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Pakistan to boycott group match against IndiaPakistan team allowed to participate in tournamentBoycott follows Bangladesh's withdrawalPakistan will boycott their February 15 match ‌of the Twenty20 World Cup against arch-rivals India in Colombo, the ‌Pakistan government said on Sunday ‍while approving the team's participation in the global showpiece."The government... grants approval to the Pakistan cricket team ⁠to participate in the ICC World ⁠T20 2026, however, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the ‍match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India," the post on the government's official X account said without elaborating on reasons behind the decision.Pakistan would forfeit two points if they boycotted the India match. There was no clarity on what would happen should the bitter neighbours meet in a knockout game.Pakistan are scheduled to play their Group A matches in Sri Lanka in keeping with ‌their policy of not touring India due to geopolitical tensions.Bilateral cricket remains suspended between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who engaged in a military conflict that nearly snowballed into a fully-fledged war ‍last year.Their fraught political relations prompted ⁠the governing International ‌Cricket Council (ICC) to broker an arrangement allowing them to play at a neutral venue when their neighbour hosts a global tournament.The 2009 champions had earlier announced their squad for the 20-team tournament beginning on February 7, maintaining that their participation was subject to government approval.Their decision to boycott the India match is a serious blow to the tournament because an India-Pakistan clash remains cricket's greatest blockbuster, which is why they are clubbed together in the same group in ICC events.This is not the first example of geopolitical tension affecting the tournament though.Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland in the global ​showpiece following their refusal to travel ‌to India over safety concerns.The latest setback is a continuation of the soured India-Pakistan relations which manifested in last ⁠year's Asia Cup in Dubai.India ‍beat Pakistan three times in the tournament, including in the September 28 final, but declined to shake hands with their opponents and refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan's interior minister.Namibia, United States and the Netherlands are also in Group A from which two sides will advance to ​the tournament's Super Eight stage."I extend my best wishes to the Pakistan team for the World Cup,” Naqvi, also the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, was quoted as saying by Geo TV."I hope the team will return with the T20 World Cup trophy."The PCB supported Bangladesh's demands to shift their matches to Sri Lanka. The ICC ruled out any threat to Bangladesh players or fans in India and rejected their late demand for a schedule change.An ICC spokesperson did not immediately reply to ⁠a Reuters message seeking comments on the development. 

Pakistan cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi said Monday a final decision on the team's participation in next month's Twenty20 World Cup will be delayed by up to a week, keeping open a possible boycott over Bangladesh's withdrawal.Naqvi met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday to take his advice on the situation, after which a call was expected to be made, but the cricket board boss posted on X that "the final decision will be taken either on Friday or next Monday".Describing a "productive meeting" with the premier, he said Sharif "directed that we resolve it while keeping all options on the table".Naqvi threw the national cricket team's participation into doubt on Saturday, saying Pakistan could pull out after the International Cricket Council (ICC) replaced Bangladesh in the tournament.Local media also reported that Pakistan could also boycott a February 15 match against arch-rivals India over political tension.Pakistan's reaction comes after the ICC rejected Bangladesh's demands to relocate their World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka over security fears.On Saturday, the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland as per the Twenty20 international rankings.Pakistan backed Bangladesh's stance in Wednesday's ICC Board virtual meeting, saying there was a precedence of relocating India's matches on security fears from Pakistan in last year's Champions Trophy.Then India, who have not toured Pakistan since 2008, played all their matches in Dubai.The same option was given to Pakistan who will not tour India and play their Twenty20 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka under an agreement signed last year saying the two countries will play on neutral venues whenever one of them hosts an ICC event.Pakistan and Bangladesh revived their sour relations after the ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a student-inspired uprising in Bangladesh.In contrast, Dhaka and New Delhi fell out over demands India hand over the fugitive former premier.Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India told Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to drop Bangladesh cricketer Mustafizur Rahman due to political tensions.Bangladesh then refused to play in India and demanded their matches be relocated to co-hosts Sri Lanka, but the ICC rejected the appeal. 

