Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, hits second-fastest IPL century, breaks T20 record
Fourteen-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest centurion in men’s Twenty20 cricket as he guided Rajasthan Royals to an eight-wicket victory over the Gujarat Titans in an Indian Premier League match in Jaipur, Aljazeera reported.
Suryavanshi doled out severe punishment to Gujarat’s bowling attack on Monday, hitting 11 sixes and seven fours in his 101 off 38 balls, as the hosts chased down a 209-run target in 15.5 overs.
The left-hander reached his 100 in 35 balls to register the second-fastest century in IPL history, while combining with Yashasvi Jaiswal in a 166-run opening partnership, according to Aljazeera.
Government-agitating teachers talks end on positive note
The talks between the government and the agitating teachers ended on a positive note on Monday night.
The meeting was held at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Singh Durbar.
Minister for Education Raghuji Pant led the government side while Laxmi Kishor Subedi led the agitating teachers during the conversation.
Minister Pant remarked that the talks were positive. However, some issues are yet to be sorted out, he said.
The government is for holding the Grade 12 exam in the slated time, so it was serious to conclude the dialogue, he added, claiming that the teachers were also positive to this end.
Subedi said that they dwelt on various issues during the talks. Their agitation would be over only after the conclusion of dialogue, he stressed.
Meanwhile, government spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, informed that teachers' demands would be addressed in a day or two.
The teachers gathered from across the country have been staging protests in Kathmandu for over three weeks with various demands, including promulgation of school School Education Bill.
India hunts suspects days after deadly Kashmir attack
Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have demolished the houses of at least 10 alleged militants and detained more people for questioning as investigations continue into last week's killings of 26 people, BBC reported.
Indian security forces have used explosives to destroy the properties since last Tuesday's attack on tourists. At least one was reportedly linked to a suspect named in the shootings.
India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants behind the killings, but has named no group it blames. Islamabad rejects the allegations.
It was the deadliest attack on civilians in two decades in the disputed territory. Both India and Pakistan claim the region and have fought two wars over it, according to BBC.
Gunmen kill at least 20 people in gold mining village of Nigeria’s Zamfara state
Gunmen have killed at least 20 people in an attack in a gold mining village in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, residents and Amnesty International said, Reuters reported
Details on a possible motive for the attack were not immediately known but Zamfara state has grappled with kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs, who also target security forces.
Ismail Hassan, a resident, told Reuters that gunmen in their hundreds opened fire on miners on Thursday afternoon and a firefight ensued with over 20 people dead in the mining village of Gobirawa Chali in the Maru local government area of Zamfara state.
Another resident, Isah Ibrahim, said they had recovered 21 bodies following the attack and that several were injured.
Amnesty International said in a statement the gunmen went house-to-house in Gobirawa Chali, killing over 20 people, according to Reuters.
China rejects Trump’s claim that Xi has called him by phone
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has not spoken to US President Donald Trump on the phone recently, Beijing said Monday, reiterating that no talks are taking place between the two countries to resolve their tariff war, CNN reported.
The statement from a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson is an outright rejection of Trump’s claim in an interview with Time magazine last week that Xi had called him, as the world’s two largest economies remain locked in a dispute over sky-high trade levies.
“As far as I know, there has been no recent phone call between the two heads of state,” Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference. “I want to reiterate that China and the United States are not engaged in consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue.”
China has maintained its tough public stance on the trade war even as Trump softened his tonelast week, saying that astronomical US tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially” and promising to be “very nice” at the negotiating table as he attempts to get Xi to initiate talks, according to CNN.
“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said, referring to Xi, in the Time interview published on Friday.
Spain and Portugal declare states of emergency after massive power outage
Spain and Portugal are reeling from a massive, unexplained power outage that knocked out traffic lights, caused chaos on roads and in airports, and prompted both countries to declare a state of emergency, CNN reported.
Portugal’s grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) said electrical supply was lost across the entire Iberian Peninsula, and in parts of France, shortly after midday. Hours later, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said authorities were still not sure what caused the blackout.
The outage took out lighting and power sockets, and caused subway systems to suddenly fail. In Madrid, traffic piled up on the roads after the lights went out.
“I was driving and suddenly there was no traffic lights … It was a bit of a jungle,” Luis Ibáñez Jiménez told CNN. “I saw a massive bus coming, and I had to accelerate a lot to go past it.”
The cause of the blackout was unclear, but its impact was dramatic: transport hubs were shuttered and governments in both countries, which share a population of around 60 million people, hastily arranged emergency meetings to co-ordinate a response, according to CNN.
Trump made big promises and moved at frenetic speed. 100 days in, here’s what he’s done and not done
The weeks since President Donald Trump returned to office have been a whirlwind of activity to show Americans that his administration is relentlessly pursuing his promises, Associated Press reported.
With a compliant Republican-controlled Congress, Trump has had a free hand to begin overhauling the federal government and upending foreign policy.
As Trump hits his 100th day in office Tuesday, his imprint is everywhere. But the long-term impact is often unclear.
Some of the Republican president’s executive orders are statements of intent or groundwork to achieve what has yet to be done. On Day 1, for example, he declared an energy emergency to spur production. But he’s not promising a payoff until next year, when he told voters to count on a big drop in their utility bills, according to Associated Press.
Trump’s goals occasionally conflict with each other. He promised both to lower the cost of living and to impose tariffs on foreign goods, which will most likely increase prices. Other issues are languishing.
Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Starlink
The first 27 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the long-delayed deployment of an internet-from-space network that will rival SpaceX's Starlink, Reuters reported.
The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10 billion effort unveiled in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments - customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.
Sitting atop an Atlas V rocket from the Boeingand Lockheed Martinjoint-venture United Launch Alliance, the batch of 27 satellites was lofted into space at 7 p.m. EDT pm from the rocket company's launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Bad weather scrubbed an initial launch attempt on April 9.
Kuiper is arguably Amazon's biggest bet under way, pitting it against Starlink as well as global telecommunications providers like AT&T and T-Mobile. The company has positioned the service as a boon to rural areas where connectivity is sparse or nonexistent, according to Reuters.