Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has launched a scathing attack on Sunrisers Leeds for signing Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed, claiming the move “indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians”.

The Indian-owned franchise’s £190,000 acquisition of Ahmed for The Hundred had initially appeared to allay fears of a ‘shadow ban’ on Pakistani players from Indian Premier League (IPL) affiliated teams. However, the decision has ignited significant controversy.

Gavaskar, a celebrated figure in Indian cricket, including a 1983 World Cup winner and the first player to reach 10,000 Test runs, delivered a withering critique in his column for the Indian newspaper Mid-Day.

“The furore created by the acquisition of a Pakistani player by the Indian owner of a franchise in The Hundred is hardly surprising,” Gavaskar wrote.

He highlighted the long-standing exclusion of Pakistani players from the IPL since 2009 due to geopolitical tensions.

Gavaskar argued that payments to Pakistani players, through income tax, could ultimately fund arms purchases by their government.

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“Although belated, the realisation that the fees that they pay to a Pakistani player, who then pays income tax to his government which buys arms and weapons, indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians is making Indian entities refrain from even considering having Pakistani artistes and sportspersons,” he stated.

He further stressed the responsibility of the owner: “Whether it is an Indian entity or an overseas subsidiary of the entity that is making the payment, if the owner is Indian then he or she is contributing to the Indian casualties. It’s as simple as that.”

Questioning the priorities, Gavaskar added: “Surely the owner should have had an understanding of the situation and discouraged the purchase. Is winning a tournament in a format that no other country plays in much more important than Indian lives?”

He concluded with a call for reversal: “There’s still time to undo the wrong and hopefully wiser counsels will prevail.”

Sunrisers Leeds, owned by Sun Group – which also controls IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad – faced significant online backlash following the signing, leading to the suspension of their X account on the night of the auction.

Despite the controversy, men’s head coach Daniel Vettori had previously insisted he had received “no orders to avoid signing certain individuals”.

The Press Association has contacted Sunrisers Leeds for comment.

Mark Broadhurst, 27, was arrested in September 2024 and was charged with having an explosive substance and possession of a firearm without a licence after two homes in Chesterfield and Bolsover, Derbyshire, were searched.

The defendant, from Chesterfield, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday via a videolink to deny having various quantities of low explosive black powder, sulphur powder and an “improvised homemade cannon” on or before September 25.

But he admitted having a firearm illegally on the same date.

He previously gave his address as Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

A two-week trial has been set at Sheffield Crown Court for June 29.

Broadhurst, who was suspended by the British Army, was granted continued conditional bail.

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The residents were in the house at the time of the shooting

Residents of a house in Newry have been ‘left badly shaken’ after a report that shots had been fired through a window of a property, PSNI say.

At around 9.15pm on Monday evening, March 16, it was reported that two shots had been fired through a window in the Damolly Village in Newry.

Detective Inspector Handley added: “The residents, who were in the house at the time, were uninjured however have been left badly shaken by the ordeal.

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“Enquiries are ongoing and I am appealing to anyone who may have witnessed anyone suspicious or any suspicious vehicles in the area, or to anyone with CCTV, door-bell or other footage that could assist with the investigation, to contact detectives on 101 quoting 1817 16//03/26.”

Alternatively, information can also be provided online via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org

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Joe Cole has revealed his prediction for the Carabao Cup final between Premier League title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City.

The first piece of silverware of the season will be won on Sunday when Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s sides meet at Wembley.

Arsenal beat London rivals Chelsea 4-2 on aggregate to reach the final, while Man City overcame Carabao Cup holders Newcastle United in the semis.

Sunday’s showpiece event is particularly intriguing as it involved the two teams going for this season’s Premier League title.

Arsenal, who last won the Premier League in 2004, have opened up a nine-point lead over Manchester City, who have won six titles over the past decade.

It has been suggested that the winner of the Carabao Cup final will have renewed momentum ahead of the title run-in and Cole ‘fancies’ Arsenal to beat Man City to both trophies.

‘I’m not working on the Carabao Cup final but I’m going as a fan which I actually haven’t done for a long time,’ Cole said on The Dressing Room podcast.

‘I fancy Arsenal, I think Arsenal beat them. Having watched Man City live, I fancy Arsenal – but it’s a great game for the neutral.

‘I’ll make another prediction, I think there will be a bit of needle and a little bit of nastiness on the benches. There’s a lot of tension building at this point in the season so look out for that.’

Turning his attentions to the Premier League title race, Cole added: ‘I was doing the West Ham-Man City game and we’re in the tunnel, the City players are behind me and Arsenal just scored.

‘I’ve been in that situation when you’re waiting on a result and it does deflate you. I just can’t see Arsenal dropping that many points now.

‘If Man City win their game in hand it will be six points, then if City beat Arsenal it will be three points.

‘But City have got to beat Arsenal and I can’t see that. Do you know what I mean?’

While Cole is backing Arsenal to secure their first major trophy since 2020, Wayne Bridge and Carlton Cole both expect Man City to triumph at Wembley.

