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Strictly Come Dancing: Five pros to leave the show as line-up confirmed

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The BBC has confirmed that five members of Strictly Come Dancing's professional line-up have left the show, as preparations begin for this year's series.

Karen Hauer, the show's longest-serving female pro, has departed after 14 years. She said in March that she had "decided this is the right time for me to close this chapter and take on new projects".

Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas are also leaving, with the BBC yet to announce their replacements.

Judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke will all return, but there's still no news about who will replace Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly as hosts.

Scroll down to see the new pro dancer line-up in full.

In an update on Wednesday, the BBC said 15 of the 20 professionals from last year would return for the next series.

"This year a dynamic and world class roster of returning Professional Dancers will be joined by fresh top talent from the international dance world, bringing an exciting mix of experience and showmanship to the Strictly ballroom," a statement said.

Hauer announced her exit in an Instagram video in March, telling her followers: "Strictly completely changed my life, not only as a performer and a teacher, but as a human being.

"I've had the privilege of meeting so many incredible people and brilliant celebrity partners who have become close friends and people I admire so much."

Hauer said she, Tess and Claudia could "finally be ladies who lunch in the autumn" – although Hauer has since been cast as a dance teacher in comedy play Stepping Out from August.

"I'll even miss standing in front of the judges," she said. "Can you believe that? Smiling politely while sometimes secretly disagreeing."

Marquez is leaving after a decade, although he didn't have a celebrity partner last year because of "scheduling conflicts" after he became a judge on the Spanish version of the show.

One of Strictly's celebrity contestants, Gemma Atkinson, also became his life partner, and they now have two children together.

Nadiya joined the show in 2017, and said in March that she's "excited to have time to focus on new projects, and to spend more precious time with my beautiful daughter", adding: "Life feels full of possibilities."

Luba arrived on the show in 2018, and said it was now "time for me to follow my dreams beyond the show, and I'm excited for what the future holds".

Michelle joined in 2022 but didn't have a celebrity partner last year.

She wrote on Instagram that she wished her "Strictly family" all the best, but said: "Of course, as professionals on the show we can never assume our places are guaranteed, but I hoped to have more time.

"I wish I could have shown you more of what I can do, but I'm grateful for every experience and every chance I had to share my passion and connect with the audience."

The returning professionals include Amy Dowden, who was eliminated first with partner Tom Skinner last year, after being forced to drop out of the 2024 series with injury, and missing the show in 2023 after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

This year's series is expected to begin in September.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20214nnggdo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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The Papers: Original 'Labour leadership rivals circle' and 'Golden boys' on Baftas red carpet

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Chris Mason: Another crunch moment for Starmer as he pleads with Labour MPs not to topple him

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It feels like the prime minister has to give the speech of his life today.

Those within the Labour Party who want to see him succeed acknowledge that you can't change everything in one speech.

But it is clearly imperative for Sir Keir Starmer to try to calm down a party that is hurting and anxious.

Many Labour MPs have spent the weekend observing the politically scorched earth around them locally – their friends and colleagues in local and devolved government wiped out. There are fraught emotions and there is anger.

And for the last few days now there has been the drip, drip of revolt, with Labour MP after Labour MP coming out publicly to say Starmer has to go.

With every one, a little more of the prime minister's authority drains away.

Incidentally, don't underestimate what a big deal it is for any individual MP to go over the top and say their boss should go – not least because, for now at least, those that have done so are a tiny fraction of the total number of Labour MPs.

And it was his name up in lights as their leader when many of them won their seats for the first time, and often in parts of the country where Labour rarely if ever win. So to say now, out loud, that you think he is a dud is a big deal.

Wherever you look in the Labour Party right now there are knots of anxiety.

Firstly, there is anxiety in Downing Street, of course. They are acutely aware of what is at stake.

Secondly, there is anxiety among the potential challengers, weighing up if, when or whether to go for it. Timing can be everything: get it right, and the premiership can be yours. Get it wrong, and what might be your only chance to be prime minister is gone.

Thirdly, there is anxiety among the many, many Labour MPs keeping their heads down and who really don't want the prime minister to leave right now, nor for there to be a leadership contest.

Then there are those who would like Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to be Labour's next leader and so don't want a contest right now – because he needs time to firstly find and then win a Westminster seat, having been blocked from standing in one just a few months ago.

So what happens after the speech tomorrow? How do Labour MPs react? Does Catherine West, the former minister who has said she is willing to challenge the prime minister to try to force a contest, decide to back down, or press ahead?

Does the prime minister manage to put people off challenging him, at least for now?

Or is there a flood of anguish that leaves his position untenable and tempts one of the challengers to go for it?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, in particular, faces a massive call in the next couple of days. He has said he won't challenge Sir Keir, but is prepared to make his case if it becomes clear the prime minister is a goner.

So does he go for it, or not? Some who would like to see him replace Sir Keir think this might be his very best chance, before Burnham can get back to Westminster.

It is worth emphasising that it is not easy to dislodge a sitting prime minister who doesn't want to budge and, up until now at least, Sir Keir has given every indication he wants to stick around.

But what a moment he confronts and his party confronts.

The Labour Party is in a glum swirl right now, where no one can be certain what will happen next.

Whatever does – or doesn't – happen will have consequences for us all.

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Ailing Iran Nobel laureate given bail and hospital transfer

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Iranian human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from jail to a Tehran hospital amid concern over her deteriorating health.

Iranian authorities granted Mohammadi "a sentence suspension on heavy bail", a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Last week Mohammadi's family and supporters warned she could die in prison after suffering two suspected heart attacks earlier this year.

Mohammadi, 54, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism against female oppression in Iran and promoting human rights.

After pleas from her family for her to be transferred from prison, Mohammadi is "now at Tehran Pars Hospital to be treated by her own medical team", ​the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement.

She had spent 10 days hospitalised in Zanjan in northern Iran, where she had been serving her sentence.

Mohammadi's Paris-based husband said "she is not in a favourable general condition" and that "her status remains unstable", in a statement over the weekend.

The activist is believed to have lost about 20kg (three stone) while in prison, and has difficulty speaking and is barely recognisable, according to her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.

In 2021, Mohammadi began serving a 13-year sentence on charges of committing "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security", which she denied.

In December 2024, she was given a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds.

Mohammadi was arrested last December for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony, Iranian authorities said at the time. Her family said she was taken to hospital after being beaten during the arrest.

In early February, Mohammadi was sentenced by a Revolutionary Court to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of "gathering and collusion" and "propaganda activities", her lawyer said.

Last month, Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza said his sister had been found unconscious by fellow inmates at Zanjan prison after suffering a suspected heart attack.

The foundation's statement on Sunday said "a suspension is not enough" and that the human rights activist requires "permanent, specialised care".

"We must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence," it read.

"Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges. No human and women's rights activists should ever be imprisoned for their peaceful work," it said.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1j257w87neo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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