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BUSHBUCKRIDGE, South Africa — The walls of Shadrack Mashabane's hut in the rural South African town of Bushbuckridge are covered with traditional fabrics, with a small window the only source of light. What stands out among the herbs and medicines in glass bottles is a white box containing an HIV testing kit. Mashabane is one of at least 15 traditional healers in the town who, in a pilot study, have been trained by University of Witwatersrand researchers to conduct HIV testing and counseling in an effort to ensure as many South Africans as possible know their status. It's part of the largest known effort in the country to involve traditional healers in a public health goal and study the results. Later this year, at least 325 other healers will undergo the training and become certified HIV counselors. Researchers will compare rates of HIV testing by healers and clinics. Most traditional healers were already knowledgeable about HIV — some from personal experience — and were eager to get involved, researchers said. South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. Stigma remains in many communities around the disease and its treatment — even though HIV antiretroviral medication and pre-exposure prophylaxis are free. Concern about privacy at clinics also keeps people from seeking help. Many people in rural areas see traditional healers as their first point of contact for illnesses, and the project hopes they can help change attitudes. South Africa's large younger population is a special concern. A government study released in December showed that people living with HIV had fallen from 14% in 2017 to 12.7% in 2022, but HIV prevalence rose among girls between 15 and 19, a phenomenon largely attributed to older men sleeping with them. Around 2,000 traditional healers operate in the Mpumalanga province town of Bushbuckridge, home to about 750,000 people, providing traditional and spiritual services. Mashabane said patients at first found it difficult to believe he was offering HIV testing — a service they had long expected to be available only at health clinics. "Many were not convinced. I had to show them my certificate to prove I was qualified to do this," he said. The process includes the signing of consent forms to be tested, along with a follow-up with Mashabane to ensure that patients who test positive receive their treatment from the local clinic. He said breaking the news to a patient who has tested positive for HIV is not that difficult because the illness can be treated with readily available medication. But in many cases, he has to accompany the patient to the clinic "to make it easier for them." Florence Khoza is another traditional healer who has been trained to test for HIV. She said risky sexual behavior is common. She often dispenses traditional herbs and medication to treat gonorrhea, but now she goes further by advising patients to test for HIV. "I tell them it is in their best interest," she said. Khoza said many patients fear going to the clinic or hospital and having other community members see them collecting HIV treatment. "In many cases I collect the HIV medication on their behalf," she said. Ryan Wagner, a senior research fellow with the study, said testing and treating via traditional medicine practitioners could "ultimately lead to the end of new HIV cases in communities such as rural Mpumalanga, which has some of the largest HIV burden globally." Researchers hope their findings will inspire South Africa's government to roll out such training across the country. 

MILAN — The post-pandemic surge in global sales of luxury handbags, shoes and apparel is set to stall this year amid a creativity crisis and price hikes as brands shift focus to the biggest spending customers, a new study by the Bain consultancy said Tuesday. Bain is forecasting flat worldwide luxury sales in 2024 following a slight first-quarter dip, according to the study commissioned by the Altagamma association. The consultancy cited political uncertainty during a presidential election year in the United States as well as economic uncertainty in China that has brought on a phenomenon of "luxury shaming." Beyond socioeconomic factors and rising geopolitical tensions, the slowdown is also partly "self-inflicted,'' said Bain partner Claudia D'Arpizio. She cited a "creativity crisis,'' in the sector, as a number of major fashion houses are transitioning creative directors, and a new focus on the super-wealthy customers, at the expense of the aspirational middle class and Gen-Z youngsters who fueled growth before the pandemic. "There is a lack of clarity for many of these brands. They are making attempts to regain focus. It is five, six brands under turn-around, big ones. This is not helping the overall excitement,'' D'Arpizio told The Associated Press. "This is a supply-driven industry. When you have the brands really in tune with customer needs, it usually reacts quickly.'' She said some "tweaks" are needed on strategy and price points, adding that "you can't grow without the middle class and younger generations." Among major fashion houses, Gucci and Moschino have made runway debuts of their new creative directions, while the first Valentino collection by the new creative director hits the runway in September. Chanel has the position to fill after the incumbent resigned earlier this month. While inflation is one element of price hikes, D'Arpizio said brands are also refocusing on the estimated 6 million to 8 million consumers at the top of the pyramid as they search for better profit margins. At the same time, there has been less rejuvenation in the offerings. Steep price increases for items that don't show significant innovation, and feel like something they have seen before, leaves customers "upset and puzzled." Flat global luxury sales forecasts follow a pent-up post-pandemic spending surge that pushed sales during the 2021-23 period up 24% over 2019 levels. Last year, sales of personal luxury goods grew by 4% to 362 billion euros (about $388 billion) from 349 euros in 2022, due largely to a resurgence of U.S. and Asian tourism to Europe fueling purchases. Add in luxury travel, fine art, cars and yachts, the vast global luxury market expanded to 1.5 trillion euros last year — highlighting a trend toward experiences over tangible goods. Japan is a bright spot as the return of foreign tourists with the yen at the lowest level to the U.S. dollar in 20 years, while Europe continues strong trends due to tourist spending and an increase in local consumption, especially in French and Italian cities.

