Day: April 22, 2025

Lebanon-based Hezbollah released a statement on Pope Francis who died on Apr 21. Lebanon was once a Christian-majority country but that’s believed to have changed. Earlier, Gaza-based Hamas also issued a similar statement for late Pope Francis. Watch for more details.

#Hezbollah #Hamas #Israel #PopeFrancis #Pope #PopeDeath #PopeElection #Vatican #VaticanCity #Italy #Rome #Europe #NewPope #Catholics #Church #CatholicChurch

US Vice-President J D Vance on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “special person”, and revealed he was only the second world leader apart from President Donald Trump his children are fond of.

Comprehensive multimedia campaign featuring Bollywood actress and Brand Ambassador, Anushka Sharma, for the launch of Centrum Recharge – a tasty effervescent energy drink mix with Vitamins & Minerals to support Energy, Immunity and Hydration.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (April 22), and you can watch the orbital rendezvous live.

Elon Musk’s company launched its 32nd robotic resupply mission to the ISS for NASA early Monday morning (April 21), sending a Dragon freighter aloft from Florida’s Space Coast.

If all goes according to plan, the Dragon’s off-Earth chase will end this morning around 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT), when the capsule docks with the ISS’s Harmony module. You can watch it live here at Space.com courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency, beginning at 6:45 a.m. EDT (1045 GMT)

#spacexdragon #spacexdragonlive #spacexdragontracker #spacexupdates #spacexdragon #sacexdraonliveupdates #hindustantimeslive #spacexdraonnews

US Vice President J D Vance, who is on a four-day India visit, reached Jaipur along with his family on Monday night and is set to visit the Amber Fort–a UNESCO World Heritage Site– on Tuesday.

The controversy over Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s comments in Boston, US, about the Election Commission snowballed today, with sources in the poll panel calling it “absurd”.

China is actively enhancing six new air bases, strengthening its air power and presenting a significant challenge to India’s defences along the Himalayan frontier.

In a big signal amid fears of the impact of Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, US Vice-President JD Vance has said his country and India have finalised terms for a trade deal.

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Pulkit Samrat shared a video on Instagram, which featured him making the most of his time in Kashmir.

US stocks and dollar plunge as Trump attacks Fed chair Powell

US stocks and the dollar plunged again as President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on the US central bank boss calling him “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.

In a social media post, Trump called on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates “pre-emptively” to help boost the economy, saying Powell had been consistently too slow to respond to economic developments.

“There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” he wrote.

Trump’s criticism of Powell’s handling of the US economy comes as his own plans for tariffs have driven a stock market sell-off and raised fears of economic recession.

The president’s intensifying clash with Powell, whom he named to lead the Fed during his first term, has added to the market turmoil.

The S&P 500, which tracks 500 of the biggest US companies, fell roughly 2.4% on Monday. It has lost roughly 12% of its value since the start of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.4% and has dropped about 10% so far this year, while the Nasdaq fell more than 2.5% and is down roughly 18% since January.

However, on Tuesday, trading on most major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region was subdued. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed around 0.1% lower, and the ASX 200 in Sydney closed around 0.3% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed about 0.3% higher.

In European early trading, the UK’s FTSE 100 stock exchange was marginally lower by about 0.05%, while Germany’s Dax was down around 0.5% and France’s CAC was down 0.6%.

Though the US dollar and US government bonds are typically considered safe assets in times of market turmoil, they have not escaped the recent turbulence.

The dollar index – which measures the strength of the dollar against a set of currencies including the euro – on Monday fell to its lowest level since 2022.

Interest rates on US government debt also continued to rise on Tuesday, as investors demanded higher returns for holding Treasuries.

Meanwhile, the price of gold hit a new all-time record high, breaking the $3,500 (£2,613) per ounce mark as investors seek out so-called “safe haven” assets.

The precious metal is viewed as a safer place to put money during times of economic uncertainty.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said as well as tariffs, gold’s appeal had also increased due there being “no long-term resolution in sight for conflicts around the world, particularly in Ukraine and Gaza”.

“There are also concerns about the risk that geo-political tensions escalate as opportunities in the Arctic are eyed by the US and Russia,” she added.

Trump’s criticism of Powell dates back to his first term in office, when he also reportedly discussed firing him. Since winning the election, he has urged Powell to lower borrowing costs.

The latest criticism follows Powell’s warnings that Trump’s import taxes were likely to drive up prices and slow the economy.

Trump last week called publicly for Powell to be fired, writing on social media on Thursday: “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough.”

Such a move would be controversial – and legally questionable – given a tradition of independence at the bank.

Powell last year told reporters he did not believe the president had the legal authority to remove him.

But one of Trump’s top economic advisers confirmed that officials were studying the option on Friday, when the stock market in the US was closed for trading.

‘When the US sneezed, the world caught a cold’

Trump’s latest comments come as top economic policymakers are gathering in Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Christopher Meissner, a professor of economics at University of California, Davis, and who formerly worked with the IMF, told the BBC’s Today programme that before the 1970s there was “significant” political pressure on the Federal Reserve from time to time.

