Blog

  • Cable damage off Yemen blamed for internet slowdown – Newspaper

    Cable damage off Yemen blamed for internet slowdown – Newspaper

    • Repairs may take over a month, IT secretary tells NA committee
    • Three new internet cables to link Pakistan with Europe in 12-18 months
    • S. Korean-funded Islamabad IT Park faces delays, NA panel warns of blacklisting

    ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom was informed on Thursday that damaged submarine cables off the coast of Yemen were behind the recent slowdown of internet services in Pakistan.

    IT Secretary Zarar Hashim briefed the committee that several cables had been affected, two of which are directly connected to Pakistan.

    He said companies had shifted bandwidth to alternative back-up systems but warned that repairs could take more than a month, with the regional situation likely to cause further delays. He added that repairing five cables at once was a serious technical challenge.

    Committee Chairman Syed Aminul Haque asked about long-term measures to close the supply-demand gap in internet connectivity. Officials said three new submarine cables, linking Pakistan with Europe, were expected within the next 12 to 18 months. Agreements for these had already been signed, they added.

    During the meeting, committee member Sadiq Memon also raised concerns over delays at the Islamabad IT Park project.

    The secretary said the Islamabad IT Park was being established with South Korean funding under a $78 million loan agreement, approved in 2017 with a 10-year grace period.

    Pakistan is to repay the loan over 30 years at a concessional rate of 0.5 per cent. The park is aimed at bringing IT companies under one roof to boost exports, and both the Islamabad and Karachi projects are being supported by South Korea.

    However, the standing committee expressed displeasure at the slow progress and directed the ministry to issue a formal letter of grievance. The committee chairman said that the ministry should convey its dissatisfaction to the company in writing. Officials explained that the project, which began in 2022, had faced multiple delays due to heavy rains, a dollar crisis that suspended imports for six months, and disputes over tax and duty exemptions demanded by the company.

    Committee members questioned why these issues had not been addressed at the time of the agreement.

    The project director told the committee that nine project managers had been changed in just 13 months, adding to the delays. A representative of the Korean company acknowledged differences with the government over tax interpretations and conceded that the project was behind schedule.

    The chairman noted the project was already eight months overdue and questioned whether it would be completed by the Oct 31 deadline. The Korean representative admitted the timeline was unlikely to be met.

    The chairman warned that if the project was not finished by the end of October, another letter of displeasure would be issued.

    Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025

    Continue Reading

  • Fazl urges govt to prefer dialogue over military action – Pakistan

    Fazl urges govt to prefer dialogue over military action – Pakistan

    KARACHI: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday urged the government to prioritise peace talks over military operations to eradicate terrorism.

    Speaking at the Sindh Amn March organised by his party in Karachi, the Maulana said there could be no state within a state, but if a solution through dialogue was proposed, then it should be entertained by the authorities.

    He, however, said no one had the right to take the law into their own hands. “It’s unacceptable for someone to carry guns, climb mountains and kill whoever they want calling it ‘Jihad’,” he said.

    Besides the JUI-F leader, the PTI has also opposed military operations, particularly in KP, where terrorism has seen a spike after the Taliban government came to power in Afghanistan. Recently, PTI chief Imran Khan had also told his party’s chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur in KP to oppose the move.

    Maulana Fazl appreciated the defence pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. He termed it a positive development for regional stability and a step towards greater unity in the Muslim world.

    “We urge both nations to utilise this agreement not just for bilateral gains but for the collective benefit of the Islamic world. This accord should be made effective for the whole Muslim Ummah,” he said.

    Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025

    Continue Reading

  • Two judges of defunct IHC anti-harassment body express conflicting views – Newspaper

    Two judges of defunct IHC anti-harassment body express conflicting views – Newspaper

    • Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir argues the case fell outside workplace harassment law, should be dealt by SJC
    • Justice Saman Imtiaz defends assuming jurisdiction, says courtroom is a workplace

    ISLAMABAD: Two judges of the Isla­m­abad High Court (IHC) have written letters expressing conflicting views over the proceeding on the harassment complaint filed against the chief justice by Advocate Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir.

    Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, who was part of the now-defunct committee constituted to examine harassment allegations against IHC CJ Justice Sarfraz Dogar, aligned himself with the top judge, asserting that such allegations did not fall within the ambit of the workplace harassment law.

    In a letter, Justice Tahir clarified that the appropriate forum to address such grievances was the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). He maintained that the competent authority had erroneously assumed jurisdiction over the matter, according to sources familiar with the development.

    The letter was circulated among judges as well as the chief justice shortly after the IHC administration de-notified Justice Sa­­­­man Rafat Imtiaz as the competent authority.

    In a separate letter, Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz defended assuming jurisdiction and termed the courtroom a workplace.

    She stated that, as the competent auth­o­r­ity under the Protection Against Haras­sment of Women at Workplace Act, she was duty-bound to entertain the complaint.

    Although there was no provision for including herself in the inquiry committee constituted to probe the allegations against the chief justice—since Subsection 4 of Section 4 of the Act states: “The inquiry committee shall submit its findings and recommendations to the competent authority within thirty days of the initiation of inquiry”.

    Justice Imtiaz pointed out that Subsection 2 of Section 3 states: “The committee shall consist of three members, of whom at least one member shall be a woman. One member shall be from senior management and one shall be a senior representative of the employees or a senior employee where there is no CBA.” She said that in order to meet this requirement she included herself under compelling circumstances.

    The episode took a dramatic turn when the IHC administration de-notified Just­ice Imtiaz and replaced her with Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas as the competent authority.

    Justice Imtiaz suggested that her successor would complete the unfinished task, reiterating her view that judges could be tried under the Act and that Article 209 did not grant them immunity from such proceedings.

    Besides seeking proceedings against the top judge under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, Ms Mazari-Hazir had earlier also moved the Supreme Judicial Council for misconduct proceedings against Justice Dogar. She again approached the judicial council after the IHC administration removed Justice Imtiaz as the competent authority.

    The complaints against CJ Dogar stem­med from a heated exchange between the lawyer and the top judge last week.

    Dur­ing the hearing, Justice Dogar had warned Ms Mazari-Hazir of a contempt of court case and was reported to have made remarks along the lines of “getting a hold of her”.

    Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025

    Continue Reading

  • Bugti vows dignified repatriation of Afghans – Newspaper

    Bugti vows dignified repatriation of Afghans – Newspaper

    • CM warns strict action against officials involved in disrespectful behaviour
    • Orders special care for women, children and elderly persons

    QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti has reaffirmed that the ongoing repatriation of Afghan refugees will be conducted in a transparent, well-organised and dignified manner, ensuring the self-respect of every individual.

    “Special care will be extended to women, children, and the elderly Afghan refugees. Any disrespectful behaviour during the process will result in strict disciplinary action,” he said.

    He made these remarks while presiding over a high-level meeting on Thursday that reviewed the repatriation process of Afghan refugees and the law and order situation in Qila Abdullah district.

    The chief minister stressed that the provincial government is implementing the federal policy on repatriation in close coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

    The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Shakeel Qadir Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Home Hamza Shafqaat, Principal Secretary Babar Khan, Inspector General of Police Muhammad Tahir, Levies Director General Abdul Ghaffar Magsi, Quetta Division Commissioner Shahzeb Kakar and Commissioner for Afghan Refugees Balochistan Arbab Talib. The Zhob DIG, deputy commissioners and district police officers of Qila Abdullah and Chaman also participated via video link.

    Hamza Shafqaat briefed the meeting on the repatriation process and security arrangements.

    The chief minister issued clear directives that women, children and elderly persons must be given special attention and that any humiliating or disrespectful behaviour would not be tolerated under any circumstances. He warned that complaints of insulting conduct would lead to immediate action against the officials concerned.

    He instructed that maximum assistance and facilitation must be ensured during the repatriation process, including the temporary recruitment of female security personnel to assist women. He underlined that the government’s foremost priority is to complete the repatriation process while upholding human dignity.

    The meeting also reviewed the law and order situation in Qila Abdullah. The chief minister ordered that all criminal elements in the district be eliminated without delay, with indiscriminate operations carried out regardless of the jurisdiction of Levies or police. CM Bugti directed the divisional and district administration to take immediate steps for peace restoration and submit daily progress reports to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

    Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025

    Continue Reading

  • ICC takes action against Pakistan, punishes PCB for multiple violations, including recording Andy Pycroft video

    ICC takes action against Pakistan, punishes PCB for multiple violations, including recording Andy Pycroft video

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) has pulled up the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for “violation of multiple tournament rules” ahead of their final Group A Asia Cup 2025 clash against the UAE on Wednesday at the Dubai International Stadium. The team delayed the match in protest against the world body’s rejection of their demand to suspend match referee Andy Pycroft from the tournament.