MADRID — Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx. Just over two decades ago, the pointy-eared wild cat was on the brink of extinction, but as of Thursday the International Union for Conservation of Nature says it's no longer an endangered species. Successful conservation efforts mean that the animal, native to Spain and Portugal, is now barely a vulnerable species, according to the latest version of the IUCN Red List. In 2001, there were only 62 mature Iberian lynx — medium-sized, mottled brown cats with characteristic pointed ears and a pair of beard-like tufts of facial hair — on the Iberian Peninsula. The species' disappearance was closely linked to that of its main prey, the European rabbit, as well as habitat degradation and human activity. Alarms went off and breeding, reintroduction and protection projects were started, as well as efforts to restore habitats like dense woodland, Mediterranean scrublands and pastures. More than two decades later, in 2022, nature reserves in southern Spain and Portugal contained 648 adult specimens. The latest census, from last year, shows that there are more than 2,000 adults and juveniles, the IUCN said. "It's really a huge success, an exponential increase in the population size," Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red list unit, told The Associated Press. One of the keys to their recovery has been the attention given to the rabbit population, which had been affected by changes in agricultural production. Their recovery has led to a steady increase in the lynx population, Hilton-Taylor said. "The greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation (...) is the result of committed collaboration between public bodies, scientific institutions, NGOs, private companies, and community members including local landowners, farmers, gamekeepers and hunters," Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, who coordinates the EU-funded LIFE Lynx-Connect project, said in a statement. IUCN has also worked with local communities to raise awareness of the importance of the Iberian lynx in the ecosystem, which helped reduce animal deaths due poaching and roadkill. In addition, farmers receive compensation if the cats kill any of their livestock, Hilton-Taylor said. Since 2010, more than 400 Iberian lynx have been reintroduced to parts of Portugal and Spain, and now they occupy at least 3,320 square kilometers, an increase from 449 square kilometers in 2005. "We have to consider every single thing before releasing a lynx, and every four years or so we revise the protocols," said Ramón Pérez de Ayala, the World Wildlife Fund's Spain species project manager. WWF is one of the NGOs involved in the project. While the latest Red List update offers hope for other species in the same situation, the lynx isn't out of danger just yet, says Hilton-Taylor. The biggest uncertainty is what will happens to rabbits, an animal vulnerable to virus outbreaks, as well as other diseases that could be transmitted by domestic animals. "We also worried about issues with climate change, how the habitat will respond to climate change, especially the increasing impact of fires, as we've seen in the Mediterranean in the last year or two," said Hilton-Taylor. 

