Latest News
The Men’s 100: Rehan Ahmed stars as Rockets cling on in three-wicket thriller
Trent Rockets geared up for their Eliminator showdown with Northern Superchargers by sneaking past Birmingham Phoenix with one ball to spare after a memorable debut in The Hundred for Ben Cox and an eye-catching all-round display from Rehan Ahmed.
The Rockets confirmed their second-place finish in the group, behind Oval Invincibles on net run rate, and will go into Saturday evening’s contest at the Kia Oval full of confidence after claiming their sixth win in eight.
Spin was the key for the Rockets, with their slow bowlers producing combined figures of 6 for 35 from 50 deliveries after Ben Duckett (20 from 15) and Will Smeed (23 from 12) had made a promising start.
Rockets skipper David Willey may have been questioning his decision to insert the opposition when the Phoenix raced to 36 for 0 from 21 deliveries, but the innings stalled when Duckett scuffed a short delivery from Lockie Ferguson to Rehan at midwicket.
Joe Clarke soon followed, slog-sweeping southpaw spinner George Linde to deep midwicket, and from there the wickets tumbled. The irrepressible Rehan (3 for 15) induced a chop-on from Smeed and snared Jacob Bethell for a duck three deliveries later before Linde (2 for 12) claimed his second when Liam Livingstone’s ugly heave met thin air.
Rehan grabbed his third – and 10th in the competition overall – when Benny Howell picked out Max Holden on the boundary and Joe Root, whose 15 deliveries cost just eight runs, got in on the action when Liam Patterson-White’s edge was brilliantly held by Cox, who only received a call-up to join the Rockets yesterday following an injury to Adam Hose.
Dan Mousley (26 from 25) gave the score some respectability but 111-9 looked well under par, even on a spin-friendly surface.
The chase was far from easy though. After the early loss of Tom Banton for 1, caught at mid-on off Boult, Rehan sparkled once more, racing to 37 in 23 balls before an audacious slog sweep was caught in the deep off Livingstone. Root continued his good recent form in the tournament with a run-a-ball 25 that came to an end when he was bowled by Patterson-White and the left-arm spinner struck again five deliveries later, castling Willey with a devilish delivery that spun back sharply between bat and pad.
Linde was run-out after a mix-up and Marcus Stoinis got a leading edge to cover off Bethell as the Rockets slipped to 89-6, and the left-arm spinner struck again when Sam Hain holed out to leave six required from five.
Bethell was entrusted with the final set and conceded just three runs from his first three deliveries but Cox kept a cool head and swept the fourth to the boundary to finish unbeaten on 17 from 12 balls.
Named Meerkat Match Hero after his three wickets and quickfire knock, Rehan said: “Coxy was always going to do it, I had full trust in him. There was a lot of assistance for spinners on this pitch. We train on similar surfaces so it was about going out there and doing the same thing. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity I’ve been given and hopefully I can do it in the next couple of games.”
Brief scores:
Trent Rockets [Men] 113 for 7 in 99 balls (Joe Root 25, Rehan Ahmed 37, Marcus Stoinis 12, Sam Hain 11, Ben Cox 17*; Trent Boult 1-12, Liam Patterson-White 2-25, Liam Livingstone 1-17, Jacob Bethell 2-22) beat Birmingham Phoenix [Men] 111 for 9 in 100 balls (Will Smeed 23, Ben Duckett 20, Liam Livingstone 10, Dan Mousely 26, Trent Boult 11*; Ben Sanderson 2-26, Lockie Ferguson 1-20, George Linde 2-12, Rehan Ahmed 3-15, Joe Root 1-08) by three wickets
[Cricinfo]
US President Donald Trump has filed a $5bn (£3.7bn) lawsuit against the BBC over an edit of his 6 January 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
Trump accused the broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade practices law, according to court documents filed in Florida.
The BBC apologised to Trump last month, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was any “basis for a defamation claim”.
Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech”. The BBC has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
Trump said last month that he planned to sue the BBC for the documentary, which aired in the UK ahead of the 2024 US election.
“I think I have to do it,” Trump told reporters of his plans. “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
In his speech on 6 January 2021, before a riot at the US Capitol, Trump told a crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
More than 50 minutes later in the speech, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
In the Panorama programme, a clip showed him as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The BBC acknowledged that the edit had given “the mistaken impression” he had “made a direct call for violent action”, but disagreed that there was basis for a defamation claim.
In November, a leaked internal BBC memo criticised how the speech was edited, and led to the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness.
Before Trump filed the lawsuit, lawyers for the BBC had given a lengthy response to the president’s claims.
They said there was no malice in the edit and that Trump was not harmed by the programme, as he was re-elected shortly after it aired.
They also said the BBC did not have the rights to, and did not, distribute the Panorama programme on its US channels. While the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.
In his lawsuit, Trump cites agreements the BBC had with other distributors to show content, specifically one with a third-party media corporation that allegedly had licensing rights to the documentary outside the UK. The BBC has not responded to these claims, nor has the corporation with the alleged distribution agreement.
The suit also claims that people in Florida may have accessed the programme using a VPN or by using streaming service BritBox.
“The Panorama Documentary’s publicity, coupled with significant increases in VPN usage in Florida since its debut, establishes the immense likelihood that citizens of Florida accessed the Documentary before the BBC had it removed,” the lawsuit said
(BBC)
The Situation Report issued by the Disaster Management Center at 06:00AM on 16th December 2025 shows that 70,297 persons belonging to 22,338 house holds are still being housed at 731 safety centers established by the government.
The number of deaths due to the recent disastrous weather stands at 643 while 183 persons are missing.
Latest News
Bondi Beach gunmen who killed 15 after targeting Jewish celebration were father and son, police say
New South Wales Police say 15 people, including a 10 year old girl were killed in a shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday – their ages range from 10 to 87
The attack happened while an event was being held to mark the start of Hanukkah – police say they’re treating it as a terror incident
The two gunmen were father and son, police say. The 50-year-old man also died at the scene while the 24-year-old remains in hospital in critical condition
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls the attack “an act of pure evil” that “deliberately targeted” the Jewish community
(BBC)
Trump files $5bn defamation lawsuit against BBC over Panorama speech edit
UK and South Korea strike trade deal
Rob Reiner’s son Nick arrested for murder after director and wife found dead
70,297 persons still in safety centers
Showers will occur at times in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, Uva and Central provinces
MEPA to crack down on marine polluters
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Features7 days agoFinally, Mahinda Yapa sets the record straight
-
Features7 days agoHandunnetti and Colonial Shackles of English in Sri Lanka
-
Business5 days agoCabinet approves establishment of two 50 MW wind power stations in Mullikulum, Mannar region
-
News6 days agoGota ordered to give court evidence of life threats
-
Features6 days agoCliff and Hank recreate golden era of ‘The Young Ones’
-
Features6 days agoSri Lanka and Global Climate Emergency: Lessons of Cyclone Ditwah
-
Opinion7 days agoA national post-cyclone reflection period?
-
Latest News6 days agoSri Lanka squad named for ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup