uncertain

Before Ireland’s Six Nations win over Scotland in March, which secured the triple Crown, Farrell said he expected both Lowe and centre Bundee Aki to sign new contracts.

Aki has agreed a new one-year deal to stay with Connacht but there has not been any progress with Lowe, who is contracted by Leinster rather than an central contract with the Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU].

Lowe did not make the squad for the Champions Cup final defeat by Bordeaux despite having returned from a hamstring injury sustained in the Six Nations win over England.

However, his two record-breaking tries on Saturday show he is still a threat when fit and available.

While Cullen declined to comment on his future, he did praise the impact Lowe has made since he moved to Ireland nine years ago.

“He’s been a great character in the group. Very, very different, you know, what he brings, great energy,” Cullen said after the game.

“Internally, we had a video there just in terms of some of the stuff that he’s done in a Leinster jersey over his career.

“There’s not many James Lowes running around the streets that we’ve come across so far. He’s been a great addition to the group over the years.”

A new series of Married At First Sight was planned for September but plans are now on hold, according to TV sources.

The 2026 series of Married At First Sight will not air on Channel 4 as planned – after a BBC Panorama investigation raised serious concerns about the programme. Two women who have appeared on MAFS UK in the past alleged they were raped by their ‘husbands’ during the filming.

In light of these serious allegations and other claims raised on the programme about the welfare of those taking part, Channel 4 announced an external review into the show, which is made by CPL productions.

It leaves the future of MAFS UK uncertain, and the 2026 series which has already been filmed, will not currently go out as intended in September. The Mirror understands plans for series are now completely paused, with a final decision of when the series could go out to be made at a later date, once the review presents its findings to Channel 4.

READ MORE: Channel 4 statement in full as MAFS UK is pulled amid rape claims from contestantsREAD MORE: Two Married at First Sight UK brides tell BBC they were ‘raped by onscreen husbands’

In the past few years, the MAFS UK series has always launched in mid-September and that was thought to be the original plan for this year. However those plans have been thrown into chaos by the Panorama investigation and the allegations made.

One source at series makers CPL said they felt the series would “definitely be delayed” whilst a Channel 4 source also confirmed that the broadcasters would be awaiting the results of the lengthy external review before making any firm decisions on the future of MAFS, along with the edit of the new series.

Even if the external review presents their results to Channel 4 before September, a source said they intend to “react responsibly” to the findings and implement any changes that need to be made. This will also take time and is expected to delay any future episodes being transmitted.

On Monday, Channel 4 removed all episodes from streaming and linear services, alongside MAFS UK social channels. Hours before the Panorama investigation was aired on the BBC, Channel 4 also put out a statement.

They insisted MAFS UK was “produced under some of the most comprehensive and robust welfare protocols in the industry”. Their statement added that the show included: “most thorough background checks available, a Code of Conduct which clearly sets out behavioural standards, daily contributor check-ins with a specialist welfare team and access to additional support before, during and after filming.”

But despite this, a number of contributors clearly feel let down and Channel 4 said that in April “Channel 4 was presented with serious allegations of wrongdoing against a small number of past contributors, allegations that we understand those contributors have denied”.

Channel 4’s recently appointed CEO, Priya Dogra has now instructed an external review of contributor welfare on MAFS UK.

This review is now underway and has two elements. The first, conducted by law firm Clyde & Co, is examining the welfare protocols in place on this programme at the time claims were raised, as well as the handling of these claims.

Channel 4 says it expects the review to report in the coming months and will share a summary of findings and recommendations at the appropriate time.

Priya Dogra, Chief Executive of Channel 4 said: “I want to express my sympathy to contributors who have clearly been distressed after taking part in Married at First Sight UK. The wellbeing of our contributors is always of paramount importance.

“It would be wholly inappropriate for me to comment on what are very serious allegations made against some MAFS UK contributors. Those allegations – which I understand are disputed by the contributors accused – are not something that Channel 4 is in a position to adjudicate on. We are also mindful of our ongoing duty of care to all contributors, and the need to preserve the anonymity and privacy of all involved.

“On the claims that Channel 4 may have failed in its duty of care, I believe that when concerns about contributor welfare were raised, and based on the information available at the time, Channel 4 acted quickly, appropriately, sensitively and with wellbeing front and centre.

