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Champions Trophy: All set for the hybrid model
The much-awaited meeting to resolve the vexing issue of Champions Trophy will be held this [05] evening with the widely-debated hybrid model all set to be accepted by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The majority of the board members – 15 in all – seem to be in favour of the two-nation formula for the 15-game championship. The meeting will be held at 3.30 PM UAE time (5 PM IST) with Jay Shah, the newly elected Chair of the ICC, presiding over the meeting.
It is reliably understood that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which has been opposing the formula, is believed to have agreed for the hybrid model with the UAE most likely emerging as the second venue where five of the 15 games, including all three league matches involving India and two knockout games – one semifinal and final – will be held. It could be formally announced after the meeting.
The PCB is understood to have made four-five demands in return for accepting the model but it is unlikely they will be accepted by the ICC. The key PCB demand, of course, is for a similar formula for India and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) when the BCCI hosts the ICC events but it remains to be seen whether that will be approved. As of now that remains the most contentious point. The PCB also seems to be asking for compensation for relocating the five games and it is unlikely there will be any opposition to this demand.
What is, however, certain is that the ICC and the Indian side will decline a key demand of the Pakistan side. It insisted that India should play a tri-series involving a third country at a neutral venue, most probably in the UAE, but there is no consensus on this. In fact, both the ICC and the BCCI are opposed to the idea and it is all set to be rejected. India have not played Pakistan in a match that is not part of either global or continental competition since 2012 and that will not change despite strong PCB demand.
Another demand of the PCB was to segregate India and Pakistan from the same group so that Pakistan could have played all their league games at home but this was not acceptable to the ICC. As is well known that an India-Pakistan game is the biggest cash cow in world cricket even the broadcasters are believed to be opposed to the idea, as previously reported by Cricbuzz. The blockbuster game is scheduled for March 1 and most likely it will be played at the Dubai International Stadium.
Seven students and a teacher have been killed in Bangladesh after a landslide hit a girls’ school inside a refugee camp
The Islamic study centre in the coastal city of Cox’s Bazar was buried by mud and debris on Wednesday afternoon, sparking frantic search and rescue efforts. It is unclear how many people were inside the school.
The country has been battered by monsoon rains since Sunday, with several deadly landslides reported in Cox’s Bazar.
More than one million Rohingya people live there in what is the world’s largest refugee settlement, having fled a deadly military crackdown in Myanmar.
Rescuers pulled 13 people from the mud that engulfed their school hut, eight of whom died, the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said.
“Some of them are seven, eight, 11 or 12 years old,” Panna Akhter, a local district officer, told BBC Bangla.
The other five children were taken to hospital for treatment.
Earlier, officials said other landslides had killed at least eight Rohingya refugees, including five children, since Sunday.
Thousands of Rohingya, one of Myanmar’s many ethnic minorities, were killed and more than 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during an army crackdown in Myanmar in 2017
The group, which is primarily Muslim, are denied citizenship by the government of Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country.
Many face poor living conditions in Bangladesh, living in makeshift homes of tarpaulin and bamboo on steep hillsides.
More rain is forecast for the coming days, with authorities issuing warnings for more landslides and floods, and evacuating families in high risk areas.
(BBC)
The US has launched a new round of strikes on Iran after President Donald Trump signalled he’d “hit them hard again tonight” following an overnight exchange of attacks on Tuesday.
Explosions have been reported by Iranian state media in parts of the country’s south, including Sirik and Bandar Abbas – port cities on the Strait of Hormuz.
After the latest strikes, Trump said in a post on Truth Social: “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!”
Iran has not yet commented, but senior officials earlier warned any attack from the US would be met with an “immediate response”.
US Central Command (Centcom) said the strikes were carried out to “further degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation” in the vital waterway.
In a statement it added: “The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”
Several explosions have also reportedly been heard in other parts of the Iranian coast, including the cities of Konarak and Chabahar.
Iranian state TV reported eight explosions in Bandar Abbas, and said two missiles had hit the ports of both Sirik and Jask – also in southern Iran.
It added that two projectiles hit the island of Abu Musa, which has been the subject of a longstanding ownership dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Air defence systems have been activated in Bandar Abbas, according to reports in Iranian state media.
The extent of damage from the US strikes is not yet known, but Iranian media has reported power cuts in Chabahar and a fire at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) barracks in Bushehr.
Two of three power lines cut off in Chabahar had been restored quickly and a third would be operational soon, the Iranian Students’ News Agency said.
On Tuesday, the US military said it had launched “powerful” strikes in response to attacks on three tankers in the strait.
On Wednesday, Iran said it targeted US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation.
Tuesday into Wednesday saw the worst exchange of strikes between the US and Iran since the deal – known as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) – was signed on 17 June.
Trump said on Wednesday that the ceasefire agreement signed last month with Iran is “over”, and added the US “hit them very
hard last night” and will “probably hit them hard again tonight”.
In response, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X: “We do not answer vulgarity with vulgarity, but with action: fearlessly and with great valour.”
The deal between the US and Iran included 14 points, among them a 60-day period for a ceasefire during which negotiations should continue, the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the US lifting sanctions on Iran.
The 60-day-period for negotiations is not yet up, but Trump has said he saw further talks as “a waste of time”.
These are not the first strikes since the MoU was signed.
The US launched a series of strikes on Iran on 26 June after an Iranian projectile hit a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Further US strikes took place on 27 June, following an attack on a tanker. But later that month both sides had agreed to “stand down”.
Pakistan is searching for a Boeing cargo aircraft missing over the Arabian Sea with five crew members on board.
The Karachi-bound 737-400 plane operated by a Pakistani carrier took off from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and lost contact with air traffic control about 9:18pm (16:18 GMT) on Tuesday after reporting a navigational system fault, the Pakistan Airports Authority said.
Minutes later, data from Flightradar24, a global flight-tracking service, showed the plane losing nearly 1,525 metres (5,000ft) of altitude in less than a minute before climbing about 1,830 metres (6,000ft) in the next 30 seconds. It then entered a final, near-vertical descent from a height of 11,140 metres (36,550ft).
Its last transmitted position placed it at 335 metres (1,100ft), descending at 22,400 feet per minute, or about 400 kilometres per hour. All contact was lost about 155 nautical miles (287km or 178 miles) west of Karachi.
Security sources told Al Jazeera a Pakistani navy ship, a merchant vessel operated by the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation and two navy aircraft are taking part in the search.
No wreckage or survivors have been found so far.
“We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues,” K2 Airways, the Karachi-based private cargo airline that operated the flight, said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that it was fully cooperating with authorities on the search.
It was the only plane in the K2 Airways fleet.
If a crash is confirmed, the incident would mark Pakistan’s first major civilian air disaster since May 2020 when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed short of the runway in Karachi, killing 97 of the 99 people on board.
The 27-year-old K2 Airways’ 737-400 has flown for six operators.
Delivered to Russia’s Aeroflot as a passenger aircraft in 1999, it later flew for Garuda Indonesia before being converted into a freighter in 2012 for Belgium’s TNT Airways.
Aircraft tracking records show it was withdrawn from service in June 2023 and parked in France for about 10 months.
Irish company AerCap reactivated the aircraft in April 2024 before placing it back into storage, first in Jakarta and later in Karachi, where it remained for nearly six months before entering service with K2 Airways in December 2024.
In a statement, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the incident and offered his sympathies to the families of the missing crew members.
(Aljazeera)
Eight killed after landslide hits girls’ school in Bangladesh
US launches new wave of strikes against Iran after promising to ‘hit them hard’
Pakistan searches for Boeing cargo plane missing over Arabian Sea
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