Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin suffered a major blow as they crashed out of the Miami Open after going in the second round of the men's doubles event on Monday (25).
The Indo-French duo failed to replicate their opening-round performance and slumped to a 6-7 (5-7), 2-6 defeat at the hands of the American pair of Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey in a round-of-16 clash.
With the win, Johnson and Querrey will now lock horns with the winner of another last-16 encounter between the South Korean-Canadian team of Hyeon Chung-Denis Shapovalov and the Colombian pair of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
Earlier, Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin bounced back from a set down to register a brilliant 4-6, 6-2 14-12 win over the duo of France's Adrian Mannarino and Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the opening round of the men's doubles event.
Bangladesh lost two early wickets in their chase, but Litton built a 95-run stand with Towhid Hridoy, who remained unbeaten on 35, to take the team to 144-3 in 17.4 overs. (Photo: Getty Images)
CAPTAIN Litton Das scored 59 to guide Bangladesh to a seven-wicket win over Hong Kong in their opening Asia Cup match on Thursday.
Invited to bat first in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong made 143-7 with Nizakat Khan top-scoring on 42.
Bangladesh lost two early wickets in their chase, but Litton built a 95-run stand with Towhid Hridoy, who remained unbeaten on 35, to take the team to 144-3 in 17.4 overs. Litton reached his half-century in 33 balls before being dismissed by medium-pacer Ateeq Iqbal. Towhid then hit the winning run.
"Very important to win the first game," said Litton, who was named player of the match. "Last couple of series, we have played good cricket. But in Asia Cup, little bit of pressure comes automatically."
This was Bangladesh’s first T20 win over Hong Kong, who had beaten them in their only previous meeting in 2014.
Hong Kong suffered their second loss in Group B, which also features Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by 94 runs in the tournament opener.
In their innings, Hong Kong lost two quick wickets before Nizakat added 41 with Zeeshan Ali, who made 30. He then put on 46 with captain Yasim Murtaza, who scored 28 off 19 balls. Murtaza was run out and leg-spinner Rishad Hossain struck twice in the next over, including Nizakat’s wicket.
"I am happy with the way our batters scored," said Murtaza. "But I will be happier if we got 160-170 plus -- that would be a different total."
Tanzim Hasan Sakib impressed with 2-21 in four overs, while Taskin Ahmed and Rishad also claimed two wickets each.
Bangladesh slipped to 47-2 in reply but Litton and Towhid steadied the chase.
Pakistan face Oman on Friday in Dubai. The Asia Cup is also a build-up to the T20 World Cup scheduled in India and Sri Lanka in February-March.
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Winds could reach 70–80mph in the most exposed coastal areas
Met Office issues yellow warning from 8pm Sunday to 6pm Monday
Winds could reach 70–80mph in the most exposed coastal areas
Travel disruption and risk of falling debris expected
Residents urged to secure outdoor items ahead of stormy conditions
Strong winds expected across southern and western UK
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning ahead of the weekend, with winds of up to 80mph forecast to affect large parts of the UK. The alert will be in place from 8pm on Sunday until 6pm on Monday.
The warning covers much of west and southwest England and Wales, along with the entire southern coast of England. It also extends up the west coast towards Manchester. Gusts of 60mph are likely inland, rising to 70–80mph in exposed coastal areas and hilltops.
Monday morning peak
Forecasters expect the strongest winds on Monday morning, gradually moving east during the day. The Met Office has warned of delays to transport and the potential for injuries or danger to life from falling debris.
Residents in affected areas are advised to prepare by securing garden furniture, sheds, bins and other loose items.
Weather outlook before the storm
Before the weekend, Thursday will bring wind and rain to northwest Scotland, with a mix of sunshine and blustery showers elsewhere. Some showers may be heavy, with hail and thunder possible in western regions.
Friday is expected to remain breezy, with overnight showers along western coasts. Saturday could bring heavier downpours and isolated thunderstorms, alongside stronger winds and coastal gales.
Cooler but drier in the east
Eastern parts of the UK are likely to see brighter and drier spells, though temperatures will stay on the cooler side. London can expect highs of around 17–18°C across both Saturday and Sunday.
Forecasters monitoring Atlantic low pressure
Paul Gundersen, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “We have been monitoring a deepening area of low pressure over the North Atlantic that might bring impactful weather to the UK, most likely on Sunday and Monday. At present, a named storm is unlikely.”
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The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London. (Photo: Getty Images)
UK's ECONOMY showed no growth in July, according to official data released on Friday, adding to a difficult week for prime minister Keir Starmer’s government.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product was flat in July, following a 0.4 per cent rise in June.
