Latest news with #anti-Semetic
Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Gary Lineker's next steps as he's warned to 'tread carefully or lose millions'
Gary Lineker's future is up in the air following his departure from the BBC after he reshared an anti-Semetic social media post with millions of pounds now at stake Gary Lineker will be keen to " stay in the spotlight" following his departure from the BBC - or risk losing millions, an expert has confirmed. This weekend, the former Tottenham Hotspur and England forward finally left Match of the Day after 26 years of presenting. Lineker made his goodbyes while holding back the tears in what was an emotional final episode for the 64-year-old. The former striker announced he was leaving the BBC altogether soon after he shared a social media video criticising Israel which featured an emoji of a rat. Not long after deleting the post, Lineker apologised and stated that he would be s tepping down from the BBC permanently following the end of the 2024/25 season. The Mirror spoke with Mayah Riaz, celebrity PR and personal branding expert, who said the BBC has definitely slammed the door shut on any future collaborations with Gary. "But this isn't curtains for him, it's more of a curveball for his image, maybe even a pivot opportunity," she explained. "Gary isn't not one to fade quietly into the background; he'll absolutely want to stay in the spotlight, as he has done most of his life. " ITV might seem like the obvious next step, but I wouldn't rule out him exploring more 'offbeat' options. A different station or even radio might feel like a downgrade on the surface, but those routes could give him the creative freedom he craves. I don't think he'll be chasing headline-grabbing roles, as he's too savvy for that." The PR expert highlighted that for Gary, who has been a Walker's Crisps brand ambassador for 30 years, there are still opportunities for brand partnerships. While some risk averse brands might hesitate, his loyal fanbase is remains a major asset. However, Lineker's faux-pas will certainly have a financial impact. "It could easily run into the millions in lost endorsements, appearance fees, broadcasting contracts," said Mayah. "But if Gary's team focuses on a clever rebrand for a smart media comeback, this may be book deals or launching his own media platform, this could turn this PR nightmare into a fresh chapter. "He's already a podcast powerhouse, and sponsors will absolutely line up if he taps into his authentic voice. Whether it's sports, politics, or even social issues (as long as he treads carefully post-controversy), there's a path forward. "He's got that trusted 'everyman' charm that people connect with. The real key here is how his team controls the narrative after this chapter, because that's often more valuable than the crisis itself." Mayah added: "If the fallout sticks, he's probably looking at a £1-3 million hit from lost deals and contracts. But Gary's not going anywhere. If he plays his PR cards right, he can recover a fair bit of that with a smart reinvention. It's not the end for him, just an expensive detour.' The presenter paid an emotional farewell to his colleagues at the BBC during his final episode of the flagship Premier League highlights programme on Sunday night. He said: "Let me take this opportunity to thank all the pundits I've worked with over the years, you've made my job a lot easier. Rather like my football career everyone else did all the hard work and I got all the plaudits.' Initially, Lineker was only going to step down from presenting weekly highlights of the Premier League on the show, but continue presenting live FA Cup coverage and the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, before stepping away after the latter. However, his social media post hastened his exit from the Beeb. Confirming his imminent departure last Monday, he said: " Football has been at the heart of my life for as long as I can remember – both on the pitch and in the studio. "I care deeply about the game, and about the work I've done with the BBC over many years. As I've said, I would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic – it goes against everything I stand for. "However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.' BBC Director-General Tim Davie has also issued the following statement: "Gary has acknowledged the mistake he made. Accordingly, we have agreed he will step back from further presenting after this season. Gary has been a defining voice in football coverage for the BBC for over two decades. "His passion and knowledge have shaped our sports journalism and earned him the respect of sports fans across the UK and beyond. We want to thank him for the contribution he has made." Going forward, Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan, and Kelly Cates will present Match of the Day next season. The Sun reports that the trio are now competing to step into Gary's shoes as the lead presenter of the BBC's World Cup coverage.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gary Lineker's final Match of the Day: Tears, farewells... nothing to see here
