Channel 4 hit show Taskmaster has announced the comic line-up for its upcoming 20th series, with stars of Unforgotten, Doctor Who and A League of Their Own set to take part
22:00, 03 Jul 2025Updated 22:22, 03 Jul 2025
Taskmaster has announced the next comedians taking on the Channel 4 show(Image: Rob Parfitt / Channel 4)
Taskmaster has revealed its comedian cast for its 20th series, with ITV and BBC stars joining the upcoming line-up. Tonight’s finale of the Channel 4 show saw hosts Greg Davies and Alex Horne crown their latest winner after a nail-biting semi-final with Fatiha El-Ghorri, Jason Mantzoukas, Mathew Baynton, Rosie Ramsey and Stevie Martin.
Now, Channel 4 has revealed that Inside No. 9 star Reece Shearsmith and Unforgotten’s Sanjeev Bhaskar are among those taking part in the next series. They will be trying their best to impress Taskmaster Greg and faithful sidekick Alex in a bid to become the next champion.
The two TV stars will be joining stand-up comic Ania Magliano, A League of Their Own’s Maisie Adam and BBC Radio 4 star Phil Ellis in the series 20 line-up.
Ania Magliano, Maisie Adam, Phil Ellis, Reece Shearsmith and Sanjeev Bhaskar will be taking part in the next series of Taskmaster
Ania is best known for her appearances on Live at the Apollo, Off Menu, The Stand Up Sketch Show and for writing on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date. She recently took on a role in the Prime Video comedy Deep Cover alongside Bryce Dallas Howard.
Meanwhile, Maisie has appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, Outsiders, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year and several series of A League of Their Own. Stand-up comic Phil hosted his own BBC Radio 4 show Phil Ellis is Trying and has appeared on The Russell Howard Hour, Drunk History UK and Roast Battle.
Reece is the star of BAFTA-winning dark comedy Inside No. 9 and has taken on roles in Good Omens, Doctor Who, Peter Kay’s Car Share and Saltburn, while Sanjeev rose to fame in sketch show Goodness Gracious Me and his sitcom The Kumars at No. 42.
Last year, Taskmaster star and creator Alex Horne was revealed to be one of Channel 4’s highest earners. According to accounts posted by his company Shakey Productions, Taskmaster earns the comedian £7.5million a year.
Earlier this week, Channel 4 quietly added the gripping crime drama The Shadow to its online catalogue, based on Melanie Raabe’s 2021 novel. In the series, Deleila Piasko stars as journalist Norah, who hopes for a fresh start in Vienna but is haunted by a prophecy that she will murder a man.
Earlier this year, Sanjeev Bhaskar opened up to The Mirror about losing out on a film role after gaining weight for the character. “The main character was a Singapore-based sleuth who was really overweight, so I got fat by eating anything and everything for an appreciable period of time,” he explained.
“But the financing on Inspector Singh Investigates fell apart, it was no longer happening, leaving me to lose a stone and a half.”
Shaquille O’Neal was a dominant force in the NBA, a 7-foot-1 gentle giant who shattered boards, racked up four titles and left an indelible mark as one of the best centers in basketball history. But since his retirement in 2011, Shaq has shown that his impact goes far beyond sports.
Now, in the business world, from offices and boardrooms, Shaq is focused on remaining the most dominant ever.
Beyond his impressive height, one of O’Neal’s most distinguishing traits is his sense of humor. In the “Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal” Netflix series, which premiered on June 4, he acknowledges that his mindset is “80% humor and 20% seriousness” when it comes to running his businesses. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t take his responsibilities seriously. In fact, he believes that some people tried to exploit his outgoing nature when he first started his business ventures.
“Yes, a lot of people try to take advantage and that just drives me to do more things,” O’Neal told L.A. Times en Español.
Shaquille O’Neal walks on the court before Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder in Oklahoma City.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
He is accustomed to people trying to exploit his perceived weaknesses.
“They always said, ‘With the way he shoots free throws, he’ll never win a championship.’ OK, maybe that’s true, but I’m going to dominate the game so much that free throws don’t even matter.”
He brings the same mentality to his position at Reebok, where he is president of basketball — a position he assumed in 2023 — and is leading a push to bring relevance back to a brand that once bet on him to be a star.
“When I went to Nike, they said, ‘Yeah, we wanted to give you your own sneakers, but we gave them to another guy.’ And I said, ‘Excuse me? To this guy?’ And then when I went to Reebok, they said, ‘We believe in you, we’re going to give you your own shoes,’” O’Neal recalls.
That loyalty was not forgotten. Today, 30 years after signing with Reebok as a player, O’Neal is back, not to launch retro updates of his shoes, but to make decisions, train a new generation of athletes and reshape the brand’s place in a fiercely competitive market.
Shaq didn’t join Reebok’s executive team just for nostalgia’s sake. His vision is clear: Take a chance like they took a chance on him in the 1990s.
“They took a chance on young Shaq. He took a chance on young AI [Allen Iverson]. He took a chance on young Shawn Kemp. And we turned the plan into a dominant number two. Never number one, but never number three,” O’Neal explained.
With that logic, the former player decided not to bet Reebok’s current NBA marketing budget all on one superstar.
“I wanted to go the traditional route. ‘Hey, let’s go for Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]. Let’s go for Jaylen Brown.’ But when you talk to agents, these guys want big numbers. … You’re going to spend 85 or 90% of the budget,” O’Neal said.
His team — including his son, Shareef — convinced O’Neal to invest in emerging talent with a strong social media presence and a mindset of their own.
Case in point is WNBA Chicago Sky player Angel Reese, who signed with Reebok in 2023.
“Angel reminds me of AI. She’s going to do it her way, the way she wants to do it. She doesn’t care what anyone else says,” O’Neal said.
Shaquille O’Neal, left, and Allen Iverson watch the NBA Rookie Challenge on Feb. 18, 2005, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
(Mark Terrill / Associated Press)
He sees Reese not only as a great athlete, but as an influential figure who embodies the disruptive spirit he wants to restore in the Reebok brand.
O’Neal isn’t just impressed by what he sees on the court. He’s looking for something more.
