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Asia Cup 2025: Nissanka helps Sri Lanka edge sloppy Hong Kong in a thriller

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Pathum Nissanka anchored Sri Lanka's innings [Cricinfo]

A Pathum Nissanka fifty at the top of the innings, and a Wanidu Hasaranga cameo at the end saw Sri Lanka survive a scare from the group’s lowest-ranked team, Hong Kong. .

In two disciplines, Hong Kong were valiant. Anshy Rath batted with determination to score 48, and Nizakat Khan with verve to make 52 not out off 38, the pair driving Hong Kong to a total of 149 for 4.

The bowlers then created chances right through the innings. They never allowed Sri Lanka to truly dominate a phase, then took three quick wickets, Yasim Murzata and Ehsan Khan striking to have Sri Lanka at 127 for 6, needing more than a run-a-ball to win.

But their catching was poor. Nissanka was dropped no fewer than three times – twice by Ehsan, who couldn’t hold sharp return chances. Kusal Perera was also dropped twice in the same Ayush Shukla over, though one of those chances was exceedingly difficult. Had some of those stuck, though, Hong Kong could truly have made Sri Lanka sweat.

In the end, Hong Kong’s bowlers made too many mistakes at the death, and Sri Lanka had the depth to capitalise, Hasaranga making his presence felt from No. 8. He made 20 not out off eight balls. Nissanka had struck 68 off 44.

Nissanka was dropped on 43, 63, and 68, but outside of those errors played another efficient innings, finding boundaries before the pressure really built on him, and ensuring that Sri Lanka kept ticking even as Kusal Mendis and Kamil Mishara soaked up balls early. He was especially good at the lap-scoop, targeting that area behind short fine leg when Hong Kong strayed into his pads. This was his third T20I fifty in five innings, in what continues to be a rich year across formats.

Although it hadn’t been the boundary-fest Sri Lanka would have wanted, owing to some disciplined Hong Kong bowling, they were still traveling swiftly to a comfortable win at the end of the 15th over, when they were two down and needed 32 from 30.

Then came a horror sequence. Nissanka was run out at the non-striker’s end, having hesitated on a dodgy second run. Not even a big dive could get him close to the crease. Perera was out lbw having missed a turning delivery from Murtaza next ball. Then second ball of the following over, offspinner Ehsan had Charith Asalanka slicing one to short third.

When Kamindu Mendis holed out against Murtaza first ball of the 18th over, Sri Lanka had lost four wickets for nine runs, off 13 deliveries. And they still needed 23 off 17 to win.

Hasaranga got a freebie second ball. Murtaza had overstepped the previous delivery, and the batters had taken a single. So Hasaranga had the licence to go big, and he duly pounded the free hit into the sightscreen behind the bowler. Next over he crashed a four through cover – a favourite area – and finished by drilling another boundary down the ground. Hasaranga has played decent innings for Sri Lanka before, but this one came under some pressure.

Long before that late drama, however, Rath and Nizakat had helped Hong Kong make a creditable impression in their last showing of the tournament. Rath played a measured innings, rarely going much faster than a run-a-ball. But it was also an interesting one – only four of his 48 runs came behind the wicket.

Nizakat, however, was much more aggressive, using strong wrists to whip the ball to leg, and slice it through the offside. He was dropped twice, but was responsible for Hong Kong’s quicker progress through the final overs. This was his first T20I half cenutry against a full member nation.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 153 for 6 in 18.5 overs (Pathum Nissanka 68, Kusal Mendis 11, Kamil Mishara 19, Kusal Perera 20, Wanidu Hasaranga 20*;Yasim  Murtaza 2-37, Ayush Shukla 1-30, Ehsan Khan 1-25, Aizaz Khan 1-27) beat Hong Kong 149 for 4 in 20 overs (Zeeshan Ali 23, Nizakat Khan 52*, Anshy Rath 48; Dushmantha  Chameera 2-29, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-27, Dasun Shanaka 1-05) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]



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One person dead and 300 buildings destroyed in Australia bushfires

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One person has died and 300 properties have been destroyed in bushfires that have torn across south-east Australia.

The fires have raged in dozens of locations across the country for several days, mostly in the state of Victoria, but also in New South Wales, burning through land almost twice the size of Greater London.

A state of emergency has been declared in Victoria as thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft battle the blaze. Residents in more than a dozen communities have been advised to leave their homes.

Authorities fear the fires, which are being fuelled by very hot, dry and windy conditions, could burn for several weeks.

AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions.
A forest burns in Longwood, Victoria, Australia on 9 January (BBC)

Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan said 30 active fires were burning across the state, 10 of which were of particular concern.

She said 350,000 hectares had been burnt across the state as of 08:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday).

“We will see fires continue for some time across the state and that is why we are not through the worst of this by a long way,” she told Australian media.

“There are fires that are continuing right now that are threatening homes and property.”

Human remains were found in the village of Gobur, near the town of Longwood, some 110km (70 sq miles) north of the state capital Melbourne, police said. The victim has not yet been identified.

Allan praised the emergency workers who worked to retrieve the body. “This is difficult and confronting work, and it takes a heavy toll.”

“The Gobur community is grieving,” she said.

Bushfire smoke is impacting air quality in many areas across Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne.

Authorities said the fires were the worst to hit the south-east of Australia since the 2019-2020 blazes that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

(BBC)

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Iran warns it will retaliate if US attacks as protesters defy crackdown

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Protesters gathered in a street in Tehran on Friday, 9 January (BBC)

Iran has warned it will retaliate if attacked by the US, as protesters defied a deadly government crackdown on Saturday night.

Videos verified by the BBC and eyewitness accounts appeared to show the government ramping up its response to the protests, which have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran.

Medics at two hospitals have told the BBC that more than 100 bodies had been brought in over a two day period. The nationwide death toll is feared to be far higher.

The US has threatened to strike Iran over the killing of protesters. Iran’s parliament speaker warned that if the US attacked, Israel along with US military and shipping centres in the region would become legitimate targets.

The protests were sparked in the capital, Tehran, by soaring inflation, and are now calling for an end to the clerical rule of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God” – an offence that carries the death penalty – while Khamenei has dismissed demonstrators as a “bunch of vandals” seeking to “please” Trump.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US “stands ready to help” as Iran “is looking at FREEDOM”.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the US and Israel for the unrest.

“They have trained certain individuals inside the country and abroad, brought terrorists into the country from outside, set mosques on fire, and attacked markets and guilds in Rasht, setting the bazaar ablaze,” he said without providing evidence.

As protests intensify, the number of deaths and injuries recorded by human rights monitors continues to rise.

Footage authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verify shows security officers shooting at gatherings of protesters in Tehran, in the western Kermanshah province and the southern Bushehr region.

Multiple verified videos filmed in the centre of the western city of Ilam last weekend show security forces firing shots towards Imam Khomeini Hospital, where a group of protesters had been holding a rally.

Staff at several hospitals have since told the BBC they have been overwhelmed with the injured and dead.

BBC Persian has verified that 70 bodies brought to one hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday night, while a health worker reported around 38 people dying at a Tehran hospital.

Sources inside Iran have told BBC Persian that plain-clothes officers have been targeting people filming and on their own at the protests.

Iran’s police chief said on state TV that the level of confrontation with protesters had been stepped up, with arrests on Saturday night of what he called “key figures”. He blamed a “significant proportion of fatalities” on “trained and directed individuals”, not security forces, but did not give specific details.

More than 2,500 people have been arrested since protests began on 28 December, according to a human rights group.

The BBC and most other international news organisations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the Iranian government has imposed an internet shutdown since Thursday, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.

Nonetheless, some footage has emerged.

Several videos, confirmed as recent by BBC Verify, show clashes between protesters and security forces in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

Masked protesters can be seen taking cover behind bins and bonfires, while a row of security forces is seen in the distance. A vehicle that appears to be a bus is engulfed in flames.

Multiple gunshots and what sounds like banging on pots and pans can be heard.

A figure standing on a nearby footbridge appears to fire multiple gunshots in several directions as a couple of people take cover behind a fence.

In Tehran, a verified video from Saturday night shows protesters also taking over the streets in the Gisha district.

Other verified videos from the capital show a large group of protesters and the sound of banging on pots in Punak Square, and a crowd of protesters marching on a road and calling for the end of the clerical establishment in the Heravi district.

Internet access in Iran is largely limited to a domestic intranet, with restricted links to the outside world. But during the current round of protests, authorities have for the first time severely restricted that too.

An expert told BBC Persian the shutdown is more severe than during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising in 2022.Alireza Manafi, an internet researcher, said the only likely way to connect to the outside world was via Starlink satellite, but warned users to exercise caution as such connections could potentially be traced by the government.

Trump did not elaborate on what the US was considering. However, he has been briefed on options for military strikes on Iran, an official told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.

The Wall Street Journal reports these were “preliminary discussions” and that there was no “imminent threat” to Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday about the possibility of US intervention in Iran, they told CBS.

On Sunday, Reza Pahlavi , the exiled son of Iran’s last Shah,  who lives in the US and whose return protesters have been calling for, told demonstrators that Trump had “carefully observed your indescribable bravery” in a social media post.

“Your compatriots around the world are proudly shouting your voice,” he wrote, pledging: “I know that I will soon be by your side.”

Pahlavi claimed the Islamic Republic was facing a “severe shortage of mercenaries” and that “many armed and security forces have left their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the people”. The BBC could not verify these claims.

He encouraged people to continue protesting on Sunday evening, but to stay in groups or with crowds and not “endanger your lives”.

(BBC)

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Rescuers race to find dozens missing in deadly Philippines landfill collapse

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More than 30 people are thought to be missing following the landslide in Cebu [BBC]

Rescue workers are racing to find dozens of people still missing following a landslide at a landfill site in the central Philippines that occurred earlier this week, an official has said.

Mayor Nestor Archival said on Saturday that signs of life had been detected at the site in Cebu City, two days after the incident.

Four people have been confirmed dead so far, Archival said, while 12 others have been taken to hospital.

Conditions for emergency services working at the site were challenging, the mayor added, with unstable debris posing a hazard and crew waiting for better equipment to arrive.

The privately-owned Binaliw landfill collapsed on Thursday while 110 workers were on site, officials said.

Archival said in a Facebook post on Saturday morning: “Authorities confirmed the presence of detected signs of life in specific areas, requiring continued careful excavation and the deployment of a more advanced 50-ton crane.”

Relatives of those missing have been waiting anxiously for any news of their whereabouts. More than 30 people, all workers at the landfill, are thought to be missing.

“We are just hoping that we can get someone alive… We are racing against time, that’s why our deployment is 24/7,” Cebu City councillor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the city’s disaster council, told news agency AFP.

AFP via Getty Images A close up shot of a woman wiping a tear away from her eye at the scene of the landfill site, while a small boy looks across at her.
Relatives of the missing are waiting anxiously for any news of their loved ones [BBC]

Jerahmey Espinoza, whose husband is missing, told news agency Reuters at the site on Saturday: “They haven’t seen him or located him ever since the disaster happened. We’re still hopeful that he’s alive.”

The cause of the collapse remains unclear, but Cebu City councillor Joel Garganera previously said it was likely the result of poor waste management practices.

Operators had been cutting into the mountain, digging the soil out and then piling garbage to form another mountain of waste, Garganera told local newspaper The Freeman on Friday.

The Binaliw landfill covers an area of about 15 hectares (37 acres).

Landfills are common in major Philippine cities like Cebu, which is the trading centre and transportation gateway of the Visayas, the archipelago nation’s central islands.

A map showing the Philippines and the location of Cebu City

[BBC]

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