‘I think Man City win it,’ ex-West Ham striker Cole said. ‘They know it’s time, if they lose this I think they lose all hope of winning the league.

‘So they’re going to have to put this one to bed. I’m going with Man City.’

Bridge added: ‘I’m going to go with Man City.

‘We know it’s kind of almost over with the league but them getting a win here puts a bit more pressure on Arsenal. I’m living in hope.’

Before attentions turn fully to this weekend’s Carabao Cup final, Arsenal and Manchester City are in Champions League action, facing Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid respectively.

The Gunners drew 1-1 in Germany last week while Man City were thumped 3-0 in Spain ahead of the decisive second legs in England.

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At 28 years of age, the Ulster winger picked up the Rising Star award to go with the Triple Crown after Ireland’s win over Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday

Robert Baloucoune’s name appears prominently on two lists following the completion of the 2026 Six Nations tournament.

Given the importance of the top try-scorer’s list – the Ulster winger’s three touchdowns against Italy, England and Wales, in four games is impressive.

The first was against Italy, taking in Stuart McCloskey’s ‘quarterback pass’ and beating two defenders.

Against England, he stays wide after a 35 metre McCloskey bust is stopped just short, and he gets the Jamison Gibson-Park recycle.

Against Scotland, a rifled 30m left-handed spin pass from McCloskey to the wing sees him beat two defenders to dive over the line in the tackle.

Baloucoune’s position in the second list is at the top, the winner of the Rising Star award which was established and presented for the first time last season.

“The award was a bit of a shock, to be honest – 28 years-of-age and getting the Rising Star,” he says good-naturedly, clutching the big silver trophy nonetheless.

“I’m getting slagged for it already, so I’m sure I’ll get slagged by a lot more people, but I’m grateful for it and at least people are seeing what I’ve put out there.”

But then life’s full of surprises for the Enniskillen-born star, doubling his Ireland caps from four to eight, a Six nations debut, a Triple Crown and a Rising Star award

“It’s been an unbelievable experience. It’s something I wouldn’t have expected and I’m just grateful to actually getting here.

“I’ve been in before where I haven’t played and done that so, yeah, I’ve been able to finish it off with a trophy and being part of the group has been really special.

“The group’s been massive. It feels like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience for me because I wasn’t expecting it when I came in and to finish it off like that, it’s been class.”

This comes after he claimed, following Ulster’s win over Stade Francais in the first week of January that he was just happy to be playing rugby at the level he was.

Injury blighted, it was just his fifth game of the season – Bulls, Lions in October, Ireland ‘A’ against Spain and Benetton in November – and that was on the back of only playing twice in 2024/25.

“It was always in the back of my mind that that I wanted to play the best that I can and still I always had to have some belief in the player that I am.

“But just being given the opportunity has been class and I suppose that’s what I needed this season, being able to back up games and that was a big focus for me from the start of the season.

“I feel like whenever I’m playing back-to-back games I’m able to fit in and get used to having a bit of game time and stuff.

“That’s what I probably lost last season and probably the years before I’d come in a bit rusty, I’d be up and down.

His sensational April 2022 hat-trick in Toulouse was nearing its fourth anniversary, receding almost.

“I suppose those sorts of performances give you belief,” he says emphasising they can’t just be stand-alones.

“It’s just being able to back up performances and doing it consistently, is a big part of the game.

“I knew what I was capable of doing. More so, it was like being able to back that up. Like, the next week after Toulouse I didn’t play well or as good as I wanted to.

“So, hopefully it’s now an upward trajectory and I’ll try to push on from there.”

What Baloucoune has done since being put into the Ireland side shows he is suited for the new kicking/chasing laws.

While his Ulster partnership with another unexpected breakthrough star, McCloskey, has been a boon.

Two of his three Six Nations tries were set up ‘from nothing’ by McCloskey but, each time, thee 30m finish was all Baloucoune; the other try was also created by McCloskey although convention says Gibson-Park gets the assist.

“We talk about it at training camp, you know, trying to get the ball into space and taking on defenders.

“Stu’s done it before as well, taken on that big long pass, so I knew that was coming and, yeah, just trying to beat defenders, trying to get to the try-line, it’s what I’m good at, what I try to do.

“If I see space, I know it’s there in front of me and I’m going to take that all day. I backed myself to beat defenders and got around Darcy Graham, so happy enough to get in the corner.

The Ireland back-three’s scoring rate this Championship has been a reflection of that coaching mantra.

“Yeah, everyone, Goody, Johnny as well, they’re like, ‘Get the ball in space, try and make things happen,’.

“And I think you’ve seen that over the course of the championship, you know, even when I feel like it’s not on and we take it, we can still make something out of nothing.

“It’s something that’s been driven in training, something that you can see in matches as well.”

Don’t underestimate McCloksey-Baloucoune’s partnership, they may yet do a 2026 Rising Star and 2026 Player of the Tournament double.

“Stu’s kinda got a big Ulster head on him in the Irish squad,” giggles Baloucoune. “No, no, I joking but he knows he’s played well.

