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MELBOURNE, Australia: A promising 17-year-old Australian cricketer died on Thursday after being struck by a ball, with his family saying they were “utterly devastated.”

Ben Austin was in the nets with a helmet on before a Twenty20 game in Melbourne on Tuesday when he was hit in the neck while facing a ball-throwing device.

He was rushed to hospital in critical condition.

“We are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning,” his father Jace Austin said in a statement.

“This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers — going down to the nets with mates to play cricket.

The teenager was not wearing a stem guard, which protects the neck, ABC News said, citing cricket authorities.

Austin was an emerging bowler and batter, considered by his Ferntree Gully Cricket Club as a “star cricketer, great leader and an awesome young man.”

Players from both teams wore black arm bands for the Women’s World Cup semifinal on Thursday between Australia and hosts India.

Deaths in cricket are rare.

The most recent high-profile one in Australia came in 2014, when Test star Phillip Hughes was killed when hit in the neck by a rising ball during a domestic Sheffield Shield game.

His death stunned Australia and the world cricket community, sparking an outpouring of grief and ushering in stronger protocols around concussion and better safety equipment.

Cricket Victoria chief Nick Cummins told ABC there were similarities between the two tragedies.

“The ball hit him in the neck in a similar accident that Phil Hughes suffered 10 years ago,” Cummins said.

Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird said his heart “was broken” and lessons needed to be learned.

“Clearly there are things we have to learn from this,” Baird told reporters. “But right now we are concerned about the family and trying to support them in every way.”

ISLAMABAD: Violations against journalists in Pakistan jumped nearly 60 percent over the past year, a media watchdog said on Thursday, warning of a "worsening environment" for press freedom under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government.

The findings are part of the Annual State of Impunity Report 2025 by Freedom Network, a Pakistan-based media rights and civil liberties organization that monitors and advocates for press freedom, journalist safety, and digital rights across the country. The report has been produced with support from International Media Support (IMS) and was released ahead of the UN-designated International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2. 

Freedom Network documented at least 142 cases of violations against journalists and media professionals between November 2024 and September 2025, a nearly 60 percent rise from the previous year. In the watchdog's framework, “violations” include physical assaults, legal cases, harassment and censorship against journalists and media workers, covering both physical and non-physical threats to press freedom.

The report noted that 36 legal cases were filed against 30 journalists under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and Pakistan Penal Code, many in Punjab province, the country's most populous and richest region. The government amended PECA in early 2025 to make its punitive provisions harsher, prompting concern from rights groups that it is being used to target dissenting voices online. The government denies this. 

“The use of legal framework to crack down on free expression is a tool the federal government is now using excessively, targeting critical voices,” Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak was quoted as saying in the report.

“Pakistan cannot afford to silence critical media, which is equally important in a democratic dispensation.”

The watchdog said the post-election climate after the February 2024 general polls had “made almost every region in Pakistan unsafe for journalism,” with attacks reported across all provinces and territories.

Punjab and Islamabad emerged as the most dangerous places for journalists, accounting for 28 percent each of all recorded violations, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. No incidents were reported from the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. 

Television journalists were the most frequently targeted, followed by those working in print and digital outlets.

Freedom Network said the surge in threats and cases has created “a hostile environment for media,” urging authorities to strengthen protections and end impunity for attacks on journalists. 

The findings of the watchdog, it said, “indicate a worsening environment of freedom of expression and safety of journalists in the country under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif government.”