In order to restore ground access to communities that had been severely impacted by deadly flash flooding and landslides earlier this week, workers in Uttarakhand state, India’s Uttarakhand, constructed a makeshift bridge across a gorge. In the Himalayan region, rescuers have been using helicopters to evacuate residents.
The biography of Freddie Mercury’s secret love child has been met with harsh criticism as fans doubt the credibility of his secret daughter’s claims. The book, written by Lesley-Ann Jones, is titled Love, Freddie, which is a culmination of his personal diaries, allegedly given to his daughter before his death in 1991.
Along with the biography, Lesley-Ann is also set to release a Channel 5 documentary, which, according to reports, is currently being filmed in Switzerland. The documentary has a release date of September 5.
And while many have embraced the fact that Freddie had fathered a child, there are some who doubt the validity of the claims. According to the MailOnline, some of Freddie’s former staffers have been criticising Lesley-Ann, with one former associate reportedly writing in a group chat: “I don’t understand why he didn’t leave his only child something in his will.
“I’m not saying it’s a crock, but as it’s the [SLUR DELETED] writing yet another book about a dead person, the facts are not looking good at the moment.”
Peter Freestone, who was Freddie’s personal assistant at the time for 12 years until the singer’s death, has also hit out at claims that the star had left diaries to his love child. He said: “I never saw any diaries. I never saw any child. I’m not saying they don’t exist… It was a surprise to me when I heard. Very much.”
And while his bandmate and legendary guitarist Brian May remained silent over the allegations, his wife and former EastEnders star Anita Dobson spoke out. She had said: “I think there have always been rumours. The person to ask would be his [Freddie’s] sister, Kashmira. But even then, I think, sometimes if people keep secrets, they do really keep those secrets.”
And the author Lesley-Ann also commented on the allegations. She has said: “There are a lot of extremely nasty comments being made, and some people are trying to discredit the book.”
She added: “What I would say is that the real inner circle, the other members of Queen, and Freddie’s sister, would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke.”
The book reportedly states that Freddie “accidentally fathered the child” and is only referred to as B.
READ MORE: Lionesses star Lauren James joins Gen Z beauty trend with £9 star pimple patches
The biography of Freddie Mercury’s secret love child has been met with harsh criticism as fans doubt the credibility of his secret daughter’s claims. The book, written by Lesley-Ann Jones, is titled Love, Freddie, which is a culmination of his personal diaries, allegedly given to his daughter before his death in 1991.
Along with the biography, Lesley-Ann is also set to release a Channel 5 documentary, which, according to reports, is currently being filmed in Switzerland. The documentary has a release date of September 5.
And while many have embraced the fact that Freddie had fathered a child, there are some who doubt the validity of the claims. According to the MailOnline, some of Freddie’s former staffers have been criticising Lesley-Ann, with one former associate reportedly writing in a group chat: “I don’t understand why he didn’t leave his only child something in his will.
“I’m not saying it’s a crock, but as it’s the [SLUR DELETED] writing yet another book about a dead person, the facts are not looking good at the moment.”
Peter Freestone, who was Freddie’s personal assistant at the time for 12 years until the singer’s death, has also hit out at claims that the star had left diaries to his love child. He said: “I never saw any diaries. I never saw any child. I’m not saying they don’t exist… It was a surprise to me when I heard. Very much.”
And while his bandmate and legendary guitarist Brian May remained silent over the allegations, his wife and former EastEnders star Anita Dobson spoke out. She had said: “I think there have always been rumours. The person to ask would be his [Freddie’s] sister, Kashmira. But even then, I think, sometimes if people keep secrets, they do really keep those secrets.”
And the author Lesley-Ann also commented on the allegations. She has said: “There are a lot of extremely nasty comments being made, and some people are trying to discredit the book.”
She added: “What I would say is that the real inner circle, the other members of Queen, and Freddie’s sister, would have denied this if they could, weeks ago, when the story broke.”
The book reportedly states that Freddie “accidentally fathered the child” and is only referred to as B.
READ MORE: Lionesses star Lauren James joins Gen Z beauty trend with £9 star pimple patches
The Hundred women’s competition, Edgbaston
Birmingham Phoenix 148-5 (100 balls): Lamb 55 (32); King 2-30
Trent Rockets 137-6 (100 balls): Sciver-Brunt 64 (40); Baker 2-18
Birmingham Phoenix won by 11 runs
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt hit 64 but her Trent Rockets side lost by 11 runs against Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.
Chasing 149, Sciver-Brunt dominated the strike as her team-mates fell around her, with four Rockets batters out for single figures.
Her 40-ball innings featured eight fours and one six, and it briefly looked like she might drag Rockets to victory, but she was superbly caught by Millie Taylor off Em Arlott from the 96th ball of the chase.
That effectively ended the visiting side’s chances and they closed on 137-6.
Emma Lamb led from the front for Birmingham Phoenix, with the opener hitting 55 and putting on a 50-run partnership with Ellyse Perry for the second wicket.
Lamb has been in excellent form all summer, earning a recall to the England set-up thanks to her sheer weight of runs.