“However, the past 30 or 40 years what we’ve learned is that central bank independence is the key to financial stability and low inflation. And I think this is a major reversal and we have to watch out for it,” he added.

“The independence of central banks is seen as critical to ensure long-term price stability, ringfencing policymakers from short-term political pressures,” added Ms Streeter, of Hargreaves Lansdown.

The IMF will publish its latest growth forecasts for individual countries later, and last week it said these projections would include “notable markdowns”.

Mr Meissner said: “They used to say ‘When the US sneezed, the rest of the world caught a cold’. It’ll be really curious to see if that continues.

“However, I think people are expecting a pretty significant downturn in the US in the coming months… and that can’t be good for the rest of the world.”

Ms Streeter said that Trump’s policies had damaged the reputation of the US, which is “no longer being seen as a calmer port in a storm”.

“Yields on 10–year US Treasuries have held onto their recent rise above 4.4%. It’s another sign of unease about the direction of the US economy, amid worries that policies playing out could keep inflation higher and slow growth, and flags the anxiety rattling through the markets right now,” she added.

Follow the twists and turns of Trump’s second term with North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s weekly US Politics Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

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I felt BBC wanted me to leave Match of the Day, says Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker has said he believes the BBC wanted him to leave Match of the Day as he was negotiating a new contract last year.

The presenter and the BBC jointly announced in November that he would be stepping down from the flagship football programme, although he will still host World Cup and FA Cup coverage.

Asked by the BBC’s Amol Rajan why he would choose to leave given his successful tenure, Lineker said: “Well, perhaps they want me to leave. There was the sense of that.”

The BBC didn’t comment on that suggestion, but at the time Lineker’s exit was announced, the corporation’s director of sport described him as a “world-class presenter”.

However, the BBC noted in the same statement that Match of the Day “continually evolves for changing viewing habits”.

A new trio of presenters – Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan – was announced in January.

Reflecting on his departure from Match of the Day, Lineker told Rajan: “It’s time. I’ve done it for a long time, it’s been brilliant.”

However, asked why he’d want to leave when the ratings were still high and it was a job Lineker still enjoyed, the former footballer said he “had the sense” the BBC had wanted him to step down.

“I always wanted one more contract, and I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether to do three years [more],” Lineker explained.

But, he continued, the matter of how long to sign for was complicated by the cycle of broadcasting rights for matches.

“In the end, I think there was a feeling that, because it was a new rights period, it was a chance to change the programme,” he said.

“I think it was their preference that I didn’t do Match of the Day for one more year, so they could bring in new people. So it’s slightly unusual that I would do the FA Cup and the World Cup, but to be honest, it’s a scenario that suits me perfectly.”

Lineker added that he was pleased his football podcasts had been picked up by BBC Sounds as part of a deal with the corporation.

BBC suspension

Lineker was also asked about comments he posted on social media in March 2023, criticising the then-government’s immigration policy.

The remarks led to his suspension from the BBC, prompting other sports presenters to down tools in solidarity, something Lineker said he felt “moved” by.

Reflecting on his tweets, Lineker said he did not regret taking the position he did, but that he would not do it again because of the “damage” it did to the BBC.

“I don’t regret saying them publicly, because I was right – what I said, it was accurate – so not at all in that sense.

“Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No I wouldn’t, because of all the nonsense that came with it… It was a ridiculous overreaction that was just a reply to someone that was being very rude. And I wasn’t particularly rude back.”

He continued: “But I wouldn’t do it again because of all the kerfuffle that followed, and I love the BBC, and I didn’t like the damage that it did to the BBC… But do I regret it and do I think it was the wrong thing to do? No.”

The row erupted when Lineker called a government asylum policy “immeasurably cruel”, and said a video promoting it used language that was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.

The home secretary at the time, Suella Braverman, who appeared in the video, called his criticism “offensive” and “lazy”, while Downing Street said it was “not acceptable”.

Lineker’s post reignited the debate about the BBC’s impartiality guidance on social media and how it applied to presenters.

While staff working in news and current affairs are expected to remain impartial on social platforms, there had been questions over how much the rules extended to BBC personalities in other areas such as entertainment and sport.

Lineker argued that the previous set of rules “were for people in news and current affairs”.

“They have subsequently changed,” he acknowledged. “But that left people like me, who has always given his honest opinions about things, then they suddenly changed them and you have to go, ‘Oh, I’ve got to be impartial now’. It doesn’t make any sense.”

He added: “I’ve always been strong on humanitarian issues and always will be, and that’s me.”

Lineker said that, following his tweets, “the goalposts were massively moved because it was never an issue until, suddenly, this point”.

The BBC updated its social media guidance in 2023 following a review that was commissioned in the wake of the fallout over Lineker’s tweets.

The corporation said presenters of flagship programmes, such as Match of the Day, “carry a particular responsibility to respect the BBC’s impartiality, because of their profile on the BBC”.

