An attack in Kashmir in mid-April has led to the biggest crisis between India and Pakistan for years. What’s going on? Start Here with Sandra Gathmann explains.
This episode features:
Nitasha Kaul | Professor of Politics &, International Relations, University of Westminster
Michael Kugelman | South Asia Analyst
Northampton’s 20-year-old forward Henry Pollock will tour Australia with the British and Irish Lions this summer, but former England captain Owen Farrell, the son of head coach Andy, misses out.
Pollock’s inclusion marks a warp-speed rise to the top of the game. The flanker, who only turned 20 in January, had played only one Premiership game before the start of this season.
Farrell, a three-time tourist in the past, has only just returned to fitness with French side Racing 92 but the 33-year-old had aspirations to represent the Lions once more.
Elsewhere, Ireland’s first-choice fly-half Sam Prendergast misses out with Scotland’s Finn Russell and England pair Fin Smith and Marcus Smith preferred as stand-off options.
Scrum-half Tomos Williams and flanker Jac Morgan are the only two Wales players included, an all-time low for a Lions tour.
Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who was a near-certainty to be picked and a captaincy contender, will miss the tour after suffering a shoulder injury in Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Northampton last weekend.
Backs
Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland)
Elliot Daly (Saracens/England)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/Ireland)
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland)
James Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England)
Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland)
Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby/Wales)
Forwards
Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England)
Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England)
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England)
Ben Earl (Saracens/England)
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England)
Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) (capt)
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales)
Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England)
Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England)
With the Lions squad announcement made in front of a live audience for the first time, it was Pollock’s inclusion that generated the most noise from about 2,000 fans inside Indigo, a venue within London’s O2 Arena complex.
His eye-catching line breaks, dogged breakdown work and confident, abrasive on-pitch persona, complete with pre-planned try celebrations, have made him the breakthrough star of the season.
After returning from winning the under-20 Rugby World Cup in South Africa last summer, Pollock has become a key part of Saints’ back row, scored two tries on his England debut against Wales in March and run amok in Northampton’s run to the Investec Champions Cup final on 24 May.
To fit him in among his back-row options, coach Farrell has overlooked Scotland’s in-form back row Jamie Ritchie, England’s Ben Curry, Toulouse’s Englishman Jack Willis and Welsh Lions veteran Taulupe Faletau.
Simon Cowell revealed his surgeon feared he would never walk again after the music mogul broke his back in three places following a crash. The Britain’s Got Talent judge suffered a near-death experience and broke his back when he was thrown off his electric bike while testing it out at his home in Malibu, California.
Afterwards, he was treated for a concussion and a broken arm as well as a broken back. The fall resulted in Cowell having a metal rod put into his spine, amid multiple procedures and operations. In a recent chat with Elizabeth Day on the How To Fail podcast, Simon opened up about the impact of the crash.
READ MORE: Sky unveils major update to TV and broadband plan that Virgin and BT can’t match
He admitted he ‘ could have died ‘ and his surgeon was concerned about whether they could ‘ fix ‘ his back.
Simon revealed: “He showed me the X-ray and he said ‘ Look, I’m not going to lie, Simon, I don’t know if I can fix this, which means you probably won’t walk and secondly, the operation could take 11 hours’.
” They said the obvious – it could go wrong – and all I could think about was my family and everything. In that moment you kind of realise the most important thing is your health and don’t do stupid things. “
The crash proved to be a ‘ wake-up call ‘ about his life and he learned to stop taking huge risks in his life”. It was a wake-up moment, which is I’m crazy, “he continued.
” It kind of happened for a reason because I thought I was fit but then when I had to do all the physio after, just walking, they make you walk very quickly, I pretty much couldn’t move and then I started to walk a lot and thought ‘ Oh God, I was in a really bad place’. “
Simon said he immediately realised he broke his back when he was thrown off the bike after it did a ‘ wheelie’. He added:” I shipped it in from England, couldn’t wait to drive it.
