The project on a river that runs through Tibet and India downstream could dwarf the Three Gorges Dam when completed.
China has started building a mega-dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, which could become the world’s largest source of hydroelectric power when completed, according to Chinese officials.
The mega-project in the foothills of the Himalayas will include five hydropower stations on the river, which is also known as the Brahmaputra, further downstream in India, and the Jamuna River in Bangladesh.
China’s Xinhua state news agency reported that Premier Li Qiang attended a commencement ceremony for the dam on Saturday.
Beijing had planned the project for several years, and approval was given in December last year, linking the development to the country’s carbon neutrality targets and economic goals in the Tibet region.
“The electricity generated will be primarily transmitted to other regions for consumption, while also meeting local power needs in Tibet,” Xinhua reported after the groundbreaking ceremony in southeastern Tibet’s city of Nyingchi.
The project is expected to cost an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan ($167.1bn), Xinhua said.
India said in January that it had raised concerns with China about the project, saying it would “monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests”.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said at the time that China “has been urged to ensure that the interests of the downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas”.
In December, Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the project would not have any “negative impact” downstream, adding that China “will also maintain communication with countries at the lower reaches” of the river.
China annexed Tibet in 1950, and has built several dams on the region’s rivers, prompting concerns from Tibetans about the potential impacts on the unique ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau.
Tibet’s vast glaciers and major rivers provide fresh water to 1.3 billion people in 10 countries, according to Yale’s E360 environmental magazine.
The Yarlung Tsangpo is the world’s highest river, reaching some 5,000 metres (16,404 feet) above sea level, and is considered sacred to Tibetans.
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Yichang, Hubei province, China [File Stringer/Reuters]
The new dam is also being built just 30km (18 miles) from China’s vast border with India, much of which is disputed, with tens of thousands of soldiers posted on either side.
Once built, the dam could provide as much as three times as much energy as the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in central China.
Tibet is much more sparsely populated, with some 2,000 people displaced for the construction of the Yagen Hydropower Station in 2015, according to local media reports.
A major soap star had been looking forward to putting themselves through challenges as a contestant on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – only to be forced out of the competition before it even began
10:30, 13 Jul 2025Updated 10:31, 13 Jul 2025
A major star has been forced to quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins(Image: PA)
Famous stars have been known to suffer injury while competing on Channel 4’s brutal reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and forced to drop out of the contest. But now one star may have achieved a first for the long-running reality show – by being forced out of the show before they even made it to filming.
Soap icon Patsy Kensit was due to take part in the upcoming new season of the show. However, it appears her training in advance of the physical duration show left her too injured to take part.
Patsy, 57 – famous for playing Sadie King in Emmerdale and Emma Harding in EastEnders – had been taking her involvement in the show seriously and hitting the gym hard in order to get herself prepared for the trials that she would face on the show. Who Dares Wins sees contestants endure physical and psychological tests that the armed forced would experience in order to prove their mettle and determination.
But now it has been revealed that Patsy was sent home when she turned up to take part in the new filming as she had injured herself ahead of the cameras starting to roll. A source has explained that showmakers ordered the actress to return home to avoid any risk of further injury.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Patsy had been running at pace on a treadmill while wearing a weighted backpack filled with books and weights as part of her intense training regime. The added weight caused her to lose balance and fall backwards off the machine, bruising her arm and shoulder in the process.”
Patsy Kensit broke her arm – forcing her out of the show(Image: Getty Images)
The source added: “She even flew out to Morocco, where the filming was taking place, but production soon spotted the injury and she was sent home.”
The Mirror has contacted representatives of Channel 4 for comment, while a spokesperson for Patsy said: “The production company Minow who make Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins, were amazing the way they looked after Patsy. Their duty of care was second to none and very impressive. Patsy is on the mend and will of course make a full recovery.”
Earlier this month, Patsy was spotted with her arm in a sling while she attended a gala performance of the Faulty Towers theatre show in London’s West End.
Asked about her injury at the time, the star revealed: “I broke my shoulder in 3 places 3 weeks ago!!! I’m healing and a slight boogie with my besties I’m staying with this week will be a tonic for sure …”
The soap icon has been managing to enjoy herself despite her injury(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
While the star has been enjoying nights out despite her injury, there is one event she has made clear she won’t attend – the Oasis reunion tour dates.
Patsy was married to singer Liam Gallagher, 52, from 1997 until 2000 and they share 25-year-old son Lennon Gallagher together. Appearing on Good Morning Britain recently, Patsty revealed she was pleased to see her ex back on tour as Oasis and that her son would have the chance to see his dad perform with the iconic band – who famously split in 2009.
She told the ITV show: “My 24-year-old son, he’ll be there and he’ll have a lovely time. Great for him to see all of that and I’m happy for his dad, I think it’s a wonderful thing. But I won’t be attending.”
Oasis kicked off their Live ’25 Tour in Cardiff, Wales, earlier this month and this weekend they have been thrilling fans in their native Manchester. Liam and older brother Noel Gallagher, 58, have been singing to 80,000 strong crowds at Heaton Park where they belted out 23 of thier biggest hits.
The brothers – who shocked fans last year by announcing they had buried the hatchet to reform their group and hit the road again – will be on tour until late November. They have 41 dates set over the coming months – with the climax of the tour set to take place on 23 November in Brazil.
The tour has won rave reveiws from fans and critics alike. The Mirror’s Daniel Bird said: “Walking out at Heaton Park, you could never have imagined that there was once a feud between the two siblings. Putting on a united front, the two legends walked out to their 2000 track, F***in’ In The Bushes, to a crowd of 80,000 people, with the atmosphere instantly becoming electric.”
For years in this columna, I have repeatedly posed a simple challenge to Archbishop José H. Gomez:
Stand up for Los Angeles, because L.A. needs you.
The head of the largest Catholic diocese in the United States has largely stood athwart the liberal city he’s supposed to minister since he assumed his seat in 2011 but especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. He has railed against “woke” culture and refused to meet with progressive Catholic groups. When the Dodgers in 2023 honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag troupe that wears nun’s habits while raising funds for the marginalized, he led a special Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels that amounted to a public exorcism.
Most perplexingly, the Mexico-born archbishop stayed largely quiet as the Herod that’s Donald Trump promised to clamp down on legal immigration and deport people without legal status during his 2024 presidential run. As head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at the end of last decade, Gomez wrote and spoke movingly about the need to treat all immigrants with dignity and fix this country’s broken system once and for all. But his gradual turn to the right as archbishop has gone so far that the National Catholic Reporter, where I’m an occasional contributor, labeled him a “failed culture warrior” when they anointed him their Newsmaker for that year.
Gomez’s devolution was especially dispiriting because L.A. Catholic leaders have taught their American peers how to embrace Latino immigrants ever since Archbishop John Cantwell helped refugees from Mexico’s Cristero War resettle in the city in the 1920s. Clerical legends like Luis Olivares and Richard Estrada transformed La Placita Church near Olvera Street into a sanctuary for Central American immigrants during the 1980s and 1990s in the face of threats from the feds. Gomez’s predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, long drew national attention for attacking anti-immigrant legislation during his sermons and marching alongside immigrant rights protesters, a cross to bear that Gomez never warmed up to.
Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries appeared in a viral video proclaiming the righteous, if well-worn, message that no human being is illegal, but also that “we stand with anybody who’s demonized or left out, or excluded, or seen as disposable … it’s kinda how we roll here.” His fellow Jesuit, Dolores Mission pastor Brendan Busse, was there with activists during a June 9 migra raid at a factory in the Garment District that saw SEIU California president David Huerta arrested for civil disobedience.
I especially admired Father Peter O’Reilly, who was a priest in the L.A. Archdiocese for 44 years before retiring in 2005. The 90-year-old cleric was at Gloria Molina Grand Park on June 8, the day protesters torched Waymo cars, just blocks away from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. O’Reilly told a television station in his native Ireland afterward that it was important for him be there to let immigrants know “we were with them and for them.”
Gomez? The archbishop put out a weak-salsa statement around that time about how he was “troubled” by the raids. His Instagram account urged people a few days later to light a candle and pray for peace. That same day, Diocese of Orange Bishop Kevin Vann and his auxiliary bishops posted a letter condemning the raids, which they maintained “invoke our worst instincts” and “spread crippling fear and anxieties upon the hard-working, everyday faithful among us.”
You know things are upside-down in this world when O.C. is more down for immigrant rights than L.A.
Faith leaders lead a prayer vigil in Gloria Molina Grand Park on June 10 to stand in support of community members facing immigration raids in Los Angeles.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
I wanted to blast Gomez last week but held back, praying that he might change for the better. So I’m happy to report he’s starting to.
On June 10, the same day he posted his Instagram call for prayer, the archbishop also attended an evening interfaith vigil along with Boyle, Busse and other faith leaders to tell a crowd of over 1,000 people, “Immigration is about more than politics — it is about us, the kind of people we want to be.” Gomez asked all parishes in the L.A. Archdiocese the following day to hold special Masses with L.A.’s current immigration troubles in mind. He led the lunchtime one in the cathedral, telling parishioners during his homily, “We want to go out and console our neighbors and strengthen their hearts and encourage them to keep the faith.”