Match of the Day began with footage of some of his greatest footballing moments, goals for Leicester, for Everton, for Barcelona, and finally his head back, arms aloft delight after equalising against West Germany in 1990. It ended with a ten-minute package in which Gary Lineker's friends and colleagues paid fulsome tributes. Alan Shearer: 'Match of the Day means the world to him.' Micah Richards: 'When you think of Match of the Day, you think of Gary Lineker.' Alan Hansen, Gazza, Pep, you name it. The man himself ended his final broadcast with: 'Rather like my football career, others did the hard work and I got all the plaudits… Thank you for all your love and support over the years, it has been so special, and I am sorry your team was always on last. It's time to say goodbye.' Cue Italian opera. Tears. So a lovely, uncomplicated farewell to a treasured broadcaster, right? Well, no. There was something that didn't feel right, something elephanty in the room, and we're not talking about his ears. Lineker's opening gambit communicated that this might not to be an uncomplicated or uncompromised celebration, and he conveyed this with his trademark gentle humour: 'It wasn't meant to end this way… but with the Title race over and the relegation places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about.' Vintage Gary. Manchester City commentator Mark Scott got in on the act, saying: 'So one of the best in the business makes his final appearance in front of the Match of the Day cameras and you can of course say the same about Kevin de Bruyne here.' Boom and furthermore boom. Arne Slot said 'thanks for being a great presenter' and joked about giving the former Everton man a Liverpool shirt. The lightest of light banter, and yet the mood was off. It wasn't meant to end this way. Too right. Depending on your point of view, he went out with full honours, warm farewells after years of superb stewardship, quitting while he's still at the top, but gone too soon and too unfairly. For others, no mention, not even a hint, that things had come to an unceremonious end after he reposted social media content linking Jewish people with vermin. Sunday night's show pulled off the delicate balancing act of being unsatisfactory for both sides of a polarised debate. So how did we get here? In March 2023, he took aim at the government's asylum policy and said some of the language it employed 'was not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s'. But it turned out that he wasn't such an authority on that period of history after all: fast forward to this month and he's pleading ignorance about the anti-Semetic trope of Jewish people being rats that was used by… well, you know who it was used by and the era they used it. Even his staunchest defenders had to admit that he'd snookered himself with this 'if you know your history' double standard. And his enemies couldn't believe their luck. One suspects that the number of people who truly, seriously think Gary Lineker hates Jews is not a large one but that doesn't really matter because he offered a gaping open goal to those who cannot stand him and they gleefully tucked the chance away. Painful though it is to write about a boyhood hero, they were within their rights, on this occasion at least. Somebody in his position just cannot act as he did. And a unique position it had become. Lineker is, of course, partly famous because of being on the telly but his cachet and his difficulties alike stem not from his faultless work presenting sport on the BBC but his presence and clout on Twitter and Instagram. Thus, he has been hoist by his own petard and there is a sense of inevitability about it: if you will keep wading into the social media cesspool to talk politics and hot-button topics, eventually you are going to get covered in muck. After securing at least a winning draw with the Beeb bosses following the solidarity walkout and his MOTD reinstatement in 2023, had he come to view himself as untouchable? Had he begun to feel that the BBC was more trouble than it was worth and that he could express himself more freely via his podcasts? Did he underestimate BBC Sport head honcho Alex Kay-Jelski when he sniffed 'he has got no television experience' to The Telegraph's Oliver Brown? Had he taken too literally the suggestion made by well-meaning liberal commentators and chums that he had a duty to act as a moral spokesman and national conscience; to, as Danny Kelly wrote in Esquire magazine, 'sail fearlessly forth into the choppy waters of contemporary politics to such great effect that smart people have been moved to declare him the Unofficial Leader of the Opposition'? Only Gary himself could say. But on another question, lots of people have a crystal clear view: Lineker should not have been given this send-off with full honours, trailing it on his Instagram with 'one last time' on Sunday afternoon, signing off with a montage, and a metaphorical guard of honour from his ex-pro colleagues, in the BBC Sport equivalent of the 21-gun salute. Certainly this was not acceptable in the opinion of Leo Pearlman, chief executive at Fulwell Entertainment (Class of 92, Sunderland Til I Die), for instance, who said: 'Effectively offering him a hero's farewell, despite the fact that he is leaving the corporation because of his use of an anti-Semitic trope comparing Jews to vermin, is deeply disturbing.' Nor for Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television, who said: 'He should not be allowed a final swansong. If the racist content had been directed at another community I do not believe a presenter would be allowed to carry on for another week.' Yet carry on for another week he did. The montage was a celebration of Lineker's two brilliant careers but it is hard to think of anything to celebrate about this final appearance. His powerful management team had managed to get his departure couched in the language of 'stepping back' and 'stepping down', and he was allowed to at least partially choreograph his own exit. But overall it feels like a lose-lose: people outraged and hurt by his emoji shocker think he's basically got away with it and that the BBC have