The 27-year-old has a new team for this season’s Hundred after four years at Manchester Originals, and she marked her debut with her 16th 50+ score of the season.
She struck nine fours in her 32-ball innings, sweeping conventionally and on the reverse as she dealt comfortably with Rockets’ Australia spinners Ash Gardner and Alana King.
Lamb made it to 50 in 28 balls, her second half-century in the competition and the fastest of her career.
Having passed the landmark she looked set to press on to a major score, but instead lifted Gardner’s delivery to King on the mid-wicket ropes.
We’ve got four games for you on Saturday with double-headers at The Oval and in Cardiff.
Oval Invincibles host Manchester Originals (11:00/14:30 BST) and you can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.
Ireland will fulfil their 2027 Women’s EuroBasket qualifiers with Israel after “extensive deliberation”, says Basketball Ireland.
In July, Basketball Ireland said it would “assess the next steps” after being drawn with Israel in the qualifiers and stated it was “extremely alarmed by the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza”.
After considering its options, which included a withdrawal from the qualifiers, the decision has been made by Basketball Ireland to play the two games in November and March.
However, Ireland have informed FIBA, European basketball’s governing body, they will only face Israel at a neutral venue.
Basketball Ireland chief executive John Feehan said the decision had been made after “lengthy consideration”.
“Facing Israel in these circumstances is not a scenario we would wish, but there has been no change in Israel’s status within sport, made by FIBA Europe, the IOC or any other major sporting body,” he said.
Basketball Ireland said it had “already experienced a 14-year absence from international basketball in the recent past” and any decision to not fulfil the fixtures with Israel would be “extremely damaging to Irish basketball and the women’s game”.
Sanctions could have included an 80,000 euros (£69,000) fine if Ireland boycotted the first fixture with Israel, which is scheduled for 18 November.
Failure to play the return fixture would have led to an additional fine of 100,000 euros (£86,000) and removal from qualifying for 2027 and 2029 EuroBasket campaigns.
Ireland could have withdrawn before qualification started and been handed a 30,000 euros fine (£26,000), but FIBA Europe rules left the door open for further sanctions.
Ireland will also face Luxembourg and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group A.
It is not the first time Ireland have been drawn to face Israel since the ongoing conflict in Gaza started in October 2023.
Ireland refused to shake hands with Israel and stood at the side of the court for the national anthems in a 2025 EuroBasket qualifier in February 2024.
When Irish players raised concerns before that qualifier, Israel player Dor Saar said the Ireland team was “quite antisemitic”.
Israel coach Sharon Drucker also said Ireland “did not respect” what the game symbolises, while Basketball Ireland said Saar’s comments were “inflammatory and wholly inaccurate”, and reported the remarks to European basketball’s governing body Fiba Europe.
Women who complained about Gregg Wallace are said to be furious that he and John Torode still have a prominent role in the new series of MasterChef. It comes amid claims they were not consulted over the pair appearing in the shows, which started this week but were filmed before the BBC axed the hosts.
Only the contestants were asked if they wanted the show to go ahead. Wallace was sacked after 41 of the 83 complaints against him were upheld in a review including one of unwelcome physical contact and three of being in a state of undress. Torode’s contract was not renewed by production company Banijay UK amid allegations he used racist language,which he denies.
One source said: “There is a feeling the complainants have been ignored and cast aside. It’s the BBC burying their head in the sand all over again. There is a lot and lot of anger over this. WhatsApp groups are blowing up.”
Broadcasting union Bectu slammed the decision to air the series with Wallace and Torode “front and centre” and minimal editing. Its chief Philippa Childs said: “The BBC’s decision to broadcast as normal has been incredibly divisive and risks terminally undermining the MasterChef brand.
READ MORE: ‘I saw Gregg Wallace up close – he was battling demons and I feared the worst’
“Many viewers will have been left with a bad taste in their mouth made worse seeing two celebrities who have had serious complaints upheld against them given prime time coverage. It is clear the BBC did not consult with complainants before making their decision and has not given due weight to the impact it has had on those affected. Broadcasters should not be rewarding bad behaviour with prime time coverage.”
BBC star Kirsty Wark, who was on MasterChef in 2011, said this week: “For people who weren’t heard at the time if they did speak up and for people who were involved it will be very tough.”
The long-running cooking programme returned to screens on Wednesday, with a drop in viewing figures. It was watched by 1.96 million people – down from the 2.73m who watched last year’s opening show.
Although Wallace and Torode feature heavily in the new series, BBC bosses have cut out some of their jokes. They’ve removed promotional pictures of them, and neither presenter is mentioned in the descriptions for the three available episodes. Wallace, 60, issued an apology over his antics. He said he was “deeply sorry for any distress caused” and he “never set out to harm or humiliate”.
He has insisted he is “not a groper, a sex pest or a flasher”. Torode, 59, claims he has no recollection of the alleged racist comment he made, said to be from 2018. The Lewis Silkin-commissioned report on the pair, ordered by production company Banijay UK, upheld the complaint against Torode.