“Nevertheless, because we aspire to the highest standards of contributor welfare, I felt strongly as Channel 4’s new CEO that it was right that we look again at how we handled issues raised at the time and ask whether changes should be made to further strengthen contributor welfare.

“That’s why last month I commissioned an external review of contributor welfare on MAFS UK. That review will report to me in the coming months.

“We take these issues very seriously and are committed to ensuring that we continue to lead the industry in our duty of care for contributors.”

Production company CPL have yet to release a statement in light of the Panorama findings. But lawyers for CPL, which makes the UK version of the show, said its welfare system is “gold standard” and industry-leading, and that it acted appropriately in all these cases.

The unnamed men accused of sexual misconduct on Panorama all deny all the allegations against them.

There have been 10 series to date on Channel 4 of the British version and it is one of their most popular shows, with consolidated audiences of over two million viewers per episode.

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DAKAR, Senegal — It’s an existence that Congo’s president has described as “living the Congolese dream.” For the 15 Latin Americans deported to the African nation under the Trump administration’s widely criticized crackdown on migrants, it feels more like a nightmare.

The Associated Press spoke with one, a 29-year old Colombian woman who confirmed what people deported to other African nations have described: A shackled deportation despite a U.S. immigration judge’s protection order. Confinement in a hotel with supervised outings.

And an impossible choice: Return to a home country with the risk of persecution or stay in Congo, a country the Colombian woman had never heard of before she arrived.

“They treat us like we’re children,” she said as their three-month Congolese visas near an end, with no plan in sight.

“What would one do in a completely unknown place, without a place to live and without knowing what to do?” she added, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

It was not immediately clear what a new U.S. court ruling, saying the U.S. likely broke the law by deporting a fellow Colombian to Congo, will mean for her.

A United Nations-affiliated group plays a central role

In her interview from the hotel in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, where she and other deportees are held, the woman gave new details about the central role that a United Nations-affiliated body, the International Organization for Migration, is playing.

She said deportees are allowed to leave the hotel about once a week and only accompanied by IOM staff. When they shop at a supermarket or withdraw money they are quickly ushered back to their vehicle, with IOM staff never out of sight.

“They choose where we go and what we buy,” she said.

At the hotel, she said, IOM staff have organized activities like painting, music and volleyball but many deportees have stopped participating, bored with the routine. She goes for meals and remains in her room otherwise, making late-night calls to her 10-year-old daughter in Colombia and worrying when she will see her again.

Most striking is the role IOM staff are playing in presenting deportees with their possible fates.

They have offered the woman two paths: Return to Colombia, where a U.S. judge has ruled she cannot safely be sent back, while receiving IOM “protection and assistance,” or remain in Congo with no support.

“They are given impossible choices,” said Alma David, the woman’s U.S.-based attorney. “By deporting them to a third country with no opportunity to contest being sent there, the U.S. not only violated their due process rights but our own immigration laws and our obligations under international treaties.”

Congo is one of at least eight African countries that have made deals with the Trump administration to facilitate deportations of third-country nationals, which legal experts say are effectively a legal loophole for the U.S. Most deportees had received legal orders of protection from U.S. judges shielding them against being returned to their home countries, lawyers said.

The AP has interviewed others sent to African nations who were forced to make risky decisions, such as a gay Moroccan asylum-seeker deported to Cameroon, a country where homosexuality is illegal.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the Colombian woman’s case, but it has asserted that third-country deportation agreements “ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution.” The Trump administration says the agreements are needed to “remove criminal illegal aliens” whose country of origin will not take them back.

Details of Congo’s deal with U.S. are unclear

The details of Congo’s deal with the Trump administration are not clear. Other countries have received millions of dollars to participate.

Earlier this month, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi called the agreement an “act of goodwill between partners,” with no financial compensation. It comes as Washington has ramped up pressure on neighboring Rwanda over its support for the M23 rebel group that has seized cities in eastern Congo — a dynamic some analysts say may explain Kinshasa’s willingness to take deportees.

“We agreed to do so as a friendly gesture, simply because it was what the Americans wanted,” Tshisekedi said, adding that the migrants are free to leave Congo at any time.

“We understand that psychologically they must be unsettled because, at first, they dreamed of living the American dream, and now they are living the Congolese dream — in a country they probably did not know and may never even have noticed on a map of the world,” Tshisekedi said.

