South Africa set World Cup batting records in 102-run win over Sri Lanka

South African cricketers celebrate after winning the ICC Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka in New Delhi, India, on October 7, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 08 October 2023
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South Africa set World Cup batting records in 102-run win over Sri Lanka

  • South Africa’s Aiden Markram hits World Cup’s fastest-ever century
  • Proteas slo posted highest-ever World Cup total by scoring 428-5 

NEW DELHI: South Africa rewrote Cricket World Cup batting records as it beat Sri Lanka by 102 runs, with three Proteas batters smashing centuries on Saturday in their tournament opener.
Aiden Markram (106) hit the World Cup’s fastest-ever century off 49 balls; Quinton de Kock, in his farewell international tournament, scored 100; and Rassie van der Dussen made 108 as South Africa amassed 428-5.
It was the first time three batters from the same team had scored centuries in a single innings of a World Cup game.
Sri Lanka, which won the toss in New Delhi and chose to field, always lagged behind despite Kusal Mendis’ blistering 76 off 42 balls in the batting powerplay. Sri Lanka was dismissed for 326 in 44.5 overs.
“Probably a blessing in disguise that we lost the toss,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said afterward.
Markram’s belligerent knock surpassed Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball century in Ireland’s famous win over England at the 2011 World Cup. The South African total was also the highest in a World Cup, surpassing Australia’s 417-6 against Afghanistan in 2015.
De Kock and van der Dussen shared a 204-run second wicket stand after Bavuma was trapped leg before wicket by Dilshan Madushanka.
Sri Lanka, going into the World Cup without injured ace legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, couldn’t stop the flow of runs either through pace or spin as de Kock and van der Dussen smashed 25 boundaries and five sixes between them.
De Kock top-edged an easy catch at mid-on off Matheesha Pathirana a ball after he completed his century and van der Dussen also holed out at long-on soon after completing his century.
It was all Markram’s brilliant power-hitting in the latter stage of South Africa’s innings as he cut loose soon after completing his half century off 34 balls.
He raised his next 50 off only 15 balls when he smacked Pathirana over square leg for a six in an over that went for 26 as all the Sri Lanka bowlers got a hammering.
“I know what’s expected of me as a batter,” Markram said. “Initially, you want to get a feel for the wicket and find out the options you can take and then back it.”
Pathirarana (1-95) and Kasun Rajitha (1-90) went for plenty while Madushanka (2-86) and young left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage (1-81) also had a forgetful World Cup outing.
Markram was dismissed after smashing 14 fours and three sixes in hot conditions as he holed out at long off before David Miller continued to push the scoring rate with a breezy unbeaten 39 off 21 balls.
Chasing a huge target, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka (68) finally ended a lean spell in ODIs with his first score of 50-plus since his century against India early this year while Charith Asalanka (79) was also among the runs before Sri Lanka got bowled out with more than five overs to spare.
“We expected to keep them to 350-370, we thought it would be manageable given Asalanka and Mendis’ form but we couldn’t deal with the extra runs,” Shanaka said.
Seamer Gerald Coetzee picked up 3-68 and spinner Keshav Maharaj took 2-62.
Marco Jansen, who picked up two early wickets before being smashed around, had 2-92 as Mendis flicked the left-arm seamer for big sixes.

BANGLADESH CRUSHES AFGHANISTAN

Mehidy Hasan Miraz starred with bat and ball in hilly Dharamsala as Bangladesh crushed Afghanistan by six wickets.
After Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field, Afghanistan was skittled out for 156 with all-rounder Mehidy picking up 3-25 and skipper Shakib Al Hasan claiming 3-30.
Mehidy then scored 57 runs in 73 balls as Bangladesh made 158-4 in 34.4 overs, easing home with 15.2 overs to spare.
Afghanistan made a good start to its innings with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran (22) putting on 47 for the first wicket.
Gurbaz added another 36 with Rahmat Shah (18) before Shakib struck twice to remove Zadran and Shah.
The turning point came when Mehidy dismissed Hashmatullah Shahidi for 18 as the skipper went for a slog.
Four balls later, Mustafizur Rahman removed the in-form Gurbaz for 47 with a slower ball and the Afghanistan slide continued, with the last three wickets all falling on 156.
Bangladesh then made a poor start to its innings, Tanzid Hasan going for five and Litton Das for 13.
Mehidy, though, added 97 in 129 balls with Najmul Hossain Shanto for the third wicket to steer Bangladesh toward its target.
Naveen-ul-Haq removed Mehidy thanks to a brilliant catch at mid-off from Shah, but Shanto stayed until the end, scoring 59 not out off 83 balls including three fours and a six.
During the innings, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb ur Rahman made a sliding fielding attempt close to the backward square leg boundary at the HPCA Stadium and his knee was almost jammed up in the outfield, with a patch of grass coming clean off.
“We are lucky Mujeeb hasn’t got a serious knee injury today,” Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said afterward. “Yes, he probably shouldn’t have dived on his knee, but we see it is the product of cricket all around the world where players are taught and encouraged to improve their fielding. (But) we have got players unsure of whether they can dive (here),” Trott said.
When asked if the ground was fit to host international games, Trott replied, “I don’t think that’s a decision for me to sit here and make an assessment of. You have got players worried about getting injured. It is for them (the ICC) to look at and keep an eye on.”
But Trott also added: “It is not the reason why we lost today.”