“I’m looking for someone who isn’t getting the recognition he deserves,” he said. “We live in a world where, once they get noticed by one or two guys, they stick with them forever.”
He said he was underestimated in his early days. Despite being selected with the first pick in the 1992 draft and making an immediate impact with the Orlando Magic, he said during early career business meetings “they never looked at me. They always looked at my manager. It was like, ‘Do you think he understands business?’”
That prompted him to study business administration and management and get serious about his financial education.
“I just thought, ‘Let me get a degree … so you know I understand that I’m in charge of my own destiny,’” O’Neal said.
Now, as president of Reebok basketball, he also values athletes’ family ties, their work ethic, their environment and their desire to represent something bigger than themselves.
“I like the people, the moms, the dads, the coaches. People want to be represented in a certain way,” O’Neal said.
He doesn’t presume to have all the answers. He admits he’s had to adapt and learn.
“It’s just about challenges. I’ve always been one to step up to meet them. … I had to learn a lot, learn about this business,” he said.
To appeal to the broadest group of customers, he has relied on a close circle of advisors that includes his son, Shareef.
“I had to bring in my son to help me identify with the crazy Generation Z, because they do what they want. They follow their own path. They have their own rules,” O’Neal said.
While still a strong, determined figure, O’Neal has learned to accept feedback from others.
“I don’t think my best quality is listening,” he admits. But in his new role, he’s had to let go of some of his old-school style and trust his team.
O’Neal was one of the most dominant players the NBA has ever seen. Now he’s one of the most successful athletes in the business world. His investment portfolio includes franchises of businesses such as Papa John’s, Five Guys, 24 Hour Fitness and his own line of products and apparel. He also holds commercial endorsement contracts with brands such as Icy Hot, The General insurance and Carnival Cruises, among others.
But his business success has not been linear.
“On the road to success, there are many failures and you simply have to try to have more successes than failures,” he said.
His secret has been to surround himself with skilled people.
“I have great teammates,” O’Neal said. “My friend wins a championship by herself. It’s called delegation.”
Shaq has turned his image into a global brand, but he insists the key has been staying true to his values. It all revolves around his family.
“I am who you think I am. I realized I couldn’t have done any of this without my family and their blessings,” he says.
He said his faith and personal values help him manage the impact of his success.
“I said it about seven years ago, never call me famous,” O’Neal said. “Celebrities are jerks. I just want to be a normal person. I’m a respectful person. I love kids. I love the elderly. I love helping those in need. I love making people smile. So the answer to the question of how I keep my feet on the ground, you know exactly how I do it: Salaam-alaikum [Peace be upon you], brother.”
Shaquille O’Neal’s fried chicken chain expanded with a Valencia location serving fried chicken sandwiches, sides and shakes.
(Big Chicken)
Long before he joined he executive team, O’Neal played a major role in Reebok’s success. In the early 1990s, while Nike and Adidas were building giant empires, Reebok bet on O’Neal and Iverson, and managed to position itself as a serious alternative, especially among urban youth. But over time, the brand lost ground.
Now, with O’Neal leading the renaissance of its basketball division, Reebok wants to regain that lost space. It doesn’t intend to compete directly with Nike or Adidas for big stars, but to create an ecosystem of its own.
“It’s not about a gamble. It’s about making the right decision,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal has been many things: NBA champion, most valuable player, All-Star, entrepreneur, commentator, DJ, actor, honorary police officer, philanthropist. But perhaps his most powerful facet is that of a man who builds bridges, pushes others and constantly reinvents himself.
This new movement, he says, is strategic and personal. He is enjoying a reunion with the brand that believed in him and an opportunity to return the favor by helping Reebok connect with customers.
Two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant will join the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster move from the Phoenix Suns.
The 36-year-old forward will join the Rockets at the start of July in a deal involving eight other players.
In exchange, guard Jalen Green and small forward Dillon Brooks will move to Phoenix – who will also gain the 10th pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft and five future second-round picks, according to reports in US media.
Speaking at a media event in New York on Sunday Durant told reporter Kay Adams: “Being part of the Houston Rockets, I’m looking forward to it.
“Crazy, crazy last couple weeks, but I’m glad it’s over with.
“They had a great season last year. Love their leadership. I felt like I’d be a good addition.”
After nearly two years of stark divisions over the war in Gaza and support for Israel, Democrats remain at odds over policy toward Iran after the U.S. strikes early Sunday.
Progressives demanded unified opposition before President Trump announced U.S. strikes against Tehran’s nuclear program, but party leaders were treading more cautiously.
U.S. leaders of all stripes have found common ground for two decades on the position that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. The longtime U.S. foe has supported groups that have killed Americans across the Mideast and threatened to destroy Israel. But Trump’s announcement Saturday that the U.S. had struck three nuclear sites could become the Democratic Party’s latest schism, just as it was sharply dividing Trump’s isolationist “Make America Great Again” base from more hawkish conservatives.
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, noted that in January, Trump suggested the U.S. could “measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”
“Today, against his own words, the president sent bombers into Iran,” Martin said in a statement. “Americans overwhelmingly do not want to go to war. Americans do not want to risk the safety of our troops abroad.”
Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said the U.S. entering the war in Iran “does not make America more secure.”
“This bombing was an act of war that risks retaliation by the Iranian regime,” Welch said in a statement.
While progressives in the lead-up to the military action had staked out clear opposition to Trump’s potential intervention, the party leadership played the safer ground of insisting on a role for Congress before any use of force.
Martin’s statement took a similar tack, saying, “Americans do not want a president who bypasses our constitution and pulls us towards war without Congressional approval. Donald Trump needs to bring his case to Congress immediately.”
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine called Trump’s actions “horrible judgment” and said he’d “push for all senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”
Many prominent Democrats with 2028 presidential aspirations had been silent on the Israel-Iran war, even before Trump’s announcement — underscoring how politically tricky the issue can be for the party.
“They are sort of hedging their bets,” said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of State who served under President Obama and is now a strategist on foreign policy. “The beasts of the Democratic Party’s constituencies right now are so hostile to Israel’s war in Gaza that it’s really difficult to come out looking like one would corroborate an unauthorized war that supports Israel without blowback.”
Progressives
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) had called Trump’s consideration of an attack “a defining moment for our party.” Khanna had introduced legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that called on the Republican president to “terminate” the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless “explicitly authorized” by a declaration of war from Congress.
Khanna used Trump’s campaign arguments of putting American interests first when the congressman spoke to Theo Von, a comedian who has been supportive of the president and is popular among Trump supporters, particularly young men.
“That’s going to cost this country a lot of money that should be being spent here at home,” said Khanna, who is said to be among the many Democrats considering seeking the presidential nomination in 2028.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, had pointed to Trump’s stated goal during his inaugural speech of being known as “a peacemaker and a unifier.”
“Supporting Netanyahu’s war against Iran would be a catastrophic mistake,” Sanders said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sanders reintroduced legislation prohibiting the use of federal money for force against Iran, insisted that U.S. military intervention would be unwise and illegal and accused Israel of striking unprovoked. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York signed on to a similar bill from Sanders in 2020, but so far was holding off this time.
Some believed the party should stake out a clear antiwar stance.
“The leaders of the Democratic Party need to step up and loudly oppose war with Iran and demand a vote in Congress,” said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama aide, on X.
Mainstream Democrats
The staunch support from the Democratic administration of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for Israel’s war against Hamas loomed over the party’s White House ticket in 2024, even with the criticism of Israel’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Trump exploited the divisions to make inroads with Arab American voters and Orthodox Jews on his way back to the White House.
Today, the Israel-Iran war is the latest test for a party struggling to repair its coalition before next year’s midterm elections and the quick-to-follow kickoff to the 2028 presidential race. The party will look to bridge the divide between an activist base that is skeptical of foreign interventions and already critical of U.S. support for Israel and more traditional Democrats and independents who make up a sizable, if not always vocal, voting bloc.
In a statement after Israel’s first strikes on Iran, Schumer said Israel has a right to defend itself and “the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran’s response.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said that “the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment.”
Other Democrats have condemned Israel’s strikes and accused Netanyahu of sabotaging nuclear talks with Iran. They are reminding the public that Trump withdrew in 2018 from a multinational nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions negotiated during the Obama administration.
“Trump created the problem,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on X.
What voters think
A Pearson Institute/Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from September 2024 found that about half of Democrats said the U.S. was being “too supportive” of Israel and about 4 in 10 said its level of support was “about right.” Democrats were more likely than independents and Republicans to say the Israeli government had “a lot” of responsibility for the continuation of the war between Israel and Hamas.
About 6 in 10 Democrats and half of Republicans said they felt Iran was an adversary with whom the U.S. was in conflict.
Gomez Licon and Beaumont write for the Associated Press. AP writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Linley Sanders, Will Weissert and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report
Strictly Come Dancing bosses are reportedly looking to sign up a Celebs Go Dating and Married At First Sight UK expert to the show
Celebs Go Dating and MAFS expert ‘in talks to join Strictly Come Dancing’(Image: BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing bosses are reportedly looking to sign up Celebs Go Dating and Married At First Sight expert Paul C Brunson for the upcoming series of the BBC dance competition. While the show doesn’t return until later this year, there have already been rumours on who could be trying their hand on the dance floor.
It has been claimed relationship expert and TV host Paul could be joining the show. The star became known to UK fans thanks to his appearances on CGD and MAFS UK, but recently starred alongside Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden for Netflix’s reality series, Cheat: Unfinished Business.
Bosses are reportedly hoping to get Paul to sign up for the show(Image: Matt Monfredi / Channel 4)
Speaking to The Sun about why bosses want to sign Paul onto the show, an insider claimed: “Paul would be the ideal tonic to the dark clouds over Strictly as he’s clean-cut, very intelligent and has no scandals to worry about.
“They are now in discussion but he’s met with producers a number of times.” The Mirror have reached out to the BBC for comment.
Earlier this week, the same publication claimed bosses want Sir Mo Farah on the show as he’s a “genuine national treasure”.
It’s claimed that bosses are also hoping for Sir Mo Farah(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
His personality would provide the perfect tonic to the toxicity that’s overshadowed Strictly. Bosses would love to sign him up but the talks are at a very early stage.”
In recent times, Strictly Come Dancing dealt with numerous scandals. After 2023’s series, Amanda Abbington accused professional dancer partner Giovanni Pernice of bullying.
Around the same time, Graziano Di Prima was axed from the show. But reports emerged over the summer claiming that the Italian dancer had kicked and hit Zara, 27, which he strongly denies.
He later admitted that his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime.” Most recently, Wynne Evans was axed from the Strictly live tour over his behaviour.
Wynne appeared on This Morning recently to speak about his series of scandals while on the BBC show – and revealed that the negative attention had taken a severe toll on his mental health.
“I was at my lowest ebb, I wanted to end my life. I would have if I hadn’t been surrounded by people,” he said to the TV show’s hosts.
The Nimitz strike group could reach the Middle East later this week, an observer said. The aircraft carrier (picture in 2024) was commissioned in 1975 and is one of the U.S. Navy’s older class of carriers. File Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samuel Osborn Mass/U.S. Navy
June 16 (UPI) — The Nimitz aircraft carrier group was rerouted from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East, joining the USS Carl Vinson. The move comes amid airstrikes between Israel and Iran.
Also, the Defense Department is moving aircraft to the European and Central Command theaters if needed to support U.S. bases in the region, the Navy Times reported.
And other ships, including Navy destroyers, are also headed to the region, a U.S. official told NBC News. Those ships, which are now based in U.S. European Command, include ballistic missile defense, or BMD, capabilities. Some destroyers are now stationed off Israel’s coast in the Mediterranean.
“Over the weekend, I directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted Monday on X. “Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region.”
The Nimitz was scheduled to go to the Middle East but officials canceled a stop in Vietnam, NBC News reported. The George Washington carrier group is operating in the Philippine Sea.
The Nimitz strike group could reach the Middle East later this week, an official told Politico. The exact location hasn’t been disclosed.