Asked if he understood that his comments gave ammunition to the BBC’s critics, Lineker said: “Yes of course, I understand that, but does it make it wrong what I did? I don’t think so. Would I do it if I knew what would’ve happened and transpired? Of course I wouldn’t.”

Gaza doc

Lineker hit the headlines again recently when he, along with 500 other high-profile figures, signed an open later urging the BBC to reinstate a documentary about Gaza to iPlayer.

The documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, was pulled from the streaming service in February after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

Lineker told Rajan he would “100%” support the documentary being made available again, arguing: “I think you let people make their own minds up. We’re adults. We’re allowed to see things like that. It’s incredibly moving.”

He added that, although the 13-year-old was narrating the programme, the script had “not been written by [the child], it’s been written by the people who produced the show”.

“I think [the BBC] just capitulated to lobbying that they get a lot,” he said.

After concerns were raised, the BBC took down the programme while it carried out further due diligence. The matter is currently still being investigated by the corporation.

The BBC said it had identified serious flaws in the making of the documentary. The BBC board said the mistakes were “significant and damaging”.

Gambling in sport

In the wide-ranging interview, which will be broadcast on Tuesday, Lineker also discussed his footballing career, his son’s leukemia battle as a baby, and his views on gambling sponsorship in sports.

Lineker said the football industry should rethink its responsibility when it comes to taking money from gambling firms.

“I know people [for whom] it becomes an addiction, it can completely destroy their lives,” he said.

“There’s talk about taking [logos] off the shirts, but you see it on the boards around the ground everywhere.

“I think football needs a long, hard look at itself about that, I really do.”

On top of his presenting roles, Lineker is also the co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts, which make the successful The Rest is History series and its spin-offs about Politics, Football, Entertainment and Money.

The 64-year-old indicated to Rajan his next career move “won’t be more telly”, adding: “I think I’ll step back from that now.

“I think I’ll probably focus more on the podcast world, because it’s such a fun business and it’s just been so incredible.”

Amol Rajan Interviews: Gary Lineker is on BBC iPlayer now and will air on BBC Two at 19:00 BST on Tuesday.

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Toilet use based on biological sex, says Phillipson

Trans women should use toilets according to their biological sex, the equalities minister has said.

In response to the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that a woman is legally defined by biological sex, Bridget Phillipson stopped short of saying trans women should use the men’s toilets.

But she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The ruling was clear that provisions and services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex.”

Pushed further for clarification on whether a trans woman should use the men’s or women’s toilets she repeated: “The ruling is clear.”

Meanwhile, in his first comments on the ruling, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “welcome step forward”.

Phillipson said the law on trans women accessing single-sex spaces on the basis of biological sex “would apply right across the board”.

But she stressed that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) “will be setting out additional guidance and a statutory code of practice, because we need to make sure that everyone has the ability to access services that are safe and appropriate, and respect their privacy and dignity”.

In particular, there needed to be “appropriate and available services for all people, including trans people” when it came to settings such as hospitals and changing rooms.

Pressed on what the ruling meant for trans women looking to use a toilet today, she responded: “The ruling was clear that provisions and services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex.

“But I know that many businesses large and small will ensure that they have appropriate provision in place, for example many businesses have moved towards unisex provision or separate cubicles that can be used by anyone.”

The EHRC has already suggested trans people should use their “powers of advocacy” to campaign for so-called third spaces that are gender neutral to avoid these sorts of dilemmas.

Phillipson, who is also education secretary, said many places had unisex toilets or individual cubicles.

“Go into your local cafe, a local family cafe – [the] chances are that they’ll have one cubicle that’s self-contained that can be used by anyone,” she added.

The Equality Act 2010 allows for single-sex spaces and services without it being considered discriminatory, such as when a user may reasonably object to another person being of the opposite sex.

Campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought the case, warned that interpreting “sex” as gender identity under the law would have implications for the running of single-sex spaces and services, such as hospital wards, prisons, refuges and support groups.

The decision by the Supreme Court found the biological interpretation of sex was required for single-sex spaces – which can include changing rooms, hostels and medical services – to “function coherently”.

However, single-sex spaces could exclude people with gender recognition certificates (GRCs) – which give legal status to a transgender person’s gender identity – “if it is proportionate to do so”, the judges ruled.

Transgender people have said the ruling may erode the protections they have against discrimination in their reassigned gender – protections the judges said they had under other parts of the Equality Act.

Phillipson, who managed a women’s refuge before becoming an MP, said it was important that “women – especially those who have experienced male violence, sexual violence and trauma – are able to access safe, therapeutic spaces” while ensuring that “everyone in our society is treated with dignity and respect”.

She said these women-only spaces could now be “confident as to how they deliver services” as the Supreme Court had “set that beyond doubt”.

Sir Keir also welcomed the ruling, telling ITV West Country: “A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear.”

He said the ruling “gives real clarity” and would inform guidance.

“It’s a welcome step forward. It’s real clarity in an area where we did need clarity, I’m pleased it’s come about.”

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