Harmanpreet Kaur, who led India to their first women’s global title at last year’s ODI World Cup, has stepped down as captain from all three international formats. She announced her decision via an Instagram post on Tuesday morning. Having given up the captaincy and left the team in a “good place”, she has said she’s now “ready to play for the love of the game again”.

Harmanpreet, 37, led India in five Tests, 51 ODIs and 155 T20Is. Her last act as captain was leading India to their second successive Asian Games gold medal, in Nisshin last month.

The decision came a day after Harmanpreet, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and head coach Amol Muzumdar met BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia in Guwahati to discuss the roadmap of the women’s team going forward.

“This is not an easy decision,” Harmanpreet wrote. “It carries years of memories, emotions, sacrifices, and moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“I have given everything I had to this team and to Indian women’s cricket – my blood, my sweat, my time, and many times, a part of my own game and personal ambitions. There were moments when I had to put my individual performance, my own growth, and what I wanted for myself aside, because I believed the team had to come first.

“As a captain, I have had to make difficult decisions. Decisions that were not always understood, not always easy, and sometimes came at a personal cost. But every decision I made was with one intention – to make this TEAM better and to give other players the opportunity to grow, believe in themselves and become the best versions of themselves.”

Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to activate “deterrence measures” under a mutual defence pact and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.

The decision was announced on Monday after the three countries’ defence and foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Riyadh. It marked the first time the alliance – known as the Mecca Alliance for Defence – has been invoked since it was signed on August 7.

The agreement declares that an attack on any of the three nations will be treated as an attack on all, mirroring a central provision of NATO’s founding treaty.

“The committee agreed to activate collective deterrence measures, within the framework of the Alliance, in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them,” Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, said in a social media post.

He said the alliance had “reaffirmed the solidarity and unity of our countries, in confronting the heinous attacks against the Kingdom, and holy sites”.

A separate joint statement published by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the three countries would “provide the agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment” to Saudi Arabia.

The commitments, the joint statement said, would be carried out under “approved arrangements” and in accordance with each country’s laws.

The announcements came hours after forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government launched a counteroffensive to retake territory the Iran-aligned Houthis captured last month. The Yemeni forces, who are backed by Saudi Arabia, said they have retaken the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea and are now in control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed its participation in the Yemeni government offensive, saying 100 of its fighter jets are providing air support.

The Houthis, meanwhile, claimed an attack on the King Khalid International airport in Riyadh and the Aramco refinery in coastal Rabigh.

The group also said it hit a series of sites, including an airport, an airbase and other critical locations.

There was no confirmation from Riyadh on the Houthi claim.

The Mecca Defence Alliance emerged as a response to intensifying conflicts in the region, triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

The defence pact was signed in August, shortly before the Houthis launched their offensive in Yemen, which has included attacks against Saudi targets.

The three members of the alliance combined have nearly  1.4 million active troops, about 3,400 military aircraft, 6,000 tanks and more than 340 naval assets, according to the 2026 Global Firepower Index.

The agreement initially offered few details about each country’s military obligations, though steps to formalise the alliance followed.

After the Houthis fired a barrage of missiles towards Saudi Arabia in early September, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said an attack on the kingdom could set the pact in motion.

“If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” Asif told Geo News, a Pakistani outlet.

Until Monday, however, the alliance had taken no action. Analysts had said that Pakistan and Turkiye were reluctant to abandon their roles as mediators in the US-Israel war on Iran.

Abdulaziz Alghashian, a senior non-resident fellow at the Gulf International Forum, said the decision to activate the Mecca defence pact will have a major impact on security in the region.

“The Houthi attacks and provocations in recent weeks and months really hastened the Mecca alliance, inspired it, even,” Alghashian told Al Jazeera. They “helped” push forward its structure, he said.

Alghashian said the episode also offered a glimpse of a regional security architecture taking shape.

“A lot of the times we keep talking about regional security architecture, it’s one of these very fancy words,” he said. “A lot of the times, it’s hollow, and not many people know what it means in detail. But I think now, we’re beginning to see how this is fleshed out. It’s a critical juncture in the history of the region.”

[Aljazeera]

The 20 nominees for the World Athlete of the Year honours have been announced ahead of the World Athletics Awards taking place in Monaco on 29 November.

The nominees – selected by an international panel of athletics experts – include 10 for Women’s World Athlete of the Year and 10 for Men’s World Athlete of the Year.

In what has been another sensational year for the sport, the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship and World Athletics Series events held throughout the year, as well as during various one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other events around the world.

