Greek authorities have charged a 26-year-old Afghan man over the death of a British charity worker whose body was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens.

The victim, 38-year-old Elisabeth-Jane Ross from Edinburgh, Scotland, had travelled to Greece in late June to carry out volunteer work supporting refugees and vulnerable communities.

She was reported missing after friends and family became concerned when they received unusual text messages from her phone that investigators now believe may have been sent after her death to delay the discovery of the crime.

The accused, Sharif Ahmadzai, is a professional boxer who arrived in Greece as an unaccompanied Afghan refugee, a minor, in 2016. He later married an American aid worker, and together they established a Christian ministry that provided assistance to refugees in Athens. Ross is believed to have known the couple through their humanitarian work.

Greek prosecutors have charged Ahmadzai with murder, robbery and weapons-related offences. According to investigators, CCTV footage allegedly shows him wheeling a large suitcase through Athens before abandoning it in a derelict building in the Kypseli district, where Ross’s body was discovered by a homeless man on July 18.

Authorities also allege he used the victim’s bank cards to withdraw about €10,000 after her death.

Ahmadzai has admitted disposing of Ross’s body and using her bank cards but denies killing her. He claims he found her already dead in the apartment where she had been staying.

Investigators, however, say forensic evidence and CCTV footage contradict key parts of his account. Initial forensic findings suggest Ross may have died from asphyxiation, although further toxicology tests are still pending.

Investigators say Ahmadzai’s wife played a key role in the investigation after becoming suspicious of his behaviour. She reportedly contacted police after tracking his location to Ross’s apartment on the night she disappeared and later handed officers cash and other items she believed may have been linked to the case.

Greek authorities continue to investigate the motive for the killing, with robbery and a possible confrontation among the lines of inquiry. The case has shocked both Greece and the United Kingdom, where Ross is being remembered for her humanitarian work and commitment to helping refugees.

Preparations are in the final stages at Kabul’s Ayubi Cricket Stadium as ground staff complete the finishing touches ahead of the start of the fourth season of the Kabul Premier League (KPL) on Saturday, August 8.

Workers have been busy ensuring the venue meets the highest standards, with improvements focused on the playing surface.

Officials overseeing the preparations said this year’s tournament will be held in a venue that is in excellent condition.

“This time we will have everything good and up to standard in terms of greenery and excellence,” officials said, expressing confidence that players and fans will enjoy an improved match-day experience.

The tournament has become one of the country’s premier domestic Twenty20 competitions, providing a platform for Afghanistan’s leading cricketers and emerging young talent to compete at a high level.

Six teams will compete for this year’s title:

• Shamshad Eagles
• Pamir Stars
• Kabul Zalmi
• Speenghar Warriors
• Abaseen Defenders
• Band-e-Amir

The opening match of the tournament will be played on August 8, when Pamir Stars take on Shamshad Eagles at Ayubi Cricket Stadium.

The Kabul Premier League has become an important part of Afghanistan’s domestic cricket calendar, helping strengthen the country’s cricket structure while giving promising players an opportunity to showcase their skills before national selectors.

Cricket fans across Afghanistan will be able to follow every match live on Ariana Radio and Television Network (ATN), which holds the exclusive broadcast rights for the tournament.

Fans are meanwhile encouraged to follow Ariana Television, Ariana Sport and Ariana News’ social media pages for updates on schedules, news and other exciting information.

With just days remaining before the first ball is bowled, Ayubi Cricket Stadium is ready to welcome players and supporters for what promises to be another exciting season of domestic T20 cricket.

Conflicting signals from the United States and Iran over the status of talks to end their five-month-old war boosted uncertainty on Tuesday, with the latest attack on ​shipping in the Strait of Hormuz highlighting risks to global energy flows.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the talks were under way on Monday, warning of a “last chance” ‌for Tehran to sign a good deal, but Iran denied that negotiations were being held or planned, Reuters reported.

“They are going on right now,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event when asked about the state of negotiations, saying the sides were talking at the request of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, among others.

“This is a last chance for them (Iran) to sign a good document.”

The comments followed Trump’s ​weekend decision to call off “massive attacks” he said he had authorized on Iran, as talks were to be held, repeating a pattern in which he has vowed major ​strikes only to cancel them.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said no negotiations with the United States were taking place ⁠and no meetings were scheduled.

Iran had no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days, he said.

Baghaei added that all Iranian negotiators were in the ​country, except for Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq. The only talks underway, he said, were discussions with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping ​activity in the Gulf only reinforced the ongoing stand-off since Iran all but shut off transits through the vital route for a fifth of global shipments of crude oil and natural gas before it was blockaded in the war.

One cargo vessel broadcast it had been hit by an unknown projectile near the strait off Oman’s coast, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.

Traffic through Hormuz remained largely slow, with three ​tankers and three bulk carriers among the six vessels transiting the strait on Monday, down from seven the previous day, Kpler data showed.

STOCKS RISE, OIL DOWN ON HOPES FOR RESOLUTION

Still, hopes ​that U.S.-Iran tensions were easing again pushed down oil prices, while major stock indexes gained on Monday.

Brent crude futures fell about 7% to around $83.77 a barrel while the Dow closed at a record high. Asian ‌stocks and ⁠oil prices both edged higher on Tuesday.

Gulf officials and analysts say Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East’s trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation.

It hopes such a strategy will convince the United States and its allies that containing the crisis is more costly than accommodating Iran’s demands over the Strait of Hormuz.

“Their big advantage is that they can hurt the regional states and the global economy,” said Michael Knights of the Washington Institute.

In a post on Truth Social later ​on Monday, Trump called Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous,” saying ​they had asked for a meeting and ⁠more talks were set for the “immediate future.”

He also repeated his assertion that the U.S. Navy had total control over the Strait of Hormuz.

“‘The United States Wall of Steel!’ Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, ​or Total Surrender, is accomplished,” he wrote.

REPEATED PATTERN

Monday’s events appeared to fit a pattern since Trump launched “Operation Epic Fury” alongside Israel more ​than five months ago. Trump ⁠has threatened military action several times, only to later cite diplomatic contacts as a reason to step back.

Iran, however, has publicly rejected negotiations with Washington since the collapse in early July of a memorandum of understanding both signed the previous month, aimed at ending the conflict.

Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the outset of the war: dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, ⁠curbing its ability ​to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.

Repeated U.S. actions have been ​met by escalating Iranian responses against U.S. forces in the region, Washington’s Gulf Arab allies and shipping, each time ending with Trump stepping back.

The Hormuz dispute remains a central point of contention, with Washington saying the June memorandum required Iran ​to open the strategic waterway, while Tehran says the text explicitly preserved its authority over shipping traffic.