“He got a shout out as well, Faz said that he’s one of his players of the tournament. I think everyone can see that from the outside as well, how well he’s done in this tournament.

“He’s always been class whenever I’ve played with him for Ulster. We know his skill set and what he can do, so it’s good that he’s showing it out here playing for Ireland.”

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“There is no water because there is no electricity to run the pumps. There is no electricity, no food, no oil, no fuel, and private businesses have high prices because everything is going up now, since they have to move their goods by truck and transport. All of this is really very bad.”

Sky’s SNL UK premieres this Saturday with some big Hollywood names

SNL UK will be arriving on screens later this week on Sky as the British comedy sketch show makes its debut. Ahead of the series premiere, Sky has revealed the hosts for the first three episodes and the writing cast. American comedy legend Tina Fey will be fronting the opening episode after previously serving as a head writer on the original Saturday Night Live between 1997 and 2006 and making subsequent appearances, reports the Mirror.

The Golden Globe and Emmy-winning comedian, actress and writer, who is known for creating and starring in Mean Girls, is joined by indie band Wet Leg as the episode’s musical guest. Following her appearance, 50 Shades of Grey and The Fall star Jamie Dornan will be presenting the second episode of SNL UK.

He will be joined by British rock group and two-time Brit Award winners Wolf Alice. Meanwhile, BAFTA and Oscar-nominated actor Riz Ahmed, who is best known for Sound of Metal and Four Lions, will be presenting the third episode. Ahmed will be joined by the rock group Kasabian as the musical guest of the week.

SNL UK will consist of a total of six episodes, which will be broadcast weekly on Sky One. The show premieres this Saturday (March 21) and Sky previously released a teaser for the forthcoming show, introducing the writing team. The teaser has been viewed over 3million times on YouTube since it dropped on March 6.

Many rushed to the comments section as one person posted: “Officially excited, applied for tickets to be in the audience, would love to be there for opening show… Can’t believe they’ve got Tina Fey to Host the first ever episode!”. A second penned: “Hmm, interesting. We were hearing at first that the cast was going to consist entirely of people who have never been on TV before.

“I was never sure that was practical. Still, it’s a pretty fresh line-up, not saturated with over-exposed UK comedians. Just going off of this, it looks like they have good chemistry. I’ll certainly give it a shot. I’d like nothing more than to be blown away by a show like this in 2026.”

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A third posted: “I’m so excited for this – we love SNL, and we’ve wanted a UK one for YEARS (even knowing a previous version didn’t do so well.) We have faith. It will be great.

“BUT – slightly bemused that they went for ‘off-brand chicken shop/getting p***** in the back of the cab’ for their intro rather than ‘theatres/Trafalgar Square/high end club’ like the NY SNL. I guess that was what they were going for? To be fair, though, that’s probably more accurate of the average Saturday night out in the UK.”

Another individual added: “I really hope this works out! I think Britain’s ready for this, we all need a good laugh.”

Leading as head writer is Jonno Johnson and Charlie Skelton as weekend update head writer. Skelton’s previous credits include 10 O’Clock Live and 8 Out of 10 Cats.

Other names include Bella Hull, a writer for Have I Got News For You, Gráinne Maguire from The Last Leg, Hari Kanth of Horrible Science, and Humphrey Ker, who has contributed to Mythic Quest and Welcome to Wrexham.

Additional members of the writing team encompass Al Roberts, Ayo Adenekan, Celya AB, Chris Cantrill, Ellie Fulcher, James Farmer, Joseph Moore, Keith Akushie, Laura Claxton, Lorna Rose Treen, Louis Waymouth, Nathan Foad, Omar Badawy, and Omodara Olatunji.

The writers are a blend of experienced professionals and rising talent.

Head writer Johnson previously stated: “The number of funny, talented writers we have got to work on SNL UK is ludicrous. Some of them have been doing this for years, some of them it’s their first ever writing job. All of them make me giddy to come to work each day. Could not imaginably feel luckier that we get to make this show together.”

Meanwhile, Sky executive Phil Edgar Jones OBE said: “As SNL UK races towards launch our brilliant team of writers are already hard at work crafting some sublime and (importantly) funny sketches for our equally brilliant cast to perform. I’ve been lucky enough to attend a couple of table reads and I am delighted to report I cried laughing. We cannot wait to share the fun with a wider audience.”

SNL UK will premiere on Sky One on March 21

Available for over a year

For nearly forty years, Fergal Keane has reported for the BBC from some of the world’s most brutal conflicts – in Gaza, Iraq, Rwanda, Sudan, Ukraine and beyond – and in that time interviewed scores of children who are the innocent victims of adult wars.

As he came to understand the impacts of trauma on young minds, Keane began too to experience his own mental breakdowns – the result of a troubled childhood and a career spent running towards danger – and was eventually diagnosed with PTSD.

In today’s episode, he reflects on what he has learned from his own experiences and reporting about how childhood traumas can be treated, and the hope for those living through today’s wars.

Producer: Hannah Moore

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Displaced children play in Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Haitham Imad/ EPA/ Shutterstock.

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