Kolkata Knight Riders have signed England opener Jason Roy for the ongoing Indian Premier League to bolster a batting line-up weakened by the absence of star batsman Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
Kolkata captain Iyer was ruled out of entire IPL with a lower back injury that will require surgery and keep him out of the World Test Championship final against Australia in June as well.
All-rounder Shakib, currently leading Bangladesh in a one-off Test against Ireland in Mirpur, said he won't take part in the league due to national team commitments and personal matters.
Kolkata spent $340,000 to sign Roy, the IPL said in a statement.
Roy has been in sensational form of late. Playing for Quetta Gladiators, Roy smashed an unbeaten 145 off 63 balls in a Pakistan Super League match against Peshawar Zalmi last month.
Also, IPL champions Gujarat Titans have signed Sri Lanka's white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka to replace New Zealander Kane Williamson, who returned home after a knee injury ended his campaign.
Meanwhile, the viewership numbers of the ongoing season are set to break many records as JioCinema, the streaming service owned by online rights holders Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate, drew more than 1.47 billion video views during the opening weekend of the IPL.
The digital rights for the IPL were secured by Asia’s richest man for $2.7 billion last year, with the tournament being shown for free across India.
This was the “highest-ever opening weekend” for the annual cricket event, JioCinema said in a statement on Monday, adding that the number of video viewers exceeded last year’s IPL, as well as the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022. The JioCinema app, which is streaming this year’s matches, recorded more than 50 million new downloads.
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Tomorrow 2021
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On Women's Day
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Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality
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Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'
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Jack Moore: Why the assassination is such a monumental gamble
Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks
Damien McElroy: A CEO tasked with spreading Iran's influence
Hussein Ibish: Trump's order on solid constitutional ground
Rashmee Roshan Lall: Sound of silence in South Asia
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Shelina Janmohamed: Why shouldn't a spouse be compensated fairly for housework?
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The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
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