Last Updated:February 08, 2026, 21:23 IST

Rohit Paudel Statement: Nepal cricket team captain Rohit Paudel said after the defeat in the close match against England that his team has come to cause one or two upsets in the T20 World Cup. Paudel said that when we were coming for the World Cup, we had decided that we are not just going to participate but will make every possible effort to win.

Rohit Paudel said that his team can cause an upset in this World Cup.

FIRST ON FOX: Chinese-funded infrastructure projects across the Pacific Islands may appear civilian on the surface but could provide future military access for Beijing, senior members of a bipartisan congressional advisory commission warned in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

Senior members of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said runways, ports and other facilities financed by the People’s Republic of China are often “dual use” and part of a broader strategic pattern that blends economic investment with long-term security objectives.

“When you see a broader trend of militarization of the region… you see a lot of activities that suggest there are at least some security and military-related interests involved,” commission chair Randall Schriver said. “Even if it’s declared for civilian use… it is by its very character dual-use and could be used for military purposes.”

CHINA INFILTRATES KEY PACIFIC TERRITORY OF MICRONESIA WITH INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AS US URGED TO ACT

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Woleai runway project in Yap State. Representatives of a Chinese company hold a banner on stage. May, 2025. (Cleo Paskal)

Schriver warned that China’s investments in the Pacific should not be viewed in isolation. “We know that China is very ambitious. We know that even civilian infrastructure projects often have strings attached,” he said. “In many instances, those involve access for the Chinese military.”

Commission Vice Chair Michael Kuiken said Beijing frequently pairs infrastructure financing with financial leverage. “There’s a cycle of debt diplomacy here,” Kuiken said. “China loads these islands up with debt and then uses their position of weakness to gain access… to build runways, to do things with respect to ports.”

“It’s a cycle that we see over and over again,” he added, calling it “a flywheel of debt diplomacy. There’s a vicious rinse-and-repeat cycle here. And whether it’s Taiwan, Palau, Micronesia or the Solomon Islands, it is a playbook that the Chinese go back to every time.”

CHINA’S GLOBAL AGGRESSION CHECK: TAIWAN TENSIONS, MILITARY POSTURING, AND US RESPONSE IN 2025

Image shows an LRAD being tested in Guam, Dec. 2025.  (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Angel Campbell)

US response came too slowly, commission says

Schriver acknowledged Washington was slow to recognize the security implications of China’s expansion in the region.

“In a word, yes,” he said when asked whether the U.S. reacted too slowly.

He noted the timing coincided with major U.S. military investments in Guam, even as Chinese projects advanced nearby. “While this was happening, the Chinese were making inroads in the Pacific Islands … with great proximity to Guam,” he said, describing the island as central to U.S. logistics and combat operations.

Asked what would signal a shift from civilian infrastructure to operational military use, Schriver said some warning indicators are already visible.

Chinese labourers work at a construction site. June 22, 2005. (Claro Cortes IV CC/CCK/Reuters)

“The practice of undersea cable cutting… has been very provocative,” he said, describing it as activity that could be tied to military contingencies.

He also warned that visible deployments of Chinese military aircraft to Pacific facilities would mark a major escalation, citing a pattern previously seen in the South China Sea.

US TURNS TO FINLAND TO CLOSE ARCTIC ‘ICEBREAKER GAP’ AS RUSSIA, CHINA EXPAND POLAR PRESENCE

The runway at Woleai in Yap State, part of a Chinese-backed infrastructure project in the Federated States of Micronesia. (Cleo Paskal)

“We’ve seen a particular pattern that wouldn’t surprise us at all to see in other parts of Oceania,” Schriver said.

Kuiken urged lawmakers to increase scrutiny and transparency. “The thing members can do most easily is just ask the intelligence community for imagery and for intelligence reports … raise the alarm, shine a light on it and expose the activities,” he said.

Kuiken also revealed the future hearing focused on undersea infrastructure and security risks in the region.

“Data is the lifeblood of the global economy these days,” he said. “Those cables are a vital source of information… and those are really quite aggressive actions and need to be exposed.”

Policy recommendations and next steps

The commission has proposed a broader U.S. response, including increased Coast Guard cooperation and expanded support for Pacific Island nations to strengthen resilience against security threats and economic pressure.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Palau- October 6, 2015: Palau is an island in the Philippine Sea, Northern Pacific Ocean. (iStock)

Schriver referenced a “Pacific Island Security Initiative” recommendation aimed at combining economic, law enforcement and defense engagement.

Kuiken described the approach as “a layered cake.” “We want there to be a civilian aspect… a law enforcement piece… and a military piece,” he said. “You sort of need to do all of them in order to really be effective and really to combat the influence of the Chinese in this space.”

