Hollywood angels: Here are the celebrities who are also star VCs
Gus Atkinson claimed a superb hat-trick as England took command of the second Test against New Zealand, knocking over the home side’s tail in style. The Surrey seamer took out Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Tim Southee with three successive deliveries, the 15th time an English bowler has achieved the feat in Test cricket. Atkinson turned the heat on the Black Caps in his ninth over, racking up three different modes of dismissal to end their innings on 125 and hand the tourists a lead of 155. The 26-year-old uprooted Smith’s middle stump with the third ball of his over, then had Henry backing away from a short ball that he fended to Ben Duckett at gully. Last man Tim Southee stood between Atkinson and a place in the history books but had no answer as the ball came full and straight, smashing his front pad dead in front of middle stump. Southee reviewed the lbw decision in hope more than expectation but England’s celebrations were already well under way. Rod Tucker raised his finger for a second time to seal the deal, with Atkinson registering the 50th Test hat-trick in world cricket – 47 in the men’s game and three in the women’s. The last player to get one was South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in 2021, with Moeen Ali the most recent to do so for England, against the Proteas at the Oval in 2017. Stuart Broad took two in his career, making Atkinson the 14th England player on the list. Brydon Carse had earlier dismissed Tom Blundell and Will O’Rourke in the space of three deliveries as New Zealand lost their last five batters for 39.
Post-Election: Bringing hope back to lifeMahmoud is a cheeky teenager who beams the biggest of smiles even though he lost his front teeth in the rough and tumble of kids’ play. He is a Sudanese orphan abandoned twice, and displaced twice in his country’s grievous war - one of nearly five million Sudanese children who have lost almost everything as they are pushed from one place to the next in what is now the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Nowhere else on Earth are so many children on the run, so many people living with such acute hunger. Famine has already been declared in one area - many others subsist on the brink of starvation not knowing where their next meal will come from. "It’s an invisible crisis," emphasises the UN’s new humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher. "Twenty-five million Sudanese, more than half the country, need help now," he adds. In a time of all too many unprecedented crises, where devastating wars in places like Gaza and Ukraine dominate the world’s aid and attention, Mr Fletcher chose Sudan for his first field mission to highlight its plight. "This crisis is not invisible to the UN, to our humanitarians on the front line risking and losing their lives to help the Sudanese people," he told the BBC, as we travelled with him on his week-long trip. Most of the people on his team working on the ground are also Sudanese who have lost their homes, their old lives, in this brutal struggle for power between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Mr Fletcher's first field visit took him to Mahmoud’s Maygoma orphanage in Kassala in eastern Sudan, now home to nearly 100 children in a crumbling three-storey school-turned-shelter. They lived with their carers in the capital, Khartoum, until the army and RSF turned their guns on each other in April 2023, trapping the orphanage as they dragged their country into a vortex of horrific violence, systematic looting and shocking abuse. When fighting spread to the orphans’ new shelter in Wad Madani , in central Sudan, those who survived fled to Kassala. When I asked 13-year-old Mahmoud to make a wish, he immediately broke into a big gap-toothed grin. "I want to be a state governor so I can be in charge and rebuild destroyed homes," he replied. For 11 million Sudanese driven from one refuge to the next, returning to what is left of their homes and rebuilding their lives would be the biggest gift of all. For now, even finding food to survive is a daily battle. And for aid agencies, including the UN, getting it to them is a titanic task. After Mr Fletcher’s four days of high-level meetings in Port Sudan, army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced on the X social media site that he had given the UN permission to establish more supply hubs and to use three more regional airports to deliver assistance. Some of the permissions had been granted before but some marked a step forward. The new announcement also came as the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) secured a green light to reach stricken communities behind lines controlled by the RSF, including the Zamzam camp in Darfur housing about half a million people where famine was recently confirmed . "We’ve been pushing for months to get to these communities," says Alex Marianelli, who heads WFP’s operations in Port Sudan. Behind us in a WFP warehouse, Sudanese labourers sing as they load trucks with boxes of food heading for the worst of the worst areas. Mr Marianelli reflects that he has never worked in such a difficult and dangerous environment. Within the aid community, some criticise the UN, saying that its hands have been tied by recognising Gen Burhan as the de facto ruler of Sudan. "Gen Burhan and his authorities control those checkpoints and the system of permits and access," Mr Fletcher says in response. "If we want to go into those areas we need to deal with them." He hopes the rival RSF will also put the people first. "I’ll go anywhere, talk to anyone, to get this aid through, and to save lives," Mr Fletcher adds. In Sudan’s merciless war, all warring parties have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war. So too sexual violence, which the UN describes as "an epidemic" in Sudan. The UN visit coincided with the "16 days of activism" marked globally as a campaign to stop gender-based violence. In Port Sudan, the event in a displaced camp, the first to be set up when war flared, was especially poignant. "We have to do better, we must do better," vowed Mr Fletcher, who cast aside his prepared speech when he stood under a canopy facing rows of Sudanese women and children, clapping and ululating. I asked some of the women listening what they made of his visit. "We really need help but the major job should be from the Sudanese themselves," reflects Romissa, who works for a local aid group and recounts her own harrowing journey from Khartoum at the start of the war. "This is the time for the Sudanese people to stand together." The Sudanese have been trying to do a lot with a little. In a simple two-room shelter, a safe house called Shamaa, or "Candle", brings some light to the lives of abused single women and orphaned children. Its founder, Nour Hussein al-Sewaty, known as Mama Nour, also started life in the Maygoma orphanage. She also had to flee Khartoum to protect those in her care. One woman now sheltering with her was raped before the war, then abducted and raped again. Even the formidable Mama Nour is now at breaking-point. "We are so exhausted. We need help," she declares. "We want to smell the fresh air. We want to feel there are still people in the world who care about us, the people of Sudan." Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica , on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Princely Umanmielen’s return to the Swamp ends with a loss and a police escort
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"Making music always made me feel like I was getting to know him better" Sean Ono Lennon has revealed that he started making music in order to “fill the void” left by the death of his father, John Lennon . READ MORE: ‘Let It Be’ review: The Beatles dust off their spellbinding 1970 break-up doc The musician and producer was born in 1975 to the former Beatles icon and the artist Yoko Ono , and was only five years old when his father was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in 1980. In a new interview with People , Lennon has shared a personal insight into how the tragedy affected him and how music became an outlet for his creativity. “I never played music because I was good at it,” he explained. “I lost my father and I didn’t know how to fill that void. Learning how to play his songs on guitar was a way to process the loss with an activity that made me feel connected to him.” Sean Ono Lennon and John Lennon. Credits: Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images and Chris Walter/WireImage “When you’ve lost a parent, things like that motivate you – because you’re trying to find them. Making music always made me feel like I was getting to know him better.” Lennon has released a number of solo records, including this year’s ‘Asterisms’, and in recent years has become a sought-after producer for alternative bands including Fat White Family , Temples and The Lemon Twigs . Sean has also recently been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for the reissue of his father’s 1973 album ‘Mind Games’, for which Sean oversaw new “meditation” mixes . “The whole album is about my mum,” Sean explained in the new interview. “My dad declared to the world that ‘John and Yoko’ were one word. I think he always had his heart set on her. He was so in love with her. They had a legendary love and I think that this album is infused with that love. You can hear it.” At the time of the ‘Mind Games’ reissue, Sean spoke about his father’s post-Beatles work . “One thing that distinguishes my dad’s solo career is how personal his lyrics became. It is like a diary, and it is my duty to bring attention to my father’s music. Not just my duty to him, but a duty to the world.” “With the world as it is now, people have forgotten so many things that I never imagined could be forgotten. I refuse to let that happen to this music – it means too much to me.” Related Topics John Lennon Pop Rock Sean Ono Lennon The Beatles Yoko Ono
Hamilton also added eight rebounds for the Panthers (7-1). Trae Benham scored 17 points while shooting 4 for 5 (4 for 4 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. Kezza Giffa shot 4 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line to finish with 11 points. George Beale led the way for the Pirates (3-5) with 17 points. Noah Farrakhan added 16 points for Hampton. High Point went into halftime ahead of Hampton 38-33. Giffa scored 11 points in the half. Hamilton scored a team-high 13 points in the second half. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. stock falls Friday, underperforms market