Gomez saved his most stinging remarks for this Tuesday in his regular column for Angelus News, the archdiocese’s publication. While not able to resist a shot at the Biden administration, the soft-spoken prelate nevertheless said of Trump’s raids: “This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes.” Accompanying his thoughts was a photo of a young woman holding a sign that read, “Jesus was an Immigrant” in front of California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear.
“For him to show up was meaningful,” Busse said. Since Trump’s inauguration, Dolores Mission has hosted training for the rapid response networks that have alerted people about immigration raids. “But I hope there’s more. The diocese has a huge capacity for organizing, and I hope that his leadership can move people in a large way.”
Busse said the first instinct of too many religious leaders is “to step back into a place of safety” when controversy emerges. “But there’s also an invitation to be brave and courageous. What we need to do is step into the situation to bring the peace that we’re praying for.”
Joseph Tómas McKellar is executive director of PICO California, a faith-based community organizing network that co-sponsored the interfaith vigil last week where Gomez spoke. The nonprofit used to teach citizenship and English classes in the L.A. Archdiocese and McKellar remembered Gomez attending a gathering of social justice groups in Modesto in 2017 as an active participant “in these small group conversations.”
The PICO California head said Gomez’s recent reemergence from his years in the political wilderness “was deeply encouraging. … Our bishops and the leaders of our denominations have a special responsibility to exercise prophetic leadership. The prophets are the ones who denounce what is broken in this world, but also announce a different vision. I do see him more embracing more that call and that challenge to reflect.”
An archdiocese spokesperson said Gomez was unavailable for comment because he was at a retreat for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Earlier this week , the group released a reflection declaring, “No one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard in communities throughout the country in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement activities.”
I have no expectations that Archbishop Gomez’s politics will ever fully reflect L.A.’s progressive soul. He remains the only American bishop affiliated with the orthodox Opus Dei movement and sits on the ecclesiastical advisory board for the Napa Institute, an organization of rich Catholics that has labored mightily over the past decade to tilt the church rightward. Its co-founder, Orange County-based multimillionaire developer Tim Busch, wrote earlier this year with no irony that Trump’s administration “is the most Christian I’ve ever seen” and told The Times in 2023 that Gomez “is one of my closest advisors.”
But I’m glad Gomez is moving in the right direction, right when the city needs him the most. I continue to pray his voice gets bolder and stronger and that the region’s millions of Catholics — and all Angelenos, for that matter — follow the archbishop’s call to action to help immigrants while pushing him to do more.
I hope Gomez keeps in his heart what Busse told me near the end of our chat: “If the faith community doesn’t stand up when there’s a moral issue to stand up for, then I don’t know what happens.”
From Jack Harris: Roughly four hours before first pitch Monday night, Shohei Ohtani sat at his locker in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse and prepared for his biggest game of the season.
First, the reigning MVP unwrapped the black compression sleeve he wears when pitching, and pulled it over his prized right arm. Then, he grabbed his bat and a pair of hitting gloves and headed toward the cages.
On this day, each piece of equipment was needed.
For the first time in almost two years, the two-way star would be playing both ways again.
In the Dodgers’ 6-3 win against the San Diego Padres on Monday, Ohtani made his long-awaited return as a pitcher from a September 2023 Tommy John operation, taking the mound in a Dodgers uniform for the first time as the club’s starter while also continuing to serve as their leadoff hitter in the lineup.
Ohtani’s pitching outing was brief, lasting just one inning and 28 pitches. He yielded one run on two hits (a pair of flare singles from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez) and a sacrifice fly from Manny Machado. And while he touched 100 mph with his fastball, his form was far from flawless.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
NBA FINALS
Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story) at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story) Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story) Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*
*if necessary
ANGELS
Nolan Schanuel hit a run-scoring double in the 11th inning and the Angels beat the Yankees 1-0 on Monday night, extending New York’s losing streak to a season-high four games.
Schanuel’s one-out, opposite-field hit to left off Jonathan Loáisiga (0-1) scored automatic runner Christian Moore, a Brooklyn native who tripled in the eighth for his first major league hit.
Ryan Zeferjahn (4-1) pitched a hitless 10th. After the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs against Brock Burke in the bottom half, Hunter Strickland got Anthony Volpe to bounce into a forceout for his first save this year as the Angels improved to 5-0 in extra innings and dropped the Yankees to 1-5.
UCLA will wake up Tuesday morning with a chance to rally from a two-run deficit.
The Bruins’ winner’s bracket game against Louisiana State on Monday night was suspended until Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT following a three-hour rain delay — it will resume in the top of the fourth inning with UCLA batting and LSU leading 5-3. The remainder of the game is scheduled to air on ESPN.
LAFC hung around against English powerhouse Chelsea at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and had the match still in striking distance nearly the entire way, but lost 2-0 in its first of three group stage matches.