The carrier was sailing in the South China Sea and has made its way through the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea and is about 1,200 miles from Iran.
The Vinson has sailed in the Arabian Sea, and it has partnered with the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group to hit Houthi targets in Yemen, as well. Its home port is San Diego.
President Donald Trump hasn’t said whether the United States will join Israel against Iran.
“We’re not involved in it,” Trump said during an interview with ABC News. “It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved.”
Israel’s aircraft have mainly been targeting nuclear facilities, including the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant built into a mountain and buried deep underground.
The Nimitz carrier group has about 5,000 sailors and Marines, including aircraft crews. Assigned destroyers are Wilbur, Gridle, Meyer and Higbee
The aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1975 and the home port is in Bremerton, Wash.
New Delhi, India — India has distanced itself from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) condemnation of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran, signalling a potential rift in the influential Eurasian political bloc over the conflict.
World leaders have repeatedly called for de-escalation amid Israel’s unprecedented attacks on its regional rival, Iran, which threaten to destabilise the region. Last Friday, the latest round of fighting began after Israel launched attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear sites.
This follows two rounds of direct military conflict between Iran and Israel in 2024, which were triggered by Israeli strikes on Iranian targets and subsequent Iranian retaliation.
Iranian authorities say Israeli attacks since Friday have targeted residential and military areas in Tehran as well as many cities across the country, killing at least 80 people, including civilians. Several Iranian nuclear scientists and university professors were killed along with several top-ranking commanders of the Iranian armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Israeli attacks on Saturday hit refineries, power stations and oil reserves across Iran. Tehran has retaliated by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens. Meanwhile, Tehran has also paused nuclear negotiations with the United States.
So, why did India refuse to take part in the discussions or endorse the SCO’s position on Israel’s attacks? Is India backing Israel? And what is at stake for these countries?
What did the SCO say?
The SCO, a political and security bloc founded in 2001, includes China, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran is the most recent entrant, having joined the SCO under India’s chairmanship in 2023.
On Saturday, the SCO, currently chaired by China, said its member states “express serious concern” over the escalating Iran-Israel tensions and “strongly condemn the military strikes carried out by Israel” on the territory of Iran.
The SCO statement further noted that Israel’s “aggressive actions against civilian targets, including energy and transport infrastructure, which have resulted in civilian casualties, are a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter”.
“[Israeli attacks] constitute an infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, cause damage to regional and international security, and pose serious risks to global peace and stability,” the statement added, extending condolences to Iran’s government and people.
“The SCO member states firmly advocate for the resolution of the situation surrounding Iran’s nuclear program exclusively through peaceful, political, and diplomatic means,” the statement noted.
India’s ‘delicate balancing act’
After Israel’s initial strikes on Tehran, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in which he “conveyed the deep concern of the international community at the turn of events”.
Jaishankar “urged avoidance of any escalatory steps and an early return to diplomacy,” according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs. The ministry also underlined its concerns in a separate statement on Friday.
“We are closely monitoring the evolving situation, including reports related to attacks on nuclear sites,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said, urging both sides to use existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy to “work towards a de-escalation of the situation”.
“India enjoys close and friendly relations with both the countries and stands ready to extend all possible support,” the statement noted.
Shanthie D’Souza, a senior research fellow at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, told Al Jazeera, “Unlike other SCO nations, India is in a unique position given that it has to maintain defence ties with Israel and its economic ties with Iran.”
India is Israel’s largest weapons buyer, and in 2024, Indian weapons firms also sold Israel rockets and explosives amid the war in Gaza, an Al Jazeera investigation revealed. At the same time, India has been developing Iran’s Chabahar Port as a gateway for its exports to Central Asia and Afghanistan.
“India has maintained a delicate balancing act [in the latest round of fighting between Israel and Iran],” D’Souza said.
After the SCO statement condemning the Israeli strikes on Iran, New Delhi said it did not participate in discussions about the statement.
“The overall position of India as stated above was communicated to other SCO members,” the Foreign Ministry said, referring to its earlier statement for India’s official position.
Is India backing Israel?
Not explicitly. But by distancing itself from the bloc’s stance, New Delhi has weakened the force of the SCO’s condemnation of Israel’s attacks on Iran.
A day before distancing itself from the SCO statement, India abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution that demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza.
To Kabir Taneja, the deputy director of the strategic studies programme at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, India’s abstention at the UN was perplexing. He suggested that it may have been influenced by India’s desire to maintain good relations with the US, noting how India is close to a trade agreement with Washington – a deal it is trying to clinch before US President Donald Trump’s threatened 27 percent tariff on Indian goods is lifted in early July.
National interests aside, Taneja noted that New Delhi’s distancing from the SCO on the Israel-Iran tensions also “reflects on the construct of the SCO, where India is sort of an outlier inside”.
While China and Russia are close to Iran, Taneja said, given India’s relationships with the US and Israel, “it would have been very difficult [for India] to subscribe to SCO’s particular wording and statement”.
Is US pressure on Iran threatening India’s regional ambitions?
Before Trump imposed sanctions following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2017, Iran was India’s third-largest oil supplier.
In February, after Trump returned for a second term in office, he doubled down on economic pressure tactics to corner Iran by suspending sanction waivers “that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief, including those related to Iran’s Chabahar port project”.
The port would allow India to bypass its rival, Pakistan, by trading with landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia via Iran. India had secured a sanctions waiver from the US during the first Trump administration for work related to Chabahar.
Now, Trump’s sanctions put New Delhi’s multimillion-dollar investment in the strategically located maritime facility at risk.
But India’s interest in maintaining strong ties with Iran goes beyond just the port project. Taneja noted that India values Iran’s geographic position because it provides it with access to Afghanistan and Central Asia – regions important for India’s trade, security, and influence.
The forward, set to link up with Inter Milan in LA, is stranded in Iran after his home country’s airspace was shut down.
Inter Milan’s Iranian forward Mehdi Taremi could miss the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 in the United States after being unable to leave his home country to join his team amid Iran’s airspace closure due to its ongoing exchange of aerial fire with Israel.