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Norway has tightened controls over adoptions from abroad but will allow them to continue as it conducts an investigation into the legality and ethics of past adoptions, the government said Wednesday.  The move to keep allowing international adoptions for now contradicted Norway's top regulatory body, the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, a government agency known as Bufdir, which in January recommended a pause while the investigation takes place.  "As the situation is now, I do not see the need for a general interim suspension while the investigation committee works," Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe said.  "The overall goal is to get answers to whether — and possibly to what extent — there have been illegal or unethical situations in connection with foreign adoptions to Norway," Toppe said.  Committee investigates past adoptions In December, the government set up an independent investigative committee to assess whether Norwegian authorities have enough control over adoptions from abroad, and whether illegal or unethical circumstances have occurred in adoptions to Norway. The committee is expected to conclude its investigation in late 2025.  The inquiry was launched after media reports in Norway pointed to alleged illegal adoptions, claiming that some children in the Philippines were sold and given false birth certificates.  The government said it had implemented "risk-reducing measures" for adoptions from abroad, including an official review of all documents for each case transferred from adoption organizations to Bufdir. There are three adoptions agencies in Norway.  Last year, Bufdir was also tasked with reviewing agreements with different countries to ensure the legality of adoptions with each of them.  Following the reviews, agreements with Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Madagascar, the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Peru were terminated. Only the accords with Colombia and Bulgaria have continued, while South Korea has received a limited permit, the Norwegian government said.  Agencies elsewhere cease international adoptions In neighboring Denmark, the only overseas adoption agency in January said it was winding down international adoptions after a government agency there raised concerns over falsified documents and procedures that obscured children's biological origins abroad.  Sweden's only adoption agency said in November that it was halting adoptions from South Korea after claims of falsified papers on the origins of children adopted from the country. 

TANJUNGPINANG, Indonesia — Morwan Mohammad walks down an old hotel corridor on Batam Island in northwestern Indonesia before entering a 6-square-meter (64-square-foot) room that has been home to him and his growing family for eight years.  Mohammad, who fled war in Sudan, is one of hundreds of refugees living in community housing on the island while waiting for resettlement in a third country.  Hotel Kolekta, a former tourist hotel, was converted in 2015 into a temporary shelter that today houses 228 refugees from conflict-torn nations including Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere. The island, just south of Singapore, has a population of 1.2 million people.  Indonesia, despite having a long history of accepting refugees, is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol, and the government does not allow refugees and asylum-seekers to work.  Many had fled to Indonesia as a jumping-off point, hoping to eventually reach Australia by boat, but are now stuck in what feels like an endless limbo.  Looking for safety Mohammad and his wife arrived in Jakarta nine years ago after traveling from his hometown Nyala to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and onward to the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago, where their first stop was the U.N. refugee agency office in the capital.  "We did not know where to go — just looking for a safe place to live. The most important thing was to get out of Sudan to avoid war," he said.  They made their way to Batam in 2016, believing it would be easier to travel from there to a third country for resettlement.  All three of Mohammad's children were born in Indonesia and he does not know where his family will ultimately settle. He says he wants to have a normal life, working and earning money so he can support himself without relying on others for assistance.  "We left our country, our family. We miss our family members. But life here is also too hard for us because for eight years we are not working, not doing good activities. Just sleep, wake up, eat, repeat," he said.  Hotel Kolekta is administered by the Tanjungpinang Central Immigration Detention Center on nearby Bintan Island. That three-story detention facility, with its barred windows and fading paint, is home to dozens of detainees facing similarly uncertain futures, including whether they will ever return to their homelands, but in conditions that more closely resemble a prison.  Two Palestinian men have languished there for over a year, unable to return home because of the ongoing war in Gaza. Four Burmese fishermen are stranded because they cannot afford to pay for their onward travel.  Those held in the detention center typically violated Indonesia's immigration regulations, while those living in Hotel Kolekta and other community housing entered the country legally seeking safe haven.  A mother's fears On Batam Island, Majdah Ishag, a 36-year-old Sudanese woman, has been living in the hotel for eight years after leaving home in search of a better life in Indonesia for her family. Her daily needs are met but she worries about the future and doesn't want her five children to spend their entire lives in Hotel Kolekta.  "I hope I can find work and resettlement," she said.  The UNHCR office in Indonesia says that nearly one-third of the 12,295 people registered with organization are children who have limited access to education and health services.  Rahima Farhangdost is one of 5,732 refugees from Afghanistan stranded in Indonesia. She lives in Bogor, 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Jakarta, and has been in Indonesia since August 2014 after the Taliban banned her from working as a nurse and teacher in her hometown in the country's southeast.  For five years, she received money from a cousin in Afghanistan, but that relative died in conflict and she has since had to receive monthly financial support from UNHCR.  "I heard the process is faster and that after two or three years, we could get resettlement. So that's why I came to Indonesia. But it's been a very, very long time — 10 years now. I really regret it. I would prefer to die in Afghanistan, and not have come to Indonesia," she said.  UNHCR Indonesia says more than 12,000 individuals from 40 countries in the country are listed as refugees under Indonesian law, most of them from Afghanistan.  Ann Maymann, a UNHCR representative in Indonesia, said: "Resettlement is not speedy ... because it is not the UNHCR who decides. We cannot decide that a refugee will go to this country."  Maymann said refugees under the current system cannot be assured of a better future in Indonesia, especially those who will not be resettled.  "That is exactly why we need to work on improving the conditions for the refugees while they are in Indonesia, because resettlement cannot be the only solution. Because it is not the only solution. Because not all will be resettled," Maymann said.

