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Second Test begins with four overs of chaos

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Different times, different tests, different cities, and different terrain. Similar to Ashes cricket in chaos.

The second Test kicked off in Brisbane with four overs of pandemonium after England were defeated by Australia in Perth in two days.

The drama of the day-nighter started at the toss when Australia confirmed that Nathan Lyon had been omitted, but that was nothing compared to the 20 minutes that saw two England ducks, a dropped catch, and a potential wicket that wasn’t.

Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope were removed from the same bowler, and Zak Crawley may have fallen behind Michael Neser, but the hosts did not win an appeal.

How everything came together, shown here:

After Starc’s five-over spell, England escaped further defeat.

The left-armer already had 12 wickets in the series before the second Test, which was an hour apart, a performance that echoed Mitchell Johnson’s that of England on their Ashes tour in 2013-14.

Former England spinner Phil Tufnell testified for Test Match Special, “Mitchell Starc is one of those bowlers that, especially when we were sharing hotels, he always walks down looking so calm when I’m sitting there eating my breakfast.

That’s what distinguishes world-class performers, they say. How a world-class cricket player eats their breakfast can be an indicator of that person’s excellence. He must be calm, I bet.

Starc’s opening performance also produced some extraordinary career numbers.

The 35-year-old joined legendary Pakistani bowler Wasim Akram for 414 wickets, making him the most left-arm pace bowlers to score in Test action.

In the 26th over of an innings, Starc took a wicket, three of which were wickets in this series.

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Honduras’s Nasralla holds narrow lead over Asfura in presidential vote

As the counting of votes lasted for a fourth day, Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla’s narrow lead over his conservative rival Nasry Asfura, who is supported by Donald Trump.

The centrist Liberal Party’s Nasralla received 40.23 percent of the votes cast on Wednesday, while Asfura’s Asfura received 39.69 percent, according to the nation’s National Electoral Council (CNE).

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Less than 14 000 votes lessen Nasrallah’s advantage over Asfura.

With 19.01 percent, Rixi Moncada of the ruling leftist LIBRE Party was significantly ahead.

The CNE believed that the outcome was still too early.

Even if the candidate has the fewest votes or does not have an absolute majority, the candidate with the most votes wins.

The counting of votes on Sunday was a contentious affair due to technical difficulties.

Voting was resumed by the CNE on Wednesday, with members of the electoral council blaming the organization behind the tabulating platform for the inconveniences.

Cossette Lopez-Osorio, a CNE official, claimed the most recent  counting halt was the result of system maintenance that was performed without proper notice and that she found it “inexcusable.”

Despite the issues, 72-year-old television presenter Nasralla remained confident despite the difficulties.

On X, he wrote, “We’re going to win, either way.”

As the final votes are counted, election observers from the Organization of American States, the Organization of the European Union, and Honduras’ electoral authority have urged calm and patience.

The CNE predicts that a winner’s announcement may still be days away because ballots are still coming from far-off places, some of which are only accessible by donkey or riverboat.

Initial estimates for Asfura’s lead of about 500 votes were based on the early preliminary results released on Monday. Voters would have to be manually tallied, according to election organizers, who declared a “technical tie.”

Nasralla had a slight lead when the count was updated on Tuesday.

Trump claimed election fraud on Monday, claiming on his Truth Social account that Honduras was “trying to change the results of their Presidential Election.”

“There will be hell to pay!” declares the statement. On November 30th, Hondurans’ electorate cast an overwhelming majority of ballots, he claimed. If Asfura loses, Trump has threatened to halt US aid to Honduras. The US gave the Central American nation $ 193.5 million in aid in 2024.

A winner’s announcement is legally given within one month.

The ruling party candidate, Moncada, criticized the vote-transmission system for lacking transparency and disclosed it to the Telesur television news network on Wednesday.

In response to Trump’s accusations of fraud, which she claimed violated international laws, Moncada said it was “a direct intervention that adversely affected the Honduran people’s interests.”

Additionally, Trump pardoned former Asfura National Party leader Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been serving a 45-year drug trafficking sentence in the US.

In what was widely believed to be more interference, the 57-year-old lawyer was freed on Monday.

Hernandez thanked Trump on Wednesday in his first social media post since his release, claiming that he had “changed my life.”

Hernandez stated earlier that he had experienced political persecution in a four-page letter to the US president that was released by the media on Wednesday.

EU proposes using Russian assets, loans to fund $105bn package to Ukraine

Even though critical reservations about the plan from significant stakeholder Belgium seem unresolved, the European Commission has suggested an unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets or foreign borrowing to finance Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.

The executive body of the European Union announced “two solutions to address Ukraine’s financing needs” for 2026 and 2027 on Wednesday.

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A “reparations loan” funded by Russian state assets that were frozen in the EU as a result of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine is the first option, followed by an EU loan to Kyiv obtained from the private market.

In a press release, the Commission stated that “these options reflect the EU’s commitment to supporting Ukraine as well as the defense of its sovereignty and the maintenance of state functions as well as as as a strategic investment in Europe’s security and the pursuit of a just and lasting peace.”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the Commission, stated to reporters that the proposals will enable Ukraine to “take the means” to defend itself and advance peace negotiations from a strong position.