    PCB claimed Andy Pycroft apologised to Pakistan camp on Wednesday

    PCB’s demand stemmed from the handshake controversy in last Sunday’s Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan in Dubai. The board blamed Pycroft for the fiasco and demanded his removal from the tournament’s match referee panel, along with threatening a pullout. After the ICC rejected the plea, Pakistan shot another letter on the eve of their game against the UAE.

    As the stand-off continued on Wednesday, Pakistan players were instructed not to leave their hotel rooms for the stadium. PCB conducted an elaborate meeting, comprising incumbent chairman Mohsin Naqvi (also the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC)) and his successors Najam Sethi and Ramiz Raja, which caused an hour-long delay in the start of the match. Eventually, the players were given a green light to continue their participation in the Asia Cup.

    Prior to the start of the match, PCB took to social media to claim that Pycroft apologised to the Pakistan camp. Shortly after, a video was released on X showing the Zimbabwean in conversation with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, team manager Naved Akram Cheema, and head coach Mike Hesson in the match referee’s room. However, the audio was muted.

    According to a report in the PTI, ICC sent an email to the PCB right before the start of the game on Wednesday, citing “misconduct” and “multiple violations” of the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) protocol.

    “The ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta has written to the PCB stating that the board has been guilty of repeated PMOA violations on match day. PCB is in receipt of the e-mail,” a tournament source told the news agency.

    The report further said that despite Pakistan being warned of the violations, PCB allowed media manager Naeem Gillani to film the meeting. In fact, ICC had also warned that media managers are barred from attending such meetings.

    The report also claimed that, in order to reach a middle ground on Wednesday, amid the Pakistan players being barred from playing the match against the UAE, the ICC agreed to PCB’s final demand that Pycroft would meet the team captain and manager before the toss.

    “PCB brought to the meeting their media manager and insisted that he be present during the conversation,” he added. Naeem was refused entry by the ICC Anti-Corruption Manager because “he wanted to take his mobile phone into the PMOA”.

    In fact, PCB had further threatened to pull out of the match when Naeem was not allowed to enter the match referee’s room, and then insisted on filming the conversation, albeit with no audio, which was a “further violation of the PMOA regulations.”

    “The ICC, in order to preserve the interest of the sport, the tournament and the stakeholders involved accepted PCB’s asks although this demonstrated a complete disregard for the sanctity of the PMOA, where the meeting took place,” the source said.

    ICC was not aware of how the footage would be used by the PCB, but a short clip of it was shared on various social media handles, sparking speculation. However, the apex body clarified that it merely expressed regret over a miscommunication, thus contradicting the PCB’s claim.

    Continue Reading

  • Study reveals early nicotinamide use reduces risk of aggressive skin cancers

    Study reveals early nicotinamide use reduces risk of aggressive skin cancers

    Starting nicotinamide early after a first skin cancer could sharply cut future cancer risk, according to a real-world VA study of over 33,000 patients.

    Study: Nicotinamide for Skin Cancer Chemoprevention. Image Credit: yanishevska / Shutterstock

    In a recent study published in the journal JAMA Dermatology, researchers leveraged data from a large-scale retrospective cohort to investigate the associations between nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and real-world nonmelanoma skin cancer. Because this was an observational analysis, the results reflect associations rather than proven causality.

    The study analyzed electronic health records from over 33,000 U.S. veterans and found that nicotinamide is associated with a decreased risk of developing new keratinocyte skin cancers overall, as well as for cSCC, with no overall reduction for BCC. However, the protective effect was most pronounced (56%) when the supplement was started after a patient’s first skin cancer and progressively weakened with each subsequent diagnosis, becoming non-significant after the seventh.

    Background

    Nonmelanoma skin cancers, primarily basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), are the most common malignancies in the world. Alarmingly, reports suggest that their prevalence is exacerbating, with research finding that for individuals who have already had one skin cancer, the risk of developing another is significantly elevated, making preventive strategies a priority.

    Nicotinamide, an inexpensive and widely available over-the-counter vitamin B3 supplement, has emerged as a leading candidate for chemoprevention. A landmark 2015 randomized clinical trial (RCT) demonstrated that 500 mg of nicotinamide, consumed twice daily, substantially reduced the rate of new skin cancers in high-risk patients. A subsequent RCT in solid organ transplant recipients did not show an overall benefit.

    These findings led to widespread adoption by dermatologists and oncologists, especially for patients with extensive histories of skin cancer. Unfortunately, real-world, large-scale data on the benefits of nicotinamide remains lacking.

    About the study

    The present study addresses these knowledge gaps and guides future oncological practice by conducting a large retrospective cohort study using data from the U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), a massive repository of electronic health records (EHRs).

    The study leveraged data from 33,822 veterans with a clinically confirmed history of skin cancer. From this group, 12,287 patients (‘cases’) who had been prescribed oral nicotinamide (500 mg, twice daily for more than 30 days) were identified.

    Statistical analyses, specifically propensity score matching (PSM), were used to compare these patients to 21,479 socio-demographically similar patients who had not taken the nicotinamide supplement (‘controls’). PSM was controlled for numerous factors, including age, sex, race, acitretin use, field therapy, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, solid organ transplant status, and, most importantly, the number and timing of skin cancers a patient had before the nicotinamide was initiated.

    The study’s primary outcomes of interest were the time to the development of a new procedurally treated skin cancer, with events identified using paired ICD and CPT codes and a 90-day window after starting the supplement.

    Study findings

    The present study participants had a mean age of 77.2 years (2.0% women) and mainly comprised White participants (94.9%). PSM analyses revealed a significant, albeit modest, overall benefit of nicotinamide supplementation. Patients taking nicotinamide demonstrated a 14% lower risk of developing a new skin cancer compared to the unexposed control group. This risk reduction was primarily attributed to a 22% reduction in cSCC (Hazard Ratio [HR], 0.78; 95% CI, 0.75-0.82), with no significant overall reduction observed for BCC (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.96-1.05).

    Within the matched dataset, there were 10,994 instances of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 12,551 instances of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) after nicotinamide exposure, while a total of 1334 (3.9%) in the matched cohort were solid organ transplant recipients.

    Notably, nicotinamide’s protective effects were strongest when supplementation was initiated immediately after a patient’s very first skin cancer, where it was associated with a 56% reduction in the risk of a subsequent cancer. However, this benefit steadily declined as the number of prior skin cancers increased (43% after a second skin cancer and 30% after a third, eventually becoming statistically insignificant after the seventh).

    Surprisingly, among high-risk solid organ transplant recipients, nicotinamide did not show an overall benefit, but among SOTRs with only one or two prior skin cancers, early use was associated with a reduced risk of cSCC.

    Conclusions

    The present large-scale (n > 33,000 participants) real-world study provides observational evidence on the clinical associations of nicotinamide for skin cancer prevention. Study findings strongly suggest that while the overall benefits may appear modest, the molecule’s greatest advantage lies in early intervention.

    While the supplement offers a clear association with reducing the risk of new skin cancers, particularly the more aggressive cSCC, this protective effect is observed to wane as a patient’s disease burden grows. Because this was an observational study, residual confounding and limited generalizability to non-VA populations should be considered, and randomized trials are still needed.

    Clinicians should engage in shared decision-making, weighing potential benefits, patient risk profiles, and alternative preventive options, rather than adopting routine use until more definitive randomized evidence is available.

    Journal reference:

    • Breglio, K. F., Knox, K. M., Hwang, J., Weiss, R., Maas, K., Zhang, S., Yao, L., Madden, C., Xu, Y., Hartman, R. I., & Wheless, L. (2025). Nicotinamide for Skin Cancer Chemoprevention. JAMA Dermatology. DOI – 10.1001/jamadermatol.2025.3238. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/2838591

    Continue Reading

  • Joy Crookes on her new album Juniper and ‘letting go’ of perfectionism

    Joy Crookes on her new album Juniper and ‘letting go’ of perfectionism

    Mark SavageMusic correspondent

    Ewen Spencer A spotlight picks Joy Crookes out of a crowd in a nightclub, in a promo shot for her new albumEwen Spencer

    Joy Crookes’ soulful, perceptive music has earned her nominations at both the Brit Awards and the Mercury Prize

    Joy Crookes knows a thing or two about music.

    As a kid, her dad encouraged her to soak up the classics, from Nick Cave and King Tubby to The Pogues and hours of music from Pakistan.

    “He’d say, ‘This is from your ends of the world, you should hear this’,” says the singer, who’s of Irish-Bangladeshi heritage.

    Before long, she’d bought her first album (Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On) and uploaded her first cover to YouTube, playing a cheap guitar she bought in Argos.

    Her debut album, Skin, was released in 2021, earning a Mercury Prize nomination for its soulful, perceptive ballads. The following summer, Crookes played Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage for the first time, bursting into tears at the scale of the occasion.

    But as a music nerd, who’d devoured back issues of NME magazine as a teenager, she knew what came next: The second album slump.

    Except… it never came.