Japan flexes defense ambitions at arms show

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Japan flexes defense ambitions at arms show

  • Japan has been gradually stepping back from the pacifism that was the cornerstone of decades of defense planning after the country’s defeat in World War Two

TOKYO: Japan opened one of its largest-ever arms shows on Wednesday in a display that Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said marked the pacifist nation’s deepening push for overseas defence cooperation and weapons exports.

The DSEI Japan exhibition near Tokyo showcased Japanese missiles, warships and research into lasers and electromagnetic railguns. 

The event, double the size of the 2023 show, drew 471 firms from 33 countries, including 169 from Japan — twice as many as two years ago, according to organizer Clarion Defense & Security.

“I sincerely hope that this exhibition will provide a new opportunity for cooperation and exchange between national delegations and companies, help sustain defense industry development, drive innovation and promote peace and stability,” Nakatani said during a speech at the event.

Japan has been gradually stepping back from the pacifism that was the cornerstone of decades of defense planning after the country’s defeat in World War Two.

It lifted a military export ban in 2014, and is taking its first steps into global defense cooperation encouraged by the United States and European partners eager to share development costs and tap Japan’s industrial base.

“Strength comes from expanding and elevating the alliance’s capabilities and capacity, which means leveraging our respective skills and our specialties in co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment,” US Ambassador to Japan George Glass said as he opened the DSEI US pavilion.


Putin visited Russia’s Kursk region for first time since Moscow said it drove out Ukrainian forces

Updated 33 sec ago
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Putin visited Russia’s Kursk region for first time since Moscow said it drove out Ukrainian forces

  • Putin’s unannounced visit appeared to be an effort to show Russia is in control of the conflict
  • Video broadcast by Russian state media showed that Putin visited Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin visited Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day, according to the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 in one of their biggest battlefield successes in the more than three-year war. The incursion was the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since World War II and dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin.

Since the end of 2023, Russia has mostly had the advantage on the battlefield, with the exception of Kursk.

Putin has effectively rejected recent US and European proposals for a ceasefire. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday accused Kyiv’s allies of seeking a truce “so that they can calmly arm Ukraine, so that Ukraine can strengthen its defensive positions.”

North Korea sent up to 12,000 troops to help the Russian army take back control of Kursk, according to Ukraine, the US and South Korea. Russia announced on April 26 that its forces had pushed out the Ukrainian army. Kyiv officials denied the claim.

Ukraine says it stopped Russian attacks in Kursk

The Ukrainian Army General Staff said Wednesday that its forces repelled 13 Russian assaults in Kursk. Its map of military activity showed Ukrainian troops holding a thin line of land hard against the border but still inside Russia.

Putin’s unannounced visit appeared to be an effort to show Russia is in control of the conflict, even though its full-scale invasion of its neighbor has been slow and costly in terms of casualties and equipment.

Video broadcast by Russian state media showed that Putin visited Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2, which is still under construction, and met with selected volunteers.

Many of the volunteers wore clothes emblazoned with the Russian flag, some had the Latin letters “V” on them, one of the symbols of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“What you are doing now during this difficult situation for this region, for this area, and for the country, will remain with you for the rest of your life as, perhaps, the most meaningful thing with which you were ever involved,” Putin said as he drank tea with the volunteers.

Ukraine’s surprise thrust into Kursk and its ability to hold land there was a logistical feat, carried out in secrecy, that countered months of gloomy news from the front about Ukrainian forces being pushed backward by the bigger Russian army.

Kyiv’s strategy aimed to show that Russia has weaknesses and that the war isn’t lost. It also sought to distract Russian forces from their onslaught in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.

The move was fraught with risk. Analysts noted that it could backfire and open a door for Russian advances in Ukraine by further stretching Ukrainian forces that are short-handed along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

The incursion didn’t significantly change the dynamics of the war.

Putin told acting Kursk Gov. Alexander Khinshtein that the Kremlin supported the idea of continuing monthly payments to displaced families that still couldn’t return to their homes.

Putin said that he would back a proposal to build a museum in the region to celebrate what acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein described as “the heroism of our defenders and the heroism of the region’s residents.”

Disgruntled residents had previously shown their disapproval over a lack of compensation in rare organized protests.

Putin last visited the Kursk region in March, when Ukrainian troops still controlled some parts of the area. He wore military fatigues – a rarely seen sight for the Russian leader, who usually wears a suit – and visited the area’s military headquarters where he was filmed with top generals.

Russia and Ukraine continue deep strikes with drones

Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Wednesday repeatedly reported its air defenses shot down dozens of drones over multiple Russian regions. In total, between 8 p.m. on Tuesday and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the ministry said 262 drones were shot down.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported a total of 16 drones downed on their way toward Moscow, and during the day flights were briefly halted in and out of Moscow’s Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukosky airports, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya. Flights were also temporarily grounded in the cities of Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kostroma, Vladimir and Yaroslavl.

