Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the country’s Emir, criticized all Israeli violations of Palestine, including what he referred to as the “continued violation” of the ceasefire, during the opening session of Qatar’s Shura Council.
Published On 21 Oct 2025
Bobby Vylan is “not regretful” over his chant at Glastonbury Festival. Reflecting on the controversy, which caused a storm during the BBC coverage, the Bob Vylan frontman said he would “do it again tomorrow.”
While performing at the festival earlier this year, the punk duo led the crowd in a chant in between songs. Frontman Bobby said: “Alright, but have you heard this one, though? Death, death to the IDf.” Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said she was “appalled” by the remarks.
The BBC swiftly removed the performance from iPlayer and apologised for the “deeply offensive” content. But in a new interview, the frontman, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, said he would do it all again.
Speaking to Louis Theroux on the documentary-maker’s podcast, he said: “Oh yeah.”Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes, I would do it again. I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I’ve faced. It’s minimal.”
The musician added: “It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through. If that can be my contribution and if I can have my Palestinian friends and people that I meet from Palestine, that have had to flee, that have lost members in double digits of their family and they can say, yo, your chant, I love it. Or it gave me a breath of fresh air or whatever.
“And I don’t want to overstate the importance of the chant. That’s not what I’m trying to do, but if I have their support, they’re the people that I’m doing it for, they’re the people that I’m being vocal for, then what is there to regret. Oh, because I’ve upset some right-wing politician or some right-wing media?”
The episode of Louis’ podcast was recorded on October 1, with the broadcaster noting that it took place just one day before the tragic Manchester synagogue attack, during which two people were killed and three were injured. It was also recorded nine days before the ceasefire in Gaza commenced on October 10.
Robinson-Foster revealed he was taken aback by the fury that was sparked by his chant. Prime Minsiter, Kier Starmer, said it was “appalling hate speech”. But the musician claims staff at the BBC told him the set was “fantastic”.
The Executive Complaints Unit of the BBC has since found the broadcast breached editorial standards in relation to harm and offence. Robinson-Foster said: “I had no expectations. I honestly hadn’t heard it (the reaction). I hadn’t seen it. Because obviously there was a lot happening at the time. Do you know what I mean?
“It wasn’t like we came off stage, and everybody was like (gasps). It’s just normal. We come off stage. It’s normal. Nobody thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like ‘That was fantastic! We loved that!'” He also lashed out at Blur icon Damon Albarn who said that the chant was “one of the most spectacular misfires I’ve seen in my life, especially when he started goose-stepping in tennis gear”.
He said of Albarn: “It was disappointing. Because it lacked self-awareness, I think, his response. I just want to say that categorising it as a ‘spectacular misfire’ implies that somehow the politics of the band or our stance on Palestinian liberation is not thought out.
“And as a more senior, experienced, veteran artist – he’s been in this industry for a long time – I think that there were other ways that he could have handled that question being fielded to him. I take great issue with the phrase ‘goose-stepping’ being used because it’s only used around Nazi Germany. That’s it. And for him to use that language, I think is disgusting. I think his response was disgusting.”
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed in the weeks after Bob Vylan’s set that it was still being investigated. After their set, the force said: “Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s performances at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday has been reviewed.
“Following the completion of that assessment process, we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken. A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation.
“This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage. The investigation will be evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes.”
The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify now.
Former Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt has been appointed as Blackpool’s manager under a two-and-a-half-year deal.
After four and a half years at Bolton, the 43-year-old left in January to become a manager.
Steve Bruce was fired earlier in October, and Evatt replaces him, who spent seven years with the Tangerines during his professional career.
With nine points from 13 matches, Blackpool are at the bottom of the third tier.
“I have firsthand experience with what this club and its supporters can accomplish. We all want to see fearless attacking football at Bloomfield Road, which is a particularly difficult field for any team to play.
In his first game as manager of the club, he made 254 appearances. Saturday’s trip to Peterborough, a team that struggled previously, will be his first.
After a brief spell in charge of Chesterfield the previous year, Evatt left Barrow for his managerial position in June 2018.
After the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season, he led the Bluebirds to promotion to the English Football League, before leaving to take over then League Two Bolton in the summer of 2020.
He eventually helped them return to League One at the first opportunity with a third-place finish despite a poor season opener.
In 2022-22 and 23-24, they received back-to-back play-off victories in the third tier, but they were unable to reclaim the Championship.
In the League One play-off final in May 2024, they defeated Oxford United, who struggled for form during the first half of last term, leading to his departure in January of that year.
Under Bruce, Blackpool had a poor start to the season, finishing ninth in League One last year, and by the time he left, the team had lost seven of their 11 league games and were second from the bottom of the table.
Under the temporary leadership of Stephen Dobbie, the club has won one game out of three in all competitions. However, since beating Barnsley 1-0 on September 20, they have not won the league.
EXPLAINER
After winning a leadership vote in the legislature, Sanae Takaichi will take office as Japan’s first female prime minister.
Following her victory, she was scheduled to meet with Emperor Naruhito on Tuesday, cementing her position in history.
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What details about Japan’s upcoming leader are essential to know:
What is the history of Takaichi?  ,  ,
In the 1990s, Takaichi, 64, joined the long-serving Liberal Democratic Party in politics.
According to her official biography, she was born in central Japan’s Nara prefecture and received her degree from Kobe University.