MWINGI, Kenya — Esther Kangali felt a sharp pain while on her mother's farm in eastern Kenya. She looked down and saw a large snake coiling around her left leg. She screamed, and her mother came running. Kangali was rushed to a nearby health center, but it lacked antivenom to treat the snake's bite. A referral hospital had none as well. Two days later, she reached a hospital in the capital, Nairobi, where her leg was amputated due to delayed treatment. The 32-year-old mother of five knows it could have been avoided if clinics in areas where snakebites are common are stocked with antivenom. Kitui County, where the Kangalis have their farm, has Kenya's second highest number of snakebite victims, according to the health ministry, which last year put annual cases at 20,000. Overall, in Kenya, about 4,000 snakebite victims die every year while 7,000 others experience paralysis or other health complications, according to the local Institute of Primate Research. Residents fear the problem is growing. As the forests around them shrink due to logging and agricultural expansion, and as climate patterns become increasingly unpredictable, snakes are turning up around homes more frequently. "We are causing adverse effects on their habitats like forest destruction, and eventually we are having snakes come into our homes primarily to seek for water or food, and eventually we have the conflict between humans and the snakes," said Geoffrey Maranga, a senior herpetologist at the Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Center. Climate change also can drive snakes into homesteads, he said, as they seek water in dry times and shelter in wet. Maranga and his colleagues are part of a collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to create effective and safe snakebite treatments and ultimately produce antivenom locally. Maranga's center estimates that more than half of people bit by snakes in Kenya don't seek hospital treatment — seeing it costly and difficult to find — and pursue traditional treatments. Kenya imports antivenom from Mexico and India, but antivenom is usually region-specific, meaning a treatment in one region might not effectively treat snakebites in another. Part of the work of Maranga and colleague Fredrick Angotte is extracting venom from one of Africa's most dangerous snakes, the black mamba. The venom can help produce the next generation of antivenom. "The current conventional antivenoms are quite old and suffer certain inherent deficiencies" such as side effects, said George Omondi, the head of the Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Center. The researchers estimate the improved conventional antivenoms will take two or three years to reach the market. They estimate that Kenya will need 100,000 vials annually, but it's not clear how that much will be produced locally. The research aims to make antivenom more affordable to Kenyans. Even when antivenom is available, up to five vials are required, which can cost as much as $300. Meanwhile, the research center also does community outreach on snakebite prevention, teaching health workers and others how to safely coexist with snakes, perform first aid and treat those affected by snakebite. The goal is to have fewer Kenyans suffer like Kangali's neighbor, Benjamin Munge, who died in 2020 four days after a snakebite because the hospital had no antivenom. It's unlikely that snakes will move away from homes, Kangali's mother, Anna, said, so solving the problem is up to humans. "If the snakebite medicine can come to the grassroots, we will all get help," she said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An aerial drone likely launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck and damaged a vessel in the Red Sea on Sunday, officials said, the latest attack by the group targeting the vital maritime corridor. The attack comes as the U.S. has sent the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower back home after an eight-month deployment that saw it lead the American response to the Houthi assaults. Those attacks have seen shipping drastically drop through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages on. The drone attack happened around dawn off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. It said the vessel sustained damage but its mariners on board "were reported safe." It did not elaborate on the extent of the damage, but said an investigation was ongoing. The private security firm Ambrey identified the ship involved as a Liberia-flagged container ship bound for Qingdao, China. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults. The Houthis have launched more than 60 attacks targeting specific vessels and fired off other missiles and drones in their campaign that has killed a total of four sailors. They have seized one vessel and sunk two since November. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say. The Houthis have maintained that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the Israel-Hamas war — including those bound for the Houthis' main benefactor, Iran. The Eisenhower, based in Norfolk, Virginia, is returning home after an over eight-month deployment in combat that the Navy says is its most intense since World War II. The San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt will take the Eisenhower's place after a scheduled exercise in the Indo-Pacific, said Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. The Roosevelt anchored Saturday in Busan, South Korea, amid Seoul's ongoing tensions with North Korea.