ignored their pain yet again on a hugely sensitive topic. Meanwhile, some of his fans will feel he's been forced out unfairly, a decent and humane guy slain by right-wing haters over an honest mistake. The man himself and his family surely didn't envisage this sort of compromised, soured closing act to what had been the greatest of all post-playing media careers. Had he resigned from the BBC and said, 'what is happening in Palestine is so important to me and it is so wrong that I need to use my voice come what may and if speaking out means I don't get to host the football highlights any more then I'm okay with that', then he would have deserved, and perhaps received, great respect even from his detractors. As it is, he's had the bum's rush for reposting and amplifying anti-Semitic tropes. What a bloody shame, and it could surely all have been avoided, had he just thought it through. Perhaps there was nobody around him to act as he once alerted Bobby Robson to do for Gazza, to offer that wise word of caution. The paragon who was never booked is forever tainted by this episode. Ron Manager will be bereft. 'I had to work hard at football but it came naturally, whereas television didn't come naturally. It took a lot of hard work and effort and determination and studying of other people and how they do it. Eventually I got there,' Lineker said on an episode of the Beyond The Title podcast last week. But somewhere along the way, he stopped studying how other people do it and started to act in a singular fashion: nobody else before had taken the BBC sport millions and the status conferred by his office while riding roughshod over its impartiality rules, and nobody will in the future. A wonderful player who became a brilliant broadcaster, we may never see his like again, but the sadness is that his actions over the last two years will make many people say: and thank goodness for that. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
International student recounts ‘numb' feeling after receiving email about her potential deportation
Priya Saxena, center, receives congratulations from her attorney, Jim Leach, foreground, after graduating with a master's and doctoral degree from South Dakota Mines on May 10, 2025, in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) RAPID CITY — Priya Saxena was staying up late to read comments about her doctoral dissertation around 1 a.m. on April 7 when she saw the message in her email. 'I was numb at the time,' she testified through tears Tuesday in a Rapid City courtroom, where she continued her fight to remain in the country. The email from U.S. immigration officials said her visa was revoked. Saxena called some friends and holed up in her bedroom. 'I was scared,' she said, 'and I had no idea what to do next.' Her fear was based on the realization that 'I could be deported at any time,' she said. A student from India, she was less than a month away from graduating with master's and doctoral degrees from South Dakota Mines, something she'd been working toward for five years. Noem's honorary degree sparks protest; meanwhile, a student she's trying to deport earns a doctorate Her visa revocation was triggered by a criminal records check of international students undertaken by the Trump administration. The check turned up a four-year-old misdemeanor traffic conviction against Saxena, for failing to pull over for an emergency vehicle in Meade County. The check also turned up a charge of driving under the influence against her from the same 2021 traffic stop, but her blood tested within the legal limit and the charge was dismissed. She had disclosed those legal matters to immigration officials when she obtained her most recent visa in 2022. The criminal records check was part of a broader action by the Trump administration against more than 1,000 international students nationwide, not only for items appearing on their records but also for activity the administration described as 'anti-Semetic,' such as publicly protesting Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The administration initially terminated students' records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which is used by colleges to verify and manage international student eligibility. Then the administration backtracked, leaving students such as Saxena with restored educational status but in limbo with their visas and their future. Saxena testified that she decided to book a plane ticket to India and leave the country voluntarily, but then postponed the ticket and ultimately canceled it after speaking to a defense attorney in Rapid City, Jim Leach. Since then, they've sued U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — the former governor of South Dakota — and Noem's agency. The lawsuit alleges it's illegal for the government to instigate an immigration enforcement action against Saxena for something the government already knew about before it issued her current visa. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX With her degrees now in hand, and her visa not scheduled to expire until 2027, Saxena would like to apply for a program that allows international students to remain in the country and work in fields related to their degrees. Saxena has a doctorate in chemical and biological engineering and a master's in chemical engineering. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier granted Saxena a temporary restraining order last month and extended it long enough for her to walk across the graduation stage and collect her degrees on Saturday at South Dakota Mines — the same day Noem appeared at another South Dakota institution, Dakota State University in Madison, to receive an honorary degree and deliver a commencement address. Noem was met by hundreds of protesters outside that ceremony. On Tuesday, as Saxena was in court in Rapid City, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was conducting a 'worksite enforcement action' in Madison, where the agency made an undisclosed number of arrests at two Madison businesses. ICE makes arrests in South Dakota city where Noem was subjected to a protest three days earlier Saxena's restraining order is scheduled to expire at the end of this week. Her court hearing Tuesday was about her request for a temporary injunction. That would stop the government from pursuing any further immigration enforcement proceedings against her while her lawsuit is pending. Judge Schreier heard testimony and arguments and said she'll issue a written decision in the next few days. Leach argued that Saxena needs protection from unlawful and unpredictable actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He referenced the agency's widespread deportation efforts under President Donald Trump and its shifting policies. 'Everybody's afraid of ICE now, and she's afraid,' Leach said of Saxena. Michaele Hofmann, an assistant U.S. attorney, argued that a temporary injunction would improperly restrain the government from taking further action if Saxena engages in additional criminal activity, or if Saxena violates the terms of her U.S. residency in other ways. Hofmann argued that if a temporary injunction is granted, it should be narrowly tailored to allow the government to act in response to those possibilities.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A dozen international students report visa cancellations in South Dakota
Pat Braun carries a sign April 23, 2025, in Rapid City to protest the cancellation of student visas, including a recent case at South Dakota Mines. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) At least 10 international students at South Dakota's public universities have reported their visas canceled this year, according to the South Dakota Board of Regents. Two other reported cancellations were for former students in a program that allows student visa holders to work temporarily in jobs directly related to their field of study. A visa is a document showing a foreigner's permission to visit, work or study in the country. Board of Regents spokeswoman Shuree Mortenson did not identify which of the state's six public institutions the students attended. A Dakota State University spokeswoman told South Dakota Searchlight, however, that no visa cancellations have been reported by any of the Madison school's 198 international students. Noem's DHS will require migrants without legal status to register with U.S. government The public has been privy to the details in just one of the cases, that of Indian doctoral candidate Priya Saxena. She sued Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to prevent any action that would block Saxena from collecting her Ph.D. in chemical and biological engineering on May 10 from South Dakota Mines. Last week, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ordered DHS to reinstate Saxena's student status and leave her be, at least until the judge makes a call on whether to issue a further-reaching preliminary injunction in the case. On the day Saxena would collect her degree at Mines, Noem will deliver the commencement speech at DSU. A news release from the school, sent Wednesday morning, notes that Noem was extended the invitation to speak while she was still governor of South Dakota, a position she vacated to lead DHS. Saxena's plight was one of the motivations for about 25 people who demonstrated Wednesday outside City Hall in Rapid City, as part of a protest led by Indivisible Rapid City to 'call attention to the increasing disregard for basic constitutional protections — especially the right to due process, which applies to all people, not just U.S. citizens.' Demonstrator Pat Braun held a sign referencing student visa holders and said she is upset that Saxena was targeted. 'It's so ill-informed, so mean-spirited, so ugly,' Braun said. The cancellations in South Dakota are among a crush of visa-policing actions taken by the Trump administration as part of a wider push to tighten immigration enforcement, including an uptick in arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. The president issued two executive orders impacting student visas on Jan. 20. One directed DHS and the U.S. State Department to review and revoke the visas of international students engaged in what the order called 'anti-Semetic' behavior. The order swept up students critical of Israel's ongoing war against Hamas, including a Turkish woman attending Tufts University who penned a pro-Palestine opinion column, and whose apprehension by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement was captured on a widely shared video. The other executive order directs federal agencies to review visa programs more broadly, and instructs DHS Secretary Noem to 'take immediate steps to exclude or remove' anyone in the U.S. who might be considered a threat to public safety. Issues with visas or legal status have since befallen more than 1,000 students nationwide, The Associated Press reported last week. The wire service compiled the figure using statements from schools and state officials. Another outlet, Inside Higher Education, puts the figure at 1,700. Several students or groups of students have sued the administration over the visa actions. On the same day Saxena was given a reprieve in her South Dakota case, a federal judge in Georgia signed a similar order meant to temporarily reinstate the student status of 133 international students. South Dakota Searchlight reached out to the Board of Regents and representatives of the state's six public universities to inquire about visa status changes. The most recent report from the regents lists 2,233 international students in the state. Noem cheers court order requiring immigrants without legal status to register and carry documents Northern State University and the University of South Dakota did not respond. The schools that did, aside from DSU in Madison, said in statements that their respective international student offices are offering visa guidance to students as needed. In her statement on behalf of the regents, Mortenson said that 'our universities are not directly involved in this process.' 