Local authorities in the regions of Tula, Lipetsk and Vladimir also announced blocking cell phone Internet in the wake of the drone attacks.

In Ukraine, Russian drone attacks killed two people and wounded five others in the northern Sumy region, the regional administration said.

In the Kyiv region, four members of a family were injured when debris from a downed drone hit their home, according to the regional administration.

Russia launched 76 Shahed and decoy drones overnight at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said.

The Ukrainian army said that its drones struck a semiconductor plant overnight in Russia’s Oryol region, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Ukraine. According to the General Staff, 10 drones hit the Bolkhov Semiconductor Devices Plant, one of Russia’s key producers of microelectronics for the military-industrial complex.

It wasn’t possible to independently verify the claim.


Trump plays video in Ramaphosa meeting to back ‘genocide’ claims

President Donald Trump meets South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 21.
Updated 3 min 9 sec ago
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Trump plays video in Ramaphosa meeting to back ‘genocide’ claims

  • Julius Malema was shown singing ‘Kill the Boer, kill the farmer’ — an infamous chant dating back to the apartheid-era fight against white-minority rule
  • Another clip showed former South African president Jacob Zuma singing an anti-apartheid song that threatens white people

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump surprised his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa during an White House meeting Wednesday by playing him a video designed to back baseless claims of a white “genocide.”

Trump asked staff members to play a video on a screen set up in the Oval Office showing Ramaphosa — and the gathered global media — what he said were clips of Black South Africans talking about the issue, including images of what the US president called “burial sites.”

In the video, firebrand far-left opposition lawmaker Julius Malema was shown singing “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” — an infamous chant dating back to the apartheid-era fight against white-minority rule.

Malema has been a loud and radical voice in South African politics for several years, but his Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party came only fourth in last year’s elections with less than 10 percent of the vote.

The 4:30-minute video showed clips of Malema telling dancing supporters that “we are cutting the throat of whiteness,” and “to shoot to kill.”

“We have not called for the killing of white people, at least for now,” Malema said in one archive clip.

Another clip showed former South African president Jacob Zuma singing an anti-apartheid song that threatens white people with being shot by machine gun.

The video finished with images of a protest in South Africa where white crosses were placed along a rural roadside to represent murdered farmers.


UK anti-Islam activist ‘Tommy Robinson’ charged with harassment of two men

Updated 21 May 2025
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UK anti-Islam activist ‘Tommy Robinson’ charged with harassment of two men

  • Crown Prosecution Service said the alleged offenses were committed between August 5 and 7 last year

LONDON: Prominent British anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has been charged with harassment causing fear of violence to two men around the time of the nationwide riots last year, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
“We have authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, with harassment causing fear of violence against two men,” a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said in a statement.
Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, is currently in prison over a separate contempt of court issue but is due to be released next week after winning a bid on Tuesday to trim the 18-month sentence.
The CPS said the alleged offenses were committed between August 5 and 7 last year — when riots broke out at anti-immigration protests in towns and cities across Britain following the murder of three young girls in Southport, northwest England.
Yaxley-Lennon, who describes himself as a journalist who exposes state wrongdoing and counts US billionaire Elon Musk among his supporters, was accused by some media and politicians of inflaming tensions at the time of the riots.


Three British ministers to explain increase in arms exports to Israel despite partial ban

Updated 21 May 2025
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Three British ministers to explain increase in arms exports to Israel despite partial ban

  • Trade Minister Douglas Alexander and relevant ministers from the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence will answer MPs’ questions
  • Liam Byrne, chair of the business select committee, says ministers should clarify reasons behind the increase in arms exports to Israel

LONDON: The British parliamentary committee overseeing trade is summoning three Labour government ministers responsible for arms exports to Israel to answer questions about loopholes in the rules.

In September, the UK government announced a partial ban on arms exports to send munitions to Israel for use in Gaza as the Israeli forces continue their attacks on the Palestinian coastal enclave.

British MPs are concerned that arms companies may exploit the partial nature of arms exports to provide weaponry to Israel for use in Gaza, potentially violating a commitment by ministers.

Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, has called Trade Minister Douglas Alexander and relevant ministers from the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence to answer questions about the arms trade with Israel.

He said in a letter that the three ministers should clarify the reasons behind the increase in arms sent to Israel. Additionally, he called for the release of statistics regarding the number of licenses altered to exclude Israel as the end user.

He said the ministers assured MPs that the partial ban covered “equipment that we assess is for use in the current conflict in Gaza, such as important components that go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items that facilitate ground targeting.”

His decision followed a report from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, which revealed last week that the UK government approved licenses for £127.6 million ($171.5 million) worth of military equipment to Israel in the fourth quarter of 2024, which occurred despite the Labour government’s partial ban on arms exports to Israel imposed in September.

The CAAT said that the total is greater than the combined arms exports to Israel for the years 2020 to 2023.

On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy assured MPs that “arms are not being delivered to Israel that could be used in Gaza.” However, the government has authorized over £61 million in single-issue licenses for military goods intended for Israel, including targeting systems, munitions, and aircraft parts, according to The Guardian newspaper.