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Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — In a country where racial segregation was once brutally enforced, South Africa's new coalition government has brought a Black president and a white opposition leader together in an image of unity. Yet the power-sharing agreement sealed a week ago between President Cyril Ramaphosa's African National Congress party and the Democratic Alliance, one of South Africa's few white-led parties, has unwittingly renewed some racial rifts. Many Black South Africans have expressed discomfort with a white-led party being back in power, even in a coalition. The country is haunted by the apartheid system of white minority rule that ended 30 years ago but is still felt by millions among the Black majority who were ruthlessly oppressed by a white government and remain affected by unresolved issues of poverty and inequality. South Africa is now faced with the likelihood of seeing more white people in senior government positions than ever since apartheid ended. White people make up around 7% of the country's population of 62 million. The ANC liberated South Africa from apartheid in 1994 under Nelson Mandela, the country's first Black president. Its three-decade political dominance ended in the landmark May 29 election, forcing it to form a coalition. The DA, with its roots in liberal white parties that stood against apartheid, won the second largest share of votes. Both have promoted their coming together in a multi-party coalition as a new unity desperately needed in a country with vast socioeconomic problems. But history lingers. The DA suspended one of its white lawmakers Thursday, days after being sworn into Parliament, over racist slurs he made in a social media video more than a decade ago. Renaldo Gouws — reportedly a student in his 20s at the time — used an especially offensive term for Black people that was infamous during apartheid and is now considered hate speech. Gouws faces disciplinary action from his party, and the South African Human Rights Commission said it will take him to court. The DA, which previously fended off allegations of favoring whites, is again under scrutiny. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, an important political ally of the ANC, asserted that Gouws' outburst was symptomatic of a DA that is "soft on racists." The DA "needs to reflect on and address this if it wants to be accepted as a partner in the government of national unity by ordinary South Africans," it said. DA leader John Steenhuisen denied in a television interview that his party is dedicated only to white interests, saying it wouldn't have won the second largest share of votes in a Black majority country if it was. The DA has Black and white lawmakers and supporters, but its only Black leader left the party in 2019, questioning its commitment to Black South Africans. Political analyst Angelo Fick said the DA does have a "sense of whiteness" in the eyes of many South Africans and has created that by being "utterly disinterested in speaking to the concerns about race from Black South Africans." Shortly before Gouws' case, racially charged language came from another direction when the MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma — once an ANC leader — called Ramaphosa a "house negro" for entering into the agreement with the DA. Zuma's party also referred to white DA chairperson Helen Zille as Ramaphosa's "slave master." The MK Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters — the third and fourth biggest parties in Parliament — have refused to join what the ANC calls a government of national unity open to all. They said the fundamental reason is the DA, which they say is committed only to the well-being of South Africa's white minority. "We do not agree to this marriage of convenience to consolidate the white monopoly power over the economy," EFF leader Julius Malema said. Malema has sometimes provoked racial tensions in demanding change, once saying, "We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people, at least for now," and that South Africa's "white man has been too comfortable for too long." He now says his party is not against white people but against a perceived "white privilege" that leaves 64% of Black people in poverty compared with 1% of white people, according to a 2021 report by the South African Human Rights Commission. Malema represents a new opposition to the ANC by many Black South Africans frustrated over the race-based inequality that's evident after 30 years of freedom. White people generally live in posh neighborhoods. Millions of Black people live in impoverished townships on the outskirts. That frustration led many voters to give up on the ANC. The concerns about teaming up with the DA could weaken the party even further. In his inauguration speech Wednesday, Ramaphosa recognized the "toxic" divisions that remain decades after Mandela preached racial reconciliation. "Our society remains deeply unequal and highly polarized," Ramaphosa said. The ANC is trying to use the coalition as a kind of reboot of Mandela's ideals. "To us, it doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white," ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said of the agreement with the DA. Mandela had used the phrase to signal he was open to all races serving in South Africa's government. "Fundamentally," Mbalula said, "the question is how do we move the country forward."

