt, detained, tortured, or killed for democracy and free speech”. “People of this country will remember this election as the most absurd and illegitimate one in its history,” she said. ‘Strategy of the autocrats’ Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in the United States, said the BNP boycott does the Awami League a “big favour by making it harder for Western countries to conclude that the election is fraudulent”. “If the Awami League wins 95 percent of the vote, one can’t accuse the party of stealing votes because it will essentially be running against itself,” Kugelman told Al Jazeera. He said the pattern of events leading to the BNP’s decision to boycott should be of
India’s Adani wins top court relief on further probe over Hindenburg report
Indian agency was probing the group after Hindenburg Research last year alleged the improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation. India’s Supreme Court says the Adani Group does not need to face more investigations beyond the current scrutiny of the market regulator, a major relief for the conglomerate hit hard by a United States-based shortseller’s allegations of wrongdoing. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been probing the Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, after Hindenburg Research in January 2023 alleged the improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation by the group. The Adani Group denied the allegations, but Hindenburg’s report still chopped $150bn off its stock market value. Though some investor confidence returned in recent months as Adani won the backing of bankers and investors, the Hindenburg report and the regulatory scrutiny have weighed on the group’s business dealings and reputation. The Supreme Court, which was ruling on cases brought by public interest litigants seeking a special investigation team to probe the matter, on Wednesday said “the facts of this case do not warrant” such a change, even though the court had the powers to transfer the investigation. The verdict signals there will not be increased regulatory or legal risk on the Adani Group beyond the current SEBI investigation. Reflecting that view, shares of various Adani Group companies rose, with Adani Energy Solutions up 9.1 percent, Adani Total Gas surging 7.1 percent, Adani Green Energy jumping 5.5 percent and the flagship business Adani Enterprises rising 2.6 percent, Reuters news agency reported. The top court, which was overseeing the SEBI probe, also said there was no need for it to order any changes in the country’s disclosure rules for offshore funds. Hindenburg had alleged Adani’s offshore shareholders were used to violate certain SEBI rules, even though the company maintained it complies with all laws. After the Supreme Court ruling, Gautam Adani said on X, formerly Twitter, that the court’s judgement shows truth has prevailed and the group’s “contribution to India’s growth story will continue”. “Post this verdict global investors will have more confidence in investing in the shares of the company,” said Deven Choksey, managing director of KRChoksey Shares and Securities Pvt Ltd, a broker. The regulator had previously informed the Supreme Court that it would take appropriate action based on the outcome of its investigations. The court on Wednesday gave SEBI three months to complete its investigations. The Supreme Court also said it does not need to intervene in the current regulations governing offshore investors of Indian companies. SEBI tightened those regulations in June by making disclosures more stringent to bring clarity to opaque corporate structures. Under India’s law, every company needs to have 25 percent of its shares held by public shareholders to avoid price manipulation, but Hindenburg alleged that some of Adani’s offshore shareholders were used to violate this rule. Adani has said it complies with all laws. “The procedure followed in arriving at the current shape of the regulations does not suffer from irregularity,” the court said on Wednesday, while backing SEBI’s regulatory position on foreign portfolio disclosures. Adblock test (Why?)
UN official in Gaza condemns Israeli attack that killed a baby in hospital
NewsFeed “No child in the world should be killed, let alone one sheltering under the emblem of a humanitarian organisation,” says Gemma Connell, the Gaza team leader from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She has condemned an Israeli attack on Khan Younis which killed five people, including a newborn baby, who were sheltering at the El Amal City Hospital run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Published On 3 Jan 20243 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)