Taremi, who was named in Inter’s squad for the 32-team tournament, was expected to link up with his team in Los Angeles as they gear up for the tournament, but media reports in Italy and the US said on Saturday that the striker is likely to miss the first match on Tuesday and perhaps the entire competition.
“The Iranian striker will not join the Nerazzurri, neither for the first match nor for the others,” Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Saturday.
“Inter have been in close contact with the Iranian authorities in Italy over the last 24 hours to comfort the player and try [to find] a solution that is currently impossible. The player is in Tehran in a safe place and sheltered from the bombings,” the report added.
The Italian side open their campaign against the Mexican side, Monterrey FC, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Los Angeles, on Tuesday, but Taremi is unlikely to be part of the squad.
The 32-year-old captains Iran and was among the goal scorers as they beat North Korea in their AFC World Cup qualifying match at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on June 10. A day later, he won the inaugural Iranian Toopa Award (Golden Ball).
While it is unclear when the forward was scheduled to fly out of Tehran, his departure for the US was put on hold when Israel began its attacks on Iran on Friday morning, leading to the indefinite closure of its airspace.
Iran responded to the attacks later on the same day, and both countries have been involved in an exchange of fire ever since.
Taremi, who joined Inter Milan on a three-year contract in July 2024, has scored three goals in 43 appearances for the Nerazzurri.
Milan and their opening-game opponents Monterrey are placed in Group E for the Club World Cup alongside Argentinian club River Plate and Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds.
Mehdi Taremi played and scored in Iran’s AFC World Cup 2026 qualifying game against North Korea at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran on June 10 [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
Actor Gary Oldman has been knighted alongside David Beckham on a King’s Birthday Honours list that also recognises Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
The Oscar winner and the former football England captain are among 19 new sirs, while 21 damehoods have been announced, including singer and actress Elaine Paige and Regeneration novelist Pat Barker.
There are MBEs for teenage world darts champion Luke Littler and Love Island star Georgia Harrison for her work on online privacy and cyber crime.
Overall, 1,200 people are on the main honours listed issued by the Cabinet Office, of which 48% are women. The youngest person being honoured is 11 while the oldest is 106.
The list features a range of well-known names, including from the arts, politics and sports, but it is primarily made up of people being recognised for their work in the community, including campaigners and fundraisers.
Actor Sir Gary has enjoyed an illustrious career on screen and stage since the early 1980s and in 2018, won best actor at the Academy Awards for playing wartime prime minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. More recently, he won acclaim for his portrayal of an MI5 agent in Apple TV’s Slow Horses.
Daly and Winkleman are made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to broadcasting.
Both have had a long association with Strictly, which has aired 22 series. Daly started as a co-presenter with Sir Bruce Forsyth in the first season in 2004, while Winkleman originally hosted a spin-off programme. They have hosted the main show as a duo since 2014.
“I am ridiculously lucky and will celebrate with Tess by doing a paso doble,” Winkleman said.
Daly said she almost missed out on accepting the honour after the letter was sent to the wrong address – and added that she cried when she opened the envelope.
Sir David’s knighthood for services to sport and charity has been confirmed, having been widely reported earlier this month. The 50-year-old ex-footballer said he was “immensely proud”.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003, and became an ambassador for Unicef in 2005 and for The King’s Foundation last year, supporting King Charles’ education programme and efforts to promote nature.
“I’m so lucky to be able to do the work that I do and I’m grateful to be recognised for work that gives me so much fulfilment,” Beckham said.
Evita star Dame Elaine also received her honour for services to music and charity. “I’ve been very lucky in my life and my career, I’m in a very privileged position,” she told the BBC. “When you are in a position to help others, that is something I wanted to do.”
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Dame Elaine says she has been “very lucky” in her life and career
Sir Roger Daltrey, frontman of 1960s-formed rock group The Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust – known for its annual fundraising concerts at the Royal Albert Hall – has been knighted for services to charity and music.
Sir Roger said he was accepting the knighthood “on behalf of all those unsung people who had worked to make the charity the success it had become”.
Love Island star Georgia Harrison has been made an MBE for her work campaigning on online privacy and cyber crime
“Speaking out after what happened wasn’t easy, but I knew it was important,” Harrison said. “I didn’t want anyone else to feel as alone or powerless as I did. I’ve tried to turn something painful into something positive, and this honour is a reminder that we can make change when we use our voices.”
Darts player Luke Littler, 18 – the youngest winner of the PDC World Darts Championship – appears on the list with one of his main rivals – Premier League Darts champion Luke Humphries, 30, who also became an MBE. There is an OBE for veteran star of the sport Deta Hedman, 65, who is recognised for her contribution to sport and charity.
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Darts rivals Luke Littler and Luke Humphries both became MBEs
The honours system
Commonly-awarded ranks
Companion of Honour – Limited to 65 people. Recipients wear the initials CH after their name
Knight or Dame
CBE – Commander of the Order of the British Empire
OBE – Officer of the Order of the British Empire
MBE – Member of the Order of the British Empire
BEM – British Empire Medal
The Birthday Honours are awarded by the King following recommendations by the prime minister, senior government ministers and members of the public.
From the political world, there are damehoods for former Conservative cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt, who had a memorable role holding a ceremonial sword at the King’s coronation in 2023, and Labour’s Chi Onwurah, the MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne Central and West. There is also a knighthood for Labour’s Mark Tami, the Alyn and Deeside MP.
Labour Glasgow MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, the first permanent wheelchair user to be elected to Holyrood, has become an MBE for her public and political service.
Yui Mok/PA Wire; Ken Jack/Getty Images
Penny Mordaunt, who held a ceremonial sword at the King’s coronation in 2023, is being made a dame, while Labour Glasgow MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy has been made an MBE
Sir Philip Barton, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office, who has previously received multiple royal honours, has become a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to British foreign policy, while former Conservative health minister and MP for Lewes Maria Caulfield has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for political and public service.
The Foreign Office has announced an additional honours recognising the work of overseas residents or service abroad, and there are separate lists covering gallantry awards and for service personnel in the military.
Business leaders on the list include Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie, who has been made a dame. Greggs chief executive Roisin Currie and Specsavers co-founder and chairman Douglas Perkins have both become CBEs.