    “People think the scary part of your second album is the writing,” she says. “Like, ‘Oh no, what am I going to say?’”

    “For me, I’ve always got something to [expletive] say, so it wasn’t that difficult to write.

    Getty Images Joy Crookes performs at the Glastonbury FestivalGetty Images

    Crookes previewed her album with a sun-kissed Glastonbury set this summer

    Work on her second album, Juniper, started years ago. Crookes posted demos and early sketches on her Instagram feed in 2022, many of which have made the final track listing. So what took so long?

    “Making sure that the songs sounded the way they should, to match the songwriting,” she says. “That was the hard part.”

    Take her recent single Perfect Crime. A slinky, smoky dancefloor filler, it finds Crookes giving herself a pep talk as she prepares to plunge back into the dating world.

    Fresh and funny and light on its feet – it needed “20 or 30” different takes before she was satisfied.

    “It’s incredibly janky but, for me, the jank is the important thing,” she says. If it was polished, it’d ruin the fun of the song.

    “If you go through the individual elements, there are crazy moments that make no sense – but that’s what makes the song come together.”

    If that makes her sound like an obsessive perfectionist, think again. Other songs on Juniper – from the emotionally exposing Mother, to the brutal break-up ballad Mathematics – were recorded in a single session.

    On the album’s philosophical closer, Paris, she even lets herself sing off key – preferring the honesty of that vocal to a more polished, auto-tuned alternative.

    “Growing up, my dad used to talk about how Van Morrison would ‘let go’ in his songs – there’s moments in Listen to the Lion and Astral Weeks where he’s just free.

    “And I think for the first time ever in my career, and just as a person, I let myself go on this record.”

    Anxiety attacks

    The journey to accepting those imperfections was rough: There’s a second, more distressing, reason that Crookes’ second album took so long.

    The 26-year-old had always suffered from anxiety but, sometime around 2022, it tightened its grip.

    After wrapping up the promotion of her debut record, she entered what she describes as a “very hedonistic phase in my personal life”.

    “I had very little self worth,” she explains. “I was constantly trying to escape my body and my life.”

    During that time, she also found herself in an abusive relationship, the end of which triggered a protracted period of poor mental health.

    “The anxiety had become so significant that it had become completely physical,” she says.

    “It wasn’t just panic attacks. I couldn’t keep food down. Everything I did involved me having a vomiting attack.”

    Joy Crookes A black and white photograph shows Joy Crookes recording vocals for her album, while sitting downJoy Crookes

    Crookes voice has a rich, resonant timbre that has seen her compared to Amy Winehouse and Ella Fitzgerald

    With the help of some “very intrusive” therapy, she began to make a recovery – but it was hard work.

    Anxiety had become so familiar that it was like “a part of my family, a part of my friendship group,” she says.

    Letting go meant unlearning years of habitual behaviour.

    It’s a process she sings about on First Last Dance: “It’s high time you let me go… but breaking up is so hard to do“.

    “The song is specifically about the vomiting – and how I cannot let [anxiety] take over that much,” she says.

    “So it’s not necessarily, ‘Goodbye anxiety, I can’t have you any more,’ even though I’d love for it to be that simple.

    “It’s more like, ‘I can’t have you be so prominent that I physically cannot function’.”

    The song marked a turning point – something she illustrates by pairing the subject matter with a feathery, Kylie-esque dance beat.

    For the rest of the album, she’s sorting out her priorities.

    Ewen Spencer Joy Crookes holds a katana, amid the wreckage of a suburban bedroom, in a still image from her video I Know You'd KillEwen Spencer

    The video for I Know You’d Kill sees the singer facing down assassins with a Japanese katana

    I Know You’d Kill is a tribute to her manager, Charlie, whose protective instincts kicked in when a person on the fringes of Crookes’ team began behaving in a way that made others “feel unsafe”.

    “Charlie said,’ Well, you know I’d kill for you’,” recalls Crookes.

    “I couldn’t look at her because she looked like diamonds,” she adds, confessing she may have been on mushrooms at the time. “I had to turn away from her because she was shining so brightly.”

    It was a reminder that, as dark as things had become, she had real friends. With their support, and as her mental health improved, Crookes began to rediscover herself.

    On the strutting, guitar-driven Somebody To You, she waves goodbye to a suffocating relationship and asks: “Who am I when I’m out of your sight?”

    It’s not just about romantic partners, she explains, but the music industry, and public perception.

    “I’ve been in this industry since I was a child, and I don’t really want to be defined by just music,” she says.

    “I’d like to think that my life is a plethora of things. My identity is complex.”

    Joy Crookes holds a finger up to the camera as she performs on stage at the 2025 Reading Festival

    Crookes will begin an 18-date European tour in support of Juniper in November

    As if to prove it, she recently made her film debut in Ish – the story of two best friends whose friendship is tested by an ugly and heavy-handed police stop and search.

    The role took Crookes, who plays an older sister to the lead character, all the way to the Venice Film Festival, where the movie won the coveted audience award.

    She’s had other film offers since, but she has her sights set on being part of Gurinder Chadha’s sequel to Bend It Like Beckham – on the soundtrack, on the screen, “or preferably both”.

    The original, which starred Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, had a profound impact on her as a child.

    “I mean, it literally touches on brownness and Irishness – and you can tell that there was a time where it was meant to be a lesbian story, as well.

    “I’m really interested in how [the sequel] turns out,” she says.

    For now, though, Crookes is gearing up for the release of Juniper. A testament to her strength, it’s rich and profound, unafraid to confront complexity, but peppered with heart and humour. The second album slump has been sent packing.

    Even so, sending the record into the world has prompted mixed emotions.

    “When you overcome stuff like that, one minute you feel so proud and the next you feel so sad for yourself that you went through such a hard time,” she reflects.

    “It’s what makes releasing this album so euphoric and so sad at the same time.”

    The next album, which she’s already working on, will be different. Crookes is happy, relaxed, free. It’s a state of mind she couldn’t have imagined in 2022.

    “It’s kind of amazing. I pinch myself every day. I’m making jokes about stuff that would have absolutely floored me two years ago.

    “I feel very alive at the moment, and I am so grateful.”


    Continue Reading

  • Afghanistan see Asia Cup early exit as pause, not halt, in T20 surge

    Afghanistan see Asia Cup early exit as pause, not halt, in T20 surge

    Afghanistan crashed out of the Asia Cup 2025, following their six-wicket loss against Sri Lanka at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. The Rashid Khan-led side came into the tournament, touted as the second-best Asian team after India. However, Afghanistan failed to live up to their reputation and faced a shock first-stage exit.

    They began their campaign well, beating Hong Kong, China by 94 runs in the first fixture. However, the Afghan boys failed to bring their A game to the fore against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which resulted in their early elimination. This brings an end to their brilliant run in the multinational events in recent times, where they challenged top teams and registered remarkable victories.

    Afghanistan cricket has been on a rise ever since they made it to the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 after beating Australia. Since June 2024, they have won 11 out of 19 T20Is, having a better win percentage than Pakistan and South Africa in the same time period.

    However, their recent loss in the tri-series against Pakistan and the UAE, along with the Asia Cup exit, have proved to be a hiccup in their meteoric rise in international cricket. Captain Rashid Khan also wasn’t too pleased with his team’s efforts after their shocking exit and said that he expected more from his men in the tournament.

    “Mohammad Nabi’s 5 sixes were some unbelievable hitting, and I think that put us in a good position on the scoreboard to defend. However, I feel we didn’t bowl as well as we should have, and that’s why we couldn’t defend the total,” said Rashid in the post-match presentation.

    Afghanistan had a great chance to seal their spot in the Super 4 by defeating Bangladesh in their second Group fixture. However, they faltered in their run chase and fell nine runs short of their target of 155. Rashid reflected on their loss in the fixture and rued the missed opportunity, having failed to chase down a paltry total.

    Had a great chance to chase 150 vs Bangladesh: Rashid

    “Abu Dhabi offers spinning wickets, which are quite different from Dubai. It’s a much more spin-friendly wicket there. Still, if you play good cricket and take good shots, I feel it’s possible to chase totals around 170-180. We had a great chance in the last game but couldn’t chase 150, and that’s how things happen in T20 cricket. You shouldn’t overthink it, just move forward and correct the mistakes,” he added.

    Captain Rashid also admitted that the Asia Cup early exit left him surprised as well, as they had expected to reach at least the Super 4 stage after their preparations. However, the Afghanistan captain promised that the team would learn from it and come back stronger.

    “Over the last three years, we’ve played a lot of ICC events and Asia Cups, and we’ve had great preparation for every big competition. I was expecting more from the boys in this tournament, and we definitely weren’t expecting to be out this early. We worked very hard and trained really well, and the goal was to at least reach the next round, like the semi-final we made in the last T20 World Cup. But that’s the nature of T20, it’s fast-paced, and once you get stuck, it’s hard to get out. We will analyse ourselves, learn from it, and come back stronger,” he added.

    After the Asia Cup, Afghanistan will turn their attention to a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, beginning on October 2. They will then feature in a T20I tri-series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka in November.

    In recent times, Afghanistan have carved out several memorable victories, defeating heavyweights like Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka, and Australia. However, their inability to deliver in the Asia Cup has left Rashid Khan’s men with the challenge of regrouping quickly and sharpening their preparations for the T20 World Cup 2026.

    Determined to bounce back, the Afghan side will be eager to prove that their Asia Cup setback was only a blip and that they remain capable of pushing and even toppling the world’s best teams.

    – Ends

    Published By:

    Rishabh Beniwal

    Published On:

    Sep 19, 2025

    Continue Reading

  • Chris Cornell Sings Rihanna With Daughter Toni in 21st Birthday Video

    Chris Cornell Sings Rihanna With Daughter Toni in 21st Birthday Video

    As Chris Cornell‘s daughter Toni turns 21, the Soundgarden singer’s widow Vicky Cornell shared a sweet birthday message along with a video of the dad and daughter singing together.

    In the video, Cornell is strumming a guitar and singing Rihanna‘s chorus from Eminem‘s “Love the Way You Lie” along with Toni. “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn?/ Well, that’s all right because I like the way it hurts,” the pair sing together while lounging poolside. “Just gonna stand there and hear me cry?/ Well, that’s all right because I love the way you lie.”

    It’s unclear how old Toni is in the clip, but the song was released in June 2010 when she would have been not quite 6 years old. Cornell died seven years later; the grunge icon was found dead in a Detroit hotel room in May 2017.

    In Thursday’s (Sept. 18) birthday message, Vicky acknowledged the unimaginable loss that Toni has had to face (“I know it hasn’t been easy. Life threw you a heartbreaking curveball — a loss that no one should have to carry”), while applauding the way her daughter has “continued to grow, to love, and to shine. I’m so proud of you — and I know your daddy is too.”

    Soundgarden is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this November.

    See the video below, and read Vicky’s full message to her daughter.

    21 years went by in a flash….
    Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy — it’s the greatest gift I’ve ever been given. I feel so blessed and endlessly grateful for everything you’ve brought into my life.

    You were the most incredible little girl, and you’ve grown into the most incredible young woman. Your heart is rare — full of love, strength, compassion, and resilience.

    I know it hasn’t been easy. Life threw you a heartbreaking curveball — a loss that no one should have to carry. But even through that, you’ve continued to grow, to love, and to shine. I’m so proud of you — and I know your daddy is too.

    From the very first moment he saw you on that ultrasound and heard, “It’s a girl!” — you were his Baby Toni. That bond was something special, and even though he’s not physically here, I know he’s watching you, guiding you, and beaming with pride every single day.

    This is the beginning of a whole new chapter in your life, and I couldn’t be more excited to watch you step into it. I love you. I adore you. You have been my strength, my reason, and my greatest joy.

    Happy 21st, to our beautiful girl

    Continue Reading

  • Ageing arteries, lingering risks: Covid’s quiet impact on heart health

    What if a single COVID-19 infection could make your arteries behave as though they were 5 to 10 years older? That unsettling possibility emerges from the CARTESIAN study, the largest multinational investigation yet into the pandemic’s hidden impact on the cardiovascular system. Recently published in the European Heart Journal, it tracked nearly 2,400 participants across 18 countries and found that survivors of COVID-19 had stiffer arteries — a recognised marker of “vascular ageing” — compared to those never infected. The effect was most pronounced in women, whose arteries showed changes equivalent to an extra decade of age.

    “The pulse wave velocity in women after COVID corresponded to that of women five to ten years older,” said Rosa Maria Bruno, lead author and cardiologist at Inserm, France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research, in Paris.

    Why it matters

    As arteries stiffen, the heart pumps harder, blood pressure rises, and the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and dementia increases. Unlike wrinkles, these vascular changes are invisible until serious events occur. That is what makes CARTESIAN worrying. The WHO estimates nearly 700 million people worldwide have survived COVID. If even a fraction experience accelerated vascular ageing, the long-term healthcare burden could be significant. Notably, stiffening appeared even in survivors of mild infections.

    What the study did

    CARTESIAN — short for COVID-19 effects on ARTErial StIffness and vascular AgeiNg — asked whether COVID leaves a vascular imprint. Researchers from 38 centres across 18 countries recruited 2,390 adults, average age 50, about half of them women. Groups included uninfected controls and three survivor categories: non-hospitalised, hospitalised, and intensive care. Tests were performed around six months after infection, with follow-ups at twelve months.

    The team measured carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), a gold-standard indicator of arterial stiffness. PWV tracks how fast blood pressure waves travel: the stiffer the artery, the faster the wave. Comparing COVID-positive groups with controls revealed whether infection accelerated ageing.

    What they found

    Results were clear. Every COVID-positive group had stiffer arteries than controls. After adjusting for age, sex, blood pressure, diabetes and smoking, survivors still showed PWV about 0.4 metres per second faster — equivalent to arteries five years older. The effect, however, was striking only in women. They showed higher stiffness regardless of illness severity, and ICU patients had the equivalent of an extra decade of ageing.

    Persistent symptoms mattered. Women with fatigue, breathlessness or muscle aches months later — often labelled “long COVID” — had even stiffer arteries. “Women mount a stronger immune response, which protects them during infection, but if that response lingers, it can damage blood vessels,” Dr. Bruno explained.

    Vaccination and recovery

    One hopeful signal was that stiffening did not worsen indefinitely. In a subgroup followed for about a year, survivors’ stiffness stabilised or slightly improved, while controls showed the gradual increase expected with normal ageing. Still, the damage did not vanish. “No return to baseline has been observed,” Dr. Bruno cautioned. “An improvement has been observed mostly in very severe cases, whereas PWV is mostly stable in most individuals.”

    Vaccination blunted the impact, particularly in women. Those with at least one dose had lower stiffness than unvaccinated peers.

    The debate

    Not all cardiologists are convinced though. Balbir Singh, group chairman of cardiac sciences at Max Healthcare, Delhi, urges caution. “I don’t think we can make very firm conclusions based on the Cartesian study, ” he said, citing the absence of pre-COVID baseline data as a major limitation. “These findings suggest arterial stiffness could be accelerated in patients who had COVID, but do not conclusively prove it.” From his own practice, Dr. Singh adds, he has not observed a marked shift. “Are we seeing higher hypertensive patients than before? I’m not seeing that. Am I seeing those who went into the ICU during COVID now coming back with heart problems? I’m not seeing that.”

    Elsewhere, clinicians have been drawing different lessons from what they encounter. At the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit academic medical centre based in Ohio, U.S., Stanley Hazen has argued that a history of COVID-19 should inform preventive care, based on his research connecting the virus to heart problems, stroke, and death. “As clinicians, we should consider a patient’s history of prior COVID-19 when formulating cardiovascular prevention plans — these effects [his findings] are not a small subgroup finding but a global signal that will translate into more cardiovascular disease,” he said

    Observations from other centres echo this. Dara Lee Lewis—writing from Brigham and Women’s, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, U.S.—described cases of myocarditis and persistent palpitations in previously healthy individuals. Meanwhile, Bruce Levy, of the same hospital, points to autonomic dysfunction such as POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) — where the heart races upon standing — as an example of how COVID can disrupt vascular regulation in practice. At Mount Sinai in New York, physicians using advanced imaging have detected signs of inflammation in the hearts and large vessels of patients who had only mild infections.

    Dr. Bruno acknowledged that longer follow-up is indeed required, but stresses that the sex-specific pattern is robust across countries. “COVID-19 is associated with early vascular ageing in the long term, especially in women,” she said. Dr. Singh however remains cautious. “This study doesn’t change my practice in any way.” Others are already moving in another direction. Commenting on the CARTESIAN study, Syed Bukhari of the department of cardiovascular medicine, Johns Hopkins University, U.S., said “for clinicians, routine cardiovascular risk stratification in patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome — especially females — should be emphasised.”

    India’s picture

    CARTESIAN, like most large European studies, was not representative of South Asia. “A small proportion identified as Asian, and while their arteries appeared less stiff than Western participants in the uninfected group, this difference disappeared after COVID — suggesting the virus erased any ethnic advantage,” Dr. Bruno noted.

    According to Dr. Singh, stiffness testing, though an easy test, is not routine in the clinical setting as it is not a definitive tool. For India, that gap leaves open an urgent question. If COVID might accelerate vascular ageing elsewhere, what does it mean for a population already carrying one of the heaviest burdens of cardiovascular disease worldwide? Without rigorous homegrown data — the kind that is now guiding international researchers and physicians — the risk remains largely invisible.

    Published – September 19, 2025 06:00 am IST

    Continue Reading