“We have a proposal to provide for the next two years the financing needs of Ukraine. That’s 90 billion euros. She stated that international partners would be responsible for covering the remainder.

“We are putting more money into Russia’s aggression war.” Von der Leyen continued, “And this should serve as a further incentive for Russia to engage in negotiating.”

The president of the Commission noted that Belgium, whose Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear is the principal holder of the frozen Russian assets, had almost fully been taken into account in the proposal to EU member states.

Von der Leyen claimed that the new proposal also applies to other EU financial institutions that are holding Russian assets, while EU officials claimed that France, Germany, Sweden, and Cyprus are also holding these types of assets that will be used to fund the loan.

The Commission added that the loan, which would be issued in the form of a loan, would not amount to a confiscation; instead, Ukraine would only be required to pay back the money if Russia makes up the lost wages from the war.

If 15 out of 27 members vote in favor, the EU could move forward with the proposal for frozen assets. At a summit of EU leaders on December 18, the Commission stated that it hoped to clinch a firm commitment from the members.

The second option, which involves borrowing money from foreign markets, would typically require the EU’s members to agree on something, which could prove challenging given Hungary’s friendly government’s opposition to previous funding for Ukraine.

Belgium has repeatedly stated that it opposes the freeze plan, arguing that the proposed use of 140 billion euros ($163 billion) would put a peace deal in jeopardy and put it at risk of Russian-style crippling legal action in the future.

Brussels has a requirement that EU nations agree to pay any legal fees incurred by any pending Russian legal disputes.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot reiterated these reservations on Wednesday, noting that the legal documents “do not address our concerns in a satisfactory manner.”

The worst of all, according to Prevot, is that the option of the reparations loan is risky and has never been done before. This explains why we continue to advocate for an alternative, such as allowing the EU to borrow funds from the markets.

Russia, in contrast, has claimed that using its assets would constitute theft. If the plan is approved, VTB’s head, Andrei Kostin, threatened the bloc with 50 years in court on Monday.

Von der Leyen claimed that Scott Bessent, the secretary of the US Treasury, had “positively received” the news of the proposed reparation loan. Despite the complexity of the plan’s 28-point plan to end the war, which suggested putting some of the assets in a joint US-Russian investment vehicle, the report provides that assurance.

By late 2027, the EU will have made a significant step toward removing the bloc’s decades-long reliance on Russian energy, as announced earlier on Wednesday.

The European Commission’s recommendations for ending Russian energy shipments were “historical agreement” reached between the EU government and representatives of the European Parliament, according to the EU announcement.

By the end of 2026, member states will no longer import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia as per the agreement. By November 2027, imports of pipeline gas will be discontinued.

The organization claimed that the move puts an end to its “dependence on an unreliable supplier,” which has repeatedly “repeatedly destabilized European energy markets, put supply security in jeopardy, and damaged the European economy.”

Von der Leyen applauded the decision, stating that “we are now in the transition to full energy independence from Russia.”

We stand with Ukraine and aim for new energy partnerships and opportunities, she said, “by pledging Putin’s war chest.”

Lyon out of home Test for first time since 2012

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For the first time in a home match since 2012, Nathan Lyon was withdrawn from the Australian side, and Pat Cummins, the hosts’ skipper, was also unavailable for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

Cummins is still a patient patient as he recovers from a back injury despite speculation that he might make a surprise comeback despite not being named in the squad.

The hosts chose an all-seam attack for the day-night Test at the Gabba, but the shock was caused by Lyon’s omission, which is Australia’s third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.

The decision was described as “bombshell” on Cricket Australia’s website.

Michael Neser, a seamer, received a third cap as a result. Neser’s only two previous Test appearances were pink-ball matches.

Stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith said: “Pat was close. He has succeeded in every way. He’s tracking well for the upcoming game, despite our initial concern that it might have been a little risky.

Only Lyon and the legendary seamer Glenn McGrath have Test-tried to score more Test wickets than the legendary Shane Warne. The 38-year-old needs two more to move past McGrath’s 562 and to the top of the list.

In January 2012, Lyon was last excluded from a home Test against India at the Waca. He had won 71 home tests in a row.

Given Lyon’s history at the Gabba and how quickly this ball softens, ex-Australian spinner Alex Hartley said in Test Match Special.

“You might need someone to hold up an end, but Labuschagne can bowl a little, because they may not have enough part-time spinners to do that.”

Lyon has now been cut out of the Australia XI twice in three Test matches, and he was also excluded from the side’s 176-run victory over West Indies in Jamaica in July.

Lyon responded, “Disappointed on a number of levels, based on that decision. I still firmly believe that I am capable of playing a role in any situation.

Every cricket player should have that conviction in mind, and I want to play every game for Australia.

Neser lengthens Australia’s batting order to number eight and has the knowledge that Gabba is his home ground, but only Warne and McGrath surpass Lyon in Brisbane in terms of wickets.

Josh Inglis, who was born in Leeds, replaced Usman Khawaja in the Australian team as expected. Inglis is listed at number seven while Travis Head is still the opener.

Will Jacks, an injured fast bowler, will replace Mark Wood in the England XI that had already been confirmed.

England has won at the Gabba twice since 1986, and they have never lost in any of their previous three Australian pink-ball matches.

related subjects

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  • The Ashes
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    • August 16
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