'However, with less than three weeks remaining in the spring semester, we will assist affected students with their academic efforts to the best of our ability,' she wrote. Searchlight also reached out to Augustana University, the state's largest private four-year school, whose spokesperson said its international students had not been affected. In separate statements to South Dakota Searchlight, the DHS and State Department declined to say how many foreign students in South Dakota have had visas revoked. The State Department issues visas for international students. It revokes visas 'every day,' its statement read, and 'will continue to do so.' 'When considering revocations, the department looks at information that arises after the visa was issued that may indicate a potential visa ineligibility under U.S. immigration laws, pose a threat to public safety, or other situations where revocation is warranted,' the statement read. 'This can include everything from arrests, criminal convictions, and engaging in conduct that is inconsistent with the visa classification, to an overstay.' DHS doesn't issue visas, but is involved on the enforcement and monitoring side. It maintains the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a database created after the 9/11 attacks and used to validate an international student's ability to study in the U.S. Schools must re-register international students through SEVIS each semester to verify that they're fulfilling visa requirements. Schools can terminate the SEVIS record if a student violates their visa terms by, for example, not enrolling in a full course of study. An international student with a visa needs a SEVIS record set to 'active' status to attend school. The recent SEVIS record terminations have come by way of Noem's federal agency, not from schools. A DHS spokesperson wrote that it 'conducts regular reviews' of SEVIS records 'to ensure visa holders remain in compliance with program requirements.' If an issue is flagged, including 'criminal arrests and other national security concerns,' the statement says, DHS may notify the State Department, which may revoke a student's visa. 'Individuals who remain in the U.S. without lawful immigration status may be subject to arrest and removal,' the statement reads. 'For such individuals, the safest and most efficient option is self-deportation.' The revocation for Saxena, the doctoral candidate at South Dakota Mines, came after a 'criminal records check,' according to documents filed in her lawsuit against Noem and the DHS. Grant cancellation means children have to 'defend themselves' in immigration court, advocate says Saxena learned of the revocation through the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi on April 7, six days after she defended her doctoral thesis, according to documents filed with her lawsuit. Conviction for a 'crime of moral turpitude,' a category that includes offenses like driving under the influence, can be grounds for visa revocation. Saxena has been in the U.S. since 2020. Her only criminal conviction came in 2021, for the class two misdemeanor of failure to move over for flashing yellow lights. She was ticketed for driving under the influence during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, but the charge didn't hold up. A blood test put her blood alcohol content on the evening of the stop at 0.06, which is below South Dakota's 0.08 legal threshold for intoxication. Prosecutors dismissed the DUI charge. Judge Schreier heard details about the incident during a Friday hearing on Saxena's request for an emergency temporary restraining order. Later that day, the judge ordered DHS to 'set aside' its decision to mark Saxena's visa status as terminated, to return her SEVIS record to 'active' status and to refrain from taking any enforcement action against her until May 2, or until 'further order from the court.' The doctoral candidate faced 'irreparable harm' if DHS moved forward, Schreier wrote. Saxena's lawyer, Jim Leach of Rapid City, decried the federal government's actions against international students as 'government gone wild.' Saxena has authored or co-authored a dozen peer-reviewed papers in her field, a point Leach added to the initial complaint in her lawsuit. That's the kind of person South Dakota and the U.S. ought to treasure, Leach said, not toss out for a traffic violation. 'The great things we have in this country are built on knowledge, on information,' Leach said. 'They're built by smart people like her, who can do the Ph.D. stuff in chemical and biological engineering that I never could have done.' South Dakota Searchlight's Seth Tupper contributed to this report. See the Federal Fallout page for Searchlight coverage of Trump administration firings, funding freezes, spending cuts, grant cancellations, tariffs and immigration enforcement.