Three trade union leaders are being recognised, with Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), and Dr Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, being made CBEs, while Sue Ferns, deputy general secretary of the civil service union Prospect, is made an OBE.
Musicians Steve Winwood and 10cc’s Graham Gouldman are both made MBEs, while there are OBEs for Stuart Worden, head of the BRIT School since 2021, and BBC Proms director David Pickard.
BBC radio presenter Martha Kearney, who hosted her final episode of the Today Programme in summer 2024, has been made a CBE for services to journalism and broadcasting.
Jeff Overs/BBC
Martha Kearney hosted her final episode of the Today Programme in summer 2024
Others from the world of stage and screen on the list include veteran theatrical star Jane Lapotaire, who is made a CBE. Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh and Bafta winner Samantha Morton are among the new MBEs, while former EastEnders star Anita Dobson‘s OBE recognises her work in charitable fundraising and philanthropy.
Another former EastEnders actress, Tracy-Ann Oberman, is made an MBE for services to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism.
The sport stars recognised include former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade – a CBE for services to tennis and charity – and double Olympic triathlon gold medallist Alistair Brownlee and former cricketer Devon Malcolm, who both become OBEs.
Rugby League legend Billy Boston is also named on the list, making him the first person from the sport to receive a knighthood in its 130-year history. The 90-year-old trailblazer for black sports stars, who played for Wigan and Great Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, received his knighthood earlier this week because of concerns over his health.
Aaron Chown/PA Wire
Rugby League legend Billy Boston received his knighthood from the King earlier this week
Meanwhile, Angel of the North sculptor Sir Antony Gormley and physicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell have joined the elite Companions of Honour, an exclusive group limited to only 65 recipients at any one time.
But most people on the Birthday Honours list are being recognised for their work in the community.
After Samantha Madgin was murdered in Tyne and Wear in 2007, her sister Carly Barrett and mother Alison Magdin set up Samantha’s Legacy to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives. The pair are now MBEs.
Zahrah Mahmood, the president of Ramblers Scotland who is known on social media as the Hillwalking Hijabi, has been made an MBE for her contribution to voluntary service in Scotland. She is using her position as president to focus on diversity and inclusion within the outdoor community.
“If this recognition helps a little to show that the outdoors is for everyone, that would mean the world to me,” Mrs Mahmood says. “But I’m also aware that visibility is often the first step. I would love to play a small part in continuing to move things in the right direction.
Zahrah Mahmood/PA Wire
Zahrah Mahmood is known on social media as the Hillwalking Hijabi
John and Lorna Norgrove have been made OBEs for services to women and children abroad and in Scotland after they set up a charity in memory of their daughter Linda, an aid worker who was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan in September 2010 and died in an attempted rescue the following month.
“We dedicate this honour to all those brave women who remain in Afghanistan, or who have made the decision to leave their homes and families behind to move abroad and continue their studies and careers,” the couple said. “Their struggle continues and they are the real heroes of this story.”
And Duncan and Caroline Speirs and their daughter Jenna Speirs from the Isle of Bute all receive British Empire Medals for their work through Calum’s Cabin, which provides holiday homes for children facing cancer, after their son Calum died in 2007.
The oldest person to be honoured on the list is 106-year-old World War Two veteran Norman Irwin, who served in North Africa and is being given a British Empire Medal (BEM). After returning to Northern Ireland, he formed the Coleraine Winemakers Club in the early 1960s, and also went on to become one of the founders of the town’s Rotary Club and the Agivey Anglers Association.
Family handout/PA; Lucy Chillery-Watson/PA
Norman Irwin, a106-year-old World War Two veteran, is the oldest person to be featured on the birthday honours list, while muscular dystrophy fundraiser Carmela Chillery-Watson is the youngest, at 11
Meanwhile, 11-year-old Carmela Chillery-Watson, from Dorset, is the youngest person on the list. Miss Chillery-Watson, who has LMNA congenital muscular dystrophy, has become the youngest-ever person to be made an MBE, in recognition of her fundraising and awareness campaigns for Muscular Dystrophy UK.
“I never thought anything like this would happen,” she said. “I just want to make a difference to the disability community, to be able to show them: you’re strong, you can do whatever you want.”
1 of 6 | Sen. Cory Booker, D-NY, said Tuesday he “transformed my agitation into legislation,” as faith leaders and lawmakers gathered for a ‘Moral Budget Vigil’ at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to urge protection of Medicaid, SNAP and other vital programs. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
June 10 (UPI) — Democratic senators joined hundreds of faith leaders on the Capitol steps Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to denounce SNAP and Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump‘s massive budget proposal.
The event — called the “Moral Budget Vigil” and organized by the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice, Sojourners, Skinner Leadership Institute and the National African American Clergy Network — included prayers, song and scripture. A meeting with Democratic senators followed.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who is also a reverend at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, criticized the budget for “giving wealthy people a tax cut.”
“Show me your budget and I’ll show you who you think matters and who does not — who you think is dispensable,” Warnock said. “My mind and my imagination and my heart had been arrested by the heartbeat of children who should not lose their food and who should not lose healthcare in order to give wealthy people a tax cut.”
The budget, which the White House calls the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” cleared the U.S. House in May by a narrow margin. It would make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and could add trillions to the national debt, according to analysts.
Faith leaders claim the bill would also cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program — or SNAP — and Medicaid coverage for millions of low-income children, families and people with disabilities.
Trump has said he only wants to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” from the Medicaid program and would not make direct cuts to benefits. The bill also calls for changes to SNAP by imposing stricter work requirements.
The Rev. Jim Wallis, who advised the Obama administration, called the budget plan a “big, bad bill,” which he argued would “take 60 million people off of health care.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware claimed the bill “literally takes the food from the mouths of hungry children to pass an enormous tax cut for the very wealthiest and is the definition of an immoral bill before this Congress.”
Warnock, who calls it the “Big Ugly Bill,” recounted how he protested another Trump budget bill eight years ago with prayer and song inside the Capitol rotunda.
“As I stood there, I said then what I want to say today: That a budget is not just a fiscal document, it is a moral document.”