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ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Health authorities in Ivory Coast launched mobile enrollment centers for the country's universal health coverage program, which has been criticized since its 2019 inception over difficulties accessing benefits. Ivory Coast is one of a handful countries in West Africa that offers a universal health program. But, five years in, less than half its citizens have enrolled. Known locally by its French acronym CMU, the program is meant to cover 70% of citizens' health care costs for a monthly charge of 1,000 West African CFA francs, or about $1.65. However, many participants who have managed to enroll have reported glitches, including that vouchers given at hospitals that are supposed to provide them with medicine are later not accepted at pharmacies — requiring patients to pay out of pocket. The mobile enrollment centers being rolled out at markets and remote neighborhoods are meant to allow Ivorians to sign up for the program and provide them with cards on site so they can immediately start receiving care at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies around the country. From 2019 until this year, only 13 million people, or 40% of the population, were able to enroll. The country's health minister, Pierre Dimba, said the mobile centers are aimed at reaching people who have been unable to sign up for reasons including that they work long hours. "We used the method which worked well when we did the COVID-19 vaccination, which was to go to these people in the markets, in remote neighborhoods, to get them signed up," he said. Resident Bruno Agnissan already has a CMU card, but he came to an Abidjan mobile enrollment center in search of information about how to successfully use it. He said that while his son was being treated for malaria at a hospital, the facility ran out of medicine. He was given a voucher and told to find the medicine at a local pharmacy. "When we went to the pharmacy and I presented the voucher, the pharmacy said that no, this is only for civil servants, that it won't work for us individuals," Agnissan said. "I went to all the pharmacies, and it didn't work." Ultimately, he had to pay for the medicine out of his own pocket, he said. Samuel Touffet, another local resident who came to the mobile center to get updated on coverage under the program, echoed Agnissan's concerns. "There are so many pharmacies where if we go with the card, it doesn't work. So we want to know, where are the pharmacies where we can go and use the card?" he said. "Also, when we go to the hospital with the card, they say it doesn't work. So we don't know what this card is even worth." Resident Martin Abou, who came to enroll himself and his family for the first time, was hopeful. "You never know. We don't know what tomorrow has in store for us," he said. Dimba, the health minister, said that he hoped the program becomes a basic insurance that covers every Ivorian citizen, with private insurance used only as a supplement. He added that he the goal was to have 20 million Ivorians enrolled by the end of the year.

NORTH SOUND, Antigua — Hardik Pandya blasted Bangladesh with a 27-ball half-century and Kuldeep Yadav's three wickets finished off India's win at the Twenty20 World Cup on Saturday. Pandya struck four boundaries and three sixes in an unbeaten 50 to lead India to 196-5. Yadav then took 3-19 in four overs to limit Bangladesh to 146-8. India moved to the top of Group 1 in the Super Eight with two wins from two matches. Afghanistan moved to two points after it beat Australia by 21 runs later Saturday, but stay behind Australia in third place on net run rate. Bangladesh remained winless. Put into bat, India started quick as captain Rohit Sharma scored 23 off 11 balls. Virat Kohli added 37 off 28, hitting three sixes. The duo put on 39 off 22 balls for India's best opening stand in the tournament. Sharma was caught in the fourth over off Shakib al Hasan, while Kohli put on another 32 off 27 balls with Rishabh Pant for the second wicket. Tanzim Hasan Sakib struck twice in the ninth over, getting Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav for 6 as India slumped to 77-3. But Rishabh Pant anchored one end with 36 off 24, including four fours and two sixes, putting on 31 off 19 balls with Shivam Dube. Despite Pant's dismissal in the 12th over, Dube's prowess against spin came in handy — he hit three sixes, scoring 34 off 24 balls. But it was Pandya who took charge in the death overs. India scored 62 runs in the last five overs. Pandya was named player of the match. "We have played some really good cricket (to win five straight games)," he said. "We have executed our plans well, but as a group we can still improve. We sometimes lose wickets in a bunch, but apart from that things are looking good." Bangladesh's reply made a steady start. Openers Litton Das (13) and Tanzid Hasan (29) added 35 off 27 until Pandya got the breakthrough in the fifth over. The Tigers were at 66-2 in the 10th over and scoring