Congolese human rights groups have called it a violation of international refugee law. The Congo-based Institute for Human Rights Research described the situation as “arbitrary detention by proxy for the United States.”

The current U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy says if a government has made blanket diplomatic assurances that it won’t persecute people who are deported, no further process is required for deportation, not even giving deportees notice where they are being sent, said David, the attorney.

“When they told me they were going to deport me, I almost fainted,” the Colombian woman said. She was told about Congo the day before the flight.

She was detained at a routine check-in with ICE

She said she left Colombia in 2024, following threats from armed groups and abuse by a former partner who worked for the government.

She went to Mexico, where she waited for a border appointment booked with the U.S. government. When she presented herself at an Arizona port of entry in September 2024, immigration officials determined she had a credible fear of persecution, clearing her to apply for asylum, but kept her in ICE detention.

“You spend a year and a half locked up, living the same day over and over again. You see fights, punishments where people are locked in cells for many hours. You lose your privacy even to use the bathroom,” she said.

Some officers made racist remarks. “They made derogatory comments toward us as migrants, shouted at us all the time and sometimes denied basic things like showers as punishment,” she said.

In May 2025, a federal judge granted her protection under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, ruling she could not be safely returned to Colombia, according to court documents seen by the AP.

She filed a habeas corpus petition and won her release in February. She moved to Texas and was required to wear a GPS monitoring device, but at her first check-in appointment with ICE, she was detained again.

“All they told me was that I was under detention, as they had found a third country for me,” she said.

Less than three weeks later, she was put on a plane to Congo. She and the other deportees arrived on April 17 after a nearly 24-hour charter flight during which their hands and feet were restrained.

She doesn’t feel safe in Congo

Now they stay at a hotel near Kinshasa’s airport, in tidy white bungalows. Congo’s government covers the cost, the IOM said. It was not clear whether that would last after the deportees’ visas run out.

The hotel gates are locked according to one of the deportees lawyers. The Colombian woman also said security personnel do not let them leave on their own.

They were told they could apply for asylum, an option no one has chosen. “I don’t feel safe in Congo,” the woman said.

An IOM spokesperson said the organization has provided her with humanitarian assistance based on an assessment of her vulnerability. It includes “protection interventions, referrals, rights safeguarding and promotion of migrants’ overall well-being,” with no details.

The IOM also may offer “assisted voluntary return” — covering documents, flights, transit and temporary housing on arrival — with migrants’ consent.

The IOM said it plays no role in determining who is deported and reserves the right to withdraw its assistance for deportees if “minimum protection standards” aren’t met.

The Colombian woman remains in limbo, anxious. She said the food “has made us very sick,” with stomach ailments ongoing.

Local languages, like French and Lingala, are as foreign as her surroundings.

“The worst part is having to go through all of that without having committed any crime, simply for going to another country to ask for safety and protection.”

Banchereau writes for the Associated Press.

Rashford is a Manchester United player. He has a contract that runs to 30 June 2028. When Casemiro’s contract expires on 30 June this year, he will be the club’s highest earner, with his salary benefiting from the restoration of the 25% that had been taken off because of last season’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.

His loan deal with Barcelona includes an option to make the transfer permanent for €30m (£25.94m) if it is triggered by 15 June.

That is the easy bit. From there it starts to get complicated.

On the face of it, making the deal permanent makes sense for all parties.

Rashford has done pretty well; 14 goals and 14 assists in 47 appearances. It was enough to earn him an England recall from Thomas Tuchel and, in all probability, a spot in the final 26-man World Cup squad.

He enjoys playing for Barcelona and would like to stay.

While Barca have other targets this summer, they would be signing a player for well under market value. Manchester United meanwhile would be washing their hands of someone who was in Ruben Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ last summer.

However, Barcelona are apparently unwilling to execute the transfer and are trying to renegotiate, potentially to sign Rashford next season on another loan deal. United have indicated they are not prepared to do that.

It is an understandable position for United, who know they could get more for Rashford from other clubs.

Yet United’s stance has risk.

Last month, head coach Michael Carrick said ‘nothing has been decided’ on Rashford and indicated he would be willing to work with the 28-year-old if he returned to Old Trafford next season and he was confirmed as the new boss.

