Pakistan completed a crushing innings-and-44-run victory over Bangladesh on the fourth morning on Monday, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
Bangladesh were bowled out for 168 in their second innings after resuming the day on 126-6 as Pakistan's pace and spin attack was too hot to handle despite a flat Rawalpindi stadium pitch.
Fast bowler Naseem Shah, who at 16 years and 359 days became the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick on Sunday, finished with 4-26 and was declared man of the match.
Despite Naseem being unavailable to bowl on Monday with rib pain, Pakistan mopped up the last four wickets in 90 minutes, inflicting their 10th defeat on Bangladesh in 11 matches with one draw.
Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali said home wins -- only possible in recent months, after the resumption of Test cricket in Pakistan following a decade's isolation over security concerns -- were important to boost confidence.
"It's an important win and home wins always increase confidence within the team," said Azhar. "We have to play important away series including one in England (July-August this year) so we will carry this confidence.
"Naseem and other bowlers bowled superbly and it was an outstanding batting display, so all in all it was a complete team effort."
Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque started the day by square-driving paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi for his fifth boundary in the first over, but then fell leg-before in the same over for 41.
Liton Das (29) and tail-ender Rubel Hossain kept Pakistan at bay for 11.5 overs before Mohammad Abbas trapped Rubel leg-before for five.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah dismissed Das lbw and had Abu Jayed for three to finish with 4-58 and complete the win.
- 'Disappointing batting' -
Haque rued Bangladesh's low first-innings total.
"Disappointing batting on a flat wicket (in the first innings) and no team can come back from such situations," said Haque, who has now lost all three Tests as skipper by an innings.
"Pakistan bowled superbly and exploited our weaknesses and that hat-trick changed the game completely to open Pakistan's victory path."
With the victory, Pakistan gained 60 points in the World Test Championship, taking their tally to 140 points.
India lead the nine-team championship table with 360 points followed by Australia (246) and England 146.
Top two teams on the championship table will play the final at Lord's in June 2021.
Pakistan's victory was on the cards after they bowled Bangladesh out for 233 in the first innings and then piled up 445 in reply, with Babar Azam smashing 143 and Shan Masood 100.
This becomes Bangladesh's sixth defeat in 14 months, including their fifth by an innings. They have yet to score a championship point in three Tests.
The second Test starts in Karachi -- after a two-month break -- from April 5-9.
Bangladesh, who played a three-match Twenty20 series with Pakistan last month, insisted on splitting their tour into three phases over security concerns.
They will also play a one-day international in Karachi (April 3) before the second Test.
KL RAHUL scored his 11th Test century to put India ahead of West Indies on day two of the opening Test in Ahmedabad on Friday.
India reached 218-3 at lunch, with a 56-run lead over the visitors. Captain Shubman Gill was dismissed for 50, the only wicket to fall in the morning session at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Rahul, who struck 12 fours, was unbeaten on 100 at the interval. He was batting with Dhruv Jurel, who was on 14.
West Indies were bowled out for 162 on Thursday. India resumed the second day on 121-2 and accelerated through the morning with Rahul and Gill at the crease.
Rahul survived an early chance when he edged Jaydon Seales but the ball went between the wicketkeeper and slip to the boundary.
Gill attacked the bowlers, flicking Justin Greaves for a boundary and pulling Johann Layne for another. He also hit debutant spinner Khary Pierre for two fours in the same over to bring up his eighth Test fifty.
The India captain was then out to Roston Chase, attempting a reverse sweep that went to Justin Greaves at slip.
Rahul reached his century with a single off Chase.
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Members of a forensic team work at the scene outside the Manchester synagogue after the attack. (Photo: Reuters)
Police name victims as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66
Attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, shot dead by police within minutes
Three others remain in hospital with serious injuries
Prime minister Keir Starmer chairs emergency meeting, vows stronger security
POLICE have named the two men killed in the attack on a synagogue in Manchester as 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz.
Three others remain in hospital with serious injuries after a man drove a car into people before stabbing them outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Thursday morning, as worshippers gathered for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Police confirmed the attacker, who was shot dead at the scene within minutes, was 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said three other people – two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s – were arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
GMP chief constable Stephen Watson said: "Two members of our Jewish community have sadly died." He added that officers shot dead the attacker within seven minutes of the first emergency call. "The driver of the car was seen then to attack people with a knife" while wearing a vest that appeared to be an explosive device, but police later confirmed it was not functional.
A witness told BBC Radio he saw police shooting a man after a car crash. "They give him a couple of warnings, he didn't listen until they opened fire," the witness said. Police praised the swift action of people who reported the attack, saying it prevented the suspect from entering the synagogue.
Aryeh Ehrentreu, 56, who was praying in a nearby synagogue, said: "Then the security asked us to close all our doors in the synagogue, so we knew the attack took place." He called the incident "extremely worrying."
A neighbour of Al-Shamie told the BBC: "To have somebody like that living on my estate, it's scary."
Prime minister Keir Starmer left a European summit in Denmark early to chair an emergency response meeting in London. He later addressed the Jewish community in a televised statement, saying: "I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve." He added: "We must be clear it is a hatred that is rising once again, and Britain must defeat it once again."
UK’s Chief Rabbi said the attack was the "tragic result" of an "unrelenting wave of Jew hatred". King Charles III and Queen Camilla said they were "deeply shocked and saddened".
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "barbaric attack", adding: "Israel grieves with the Jewish community in the UK." Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar accused UK authorities of failing to curb "rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement".
