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At least 113 people missing after Uganda landslide – police
At least 113 people are missing, and at least 15 people are known to have died after a landslide in eastern Uganda, the police say.
The landslides triggered by heavy rainfall affected multiple villages in the Bulambuli district, about 280 km (178 miles) from the capital Kampala.
A rescue operation is underway after at least 40 houses were swept away, the Ugandan Red Cross Society said on X.
The Ugandan police said that as well as the 15 bodies, another 15 injured people had been rescued and admitted to hospital.
At least six of the bodies recovered have been children, the Ugandan Red Cross Society told the BBC.
Heavy rainfall has inundated the East African country for the last few days.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja issued a disaster warning on X.
“People are suspected to be missing and some feared buried by slides,” her statement said.
Rivers have burst their banks, flooding schools and churches, destroying bridges, and isolating communities.
The military has been deployed to assist with search and recovery efforts.
On Wednesday, the defence forces said on X that two boats had been deployed during an operation to rescue a taxi stuck on a bridge near the town of Pakwach.
One of the boats capsized and an engineer died.
In parliament on Thursday, the speaker, Anitah Among, expressed her condolences to the relatives of those who have lost their lives in the flooding across the country.
This is not the first time that eastern Uganda has been hit by floods and landslides.
In 2010, a landslide in Bududa killed about 300 people. This was one of the most devastating natural disasters in the country.
The region is mountainous with arable land which is good for farming – one of the reasons people are reluctant to move away, alongside their attachment to their ancestral land.
But this year alone, the heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides have forced thousands of people to leave their homes, according to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
[BBC]
Sahibzada Farhan’s record-breaking hundred and Fakhar Zaman’s blazing 84 off 42 balls gave Pakistan a five-run win over Sti Lanka in Pallekele but it wasn’t enough to put them in the T20 World Cup semi-finals. It was New Zealand who became the second team from Group 2 to qualify for the knockouts.
After being sent in, Pakistan needed to win by about 65 runs to qualify, and for a large part of their innings, they were in business. Having made three changes – Babar Azam, Saim Ayub and Salman Mirza made way for Khawaja Nafay, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed – they opened the innings with Fakhar and Farhan, and the two added 176 in 15.5 overs. It was the highest partnership for any wicket in T20 World Cups, bettering Finn Allen and Tim Seifert’s unbroken 175 against UAE from a few days ago.
Farhan’s hundred was his second of the tournament. No one else has made more than one in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. En route, he also broke Virat Kohli’s record for the most runs in a T20 World Cup. Kohli had scored 319 in 2014; Farhan finished on 383.
After the massive opening stand, Pakistan looked set for 220-plus. But the last four overs brought only 35 runs at the loss of seven wickets. As a result, they could post only 212 for 8, and needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 or below.
Despite Abrar’s three-for, Sri Lanka breached that mark in the 16th over. But Dasun Shanak wasn’t satisfied with just that. He wanted to win. When Shaheen Shah Afridi came on to bowl the final over, Sri Lanka needed 28. Shanaka started with 4, 6, 6, 6 to make it six required from two. Afridi went way outside off to beat a reverse scoop. Now it was six off one. Afridi tried to hide the ball again. Shanaka left it expecting a wide. It was extremely tight, but the umpire decided the delivery was legal and the game ended in total anti-climax.
Farhan and Fakhar showed positive intent right from the start. Facing his second ball, Fakhar stepped out and slogged Dilshan Madushanka through midwicket for four. From the other end, Farhan steered Dushmantha Chameera through cover-point before launching Madushanka for a four and a six in the third over. The pair took Pakistan to 64 for 0 at the end of the powerplay.
Even after the powerplay, the duo kept finding the boundary. The 11th over was the first and only boundary-less over of the innings. By then, Pakistan had crossed 100 and Farhan had brought up his fifty. Fakhar got to his in the following over, off 27 balls – five fewer than Farhan.
Sri Lanka were also let down by their fielders. Dunith Wellalage dropped Farhan on 75. Janith Liyanage caught him on 76 but stepped onto the boundary cushion. Chameera eventually broke through in the 16th over when he had Fakhar dragging a wide delivery onto his stumps. Farhan brought up his hundred off 59 balls but Pakistan kept losing wickets at the death in search of quick runs, which didn’t come.
Playing his first match of the World Cup, Naseem needed only three balls to pick up his first wicket. With Pathum Nissanka backing away early, he slipped in a back-of-the-hand slower ball, full and wide outside off. Nissanka reached for it but could only lob it towards extra cover where Mohammad Nawaz back-pedalled to complete the catch. Kamil Mishara was steering the chase single-handedly, but Abrar bowled him in the fifth over for 26 off 15. Then, Charith Asalanka and Pavan Rathnayake took Naseem for 12 in the sixth over to finish the powerplay on 49 for 2.
Asalanka and Rathnayake took Sri Lanka to 75 in the ninth over before Abrar struck again. He beat Asalanka’s slog sweep and bowled him. With the final ball of his spell, he sent back Kamindu Mendis too. When Mohammad Nawaz castled Liyanage, leaving Sri Lanka 101 for 5, Pakistan’s hopes were renewed. But Rathnayake and Shanaka crushed them with a flurry of sixes. In the space of ten balls, the pair hit four sixes and a four. Rathnayake brought up his fifty off 32 balls, and when Shanaka picked up a single off Tariq to take Sri Lanka to 148, Pakistan were knocked out.
Sri Lanka needed 53 from four overs. Shanaka started the 17th with a six off Naseem but Afridi gave away only six in the 18th and also removed Rathnayake. But Shanaka refused to give up. With 46 required from 12 balls, he took Shadab for two sixes in the 19th and then tore into Afridi. The way he was batting, Sri Lanka appeared to be the favourites with six needed from two balls.
On the penultimate delivery, Shanaka shaped up for a paddle sweep. But the ball was well wide outside off stump. Shanaka tried to go reverse last minute but couldn’t connect. For the final ball, Afridi once again went full and wide. Shanaka left it alone, expecting it to be given a wide. On most days, the decision would have been in his favour, but tonight the umpire remained unmoved, leaving him on 76 not out off 31 and Sri Lanka agonisingly close to their target.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 212 for 8 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 100, Fakhar Zaman 84, Dilshan Madushanka 3-33, Dushmantha Chameera 1-48, Dasun Shanak 2-42) beat Sri Lanka 207 for 6 in 20 overs (Kamil Mishara 26, Charith Asalanka 25, Dasun Shanaka 76*, Pavan Rathnayake 58; Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-48, Naseem Shah 1-36, Abrar Ahmed 3-23, Mohammad Nawaz 1-21) by five runs
[Cricinfo]
[Cricbuzz]
Latest News
Iran launches attacks across Middle East after US and Israel strikes on leadership sites
Iran has launched attacks across the Middle East, in response to US and Israeli strikes across its territory
Apparent Iranian attacks have been reported in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait – places with US military bases, or that are allied to the US – and elsewhere
In Bahrain, where the US has a major naval base, the moment of an apparent Iranian missile attack was filmed from a car.
The attacks came after the US and Israel launched attacks across Iran – Israel says “several senior figures” from the Iran regime have been “eliminated”. At least 53 people were killed at a girls’ school, Iranian state media reports.
Donald Trump said “major combat operations” were under way, and urged Iranians to ‘take over’ the government: “This will be probably your only chance for generations”
The US and Israel think the Iranian regime is vulnerable, writes our international editor Jeremy Bowen, and believe this is an opportunity not to be squandered
Meanwhile, UK PM Keir Starmer says British planesare in the sky today in the Middle East as part of co-ordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies”
[BBC]
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