The government has faced two major setbacks this week. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigned over failing to pay a property tax, and on Thursday, Starmer dismissed Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington after new disclosures about his ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While the July GDP figure matched market expectations, limiting the effect on the pound, the government admitted challenges in lifting growth.
"We know there's more to do to boost growth, because, whilst our economy isn't broken, it does feel stuck," a Treasury spokesperson said, as Labour prepared for its budget announcement in late November.
The data showed a 1.3 per cent fall in production, offsetting gains in services and construction.
"The stagnation in real GDP in July shows that the economy is still struggling to gain decent momentum in the face of the drag from previous hikes in taxes and possible further tax rises to come in the budget," said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said last week that she would maintain a "tight grip" on public spending, setting November 26 for her budget speech.
The UK economy has faced weak growth since Reeves raised taxes and reduced public spending after Labour’s election win in July last year.
Separate ONS data on Friday showed exports of goods to the United States rose in July but stayed below levels seen before US president Donald Trump’s tariff measures.
Exports to the US increased by £800 million after London and Washington reached a trade deal that eased some tariffs, particularly on UK-made vehicles.
Trump will visit the UK next week for a state visit that includes talks with Starmer and a banquet hosted by King Charles.
IN MY entrepreneurial journey, I have noticed that crises happen out of the blue. In fact, global crises are more than not, unpredicted. Sadly, the same is true in one’s personal and family life, where everything can turn on a dime.
On December 23, last year, at 2:15 am, our 26-year daughter Zara fell off the terrace outside her first-floor bedroom at our house in Cape Town. It was a freak accident, and it happens, her younger brother and sister were awake and saw her fall.
We all rushed down and she was lifeless. We thought she had died.
I was tempted to pick her up and rush her to the hospital in our car, but our nephew – who is trained in first aid – said to not touch her.
This probably saved her life.
Two ambulances arrived within 15 minutes, and they got no response from her. I went with her in the ambulance.
We rushed her to one hospital, who turned her away saying it was too serious, and then to the Vincent Pallotti, a level one trauma hospital, which took her in.
Scans showed she had broken her neck seriously, with a shattered vertebra, and damaged her spinal cord.
As luck would have it, Dr David Welsh, one of the leading neurosurgeons in Cape Town and in South Africa, happened to be on duty that day. He said he had to perform an emergency operation within 12 hours of the accident and wanted permission to administer a controversial drug. He went ahead and said there was no prediction of the outcome.
Lord Karan Bilimoria with his daughter Zara
Zara, of course, was emotionally distraught. Naturally, it was a question of “why me?”, when in the past few years she had had two near death experiences, contracting bacterial meningitis, followed a few years later to sepsis in London.
She said in tears, “Daddy, surely this is the third time and the last time”. In the ICU, I said to her, “we will get through this together.” I did not leave Zara’s side from that moment until two months later.
In the ICU, the miracle of the South African physiotherapists and occupational therapists started to take place. They forcibly moved her limbs which were completely paralysed.
She could not use her thumbs, or hold anything, nor could she turn in bed. It was a pathetic sight, we had no idea what the outcome would be.
I would cry in the bathroom, so she would not see me, and I would cry all the way home late at night after she had gone to sleep, returning early in the morning before the staff on duty changed. Zara left the ICU after eight days. We were told that normally after an accident such as hers, patients are in the unit for 40 days.
I checked her into residential rehab near our home, where they told me she would be there for three months. We had to leave her on New Year’s Eve, in tears, as no visitors were allowed after 7 pm.
Nine days later, Zara walked out of the residential rehab unaided and continued the rehab thereafter as an outpatient. Her attitude throughout this was one of determination, resilience and going the extra mile. Every time she was asked to do certain exercises; she would do two or three extra repetitions.
We took her to see the surgeon who performed her operation, three weeks after her accident.
When she walked into his consulting rooms, he said, “You are one of my Christmas miracles”, and told me and my wife that normally patients do not walk again after such an injury. My wife spontaneously burst into tears, and I felt like I had been punched in the chest.
Zara returned home at the end of February and a month later, on April 1, started work initially from home, building up to today — back at work full time.
From the time of the accident, prayers were said for her all over the world. In Parsi fire temples in Hyderabad, my home city, in Delhi, in Udvada by one of the Parsi high priests in India, in Mumbai, in Iran by the Zoroastrian head priest, in Sikh gurdwaras, in Hindu temples, in Christian churches, in the UK and in India.
My mother would quote Alfred Lord Tennyson, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”.
Through those early days, no surgeon I consulted in South Africa, in the UK, in India, and in the United States, could give me any hope except one, the famous UK based neurosurgeon Dr Alagappan Sivaraman (known as Siva), who was introduced to me by our family friend in Hyderabad, Dr Rashna Chenoy.
Siva told me within a few days of the accident, when Zara was showing signs of some improvement, “Please have faith, she will be running within three months”. He ended up being right.
When no one offers hope, and you are staring into the abyss, not knowing whether your daughter might be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, and one person gives you hope – it means more than I could ever express.
Our family has been through a living nightmare, and to hell and back.
However, the stars aligning, the serendipity, the luck, the good fortune, starting with Zara falling and her head missing the stone corner of the veranda by literally an inch, to our nephew stopping me from picking her up which could have severed her spinal cord completely, to Dr Welsh being on duty that morning, performing the emergency operation in time and decompressing her spinal cord, it has all been remarkable, it has truly been a miracle. God is great.
Zara’s attitude and spirit throughout, and her determination, is an inspiration to us all.
What these past nine months have highlighted more than ever, is that your family is the most important thing by far; everything else comes second, by a long way. Looking at Zara now, it is as if nothing had ever happened.
I thank god every day.
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India’s $283 billion IT industry, which contributes more than 7 per cent to the country’s GDP, has for over three decades provided services to major clients including Apple, American Express, Cisco, Citigroup, FedEx and Home Depot.
INDIA’s IT sector is facing uncertainty as US lawmakers consider a 25 per cent tax on companies using foreign outsourcing services.
Analysts and lawyers said the proposal has led to customers delaying or re-negotiating contracts, raising concerns in India, the world’s largest outsourcing hub.
They said the bill is unlikely to pass in its current form but could trigger long-term changes in how American firms purchase IT services. Companies heavily dependent on outsourcing are expected to resist the move, setting up lobbying and possible legal battles.
India’s $283 billion IT industry, which contributes more than 7 per cent to the country’s GDP, has for over three decades provided services to major clients including Apple, American Express, Cisco, Citigroup, FedEx and Home Depot. The industry has also faced criticism abroad over jobs shifting to India.
Last week, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno introduced the HIRE Act, which proposes taxing companies that hire foreign workers instead of Americans. The bill also aims to prevent firms from claiming outsourcing expenses as tax-deductible, with the revenue directed toward US workforce development.
The proposal comes at a difficult time for Indian IT, which is already seeing weak revenue growth in its key US market as clients cut non-essential spending due to inflation and tariff concerns.
“The HIRE Act proposes sweeping changes that could alter the economics of outsourcing and significantly increase the tax liability associated with international service contracts,” said Jignesh Thakkar, EY India’s compliance head.
In some cases, combined federal, state and local taxes could raise the levy on outsourced payments to as much as 60 per cent, Thakkar added.
“While its partisan proposal may seem initially attractive, it’s ultimately an artificial cost which makes organisations less competitive and profitable globally,” said Arun Prabhu, partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.
The idea has been gaining traction. This month, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro reposted a call from far-right activist Jack Posobiec for tariffs on services as well as goods.
“When political noise turns into regulatory risk, clients quickly insert contingencies, reopen pricing and demand delivery flexibility,” said Saurabh Gupta, President of HFS Research. “Clients will simply take longer to sign, longer to renew, and longer to commit transformation dollars,” Gupta said.
Backlash expected
Industry watchers said US firms are likely to push back strongly against the bill and challenge it legally if it is enacted.
“A bill like this would probably face a lot of backlash from US companies that rely heavily on outsourcing, who would likely bring litigation to challenge various aspects of the bill, if it were ever to be passed into law,” said Sophie Alcorn, CEO of Alcorn Immigration Law.
Analysts noted that sweeping restrictions are unlikely due to the difficulties of enforcement. “More likely is a diluted version, with narrower provisions or delayed enforcement,” said HFS Research CEO Phil Fersht.
The bill could also affect US firms’ global capability centres (GCCs), which have developed from offshore back offices to high-value hubs for research, finance and operations.
“It will be hard to pull back from existing work, but new set-ups and expansion may get impacted,” said Yugal Joshi, partner at Everest Group.
The proposed tax will affect the cost advantage that drives GCC location decisions, said Bharath Reddy, partner at CAM.
“However, the lack of availability of appropriate human capital in the US will continue as a problem, and which can be addressed in the near future only through outsourcing,” he added.