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "Houses of worship are sacred places where people can go to find peace. Targeting a synagogue on Yom Kippur is particularly heinous."
Manchester is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the UK, with more than 28,000 people recorded in 2021, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
The city has previously witnessed deadly terror attacks, including in 2017 when a suicide bomber killed 22 people at Manchester Arena.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Strictly Come Dancing brings back Cynthia Erivo to guide celebrities in Wicked-inspired Movie Week performances
Erivo returns to the BBC dance show in a new role.
She will advise contestants during Movie Week.
The professional dancers are doing a Wicked performance.
She previously served as a guest judge.
The move ties in with her new film release.
Strictly Come Dancing has called in Cynthia Erivo for special duties. The award-winning performer will act as a guest mentor when the show holds its Movie Week. This marks a fresh job for Erivo on the programme after she previously served as a judge. She is expected to guide the celebrities through their big screen themed routines.
Strictly Come Dancing brings back Cynthia Erivo to guide celebrities in Wicked-inspired Movie Week performances Getty Images
What does a guest mentor do?
This is a new position created for the series. Erivo will visit the couples during their practice sessions. She will give them tips on how to sell a performance. Her job is to help them look more like film stars on the dance floor. When the live show happens, she will also join the judging panel to watch the results.
Cynthia Erivo takes over mentoring on Strictly Come Dancing to boost celebrities for high-stakes Movie Week Getty Images
Why choose Cynthia Erivo?
She knows her way around the Strictly ballroom. Producers brought her in to cover for judges before. People still talk about how she spoke to Rose Ayling-Ellis using sign language. That moment showed she understands how to connect with performers. She also has a new Wicked film in cinemas right now, which makes the timing work well.
Yes, the professional dancers have prepared something special. They will perform to As Long As You're Mine from the musical. Erivo sings that song in the movie version. The number will likely feature costumes and sets from the production. It should serve as a major moment during the broadcast.
The Movie Week episode airs this Saturday evening on BBC One. The competition is starting to get serious now. Some couples are already struggling to impress the judges. Having Erivo there might give someone the boost they need to avoid elimination this weekend.
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Customers look at the fruits and vegetables section at the Tesco supermarket, in Aylesbury, England. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
BRITAIN's largest retailer Tesco on Thursday (2) raised its 2025/2026 profit guidance as the supermarket chain won customers with competitive prices.
Group adjusted operating profit is now expected to reach between £2.9 billion and £3.1bn, up from a previous forecast of £2.7bn to £3bn, Tesco said in a statement.
"Competitive intensity remains elevated," the company said.
However, it added "a better-than-expected customer response to our actions and the benefit of an extended period of good weather have helped offset the cost of our investments."
Tesco uses lower price offers to attract customers in the face of competition, such as matching prices of German-owned discounter Aldi.
"The steps we have taken to keep prices down for customers have improved our price position relative to the market," said chief executive Ken Murphy.
Net profit fell more than nine percent in its first half to £950 million from the same period a year earlier, while revenue grew 3.6 per cent to around £36bn.
It saw double-digit growth in sales of its premium 'Finest' range of products.
"Tesco's broad offer to customers at all price-points is helping it to drive sustained market share gains," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"Competition remains fierce and household budgets are under pressure, but Tesco is well placed to continue investing in value and quality," he added.
The company is on track to deliver £500m of savings for its 2025/2026 financial year to help offset costs of increased higher businesses taxes and a higher minimum wage, brought in this year by the UK's Labour government.
Business have warned that these increases will raise the costs of employing people.
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Thursday (2) called for a "robust" response by the head of London's under-fire Metropolitan Police after a BBC undercover report showed officers using excessive force and making racist and misogynistic comments.
"I've not yet seen the footage, but I've had it described to me, and it's shocking, and I'm glad the commissioner is responding. He needs to be very robust in his response," Starmer told reporters ahead of a meeting with European leaders in Copenhagen.
BBC reporter Rory Bibb spent seven months until January 2025 working in a civilian role as a detention officer in the custody suite of Charing Cross police station in central London.
The resulting BBC Panorama documentary, aired on Wednesday (1), exposed officers making misogynistic, racist and Islamophobic remarks, as well as using excessive force.
Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley condemned the behaviour as "completely reprehensible".
Anyone viewing the footage would be "upset and angry... seeing the racism, the misogyny, and the sort of relishing in using excess force on people who've been arrested", he said, adding that he was working urgently to have the officers dismissed.
He said that following contact with the BBC ahead of the programme 10 officers and staff had been suspended.
"They are suspended, they are not anywhere near the public any more, but I want them off the payroll and gone as quickly as possible," he told BBC radio.
The custody team at the Charing Cross station featured in the report has been disbanded, according to Rowley.
During the reporter's time undercover, "officers called for immigrants to be shot, revelled in the use of force and were dismissive of rape claims," the BBC said in a statement.
Several male police officers were secretly filmed making shocking statements, including that a detainee who had overstayed his visa should have "a bullet through his head", and that migrants from Algeria and Somalia were "scum".
The reputation of UK policing has been in tatters since the 2021 kidnap, rape and murder of marketing executive Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer who was later jailed for life.
In another shocking case, an officer from the same unit last year received 36 life sentences for a "monstrous" string of 71 sexual offences, including the rapes of 12 women.
In the year to March 2024, nearly 600 officers in England and Wales were sacked.
The Met alone in January 2023 revealed that 1,071 officers in the 40,000-strong force of staff and officers had been under investigation for domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
England and Wales has a police workforce of more than 147,000 across the 43 forces.