slower. The chase unravelled when Yadav came on to bowl. He trapped Hasan lbw, and dismissed Towhid Hridoy for 4 and claimed the big wicket of Shakib for 11. Bangladesh lost three wickets for 32 runs across 24 balls and didn't recover. Pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (2-13) and Arshdeep Singh (2-30) helped to seal India's fifth win over Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup. Afghanistan stuns Australia Afghanistan kept its Twenty20 World Cup semifinal hopes alive by stunning previously unbeaten Australia by 21 runs in a thrilling encounter at St. Vincent later on Saturday. Despite a second successive hat-trick by Australian bowler Pat Cummins, Afghanistan posted 148-6 after being asked to bat first on a tricky pitch at the Arnos Vale Ground. Afghanistan pair Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put on 118 for the highest opening partnership against Australia in a T20 match before Australia's bowlers rallied late, including Cummins' second career hat-trick — just two days after his first. Australia then stumbled with the bat and were all out for 127, with only Glenn Maxwell (59 off 41 balls) coming to grips with the superb Afghanistan bowling attack and the deteriorating wicket. Man of the match Guldabin Naib took four wickets in an inspired spell in the middle overs to stall Australia's chase before Azmatullah Omarzai had final wicket Adam Zampa caught in the deep in the final over to complete a stunning win amid jubilant celebrations among the Afghan players and team management. The victory moves Afghanistan to two points in Group 1 and level with Australia, but behind on net run rate. India leads the group on four points, with Bangladesh bottom on zero points but still with a chance of qualifying for the semifinals. The final group standings will be decided on Monday when Afghanistan plays Bangladesh at St. Vincent and Australia play India Monday at St. Lucia.

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taipei, taiwan — Taiwan's annual war games this year will be as close as possible to actual combat, no longer just putting on a show to score points but aiming to simulate real fighting given a rapidly rising "enemy threat" from China, a senior official said.  China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has been staging regular exercises around the island for four years to pressure Taipei to accept Beijing's claim of sovereignty, despite Taiwan's strong objections.  Taiwan starts its five-day Han Kuang exercises on July 22.     A senior Taiwan defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to be able to speak more freely, said there was an urgent need to rethink how the drills were conducted.  "In recent years, the enemy threat has changed rapidly," the official said. "Our defense combat plan must also be continuously revised on a rolling basis, and the urgency of comprehensive combat training is becoming more and more important."  Elements that were mostly for show, like rehearsal drills, have been canceled, while this year there will be nighttime exercises and, unusually, the capital Taipei will be included too, the official said.  "It's not about scoring points," the official said. "We want the soldiers to wonder whether this is for real."  Things may go wrong — such as vehicle breakdowns — and that is fine, the official added. "These are problems that may be faced in actual combat."  The exercises will be a continuous experience, the official said. "War does not distinguish between night and day."  China's defense ministry did not answer calls seeking comment about the exercises outside of office hours at the weekend. It has previously said it is futile for Taiwan to think it can use arms to prevent "reunification."  Announcing the drills in April, Taiwan's defense ministry said the war games would practice "kill" zones at sea to break a blockade and simulate a scenario where China suddenly turns one of its regular drills around the island into an attack.  "Only with real-time, on-the-ground verification can we truly understand the capabilities and limitations of our troops," the official said.  China held two days of its own war games around the island shortly after President Lai Ching-te took office last month, saying it was "punishment" for his inauguration speech, which Beijing denounced as being full of separatist content.  But China has also been using gray zone warfare against Taiwan, wielding irregular tactics to exhaust a foe by keeping them continually on alert without resorting to open combat. This includes sending balloons over the island and almost daily air force missions into the skies near Taiwan.  China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Lai, who says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future, has repeatedly offered talks but been rebuffed.  The official declined to comment on which parts of the war games Lai would attend, as is customary for the president as commander-in-chief, or whether there would be U.S. observers. 

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