Warnock was arrested during that protest in 2017 and credited the Capitol Police for being professional.
“Here I am eight years later, having transformed my agitation into legislation,” Warnock added. “I’m here today because I still know how to agitate — I still know how to protest. I’m not a senator who used to be a pastor. I’m a pastor in the Senate.”
Spoke to some folks who came to Washington today to bear witness and stand against the Big Ugly Bill. If we raise our voices together, we can beat this. pic.twitter.com/7kj9XRHnnI— Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (@SenatorWarnock) June 10, 2025
“Adolescence” co-creator Stephen Graham isn’t exactly shy when it comes to praising Owen Cooper, the young actor at the center of his hit Netflix limited series.
“This may be a big thing to say, but I haven’t seen a performance [of this caliber] from someone so young since Leo [DiCaprio] in ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,’” Graham tells me via Zoom. “And I say that because I love Leo and he’s a good friend. And that’s a performance beyond someone his age. It’s the same when I watch Owen.”
Not content to leave it at that, Graham later points out that he recently related a story on Graham Norton’s BBC talk show about the time he told Cooper’s mom that her son was the “next Robert De Niro.” Cooper happened to be on the show too, taking it all in, smiling shyly. And wouldn’t you know it, De Niro was there as well, sitting next to Cooper on the couch, giving him a tender pat on the knee.
So, DiCaprio, De Niro … Do you want to drop a Brando comparison to complete the trifecta? I ask.
“I can’t find enough superlatives to describe the boy,” says Graham, who also co-wrote the show and stars as his father.
Honestly, I can’t either. Apart from Noah Wyle’s heroic, beleaguered doctor in “The Pitt,” you could make the case that Cooper’s turn as Jamie, a 13-year-old accused of murdering a classmate, is the year’s best work on television. The show’s third episode, a two-hander where Jamie is interviewed and evaluated by a psychologist (Erin Doherty) at a juvenile detention facility, is an astonishing showcase, particularly when you consider that it, like all four of the series’ episodes, is shot as a continuous scene.
It also bears mentioning that “Adolescence” marks Cooper’s professional debut as an actor. He is now 15.
Cooper with Stephen Graham in “Adolescence.”
(Netflix)
It’s an extraordinary story, though you have to wonder if some Emmy voters will see it that way. The Emmys have not embraced child actors over the years, with only four teenagers winning trophies: Roxana Zal, 14 when she won for her supporting role in the 1984 TV movie “Something About Amelia”; Kristy McNichol, 15 and 17 at the time of her two supporting drama actress wins for the 1970s series “Family”; Scott Jacoby, 16, for the 1972 TV movie “That Certain Summer”; and Anthony Murphy for the 1971 British limited series “Tom Brown’s Schooldays.”
Murphy was 17 when he won and, like Cooper, had never acted professionally. And after “Tom Brown’s Schooldays,” he never acted again, pursuing painting instead and enjoying a long career in that medium.
Perhaps that explains Emmy voters’ reluctance to go all in and reward young actors. Are they in it for the long haul? Or are they going to do something crazy like go off to college and chase a more stable career, like … just about any other line of work?
With Cooper, such concerns appear to be unfounded. Since “Adolescence,” he has made a BBC comedy, “Film Club,” starring Aimee Lou Wood, and just finished playing young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.”
Fennell obviously saw the tortured antihero that everyone else did in “Adolescence.”
Easy to see that now. But finding the next De Niro from a pool of 500 to 600 young actors, most of them unknowns, almost all of them around Jamie’s age, was a taller order. Graham says the casting team had considered looking for an older boy, given the demands of the role and the show’s unsettling subject matter.
“But that age is unique,” Graham says. “It’s that breaking point. Your body is changing. Your voice is changing. We needed that authenticity.”
That’s all well and good. But what was it like for Doherty, a veteran actor with many credits — including Princess Anne in “The Crown” — to take on a single-shot, 52-minute episode requiring her to parry and push and prod a young actor on his first job?
Cooper with Erin Doherty in “Adolescence.”
(Netflix)
“It was definitely the cause of most of my nerves before I met Owen,” Doherty tells me. “I was so unflinchingly aware that it is a huge ask, even for an actor who has been doing it for 40 years.”
Then she met him on the first day of rehearsal, and Doherty, who says she is obsessed with the elements, saw that Cooper was a “very earthy human being.” Grounded. Present. Real.
They rehearsed for two weeks and then spent a week shooting the episode, Monday through Friday, two takes a day. They used the last take. Probably because they felt confident they had already nailed it, Doherty says that last time through was like they were “doing it for free.”
“There was more of a playful dynamic between the two of us,” Doherty says. “We were poking each other in ways we hadn’t done before.”
As Doherty’s psychologist nudges Jamie to recognize truths about himself that he doesn’t want to acknowledge and admit that he holds certain toxic beliefs, you see Cooper shift Jamie from guarded innocence to explosive rage and then to surrendering desperation. There are a lot of showy moments, but one of the best comes shortly after the two characters meet when Jamie lets out a yawn. “Am I boring you?” she asks. Look at that self-satisfied smile on his face.
“That was the only time he did that,” Doherty says. “And Owen was probably genuinely tired. But also, I’m thinking, ‘This kid Jamie is really trying to push my buttons.’ We were really playing a cat-and-mouse game.”
With young actors, there’s sometimes the perception that the director is guiding them — which, of course, is the director’s job with any actor. But in that moment, you see Cooper using an accident and turning it into something malevolent.
“Owen has an unspoken magic,” Doherty says. “That’s nothing to do with his age. He has something that can’t be taught, and it’s always going to be with him.”
Wales captain Aaron Ramsey has agreed a deal to sign for Mexican side Club Universidad Nacional – known as Pumas UNAM – according to the PA news agency.
The former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder would become the first high-profile British player to play in the Mexican league should the formalities of the move be completed.
Ramsey was appointed Cardiff interim manager for the final three games of the 2024-25 Championship season after the club sacked Omer Riza.
The 34-year-old was unable to prevent Cardiff from being relegated to the third tier, but reports had linked him with taking charge of the Bluebirds on a full-time basis this summer.