“Chelsea won, deservingly so,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I think we kind of clawed our way back into the game; I think we played a little better in the second half and maybe had the odd chance here or there to get the equalizer.”
The first competitive fixture between English and American clubs featured the mostly expected run of play, with Chelsea carrying most of the action and carving out nearly all of the afternoon’s clear-cut scoring opportunities. It was one-way traffic, and Chelsea broke through in the 34th minute when Pedro Neto beat LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at his near post following a quick turn inside around defender Ryan Hollingshead.
Edmonton vs. Florida at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story) at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story) Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 2 (summary, story) Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1954 — Rocky Marciano scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Ezzard Charles at New York to retain the world heavyweight title.
1961 — Gene Littler shoots a 68 in the final round to edge Doug Sanders and Bob Goalby in the U.S. Open.
1962 — Jack Nicklaus beats Arnold Palmer by three strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1962 — Brazil beats Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago, Chile to win its second straight FIFA World Cup title. Czechoslovakia scored first on a goal by Josef Masopust at 15 minutes. Two minutes later Amarildo tied the game. In the second half, Zito and Vavá scored goals to give Brazil the victory.
1973 — Johnny Miller shoots a 63 in the final round to win the U.S. Open by one stroke over John Schlee at Oakmont, Pa. Miller’s 8-under 63 is the first ever carded in a major championship.
1976 — The 18-team NBA absorbs four of the six remaining ABA teams: the New York Nets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets.
1979 — Hale Irwin wins the U.S. Open by two strokes over Gary Player and Jerry Pate.
1989 — The Quebec Nordiques select Swedish center Mats Sundin with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft. He’s the first European player to be taken with the first pick.
1990 — Fifty-year-old Harry Gant becomes the oldest driver to win a NASCAR race as he posts a 2.4-second victory over Rusty Wallace in the Miller 500 at Pocono International Raceway.
1991 — Payne Stewart escapes with a two-stroke victory over Scott Simpson in the highest-scoring U.S. Open playoff in 64 years.
1992 — Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to Phoenix Suns.
1995 — Claude Lemieux snaps a tie at 3:17 of the third period as the New Jersey Devils open the Stanley Cup finals with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The victory, the ninth on the road, breaks the NHL playoff record for road wins.
2007 — Angel Cabrera holds off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by a stroke to capture the U.S. Open. Cabrera shoots a 1-under-par 69 in the final round at brutal Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.
2007 — Kate Ziegler breaks swimming’s oldest world record, shattering the 1,500-meter freestyle mark by 9 1/2 seconds at the TYR Meet of Champions Mission Viejo. Ziegler wins the 30-lap race in 15:42.54, easily erasing Janet Evans’ 1988 mark of 15:52.10 set in Orlando, Fla.
2008 — The Boston Celtics win their 17th NBA title with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Lakers in Game 6. Kevin Garnett scores 26 points with 14 rebounds, Ray Allen scores 26 and Paul Pierce, the finals MVP, adds 17.
2010 — The Lakers beat Boston for the first time in a Game 7 to repeat as NBA champions. The Lakers win their 16th NBA championship, dramatically rallying from a fourth-quarter 13-point deficit to beat the Celtics 83-79.
2011 — Rory McIlroy becomes the first player in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open to reach 13-under par, and despite a double bogey into the water on the final hole, his 5-under 66 is enough set the 36-hole scoring record at 131.
2012 — Webb Simpson wins the U.S. Open outlasting former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.
2018 — Brooks Koepka wins a second consecutive U.S. Open, the first player to do so since Curtis Strange in 1989.
2024 — Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 to clinch the club’s record 18th NBA Championship. Boston forward Jaylen Brown voted Finals MVP.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1915 — George “Zip” Zabel of the Chicago Cubs was called into the game against the Brooklyn Dodgers with two out in the first inning. He won 4-3 in the 19th inning in the longest relief effort in the majors.
1943 — Player-manager Joe Cronin of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run pinch homer in both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia A’s. The Red Sox won the opener 5-4 and lost the second game 8-7.
1960 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox connected for his 500th career home run off the Cleveland Indians. Williams, the fourth to accomplish the feat, hit a two-run homer off Wynn Hawkins in a 3-1 win.
1971 — Don Kessinger of the Chicago Cubs went 6-for-6, with five singles and a double, in a 7-6, 10-inning decision over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
1978 — Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees struck out 18 California Angels to set an American League record for left-handers. Guidry, who struck out 15 in the first six innings, ended with a 4-0 four-hitter.
1993 — Baseball owners voted 26-2 in favor of expanding the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, doubling the teams that qualify to eight starting in 1994.
2007 — Brandon Watson extended his hitting streak to 43 games, breaking a 95-year-old International League record with a base hit in the Columbus Clippers’ 9-8 loss to the Ottawa Lynx. Jack Lelivelt set the IL record for the Rochester Hustlers in 1912.
2007 — Frank Thomas hit his record-breaking 244th homer as a designated hitter in Toronto’s 4-2 loss to Washington. The solo shot in the third inning moved Thomas past Edgar Martinez for the most homers by a DH.
2009 — Ivan Rodriguez catches the 2,227th game of his career, breaking Carlton Fisk’s record, in Houston’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to his former team, the Texas Rangers. For Texas, Omar Vizquel, the all-time leader for games played at shortstop, picks up his 2,677th hit, tying Luis Aparicio for most hits by a Venezuelan player.
2008 — Seattle’s Felix Hernandez struck out the side on nine pitches in the fourth inning of a 5-4 win over Florida, becoming the 13th pitcher in American League history to accomplish the feat.
2016 — Michaeal Saunders leads the Toronto Blue Jays to a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles with three home runs and 8 RBIs.
2021 — The Arizona Diamondback set a new all-time mark with their 23rd consecutive road loss losing to the Giants 10-3.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
1 of 2 | On Monday, billions of WhatsApp users around the world will see business ads in its “updates” tab as parent comapny Meta begins to monetize the WhatsApp “channels” feature with paid subscriptions and search advertising. File Photo by Hayoung Jeon/EPA-EFE
June 16 (UPI) — The messaging service WhatsApp on Monday will begin to display ads for the first time as parent company Meta seeks to make business changes to the encrypted global platform.
Billions of international users of the popular messaging app will see business ads in its “updates” tab as Meta begins to monetize the WhatsApp “channels” feature with paid subscriptions and search advertising. In addition, business will have the option to run “status ads” that prompt a WhatsApp user to interact with advertisers on messenger.
Officials say, however, that WhatsApp will only collect limited private data used to target ads.
“Your personal messages, calls and statuses, they will remain end-to-end encrypted,” Nikila Srinivasan, Meta and WhatsApp’s VP of product management, told The New York Times.
There are no current plans for ads to be in private chats.
Meta, the global social media giant at one time known as Facebook when it purchased WhatsApp in a 2014 deal for some $19 billion, now permits advertisers to run click-to-message ads to WhatsApp via its branded subsidiary companies Instagram and Facebook.
WhatsApp has more than 3 billion monthly users, with more more than 100 million just in the United States and “growing quickly from there,’ according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
In April, Zuckerberg said its ability for users to contact businesses “should be the next pillar” of WhatsApp’s business model.
But according to a company official, WhatsApp will use “very basic information” — such as a user’s home country, city, language, smart phone device or select data — in order to pick what ads to show, but ads might cost less to place on WhatsApp versus Facebook or Instagram.
In 2024, nearly all of Meta’s $164 billion revenue arrived from advertising and it holds about a 15% share of digital business advertising globally.
The advertising business for Meta-owned companies is “in as strong a position now as it’s ever been,” Brian Wieser, a financial analyst and founder of consulting firm Madison and Wall, told the Times.
GRANTCHESTER fans are thrilled as the hit ITV drama is officially returning for an 11th series – with filming set to kick off in just a few weeks’ time.
The long-running detective show, known for its gripping storylines and charming village setting, will once again follow the crime-solving duo as they tackle new mysteries in the 1960s countryside.
2
ITV confirms an 11th series of Grantchester – with Robson Green and Rishi Nair returningCredit: ITV
The duo will return as DI Geordie Keating and Reverend Alphy Kottaram for series 11.
Fan favourites Al Weaver (Leonard Finch), Tessa Peake-Jones (Mrs C), Kacey Ainsworth (Cathy Keating), and Oliver Dimsdale (Daniel Marlowe) are also back – alongside Nick Brimble, Bradley Hall and Melissa Johns.
In the last series, Geordie and Alphy didn’t just crack cases in the sleepy village – they leaned on each other through emotional family battles and dark personal secrets.
Expect even more twists, tears and turns this time round.
Also this time round, Reverend Alphy finally feels like he’s found his place in Grantchester – but not everything is as settled as it seems.
As old secrets bubble to the surface, Alphy is forced to reckon with parts of his past he’s kept tightly under wraps.
Will he let his guard down and open his heart, or will he be forced to face some hard truths about who he really is first?
Last series also left viewers shocked after they spotted a familiar face when Emmerdale’s Ned Porteous, best known as Joe Tate suddenly appeared on their screens.
Ned was playing the role of Harvey who was convinced his father had been murdered, despite evidence that confirmed it was suicide.
Grantchester fans stunned as Emmerdale favourite makes appearance alongside Robson Green
One fan stated: “Joe from #Emmerdale in tonights #Grantchester filmed I guess before he came back as Joe!.”
A second added: “I recognise the actor playing Harvey in #Grantchester as he’s also in #Emmerdale as Joe Tate!”
“That Joe from Emmerdale?” questioned another viewer.
The actor also appeared in rival soap EastEnders as Michelle Fowler’s son Mark in 2019.
Crime dramas on ITVX
Crime drama buffs have a wide selection of choices on ITVX – here is a selection of some of the programmes available to binge.
Professor T: Based on a Belgian TV series of the same name, former Death in Paradise lead Ben Miller plays the title character. Professor Jasper Tempest is a criminologist with OCD who helps the police solve crimes. The cast also includes Emma Naomi, Barney White and Andy Gathergood.
The Beast Must Die:This series follows a mother’s grief for her son, who was killed in an accident. Nicholas Blake’s novel of the same name has been adapted for the programme. Stars include Cush Jumbo, Jared Harris, Billy Howle and Geraldine James.
Red Eye: Starring Richard Armitage, Jing Lusi and Lesley Sharp star in this six-part thriller, which mostly takes place during an all-night flight between London and Beijing. With dead bodies piling up and a mystery to unravel, the heroes must work fast to get to the truth.
The Twelve:This Australian drama originally aired as a miniseries in 2022, with the episodes dropping in the UK in February 2023. Four months later, the show was renewed for a second season. Jurassic Park star Sam Neill stars in the leading role of barrister Brett Colby.
Manhunt:Martin Clunes stars in this drama based on true murder investigations. Series one focused on the death of Amélie Delagrange, which took place in 2004, while the second depicted the search for serial rapist Delroy Grant.
His storyline involved jetting in from Florida to London on a mission to find his biological father, Grant.
But, his stay was short and sweet as he went back to the States after just a month.
Boeing and GE Aerospace are scaling back their public activities following the fatal crash of an Air India jetliner, with the planemaker’s CEO cancelling his trip to the Paris Airshow next week and GE postponing an investor day.
More than 240 people were killed when an Air India Boeing 787 jet bound for London crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message to staff on Thursday evening that he and Boeing Commercial Airplanes boss Stephanie Pope had cancelled plans to attend the Paris Airshow “so we can be with our team and focus on our customer and the investigation.”
The airshow, which runs from June 16 to June 20 at Le Bourget, is the global aviation industry’s largest trade show, where typically many aircraft orders are placed by airlines.
Aircraft engine maker GE Aerospace, whose engines were in the Boeing 787 plane, had planned an investor day on June 17, coinciding with the show.
GE said the briefing had been cancelled and it would put a team together to go to India and analyse data from the crashed aeroplane.
“GE Aerospace’s senior leadership is focused on supporting our customers and the investigation,” the company said. It said it planned to give a financial update later this month.
Safety experts stressed it was too early to speculate why one of the world’s most modern airliners should crash shortly after takeoff. Accidents in that phase of flight are rare, said Paul Hayes, safety director at UK consultancy Cirium Ascend.
The Indian investigation of the crash is currently focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, Reuters reported on Friday, citing an unnamed source, as the country’s regulator ordered safety checks on Air India’s entire Boeing-787 fleet.
Under global aviation rules, India will lead the probe with support from NTSB investigators in the United States, who will, in turn, liaise with Boeing and GE on technical matters.
The reduced attendance plans came as delegates said the crash had cast a sombre mood over the airshow, putting in doubt several order announcements and putting safety back in the spotlight alongside concerns about US tariffs.
The world’s largest aviation trade expo, running from June 16 to 20 in Le Bourget, usually gives aircraft and arms manufacturers a key stage to showcase deals and sets the tone for a global supply chain already under pressure from shortages.
Boeing shares were down Friday, falling 3.8 percent, while GE Aerospace was down 2.4 percent.
Fewer deals
Boeing has cancelled some events and is unlikely to make any commercial order announcements at the show, though it will press ahead with low-key briefings on other topics, delegates said.
One key expected announcement had been a potential order for dozens of Boeing jets, including the 787 from Royal Air Maroc. But the airline plans no announcement at the show, and this will also affect Airbus, which had been expected to sell it some 20 A220s, industry sources said.
None of the companies had any comment on specific deals.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury on Friday expressed condolences over the accident, and the world’s largest planemaker was expected to observe a muted tone surrounding what had been expected to be a busy week for orders to meet high demand.
One delegate said business would continue but with fewer of the high-profile news conferences and in-person announcements associated with the industry’s biggest commercial showcase.
Another said some order announcements could be delayed until later in the year as a mark of respect for victims.
“The show will be a lot more sombre, less celebratory,” said a delegate involved in planning one such announcement, speaking anonymously because the plans have not been publicly revealed.
“The show will go ahead as planned, but it will be more subdued and with less cheerleading,” the delegate said.
You know those smug, perfect mums? How well do you really know them? What if they’re not that perfect after all? Little Disasters, airing today (Thursday 22 May) on Paramount+, is a deliciously gripping psychological thriller. Based on the novel by Sarah Vaughan, it follows a group of four women whose friendship implodes.
When Jess (Diane Kruger) takes her baby to hospital with an unexplained head injury, her close friend and on-duty A&E doctor Liz (Jo Joyner) must make the excruciating decision of whether to call social services.
It starts with Jess taking her screaming baby to hospital. It’s A&E on a Friday night and only Liz is available to check baby Betsy. When Liz finds a significant bump on Betsy’s head, she asks Jess what happened – but Jess is sketchy on the details. “She slipped,” she says. Turns out the 10-month-old has a skull fracture and significant bruising. The action flashes back to when she and Jess met 11 years ago at a class for expectant mums, along with two other women.
Exploring themes of motherhood and friendship, the series looks at what happens to this group of women after Liz sets off a catastrophic chain of events. Liz says: “I always thought that Jess was the perfect mother, but then something happens, some little disaster and suddenly you ask yourself, what else is she hiding?” Also starring Shelley Conn, Emily Taaffe, Stephen Campbell Moore, Ben Bailey Smith, Patrick Baladi, Robert Gilbert, Chizzy Akudolu and JJ Feild, this thriller will have you questioning everything. All six episodes are now available to binge.
*Little Disasters is airing now on Paramount+
There’s plenty more on TV tonight – here’s the best of the rest..
THE HORNE SECTION TV SHOW, CHANNEL 4, 10pm
Riotous, wacky, sublimely silly, this sitcom revels in taking a swipe at popular culture and definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously. Written by and starring Alex Horne, with an appearance from his real life wife Rachel, playing his wife (who else!), this is a second run for the quirky comedy.
Struggling with his newfound fame, the pressures of filming live from his family home, and a subsequent lack of money, Alex is determined to prove to the nation that he’s a credible leader of his band, while trying not to be overshadowed by the real musicians he works with.
It starts with an unsuccessful appearance on Sunday Brunch, during which Alex is irritated by the presence of ‘proper musician’, James Corden’s band leader Reggie Watts. Producer Thora (Desiree Burch) then books Reggie as a guest on The Horne Section TV Show, while C4 exec Ash (Georgia Tennant) commissions talent contest, World’s Strongest Musician, which gives Alex a chance to prove himself. Or not.
NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, PRIME VIDEO
Nicole Kidman returns as the creepy, mysterious wellness guru Masha, who has invited nine new strangers to a transformational retreat in the Austrian Alps. With her ageless face, white blonde hair and bewitching eyes, Nicole is made for this role and this is another thrill-ride of a series.
The nine people have been chosen under bizarre circumstances for a healing retreat – they think they’re heading off to a spa, but they are connected in ways they could never imagine. Over the course of a week, Masha takes them to the brink. She says: “I invited you all here because sometimes you shouldn’t deal with pain gently.”
The first series included vials of blood and digging your own grave, so we know that something sinister is definitely going on. An excellent cast includes Henry Golding, Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, Lucas Englander, Murray Bartlett, Mark Strong and Aras Aydin. “You have to trust me,” says Masha. They definitely shouldn’t…
EMMERDALE, ITV1, 7.30pm
With Mack being ostracised by sister Moira and mortified over his actions, he backs out of being Aaron’s best man. Belle tells Sam that Nate never arrived at his job in the Shetlands. Suspicious, Belle vows to get to the bottom of his sudden disappearance. John pushes a flashback of Nate’s dead body out of his mind and focuses on relaxing. Sarah slips away to her hospital appointment alone where she’s forced to face her potential cancer diagnosis.
EASTENDERS, BBC1, 7.30pm
Stacey leaves the house for the first time in weeks. However, Kat is concerned when Stacey invites them for a big family meal, fearing that she’s trying to do too much too soon.
Everything comes crashing down later when Stacey realises that her coat and mobile phone have accidentally fallen into the laundry bag and Freddie has taken everything to be washed. The phone contains voicemails, photos and texts from Martin and if the phone is damaged, they will be lost forever.
Tuesday didn’t start as a game the Dodgers necessarily had to win.
But, by the time extra innings arrived on a nervy night at Dodger Stadium, the team was in a situation where they simply couldn’t afford to lose.
Not after entering the day with four consecutive losses, a season-long skid caused primarily by a banged-up pitching staff. Not after Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked like an ace, a stopper and a Cy Young candidate all wrapped in one, spinning seven scoreless innings in a nine-strikeout gem. And certainly not with his brilliance in danger of being wasted after closer Tanner Scott blew a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning before yielding a two-run blast in the top of the 10th.
“I don’t know if it was a must-win,” manager Dave Roberts said, sidestepping such superlatives with the season still only two months old. “But certainly given Yoshi’s outing, you don’t wanna waste that … You just can’t lose on nights that Yamamoto throws [that well].”
Somehow, in a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers didn’t; flipping the script, changing the narrative and snapping their losing streak with the most dramatic of endings.
Down by two runs entering the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers immediately cut the deficit in half with a leadoff RBI double from Tommy Edman. Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked, Mookie Betts advanced Edman with a fly ball, Ohtani stole second, and Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked with first base open. With the bases loaded, Will Smith got plunked by former Dodgers reliever Shelby Miller to force home the tying score. And then, finally, Max Muncy walked it off with a sacrifice fly to deep center, easily scoring Ohtani from third for a victory that felt both hard-earned and hardly deserved.
“I think it showed a lot out of us,” Muncy said afterward, standing in a celebratory clubhouse after what could prove to be a pivotal point in the season.
“We got punched in the mouth, and for us to punch right back, I think that was really big out of the group, out of the guys,” Muncy added. “Everyone not giving up, not hanging their head — we still had a chance to win the game. And guys went out there and did it.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after striking out Arizona’s Pavin Smith to retire end the seventh inning.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Winning, of course, should have been a much simpler task for the Dodgers (30-19) on Tuesday night.
Yamamoto was spectacular, giving up no hits through his first six innings, stranding runners on the corners to complete his night in the seventh, and providing the Dodgers with the kind of outing that has been missing from their rotation amid a wave of crippling injuries over the last several weeks.
“Yoshi was fantastic,” Roberts said. “We needed every bit of it.”
An equally banged-up bullpen avoided disaster in the eighth, when Alex Vesia and Ben Casparius combined to work through a bases-loaded jam that preserved a narrow 1-0 lead.
“We just kept fighting,” Smith said. “That [was a] big shutdown inning.”
But all along, the Dodgers failed to open any cushion to fall back on late. Their only early scoring was courtesy of back-to-back two-out doubles from Freeman and Smith in the bottom of the fourth. In the seventh and eighth, they squandered opportunities for insurance, stranding a leadoff single from Muncy and a one-out double from Ohtani.
That meant, when Scott caught too much plate with an up-and-in fastball to Gabriel Moreno in the ninth, all it took was one swing to change the game, Moreno skying a solo blast that carried just far enough down the left field line.
“Just left it too much on the plate,” said Scott, who blew his third save in 12 opportunities.
Freddie Freeman scores on a double by Will Smith in the fourth inning.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
After the Dodgers came up empty again in the ninth — Kiké Hernández struck out in what started as a 3-and-0 count with two runners aboard — Scott made the same mistake to Corbin Carroll in the 10th, serving up a belt-high fastball the undersized slugger whacked the other way for a two-run blast.
“You sit there in the [10th] inning, you’re down two runs, and your bullpen is completely taxed,” Roberts said, “those [kind of losses] really sting.”
Instead, the Dodgers rallied, with Anthony Banda limiting any further damage in the top of the 10th before the lineup rallied in the bottom half.
“It’s a big swing,” Roberts said. “To get a win tonight, I’m gonna sleep a lot better.”
Without Yamamoto, none of it would have been possible.
After giving up eight runs over 11 combined innings in his previous two starts, every part of the 26-year-old right-hander’s stuff played up on Tuesday night. His fastball averaged 96 mph. His curveball induced one helpless swing from the Diamondbacks (26-23) after another. And until Ketel Marte singled on a line drive off the wall to lead off the seventh, it was starting to seem like an elevated pitch count (Yamamoto began that inning with 90 pitches, and finished his outing with an MLB career high of 110) might be the only thing standing between him and a pursuit of a nine-inning no-no.
“I thought he was going to go the distance tonight,” Muncy said of Yamamoto, who dropped his ERA to 1.86 with his third career MLB start of seven scoreless frames. “I thought he had the stuff to get the no-hitter.”
That’s why, when the game started to spiral out of control later, and their losing streak seemed primed to continue in the most painful way possible, the Dodgers entered the 10th inning knowing they needed to respond, and wary of the repercussions that would have accompanied such a crushing, wasteful loss.
“They [tied it] and then flipped the game, but we came back,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter afterward, his no-decision not feeling so bad after what transpired in the bottom of the 10th.
“A win like this is great,” he added.
Echoed Roberts: “We just put some at-bats together, man. And it was much needed.”