However, United are determined to drive wage costs down and minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has previously spoken about trying to ensure the highest earners are ‘on the pitch’.

Given the club are approaching a summer in which they will be attempting to sign at least two central midfield players and almost certainly at least two more players in other areas of the pitch, and also need to talk to skipper Bruno Fernandes about his contractual situation, it does not help them in negotiating terms for someone on Rashford’s salary to still be at the club.

PHOENIX — Golden State coach Steve Kerr is contemplating his future, the four-time NBA champion coach suggesting after the Warriors’ season ended Friday night that there is a chance he might not be back with the club next season.

“It might still go on. It may not,” Kerr said after the Warriors lost in Phoenix and were eliminated from the play-in tournament.

He shared an embrace with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the team’s two constants from the Warriors’ title runs with Kerr, near the team’s bench in the game’s final moments and appeared to mouth the words “thank you.”

Kerr wouldn’t reveal what he said in that moment.

“None of your business,” he said, smiling.

Green and Curry both made clear that they want him back. Kerr’s future has been the subject of speculation for some time, fueled in part by him coaching this year on the final season of his existing contract. The Warriors missed the playoffs this season for the fourth time in the last seven years.

“I want Coach to be happy. I want him to be excited about the job. I want him to believe you know he’s the right guy for the job,” Curry said. “I want him to have an opportunity to again enjoy what he does. So, whatever that means for him, you know, everybody’s plan is their own. And I’m not going to try to tell anybody what to do. He knows how I feel about him. That shouldn’t even need to be said.”

Added Green, when asked if he could even fathom the Warriors without Kerr on the sideline: “I just don’t deal with change well. I don’t love it. So, I don’t want to think about that. I hope that’s not the case, but we’ll see what happens.”

The 60-year-old Kerr just finished his 12th season with the Warriors. He’s 604-353 in that span, led Golden State to the NBA Finals in each of his first five seasons — and once since then as well — plus guided the U.S. to Olympic gold at the Paris Games in 2024.

His playoff record of 104-48 is nearly unmatched; among coaches with at least 100 playoff games in their career, his .684 playoff winning percentage is second only — and barely — to Phil Jackson, who went 229-104 (.688).

Kerr said he’ll meet with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy to chart a path for what’s next. He suggested that might come in a week or two.

“We’ll talk about what’s next for the Warriors, what the plan is this offseason,” Kerr said. “And we will come to a collaborative decision on what’s next. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I still love coaching. But I get it. These jobs all have an expiration date. There’s a run that happens, and when the run ends, sometimes it’s time for new blood and new ideas and all that.

“And, if that’s the case, then I will be just nothing but grateful for the most amazing opportunity any person could have to coach this franchise, in front of our fans in the Bay and to coach Steph Curry, to coach Dray and the whole group.”

Kerr wouldn’t say what some of the factors are that might sway his decision, calling those private.

“If it’s right, it’s right,” Kerr said. “And if it’s not, it’s not.”

There will be talks with Curry as well; the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history, who just finished his 17th season — all with Golden State — said he plans to play for “multiple” seasons after this and would be interested in an extension.

“It’ll be a busy summer for the Warriors,” Curry said, smiling.

The Warriors were 37-45 this season, dealing with injuries the entire way. They rallied Wednesday from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers and move into Friday’s play-in finale, only to fall short against the Suns.

And now, the Warriors wait to see what’s next.

“This was as tough a season as you can have, with the injuries, with all kinds of adversity,” Kerr said. “And they battled, and they battled the entire season. They kept going the other night just to, you know, continue the season, to show that kind of fight. And then tonight, we just didn’t have it. But the competitive desire was there. And I’m proud of the group for finishing the season the right way by continuing to fight and trying to win every game.”

Kerr — who won five championships as a player, to go along with his four rings as a coach — has spoken often of his good fortunes within the game. He played for Lute Olson at Arizona, played with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in Chicago, played with David Robinson and Tim Duncan in San Antonio and played for Jackson and Gregg Popovich as a pro.

And coaching Curry — the greatest face of a franchise he’s ever seen, he said — is another honor, Kerr has insisted.

“The only thing I’ve learned is that I’m the luckiest guy in the NBA’s history,” Kerr said.