(Reuters) – England’s Ollie Pope said they have to get Steve Smith out of his bubble during the Ashes series and will look for ways of making the Australian run machine as uncomfortable as possible at the crease. Smith batted for 5-1/2 hours against India in the World Test Championship final at the Oval before he was out for 121 from 268 balls on day two. It was his 31st test hundred, and seventh in England, and served as a reminder of the threat the former Australia captain poses for the Ashes. The 34-year-old will look to reprise his performance from the 2019 Ashes series in England, where h ..read more

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s government will present its annual budget to parliament on Friday needing to satisfy the IMF to have any chance of securing the release of more bailout money, with the crisis-riven country due to hold elections by November. The risk of default on sovereign debt is rising, with the economy creaking under twin deficits and record high inflation, which has further dented the popularity of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition ahead of the vote. The economy could slide closer to the cliff edge as a result of the latest bout of political instability, with former ..read more

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. senators on Thursday introduced two separate bipartisan artificial intelligence bills on Thursday amid growing interest in addressing issues surrounding the technology. One would require the U.S. government to be transparent when using AI to interact with people and another would establish an office to determine if the United States is remaining competitive in the latest technologies. Lawmakers are beginning to consider what new rules might be needed because of the rise of AI. The technology made headlines earlier this year when ChatGPT, an AI program that can answe ..read more

(Reuters) – Crypto exchange Binance.US said on Thursday it is suspending U.S. dollar deposits and that its banking partners are preparing to pause fiat dollar withdrawal channels as early as June 13, just days after U.S. regulators sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. The U.S. arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange said in a tweet at 10:33 p.m. EDT (0233 GMT Friday) that the move comes as it is taking “proactive steps” in its transition to a crypto-only exchange for the time being. Trading, staking, deposits and withdrawals in crypto would remain fully operational, the exchange said in ..read more

BEIJING (Reuters) – Honduran President Xiomara Castro arrived in China’s financial hub of Shanghai on Friday, state broadcaster CGTN said, on a visit that will run until June 14. She will meet President Xi Jinping to “jointly plan and lead” the future development of ties, the official news agency, Xinhua, said. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez ..read more

KYIV (Reuters) – Russia unleashed a new air strike on Ukraine overnight, killing at least one person in a combined assault of cruise missiles and attack drones, Ukrainian authorities said. The Ukrainian military reported shooting down four out of six missiles launched during the attack, which the air force said lasted around six hours, and 10 out of 16 drones. The interior ministry said one person had been killed, three were wounded, and four buildings were destroyed from falling debris. It posted images on the Telegram messaging app of firefighters attending to the smouldering wreckage of wha ..read more

ANNECY, France (Reuters) -Four toddlers and two pensioners were stabbed in a knife attack in the tranquil French mountain town of Annecy on Thursday and the government said the suspected assailant was a Syrian refugee. A video of the attack, taken by a bystander and verified by Reuters, showed the assailant jump a low wall into a children’s playground and repeatedly lunge at a child in a stroller, pushing aside a woman who tries to fend him off. Two of the wounded children and one adult were in hospital in a life-threatening condition, while the other victims were less seriously hurt. Prime Mi ..read more

INTERNATIONAL Secondary School Suva wants to improve its performance from last year as they prepare to participate in the 2023 National Schools Swimming Championship. Team manager Jonathan Uluiviti, said they hoped to scoop more medals this year, while at the same time exposing their new and younger swimmers to the atmosphere of such a competitive tournament. “Our goal this year is to just improve our performance since last year, scoop more medals and expose our new and younger swimmers to the atmosphere of such a tournament,” he said. Uluiviti said they managed to win a handful of medals last ..read more

VIENNA (Reuters) – Water from the reservoir of a breached Ukrainian dam is still being pumped to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to cool reactors and other areas, though levels are at values earlier thought to make it impossible, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Thursday. The plant, occupied by Russia since the early days of its invasion last year, can fall back on other water sources when the reservoir’s water is no longer available. These include a large cooling pond above the reservoir with several months’ worth of water, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. “In these difficult ..read more

The Nadi football side was held 1-all by Tailevu Naitasiri in the opening match of the 2023 Digicel Fiji FACT. William Valentine scored from the penalty spot to give Nadi a 1-nil lead at half-time. Epeli Valevou equalised for Tailevu Naitasiri in the 94th  minute ..read more