Her family background was a little less than that of other LDP senior members, many of whom had degrees from prestigious institutions like the University of Tokyo and the Harvard Kennedy School.
Takaichi is best remembered as Shinzo Abe’s protégé. She was a member of both his cabinet and that of former prime minister Fumio Kishida.
What are Takaichi’s political views?  ,  ,
Takaichi, a fan of Margaret Thatcher’s death, has been referred to in media circles as “Iron Lady” of Japan due to her similarly conservative bent.
In the most recent leadership race, Takaichi pushed for economic policies that were similar to those used by her mentor, “Abenomics,” a combination of structural reform, monetary policy, and fiscal expansion.
She opposes same-sex unions, opposes immigration, and thinks the imperial succession should still prioritize men.
She is also known as a “China hawk,” a proponent of a more militarized and stable Taiwan Strait. Much to China’s chagrin, she has also traveled to meet with the LDP and has also made several appearances there.
Past visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to the Japanese who died in the war, have also been controversial. Due to the shrine’s inclusion of World War II war criminals, it is a contentious issue both in Japan and abroad.
What does Takaichi’s win mean for Japan?
Takaichi’s victory means that Japan will continue down a path of conservative governance with a more right-wing shift, according to experts.
Conservative politics in Japan, however, are somewhat different from the West, says Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at Japan’s International Christian University.
While Takaichi wants to strengthen Japan’s defence force and curb immigration, one thing she will not be changing is Japan’s social welfare system.
“Conservative in Japan means strong on security, it means strong on China, it means strong US-Japan relations. It means protecting the emperor system”, he told Al Jazeera ahead of the vote. “It usually]also] means an interventionist government that provides quite a bit of social welfare programmes.
” We’ll see Takaichi lead a new conservative LDP party – but conservative in the Japanese-defined sense of conservative, “he added.
What’s next for Takaichi?
Takaichi’s road to victory was not straightforward, and she still faces many uncertainties.
She will become Japan’s fourth prime minister in five years and takes the helm from a relatively weak position.
While the LDP has been the dominant political force in post-war Japan, the party has lost its majority in both houses of the legislature over the past two years. Its long-term coalition with the far-right Sanseito party also collapsed shortly after Takaichi was elected leader of the LDP in October, due to disagreements about campaign donations and anticorruption measures.
The LDP was able to form a new alliance with the Japan Innovation Party, another conservative party, securing enough seats in the legislature for Takaichi’s win this week.
But as PM, Takaichi will need to address challenges ranging from Japan’s cost of living crisis to the effects of US President Donald Trump’s trade war, and the country’s long-term security concerns about China and North Korea. The LDP is also still recovering from a major corruption scandal.
“I have two titanium plates in my face, one near my chin, and one near my ear,” I said.
Beth Mooney, an Australian batsman, smiles as she discusses the severe injuries she sustained while playing for Australia in January 2022.
For the most part, damage like that, which included her jaw breaking during a “rogue” delivery by coach Matthew Mott, would make you consider switching to a gentler vocation.
Ten days later, Mooney was batting at three in a Test match, assisting Australia in achieving yet another Ashes victory.
At the age of 31, Mooney has won numerous individual awards, including four World Cups, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, and three Ashes series. She became the first Australian woman to record a century in each of the three game formats earlier this year.
With these accolades, you would be at the forefront of any advertising campaign, but Mooney is happy to be a little more reserved among the Australian team that includes stars like Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy.
“Perry and Healy] definitely kicked off the women’s game, which was once a little “pretty” back in 2015-16,” said Perry. They have, in fact, earned the right to serve as our generation’s beacons, according to Mooney.
I’m more than happy to be let go of the spotlight and let them do everything, and it’s no wonder no one is even scratching my nose.
A player who had to fight her way into the Australian team has the ability to do her job quietly and brilliantly.
There is no sense in a pitcher with close to 6, 000 international runs ever believing in herself as the main priority, despite the fact that all good batters need to have some degree of selfishness.
You have to be a little bit selfish as well, she said, “but I’d like to think I’m pretty selfless.” “I’m just happy that this generational Australian team has a way,” said I.
Australia vs. England: Women’s World Cup
Few players are more capable of saving a team from 76-7 in a World Cup game than Mooney, as was the case with Pakistan this month.
It was a little gloomy, wasn’t it? “says Mooney”. You enter games with a little bit of a plan and an idea of how things will turn out, which I didn’t have when I woke up.
I “favor those situations, wanting to be the person who can influence the game’s outcome, and I enjoy the problem-solving element of it, having to adjust and adapt as the game progresses.”
This remarkable Australian side consistently embodies the need for unwavering hard work, if there is one thing. This attitude is exemplified by Mooney.
The Queenslander ran 54 of her 94 runs in the match-winning innings of Australia’s 16-0 victory in the 2025 Women’s Ashes. Before, no Australian player had allowed more than 100 non-boundary runs in a T20.
Before I left home, she said, “I probably didn’t really understand what it took to play at the elite level.” Knowing what it takes is one thing, but learning to work hard and not feel uncomfortable is another.
Australian players consistently push themselves to the limit.
Everyone does it because they understand how important it is, according to Mooney, “and people don’t have to be told that they need to run or work out.”
In northern France, a tornado caused the death of at least one construction crane, injuring several others.
Published On 21 Oct 2025