Guinea's junta chief Mamady Doumbouya, who had pledged not to run for office after seizing power four years ago, has a large lead in presidential elections held at the weekend, according to initial results published late Monday.Doumbouya, 41, faced eight rivals for the presidency but the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote.In standing, the general reneged on his initial vow not to run for office and to hand the mineral-rich but poor west African nation back to civilian rule by the end of 2024.He placed well ahead in districts of the capital Conakry, often winning more than 80%, according to official partial results read out on RTG public television by Djenabou Toure, head of the General Directorate of Elections.Doumbouya had a similar lead in several other areas, including Coyah, a town near Conakry, and in other parts of the country, such as Boffa and Fria in the west, Gaoual in the northwest, northern Koundara and Labe, and Nzerekore in the southeast.Turnout in Sunday's polls was 85%, Toure said.However, a citizens' movement calling for the return of civilian rule questioned the figure."A huge majority of Guineans chose to boycott the electoral charade," the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution said in a statement Monday.In September 2021, Doumbouya led a coup to topple Guinea's first freely elected president, Alpha Conde.He has cracked down on civil liberties and banned protests, while opponents have been arrested, put on trial or driven into exile.Candidate Abdoulaye Yero Balde denounced "serious irregularities", citing in a statement late Monday in particular the refusal to grant his representatives access to vote counting centres and "ballot stuffing" in some areas.Another candidate, Faya Millimono, complained of "electoral banditry" linked, he said, to influence exerted on voters.In late September, Guineans approved a new constitution in a referendum that permitted junta members to run for office, paving the way for Doumbouya's candidacy.It also lengthened presidential terms from five to seven years, renewable once.Opposition leader and former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo was one of three opposition leaders barred from standing by the new constitution.Diallo was excluded because he lives in exile and his primary residence is outside of Guinea.Former president Conde, whom Doumbouya overthrew in 2021, and ex-prime minister Sidya Toure, both of whom also live in exile, are over the maximum age limit of 80. 

Somalians voted Thursday in the Mogadishu region’s first direct local election in nearly 60 years, despite security concerns and a boycott by opposition leaders. The election is seen as a test ahead of the 2026 presidential ballot, in a country struggling to emerge from decades of conflict and chaos, an Islamist insurgency and frequent natural disasters. There were long queues outside several polling stations early Thursday, but numbers had dwindled significantly by early afternoon, an AFP correspondent saw. “This is a great day,” said Guhad Ali, 37, showing the ink on his finger proving he had cast his ballot. Universal suffrage was abolished after Siad Barre took power in 1969. Since the fall of his authoritarian government in 1991, the east African country’s political system has revolved around a clan-based structure. The government said it had deployed more than 10,000 security personnel on the streets of Mogadishu, while the civil aviation authority said it was shutting the country’s main airport on voting day. Since 2006, authorities in the Horn of Africa nation have been fighting Al Shebaab fighters linked to Al Qaeda. Security has improved in the capital but just 60km away, fighting continues. According to the electoral body, there are more than 1,600 candidates contesting 390 local council seats in the southeastern region of Banadir, where Mogadishu is located.“This is my first time to vote. I am very happy and I came here early in the morning, walking with other mothers,” Addey Isak Abdi, 65, who was covered with a pink veil, told Reuters. President Mohamud has championed the reintroduction of direct elections, saying Thursday that they were “the future of the Somali people”. However, the ballot has been boycotted by the opposition Somali Future coalition, and a number of federal states have dismissed it as a bid by central government to concentrate power in Mogadishu. Former prime minister Hassan Ali Kheire, a member of Somali Future, said the coalition believed the government had orchestrated the election to extend the current president’s mandate. This he warned, “is not going to be accepted”. Although Barre abolished direct elections nearly six decades ago, they have been reintroduced in the northern region of Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 but is not internationally recognised. The semi-autonomous northern state of Puntland also held direct local elections in 2023 but abandoned the system for local and regional polls in January 2025. The vote had been postponed three times this year before going ahead Thursday. 

From the music, film to publishing industries, growing numbers of Western artists are calling for a cultural boycott of Israel over the Gaza war, hoping to emulate the success of the apartheid-era blockade of South Africa.With most Western governments resistant to major economic sanctions, musicians, celebrities and writers are hoping to build public pressure for more action."There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that, globally, we're at a tipping point," British actor Khalid Abdalla ("The Kite Runner", "The Crown") told AFP after signing a petition calling for a boycott of some Israeli cinema bodies.The open letter from Film Workers for Palestine has gathered thousands of signatories, including Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, who have pledged to cut ties with any Israeli institutions "implicated in genocide"."The avalanche is happening now, and it's across spheres. It's not just in the film worker sphere," Abdalla added during an interview on Friday.At this week's Emmy Awards, winner after winner, from Javier Bardem to "Hacks" actor Hannah Einbinder, spoke about Gaza, echoing similar statements at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month.On Thursday, British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack announced they were joining a music collective called "No Music for Genocide" that will see artists try to block the streaming of their songs in Israel.Elsewhere, Israel faces being boycotted at the Eurovision song contest, authors have signed open letters, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is leading a push to exclude the country from sports events.Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov announced last week at a concert in Britain that he would no longer perform in his home country."I think we are seeing a situation which is comparable to the boycott movement against apartheid South Africa," Hakan Thorn, a Swedish academic at the University of Gothenburg who wrote a book on the South Africa boycott movement."There was definitely a shift in the spring of this year when the world saw the images of the famine in Gaza," added the sociologist.The international boycott of South Africa's white supremacist government began in earnest in the early 1960s after a massacre of black protesters by police in the Sharpeville township.It culminated with artists and sports teams refusing to play there, with boycott busters such as Queen or Frank Sinatra facing widespread public criticism."The history of the Holocaust and criticism of the pro-Palestinian movement for being antisemitic has been a serious obstacle to a broader mobilisation against what Israel is doing right now," explained Thorn.A campaign to boycott Israel, known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, began 20 years ago over the country's occupation of Palestinian territory.Although the anti-apartheid movement is referenced by today's campaigners against the Gaza war, history provides some sobering lessons for them.After the start of the South Africa boycott movement, it took 30 years before the regime fell, exposing the limits of international pressure campaigns."By the early 1970s, it's true to say that boycott was the defining principle of a self-identified global anti-apartheid movement, but the movement on its own was not enough," Feldman, who wrote a book about boycotts, added.The real pain was caused by the gradual asphyxiation of the South African economy as companies and banks withdrew under pressure, while the end of the Cold War sharply increased the country's isolation.Inside Israel, many artists worry about the consequences of the boycott movement.Acclaimed Israeli screenwriter Hagai Levi ("Scenes from a Marriage", "The Affair") told AFP earlier this month that "90 percent of people in the artistic community" were against the war."They're struggling, and boycotting them is actually weakening them."

British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack have joined other bands and musicians in seeking to block their tracks being streamed in Israel as part of a cultural boycott campaign over the war in Gaza.The Bristol natives said they had joined "No Music for Genocide", a new collective of musicians modelled on the "Film Workers for Palestine" group.Massive Attack, who have nearly eight million monthly listeners on Spotify, wrote on Instagram on Thursday that they had asked their label, Universal, that "our music be removed from all... streaming services in the territory of Israel".A website for "No Music for Genocide" says it brings together more than 400 artists and labels that "have geo-blocked and removed their music" from Israel in protest at the country's Gaza campaign.On its website, it offers advice to artists on how to geo-block their songs to make them unavailable on streaming platforms in Israel.Massive Attack also announced that they had asked Universal to remove all of their songs from Spotify over investments in a European defence start-up by the CEO of the Swedish streaming platform.Daniel Ek, Spotify's co-founder and CEO, also runs a private equity company that led a consortium of investors which injected 600 million euros ($705 million) in European military artificial intelligence and drone maker Helsing in June.Ek is also chairman of Helsing, which says on its website that its mission is "to protect our democratic values and open societies".Massive Attack, who are long-time anti-war campaigners, criticised the links between Spotify and Helsing, saying that "the hard-earned money of fans and the creative endeavours of musicians funds lethal, dystopian technologies".Spotify declined to comment when contacted by AFP, but a spokesperson told the Guardian newspaper that Spotify and Helsing were "totally separate companies" and Helsing was "not involved in Gaza"."Our technology is deployed to European countries for deterrence and for defence against the Russian aggression in Ukraine only," said a statement from Helsing on its website.Like many other campaigners, Massive Attack cited the cultural boycott of apartheid-era South Africa as inspiration for their actions against Israel."Complicity with that state was considered unacceptable," the group said.After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many music industry companies withdrew or announced measures against Russia.Spotify closed its Moscow office and removed some sanctioned pro-war artists from the platform.Major record labels such as Sony, Universal and Warner all suspended their operations there and called for an end to the violence.Massive Attack took part in a major concert in London on Wednesday evening called "Together for Palestine" featuring top British artists including indie band Bastille, Brian Eno and DJ Jamie xx.With most Western governments resistant to major economic sanctions on Israel over the Gaza war, increasing numbers of musicians, actors and writers are speaking out in the hope of building public pressure for more action.

A billboard in Times Square displays the message "Soccer Federations: Boycott Israel" as part of the campaign by Game Over Israel calling for a boycott of Israel by national soccer federations over the war in Gaza, in New York City, U.S.A group of sympathisers for Gaza is demanding that national soccer federations boycott Israel over its killing of hundreds of Palestinian athletes in Gaza.