Ramsey shares the same agent as Pumas manager Efrain Juarez.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition plans second sailing after earlier attempt saw ship targeted in a drone attack blamed on Israel.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham will join the next sailing of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) as it attempts to break Israel’s months-long blockade of Gaza.
The “Madleen” is due to disembark from Catania, Sicily, on Sunday with a cargo of humanitarian aid and several high-profile activists on board, including Thunberg, European Member of Parliament Rima Hassan and Palestinian-American lawyer Huwaida Arraf.
Cunningham, an Irish actor best known for his role as Davos Seaworth in the hit HBO series, is a longtime advocate for Palestine and similar causes.
The sailing marks the second attempt in as many months by the FFC, a coalition of humanitarian groups, to reach Gaza.
A mission at the start of May was aborted after another FFC vessel, the “Conscience”, was attacked by two alleged drones while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta.
The FFC alleges that Israel was responsible for the attack, which severely damaged the front section of the ship.
— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 29, 2025
MEP Hassan said in a short video on social media that the trip by the “Madleen” is a protest against Israel as much as an attempt to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza.
“The first [goal] being of course to reject the blockade of humanitarian aid, the ongoing genocide, the impunity enjoyed by the State of Israel and to raise global international awareness,” she said.
“This action is also in response to the attack that took place on May 2 against the previous ship that took place in international waters near Malta.”
Israel partially lifted its nearly three-month blockade of Gaza last week, but since then has only allowed a tiny amount of assistance into the Palestinian territory, which the United States has warned is on the brink of famine.
This week, thousands of Palestinians rushed to so-called aid distribution stations set up by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, leading to the deaths of at least three people and dozens of injuries in the chaos that ensued as desperate people tried to get food supplies.
The UN and other humanitarian organisations are boycotting the US and Israeli-backed initiative, accusing Israel of attempting to consolidate and control aid distribution across Gaza in a further weaponisation of food and starvation.
The World Health Organization has warned that Gaza is at risk of famine following months of prolonged food shortages amid Israel’s punishing blockade, and that about a quarter of the population is in a “catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death”.
One of the top prospects in USC’s top-ranked 2026 recruiting class has decided not to wait another year to join the Trojans.
Rancho Cucamonga cornerback RJ Sermons, a four-star recruit, plans to reclassify to the 2025 class, leaving high school a year early to enroll this summer at USC.
Sermons, whose father, Rodney, played at USC, should give the Trojans another talented option in a defensive backfield that lost five starters from a season ago. How swiftly he’ll be able to claim a role in that rebuilt secondary remains to be seen.
USC already added two starting-caliber corners through the transfer portal in DJ Harvey and Chasen Johnson, while returners DeCarlos Nicholson, Marcelles Williams, Braylon Conley and Prophet Brown have experience in the Trojans’ scheme. Three other freshmen — Alex Graham, Trestin Castro and James Johnson — also joined the position group in the spring.
Sermons should at least step in with a legitimate claim as the fastest member of USC’s secondary. He currently owns the state’s top times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at 10.30 and 20.88 seconds.
He won’t be the only member of the Trojans’ 2025 class that was supposed to be a senior in high school next season. Five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart reclassified from the 2026 to the 2025 class last season after playing in just 12 high school games. He’s expected to have a role on USC’s defense this fall.
Bell will return to Waratahs after his sabbatical, with his contract running through to the end of 2027.
Waratahs head coach Dan McKellar said the club were “supportive” of his decision to join Ulster to continue his “personal growth”.
“He’s a young man, who came straight out of school into the Waratahs system, and we think the time at Ulster will be good for his development on and off the field, which ultimately will help the Waratahs long term,” he said.
Bell’s arrival later this year will continue the trend of southern-hemisphere players joining Irish provinces on short-term deals.
New Zealand international Jordie Barrett is nearing the end of his stint with Leinster having joined in December, with his All Blacks team-mate Rieko Ioane set to arrive at the end of 2025.
The announcement of Bell’s short-term deal comes on the same day Ulster confirmed the departure of New Zealand-born fly-half Aidan Morgan by “mutual consent”.
Ulster have already signed South African back row Juarno Augustus from Northampton Saints before next season, while loose-head Andy Warwick was among several departures at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
The province pulled off a major coup in 2022 when they landed South Africa’s World Cup-winning loose-head Steven Kitshoff, but he left after just one season.
Murphy’s side are hoping to bounce back after a miserable season in which they missed out on the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs and qualification for next season’s Investec Champions Cup.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso poised to replace departing Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, according to media reports.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to become the club’s next manager on a three-year deal when he leaves Bayer Leverkusen after this season, Spanish media report.
Alonso, 43, is expected to replace Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who – despite having a year remaining on his Madrid contract – has just been confirmed as the new manager of Brazil in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, the Brazilian FA (CBF) said on Monday.
Alonso, who said earlier this month that he was leaving Leverkusen after guiding them to the double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 15 to July 13, multiple media reports said.
Alonso, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, last season steered Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, ending the Bavarians’ 11-year domination, and they also won the German Cup and German Super Cup.
Real Madrid’s star forward Kylian Mbappe reacts after his side’s 4-3 loss to Barcelona in La Liga at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on May 11, 2025 [Jose Breton/AP Photo]
Ancelotti’s departure from the club come as no surprise after Real’s 4-3 defeat at Barcelona in a thrilling El Clasico on Sunday left his side on the brink of a trophy-less season.
The 65-year-old Italian, who returned for a second stint at Real in June 2021, led the Spanish giants to two Champions League and La Liga doubles, the latest of which came last season.
He exits Real Madrid as the most successful manager in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies and the first coach to claim titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
However, this season Real were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals by Arsenal, and allowed Barca to fight back and win 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
An official announcement regarding a managerial change is expected before Real’s last game of the season at home to Real Sociedad on May 25.
Ancelotti is expected to receive a fitting farewell, recognising his four highly successful years with the club.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has just been confirmed as the new manager of Brazil, opening the door for ex-Real player Xabi Alonso to take over at the Spanish club [File: Alberto Estevez/EPA]