“I was in the driveway and my son was there and I pulled the throttle, it did the biggest wheelie and it threw me like 7-8ft in the air. I landed on my back and the second I landed I thought ‘ S**t, I know I’ve broken my back ‘ because I could feel it”. He was quick to check whether he could move his hands and feet, and when he realised he could, he thought ‘ that’s not too bad’.
Simon previously talked about his hobby after his second bike crash. Speaking to ex Terri Seymour on ExtraTV, he said: “My most creative time is now when I cycle, because I cycle even though it’s an e-bike. I still got to pedal and I do about 10 miles a day, even though I had an accident on one.
” That was more an electric motorbike, these are called pedal-assist bikes and they’re brilliant. That expression ‘ get back on your bike’, with me, it was literal. I feel better than I did because I exercise so much more.
“Honestly, if I could rewind, I would have gone through the whole thing again. Just because I feel better now. Yeah, even though it hurt like hell at the time”.
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
READ MORE: Amazon slashes prices of dentist-approved DrDent Teeth Whitening Strips to 90p per treatment
Simon Cowell revealed his surgeon feared he would never walk again after the music mogul broke his back in three places following a crash. The Britain’s Got Talent judge suffered a near-death experience and broke his back when he was thrown off his electric bike while testing it out at his home in Malibu, California.
Afterwards, he was treated for a concussion and a broken arm as well as a broken back. The fall resulted in Cowell having a metal rod put into his spine, amid multiple procedures and operations. In a recent chat with Elizabeth Day on the How To Fail podcast, Simon opened up about the impact of the crash.
READ MORE: Sky unveils major update to TV and broadband plan that Virgin and BT can’t match
He admitted he ‘ could have died ‘ and his surgeon was concerned about whether they could ‘ fix ‘ his back.
Simon revealed: “He showed me the X-ray and he said ‘ Look, I’m not going to lie, Simon, I don’t know if I can fix this, which means you probably won’t walk and secondly, the operation could take 11 hours’.
” They said the obvious – it could go wrong – and all I could think about was my family and everything. In that moment you kind of realise the most important thing is your health and don’t do stupid things. “
The crash proved to be a ‘ wake-up call ‘ about his life and he learned to stop taking huge risks in his life”. It was a wake-up moment, which is I’m crazy, “he continued.
” It kind of happened for a reason because I thought I was fit but then when I had to do all the physio after, just walking, they make you walk very quickly, I pretty much couldn’t move and then I started to walk a lot and thought ‘ Oh God, I was in a really bad place’. “
Simon said he immediately realised he broke his back when he was thrown off the bike after it did a ‘ wheelie’. He added:” I shipped it in from England, couldn’t wait to drive it.
“I was in the driveway and my son was there and I pulled the throttle, it did the biggest wheelie and it threw me like 7-8ft in the air. I landed on my back and the second I landed I thought ‘ S**t, I know I’ve broken my back ‘ because I could feel it”. He was quick to check whether he could move his hands and feet, and when he realised he could, he thought ‘ that’s not too bad’.
Simon previously talked about his hobby after his second bike crash. Speaking to ex Terri Seymour on ExtraTV, he said: “My most creative time is now when I cycle, because I cycle even though it’s an e-bike. I still got to pedal and I do about 10 miles a day, even though I had an accident on one.
” That was more an electric motorbike, these are called pedal-assist bikes and they’re brilliant. That expression ‘ get back on your bike’, with me, it was literal. I feel better than I did because I exercise so much more.
“Honestly, if I could rewind, I would have gone through the whole thing again. Just because I feel better now. Yeah, even though it hurt like hell at the time”.
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
READ MORE: Amazon slashes prices of dentist-approved DrDent Teeth Whitening Strips to 90p per treatment
Israel has launched one of its most intense aerial assaults on southern Lebanon since a truce halted last year’s war with Hezbollah, according to Lebanese officials and the Israeli military.