Tom Brady came under fire from current and former New England Patriots players for saying he doesn’t have “a dog in the fight,” and he has continued to send mixed signals about the big game.

Brady, 48, has ties to both teams. His ties to the Patriots are obvious, as he spent the majority of his career with them. His ties to the Seattle Seahawks, are less obvious.

The Las Vegas Raiders, of whom Brady is a minority owner of, are reportedly set to hire Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as their new head coach.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Fox Sports commentator and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady reacts as he walks onto the field prior to an NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

When asked by Fox News Digital who he thinks will win, he declined to give an answer.

“You tell me,” Brady said with a smile. “Does anybody really know, or is it all just a guess?”

The 15-time Pro Bowler seemed to signal his support for the Patriots in a social media post on Friday.

TOM BRADY’S NEUTRAL SUPER BOWL STANCE SPARKS BACKLASH FROM PATRIOTS’ ROBERT SPILLANE AND FRANCHISE GREATS

Fox broadcaster Tom Brady is seen before the game between the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Dec. 14, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

Brady posted a picture of himself and Robert Kraft to his Instagram story on Friday, captioning the post, “You know I got your back RKK.”

“Get that 7th ring so we can match,” Brady posted with seven ring emojis. He also tagged the Patriots in the photo, seemingly making it clear that he is supporting his former team.

Tom Brady looks on before the NFC wild-card playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 11, 2026. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

While Brady was in California for the Super Bowl, he also opened his store, CardVault by Tom Brady, in San Francisco. The 15-time Pro Bowler said the turnout has been amazing.

“It was amazing. We had a great turnout. We opened in Sacramento yesterday, and we opened in San Francisco today, so it’s pretty cool.”

Brady heard criticism from current and former Patriots players during the week.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Personally it makes me sick,” Spillane said Thursday during a Super Bowl week media availability, via MassLive.com. “But, at the end of the day, [he’s a Patriot]; he has a dog in the fight. So for him to say that, it is what it is. At the end of the day, he’s an owner of the Las Vegas Raiders now, so he has to do what’s best for him.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

A toddler detained by US immigration authorities ended up in hospital with a life-threatening illness, but was returned to custody and denied medication, a lawsuit claims.

The child, identified simply as Amalia in the legal challenge, was detained along with her parents on 11 December, amid an ongoing deportation drive by Donald Trump‘s administration.

Held at a facility in Dilley, Texas, she reportedly developed a fever of 40C (104F) on New Year’s Day, started vomiting, suffered diarrhoea, and struggled to breathe.

Her parents took her to the facility’s medical clinic eight or nine times, but each time received only basic fever medication, the lawsuit alleges.

By mid-January, she was barely getting enough oxygen, and her blood oxygen levels had plunged to life-threatening lows, the case claims.

Only then was she taken to hospital, where she and her mother were constantly supervised by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the suit says.

It’s alleged that her father had to stay behind, unable to communicate with his wife and daughter.

She was diagnosed with COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, viral bronchitis, and pneumonia, and placed on supplemental oxygen, according to the lawsuit.

After 10 days at Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, she was reportedly returned to the Dilley Facility in the midst of a measles outbreak.

Having lost 10% of her weight, Amalia was given a nebulizer, respiratory medication, and nutritional drinks, but all were seized at the detention centre, the case claims.

So the family was forced to queue in the cold for medication, waiting for hours every day in what’s been called a “pill line”, only to be denied what doctors had prescribed, according to the suit.

The legal challenge was reported by Sky’s US partner, NBC News, which described how medical experts had reviewed Amalia’s case and cautioned against returning her to custody.

One physician warned that the child faced a “high risk for medical decompensation and death”.

But the family was only released on Friday, after an emergency challenge was filed by Elora Mukherjee, a professor at Columbia Law School who leads its Immigrants’ Rights Clinic.

Ms Mukherjee said ICE still had not handed over the toddler’s prescriptions and birth certificate.

She said: “Baby Amalia should never have been detained. She nearly died at Dilley.”

Amalia’s parents, Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto, entered the US in 2024 after fleeing their native Venezuela.

Citing political persecution in their homeland, they applied for asylum for themselves and their daughter, who was born in Mexico on the journey north.

Read more:
‘My five-year-old son has nightmares after ICE detention’
Trump administration wants to deport five-year-old detained by ICE

According to the lawsuit, they complied with all requirements, and checked in regularly with immigration authorities. It was during one of these check-ins that they were detained.

Dilley, where they were taken, is more than 500 miles from where they had been living.

Ms Mukherjee called for the release of the hundreds of children and families detained there, warning that they lacked sufficient drinking water, healthy food, education, or proper medical care.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

CoreCivic, the company contracted to run Dilley, referred questions about it to the DHS when approached by NBC.

However, the firm said in a statement that “the health and safety of those entrusted to our care” is its greatest priority.

Archaeologists recently uncovered evidence suggesting that Christians co-existed with a now-little-known religion in modern-day Iraq. 

The discovery, announced by Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, was made public in December.

The excavations began in the late summer of 2025. It focused on a building complex at the Gird-î Kazhaw site in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, built around 500 A.D.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER EERIE ANGLO-SAXON ‘SAND BODIES’ AT NUCLEAR POWER STATION SITE

Archaeologists were unsure what purpose the complex had in ancient days — until they found five square pillars that “suggested that it might be a church,” the university release said.

“Geophysical investigations had revealed more walls underground, so that this ‘church’ was initially believed to be part of a larger monastery,” the release also noted. 

An excavation site linked to early Christian worship is shown alongside a historical depiction of Prophet Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism. (Alexander Tamm, Dirk Wicke; Culture Club/Getty Images)

Archaeologists also found additional stone pillars “which point to the existence of perhaps a three-nave structure,” along with the remains of a Christian meeting place. 

Pottery with a Maltese cross was also recovered there.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND ARTIFACTS OLDER THAN STONEHENGE BENEATH BRITAIN’S HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT: ‘INCREDIBLY RARE’

The site’s proximity to a nearby Sasanian fortification is particularly significant, researchers said, as it may indicate that Christians and Zoroastrians lived side by side in the region.

“Religious diversity was common.”

The Zoroastrians were subjects of the Sasanian Empire, a major Persian empire that ruled from around 224 A.D. to 651 A.D. 

The state religion was Zoroastrianism, and the fall of the empire in the 7th century gave way to Islamization in modern-day Iraq and Iran. 

Researchers believe the complex dates to around 500 A.D. and may have functioned as a Christian meeting place. (Alexander Tamm, Dirk Wicke)

There are some 100,000 Zoroastrians practicing the religion today.

The proof of Zoroastrians at the site is “more indirect,” said Alexander Tamm, a professor at Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. He co-led the excavation.

CHINESE COWBOYS WORKED RANCHES IN THE AMERICAN WEST FOR DECADES: ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND NEW CLUES

“There was also a small fortress that was in use at the same time,” said Tamm. “So far, we have not found any artifacts there that would indicate a Christian presence.”

He added, “If one thinks this through further and assumes that a small military unit may have been stationed there … these individuals were most likely Zoroastrians.”

“Zoroastrianism includes multiple deities, whereas Christianity, of course, has only one God.”

It’s not news that these two religions had intermingled in northern Iraq, Tamm said.

“Religious diversity was common,” the archaeologist noted.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“One should also not forget that Muslims and Christians later coexisted in this region as well — and still do today.”

For those unfamiliar with Zoroastrianism, Tamm said it differs markedly from Christianity.

Excavators uncovered pottery marked with a Maltese cross, shown at right — strengthening evidence of an early Christian presence. (Alexander Tamm, Dirk Wicke)

“Zoroastrianism includes multiple deities, whereas Christianity, of course, has only one God,” he said. 

Tamm also cited “significant differences” in customs, particularly in burials. Zoroastrians would bury their dead in rock-cut niches or vessels to prevent direct contact with the earth.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

“For Zoroastrians, the earth is considered pure, so the dead could not simply be buried in the ground, as that would have defiled the earth,” he said.

“Christians, however, did exactly that: They buried their dead in the ground. This could certainly have been perceived as a major affront to Zoroastrians.”

“We really had very few indications of what to expect…we had assumed we might uncover a small village.”

Despite that tension, Tamm pointed to evidence of people “adapting to one another, to some extent.”

He said, “They likely respected each other’s customs, even when those practices partially contradicted their own religious teachings.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES

Tamm added that it was “quite surprising” to find that the site itself dated to the Sasanian period, particularly given the size of the buildings uncovered.

“We really had very few indications of what to expect,” the expert said. “We had assumed we might uncover a small village.”

“There is still a great deal left to excavate,” said a professor and co-leader of the excavation. (Alexander Tamm, Dirk Wicke)

Tamm concluded that much about the history of Christianity in Iraq and Iran remains unknown.

“There is still a great deal left to excavate,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Only new excavations can help to reconstruct this information… The staff of the Sulaymaniyah Antiquities Authority and our excavation workers are of the Islamic faith — but for them, as for us, archaeology and the pursuit of knowledge are the priority.”