Bangladesh cancel training session in Delhi due to 'severe' air pollution
New Delhi, Nov 3: The Bangladesh cricket team was forced to cancel its training session ahead of the World Cup clash against Sri Lanka due to extreme levels of air pollution in the national capital.
Bangladesh, who have been eliminated from the World Cup, arrived here on Wednesday following the defeat against Pakistan in Kolkata.
They were supposed to have their first training session on Friday evening but the team management decided against it considering the high pollution levels.
Delhi's air quality plummeted to the "severe plus" category on Friday even as the central government deferred the implementation of stricter measures under the air pollution control plan.
"Today we had a training session but the condition got bad from yesterday so we didn't take the chance because we still have two more days for training.
"Many( cricketers) went out yesterday and now they are having some kind of coughing so there is a risk factor involved and so we cancelled the training so that they don't get unwell," said team director Khaled Mahmud at the team hotel.
The last of the five World Cup games allotted to Delhi is scheduled for November 6.
Sri Lanka, whose players had to wear masks to combat air pollution in Delhi back in 2017, had played their World Cup game against India in Mumbai on Thursday. The following day is usually the travel day and the team doesn't train.
"We don't know what the decision will be (whether we will have to play here or not in the present condition) and whether the weather will get better or not and if it gets better certainly it is good for us and if that is not the case (and still we have to play) we still have to adapt to it and have to train tomorrow," said Mahmud.
"We still have two more days in our hand so we want the boys to be fully fit because these two games are very important for us," he added, referring to the Champions Trophy qualification scenario.
The top seven teams in the ongoing World Cup and hosts Pakistan will get to compete in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
On Friday, Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) reached 468, placing it in the "severe plus" category. This is the stage at which all emergency measures, including a ban on polluting trucks, commercial four-wheelers, and all types of construction, are mandated in Delhi-NCR.
The city's AQI on Friday was the worst since the previous high recorded on November 12, 2021.
However, during a review meeting, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) decided to monitor the situation for a day or more before implementing stricter curbs.
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Syria says Israeli strikes leave 18 dead in the biggest toll since the war in Gaza began
Masyaf (Syria), Sep 9: The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 18 with dozens more wounded, Syria's health minister said on Monday — the largest death toll in such an attack since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
One of the sites targeted was a research centre used in the development of weapons, a war monitor said. Syrian officials said civilian sites were targeted.
Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel's war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.
However, the intensity and death toll of Sunday night's strikes were unusual.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.
Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
Speaking to reporters, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash described the strikes as a “brutal and barbaric aggression”. He said the death toll had risen to 18 with nearly 40 wounded.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said 25 were killed, including at least five civilians, while the others included Syrian army soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-linked armed groups.
One strike targeted a scientific research centre in Masyaf, and others struck sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria”, the observatory said. It said the research centre was reportedly used for developing weapons, including short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.
Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel said the strikes had caused “truly significant” damage to water and electricity infrastructure.
“This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded,” he said.
Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous, which the observatory said were the result of air defense missiles falling.
On Monday afternoon, a charred car remained at the scene of one strike and smoke was still rising from some spots where fires had been put out.