Air strikes on Thursday targeted several locations across the Nabatieh region, around 12km (7 miles) from the Israeli border. At least one person was killed and eight others injured, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Thick plumes of smoke rose from the bombed hilltops as residents fled the affected areas.
The Israeli army said its warplanes struck a “Hezbollah infrastructure site”, but gave no further details. The claim could not be independently verified.
There was no immediate response from Hezbollah, which had previously said it withdrew its fighters from the border following the United States-brokered ceasefire.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said in a short post on X that he was closely monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon after Israeli strikes hit the region.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attacks. In a statement on X, he said: “All Israeli violations of UN Resolution 1701 and ceasefire agreements must come to an end. The Lebanese government has not – and will not – stop pushing for Israel’s full withdrawal from our territory.”
الدبشة pic.twitter.com/o54o2MwjX0
Although the truce officially ended hostilities, sporadic cross-border attacks have continued. Israel has regularly broken the truce and carried out air raids across southern Lebanon, also hitting Hezbollah-controlled neighbourhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah and other armed groups are not permitted to operate or store weapons south of the Litani River, while Israel is required to withdraw from southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese army to deploy in the region. However, both sides have accused each other of violating the agreement.
Israel still occupies five strategic hilltops along the border. While rockets have been fired into Israel from Lebanese territory on two separate occasions, Hezbollah has denied involvement.
The recent escalation marks a sharp intensification of the conflict, rooted in Hezbollah’s support for Hamas during Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan was allegedly beaten by her ex-boyfriend, which left her needing medical help. The Jungle songstress dated former Kenya and Luton Town player Taiwo Leo Atieno, 39, between 2015 and 2018. But Atieno is accused of a “course of conduct over a ten-year period” towards Keisha, who went to the police in December 2024.
It was during this time that Buchanan, 40, had reunited with her former bandmates, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy, as the band fought to regain control of the name. But a court has heard that while Keisha remained in the public eye, she was secretly suffering during an abusive relationship.
Atieno is said to have assaulted her on three occasions, one so severely that it left her requiring physiotherapy treatment. One incident saw Keisha suffer a sharp pain to her lower back – which she described as feeling as though she had been kicked.
The footballer is also accused of controlling her letters, her finances, what the singer ate and how she presented herself to people outside of the home. He also stands accused of harassing her after she called off their relationship and breached a court order which was put in place to prevent him from contacting her.
During a hearing at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Prosecutor Edward Kalber said: “The offending is severe in its nature and has caused problems for the defendant, both psychological and physical.”
He added: “The complainant states that while she lived with the defendant, she wasn’t allowed to open her own letters or sort out her finances.
“The complainant would have to ask for money whenever she wanted it.” It was later heard that Atieno would get frustrated if Keisha wore certain things. Kalber continued: “The defendant would get annoyed if the complainant wore red lipstick. He berated her and called her trashy, and told her she looked like a prostitute whenever she wore this.
“This then fed into her dietary issues, due to the defendant controlling what she was allowed to eat.” The footballer is also accused of not allowing Keisha to watch TV.
Two alleged assaults on Keisha took place in the defendant’s bedroom, with another taking place in the front room of the property. He allegedly grabbed her around the neck, punched her on the arm and then struck her back.
One alleged attack left her experiencing a sharp pain which felt like a kick to her lower back, and she later required physiotherapy due to the alleged incident. Keisha also claims that Atieno controlled her use of the shower while the pair were living together and she was only allowed to go to the gym at “certain times”.
Despite Keisha blocking Atieno after they split, it’s claimed he later sent her emails and is accused of harassment over the course of three years. He also allegedly demanded £25,000 from the musician.
Currently, the footballer of Kennington, southwest London, is being remanded in custody. He appeared in the dock on Thursday, wearing cream trousers and a blue top. He indicated not guilty pleas to all four charges made against him.
The case is due to be dealt with later this afternoon by Deputy District Judge Clare Boichot.
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk