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U – 19 World Cup: Afghanistan’s Nooristani Omarzai blows Tanzania away
Afghanistan continued their dream start to the Under-19 World Cup. After toppling South Africa and West Indies, they hammered Tanzania, bowling them out for 85 and chasing the target down with nine wickets and 224 balls to spare. Seamer Nooristani Omarzai bagged 5 for 9 as Tanzania collapsed to a total that would have been even smaller without Afghanistan conceding 25 extras.
Tanzania laboured to just 14 runs in the powerplay, playing out two maidens and losing two wickets. To add to their trouble, Rehaan Ahtif retired hurt in the 16th over. Augustino Mwamele and captain Laksh Bakrania added 35 for the fourth wicket, but that was as good as it got for Tanzania. From 66 for 3 in the 29th over, they lost 7 for 19 in the next 7.1 overs.
During that collapse, offspinner Uzairullah Niazai took two wickets, including that of Bakrania. Only three Tanzania batters got into double figures.
They lost Khalid Ahmadzai for 14 in the fifth over, but had knocked off 27 runs by the end of that over. Faisal Shinozada, who arrived after Ahmadzai departed, ensured the game was all but done by the end of the first powerplay. He was on 34 off 23 balls at that stage, including six fours. Shinozada finished unbeaten on 55 off 34 balls, with nine fours and a six. As a result of the win, Afghanistan ended the group stage as table toppers.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan Under 19s 88 for 1 in 12.4 overs (Faisal Shinozada 55*; Khalidy Juma 1-32) beat Tanzania Under 19s 85 in 36 overs (Nooristani Omarzai 5-09, Uzairullah Niazai 2-9) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
A South Korean court has found ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol guilty of masterminding an insurrection.
The 65-year-old has been sentenced to life in prison over his botched attempt in December 2024 at imposing military rule
Yoon’s order lasted just six hours but shook the country – it paralysed what was left of the government and cost his party the next election
It also polarised South Korea, and that is evident today as crowds of his supporters gathered to protest outside the court
Yoon is already serving jail time for another conviction over the martial law order. He still faces two more trials in relation to it
[BBC]
Peru’s Congress has voted to appoint former judge and left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar as interim president, replacing the right-wing leader Jose Jeri a day after his removal.
Wednesday’s vote ushers in Peru’s ninth president in a decade. Balcazar’s term, however, will be short.
In just 53 days, on April 12, the country will head to the ballot box to vote for a new president. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off will be held in June.
Traditionally, Peru’s president-elects are inaugurated on the country’s Independence Day in late July. That ceremony will mark the end of Balcazar’s leadership.
Balcazar’s short tenure is the latest sign of turbulence in Peru’s government. Of Peru’s last eight presidents, four have been impeached and removed from office, and two have resigned before their term’s end.
The last president to serve a complete term was Ollanta Humala, whose presidency ended in July 2016.
Balcazar’s ascent to the presidency, however, was marked by its own turmoil. In an initial round of voting, centre-right lawyer Maria del Carmen Alva, 58, and Balcazar, 83, came out ahead, with 43 and 46 votes respectively.
But they both fell short of the 59 votes needed to be president, so another round of voting was announced. The left-wing party Together for Peru, however, decided to boycott the second round.
Balcazar ultimately won after a tally of the 113 congressional votes cast. He received 60 votes.
The prospect of Balcazar’s victory in the vote sparked outrage and frustration among some right-wing politicians, who denounced him on social media.
(Aljazeera)
Rescue teams combing through the backcountry of California’s Lake Tahoe region say they have found the bodies of eight skiers who went missing in an avalanche on Tuesday.
The search for a final missing skier continues but that person is presumed dead, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Officials said one of the deceased was the spouse of someone on one of the search-and-rescue teams, making continued rescue efforts “challenging emotionally”.
Fifteen skiers were reported missing on Tuesday after a “football-field” sized avalanche came barreling down in the Castle Peak area around 11:30 PST (19:30 GMT). Six have been rescued.
“I want to offer my condolences to the family in this very trying time,” Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said on Wednesday.
The bodies of the eight dead skiers are still trapped in the snow and can’t yet be recovered due to “pretty horrific” conditions, officials said.
Since the avalanche, another 3ft (.9m) of snow has fallen on the area, Tahoe National Forest supervisor Chris Feutrier said.
“The hazard remains high,” he said.
Once the bodies are recovered, they will be transported to the Placer County morgue.
Families of the deceased have been notified. Authorities have not yet released any of their names.
Officials say the victims are seven women and two men.
Sheriff Woo said the rescue operation was a joint effort involving two teams and roughly 50 crew members who had to traverse “extreme weather conditions” using specialised equipment.
At 17:30 local time on Tuesday, search teams arrived to an area roughly two miles (3.2km) from where survivors were sheltering in make-shift tents, and had to ski in from there.
Two of the six survivors had to be carried back and “could not walk because of the injuries they sustained during the avalanche”, Sheriff Moon said. They were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Among the survivors, one was a guide and five were clients of the Blackbird Mountain guided tour.
The entire ski group consisted of a mix of 11 recreational skiers and four ski guides.
The avalanche on Tuesday occurred as they were making their way back at the end of a three-day trip.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said in a post on X that state authorities were “co-ordinating an all-hands search-and-rescue effort” with local emergency teams.
Conditions on Wednesday remained dangerous, multiple officials said, with Woo describing the climate as “treacherous”.
“Avoid the back country,” he said. “Please allow us to focus all of our resources on continuing to recover these bodies for the family and bring them home.”
The avalanche that trapped the skiers was rated as a D2.5 on a destructive potential scale of D1 to D5, according to the Sierra Avalanche Center, which would mean it was over half a mile in length and would have a deposit of around 6.5ft (2 metres).
The Boreal Mountain Ski Resort, which is near where the accident occurred, has reported over 30in (76cm) of snowfall since Tuesday.
The resort decided to close on Tuesday because of high winds and low visibility.
The storm has also closed several highways, including Interstate 80 and Highway 50.
[BBC]
South Korea’s ex-president jailed for life for masterminding an insurrection
Old and new at the SSC, just like Pakistan
Peru appoints Jose Maria Balcazar as president, ninth leader in a decade
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Suspected carbon-monoxide leak kills at least 30 miners in Nigeria, witnesses say
Eight skiers found dead after California avalanche
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