Nominees for 2026 Women’s World Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order):

Tigest Assefa, Ethiopia
• Won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, the third-fastest time in history
• Won the London Marathon in a women-only world record of 2:15:41

Chase Jackson, USA
• Twice improved the North American shot put record, to 21.02m and 21.14m
• Won the world indoor title and set a Diamond League record to regain the Diamond Trophy

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, USA
• Won a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship
• Set world leads of 10.62 in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m, the latter putting her third on the world all-time list

Agnes Ngetich, Kenya
• Won the world half marathon title by 50 seconds in a women-only world record of 1:05:15 and won the world cross-country title by 42 seconds
• Ran world leads of 8:08.95 for 3000m and 28:58 for 10km

Marileidy Paulino, Dominican Republic
• Won the Ultimate 400m title and regained the Diamond League title
• Set a world lead and Diamond League record of 48.48 and remained unbeaten, running under 49 seconds in eight races

Maria Perez, Spain
• Set an inaugural world half marathon race walk record of 1:30:06
• Won the European title by 58 seconds with that world record performance

Camryn Rogers,Canada
• Improved her own North American hammer record with 81.13m, strengthening her place at second on the world all-time list
• Achieved the five best performances in the world and retained the Commonwealth Games title

Masai Russell, USA 
• Set a world 100m hurdles record of 12.09 and achieved nine of the 10 fastest times of the season
• Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles as part of an unbeaten season in the 100m hurdles

Aubrey Werro, Switzerland
• Won Ultimate, Diamond League and European 800m titles
• Broke the Diamond League record three times, improving to a world lead of 1:53.70 – putting her third on the world all-time list

Yan Zivi, China
• Threw 71.74m on her season opener, an Asian and world U20 record that puts her second on the world javelin all-time list
• Won Diamond League and Asian Games titles

Nominees for 2026 Men’s World Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order):

Kenneth Bednarek, USA 
• Achieved a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship, winning the 100m in 9.85 and 200m in a world-leading PB of 19.52
• Won the Diamond League 200m title in 19.62

Kristian Ceh. Slovenia 
• Won the Diamond League discus title with a Memorial van Damme meeting record of 71.29m
• Retained the European title with a championship record of 72.51m

Andy Diaz Hernandez, Italy
• Won world indoor, Diamond League and European triple jump titles
• Jumped 18.15m to move to fourth on the world all-time list

Allison dos Santos, Brazil
• Set a world 400m hurdles record of 45.80 and won the Ultimate title in 45.98, the third-fastest time in history
• Went undefeated in 11 hurdles races, including the Diamond League Final

Mondo Duplantis, Sweeden
• Improved his world pole vault record to 6.31m
• Won Ultimate, world indoor and European titles

Collen Kebinatshipi, Botswana
• Won the Ultimate 400m title in 43.39, putting him fifth on the world all-time list
• Won the Diamond League title and improved the Diamond League record three times, to a best of 43.40 – one of his six sub-44.00 races, a record for a single season

Josh Kerr, Great Britain and NI
• Set a world mile record of 3:42.66, achieving a world lead of 3:27.62 for his 1500m split
• Won Ultimate 1500m, world indoor 3000m, and Commonwealth Games mile titles

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, Sri Lanka 
• Won Ultimate, Diamond League, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games javelin titles
• Set a world-leading national record of 92.62m and won 13 of his 14 competitions

Sabastian Sawe, Kenya
• Won the London Marathon in a world record of 1:59:30
• Became the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon

JaKobe Tarp, USA
• Set a world 110m hurdles record of 12.75 at the NCAA Championships
• Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles and broke 13 seconds in six races

An eight-strong panel of statisticians – two members from World Athletics and one from each of the six area associations – selected the nominees. A four-way vote, which closes on Saturday 17 October at midnight CEST, will now determine their final ranking, from first to 10th.

Each of the four voting groups will contribute 25% of the final vote:

• World Athletics fans voting by survey available via the World Athletics app, website and social media channels

• Athletes who have competed at World Athletics Series events during 2026

• Members of the media including TV and radio commentators, written press journalists and content creators who have been accredited at World Athletics Series events in 2026

• World Athletics Family including Council members; commission members; athlete representatives; World Athletics Series event local organising committee chairs; Diamond League, World Indoor Tour Gold and Continental Tour Gold meeting directors; member federation presidents; official partners; and World Athletics staff

The six finalists – three for the women’s World Athlete of the Year award and three for the men’s – will be announced on 10 and 11 November and be invited to Monaco for the World Athletics Awards on 29 November, when each winner will be announced live on stage.

Other awards presented on stage will include the men’s and women’s Rising Star honours, Coach of the Year, the President’s Award and, for the first time, the Moment of the Year award.

[World Athletics]