A Pakistan Under-19 cricket team suddenly became the centre of focus when it was mistaken for a group of asylum seekers in Portsmouth. A group of protesters gathered outside the Marriott Hotel in Portsmouth after reports that asylum seekers were staying there. The situation had to be later diffused when it was ascertained that the hotel was hosting the Pakistan Under-19 team.

According to the Guardian, the situation became tense when a crowd gathered outside the Marriott hotel after reports that about 40 men who did not seem to be English arrived at the hotel. George Madgwick, a Reform councillor, called the hotel to mediate between the Pakistan Under-19 staff and the assembled crowd, following which the crowd dispersed.

“I spoke to the coach of the team, who was very understanding,” Madgwick told the Guardian. “I went out to the protesters and told them, ‘You’ve got it wrong guys, it’s a cricket club.’ They left within a couple of minutes. It was a massively unfortunate incident.

“From the perspective of the people of Portsmouth who are already on high alert, this was a coach from the same company which was turning up with about 40 foreign men.”

The ECB has been in touch with the Pakistan management following the incident and is reviewing security arrangements.

The Pakistan Under-19 team played a four-day game against England Under-19 in Arundel from September 2 to 5, which they lost by ten runs. The two teams faced off in a Youth ODI on September 9, with Pakistan winning by 177 runs. Pakistan’s senior men’s team are also playing the third and final Test against England at Edgbaston.

[Cricinfo]

A court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the murder of prominent anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Fenech, 44, was acquitted on Wednesday at the end of a jury trial. He had been tried on charges of complicity to murder and for the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.

If found guilty, Fenech could have faced life in prison.

Caruana Galizia’s family were seen weeping in the packed courtroom in Valletta after the businessman was cleared of both counts by an 8-1 margin following eight hours of deliberation by the jury.

“Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,” the slain reporter’s family said in a statement.

“Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again. Our country failed to protect Daphne’s life. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost.”

Fenech’s family members were seen celebrating the jury’s decision.

The killing of Caruana Galizia in October 2017 shocked Europe’s journalist community and set off a political firestorm in Malta, focusing international attention on its police and judiciary.

Dubbed a “one-woman WikiLeaks”, Caruana Galizia had exposed corruption at the highest level in the Mediterranean island country, shining a spotlight on links between Malta’s business and political elites. She was 53 when she was killed.

Prosecutors argued that Fenech had wanted Caruana Galizia killed because she was about to reveal information about him.

Fenech has denied the accusations. His defence instead pointed fingers at his one-time friend Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and a target of Caruana Galizia’s blogs.

Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, stepped down in January 2020 due to the political fallout from the assassination.

Police told the court that Schembri had never been a suspect. He has denied any role in the murder.

An independent inquiry in 2021 found that officials in Malta had failed to protect Caruana Galizia from threats to her life before her death.

[Aljazeera]

A head teacher’s quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border

Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare. One pupil says she and her friends survived by just 10 seconds  and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away

Wednesday’s disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say

In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media –

[BBC]