The U.S. dollar weakened sharply Monday against the Japanese yen after U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan’s finance minister confirmed both sides had intervened in markets.

Before late last week, the dollar was trading above 163 yen, touching 40-year highs. After regulators were suspected of stepping in, it fell below 160 yen.

Early Monday, after the official announcement of the intervention, the dollar dropped about 1% to 156.34 yen. That’s a big change for the exchange rate.

The yen’s prolonged weakness against the dollar has been a source of frustration for Tokyo. Since Japan imports so much of what it consumes, a weak currency pushes prices higher, increasing inflation.

Efforts earlier this year to raise the value of the yen against the dollar did little to budge the exchange rate.

Last week, the U.S. side was suspected of lending a hand. When asked why Washington was helping, Trump said Sunday that “We have a good relationship with Japan. We’re very strong —- very, very strong financially — and they are, you know, they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help, and we’re always there for Japan. Japan’s been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.”

Trump said the U.S. got “financial benefit” out of the intervention, calling it a “signal of friendship.” “It’s also good for the world economy.”

In Tokyo, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama issued a statement confirming the intervention, saying the finance ministry had purchased yen in coordination with the U.S. Treasury Department.

The move followed a joint statement last year and “countered excessive volatility and disorderly movements in the Japanese yen in recent months,” it said.

It added that the ministry would not hesitate to act further if necessary.

Mr Beattie said he believed transgender people should receive support, particularly around healthcare and bullying, but argued this should not undermine the rights of women.

Independent MLA Doug Beattie has said the debate around transgender issues has become “hijacked” and insisted his focus remains on protecting women’s rights rather than debating the rights of the wider trans community.

Speaking to Belfast Live, the former Ulster Unionist Party leader was asked whether the experiences of transgender men who were born female are sometimes overlooked in the wider discussion following the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of sex in equality law.

Mr Beattie said there were “grey areas” that needed to be addressed, including how facilities should be provided for transgender people, but argued this should not come at the expense of women’s single-sex spaces or protections.

“The conversation I’m having is about women’s rights, what women deserve,” he said.

“It’s not about men’s rights, it’s about women’s rights. Now, of course, you know, when you talk about women’s rights, it suddenly has an effect on other people who are from the transgender community, but that’s not what the conversation is.

“The conversation is about women’s rights. Do women deserve to have their own spaces free from biological males? Yes. Do women deserve to have sport which is free of males? Yes, they do. Do women deserve to have language that is associated with women protected and not changed? Yes, they do.”

Mr Beattie said he believed transgender people should receive support, particularly around healthcare and bullying, but argued this should not undermine the rights of women.

“That’s the conversation about women’s rights. The conversation about the transgender community is a different conversation completely, although one’s been hijacked by the other.

“I look at the transgender community as a community; I think they need to be looked at. They need to be given support, particularly the bullying that they receive when they’re in schools. I think that needs to be looked at, and I’ve raised that on many occasions.

“I think that we need to make sure that we have healthcare which can help with them and deal with any of the issues that they have. So I’m fully supportive of the trans community and making sure they get assistance.

“What I’m not supportive of is them being able to trample over the rights of women. So we need to find a way around that, we can still do that by being respectful, and I’ve never said anything unrespectful, and if you have listened to, to any of the commentary I’ve given, I have not done anything about, the trans community.”

Reiterating his stance on privacy, he said: “Everything I’ve talked about is let’s make sure we secure women’s rights, women’s right to their own space, women’s right to privacy, women’s right to dignity, and women’s right not to have biological males be in their spaces.”

Mr Beattie was also asked about concerns that transgender men who were assigned female at birth but present as male could, under sex-based policies, be required to use female facilities.

“Anybody who’s biological male should be using biological male facilities. It’s as simple as that, and likewise for anybody who’s biologically female, they should be using biological female spaces.”

When asked what measures should be put in place to stop a predatory biological male from claiming to have been born female in order to access female spaces, he acknowledged there were complexities in some situations.

“Now there is of course a grey area there, and you’ve just highlighted that grey area about what do we do about those people who present in a particular, in a particular way, and for me there’s absolutely no issue whatsoever if we can provide spaces for them, you know, everybody talks about toilets and changing spaces, and that’s fine.

“This is not just about toilets and changing spaces. This is about women’s groups. This is about rape groups. This is about all sorts of sort of things.”

Mr Beattie said he believed practical solutions could be found, including additional facilities where appropriate.

“I’m for making sure that everybody has the facilities they need, and that means that in an area where we have a male toilet, a female toilet, and a unisex toilet, then why not.

“I think we can be innovative in what we do. I think we can support the trans community, but that’s what they are. You know, your sex is biological. You’re either male or female. But if you identify as something different, let’s make sure that we can support that, and the space is there for them. But let’s not destroy women’s rights in doing that.”

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Cult sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf V will be back on TV screens, airing live on BBC Two.

Originally broadcast in 1992, the fifth series of Red Dwarf took the comedy in a darker direction.

It has been described by many fans as one of the show’s best runs.

Red Dwarf V to air live on BBC 34 years since original

Red Dwarf originally aired on BBC Two from 1988 to 1999, before being later revived by Dave, airing from 2009 to 2020

The Red Dwarf V series follows the misadventures of Dave Lister (Craig Charles), the last known human alive, stranded three million years into deep space.

He is joined by a hologram of his former bunkmate Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie), Kryten the sanitation droid (Robert Llewellyn), the evolved Cat (Danny John-Jules), and the ship’s computer Holly (Hattie Hayridge).

From Thursday, August 13, Red Dwarf V will air live on BBC Two from 9pm.

It comes alongside a new venture for the franchise in print form, with a new book, Red: Dwarf Titan, released on July 15.

Co-written by series co-creator Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall, it serves as a semi-prequel to the events of the show.

In Red: Dwarf Titan, Lister and Rimmer receive “a message from the far future warning them that all realities are going to collapse unless they do something about it.”

The book explores events prior to those depicted in the series.

Recommended reading:

How to watch Red Dwarf in the UK

You can watch all series of Red Dwarf on BBC iPlayer.

Which series of Red Dwarf is your favourite? Let us know in the poll above or the comments below.

The 17-year-old died at just after 2am on Sunday at the Kendal Calling festival site in the Lake District, Cumbria Constabulary said.

The force said in a statement that the girl’s family have been told and are being supported by specialist officers.

It added: “Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding her death are ongoing.”

Officers want to speak to people who were in the area of the Calling Out tent and the Big Wheel at the festival around 2am.

They also want to speak to a group of women who directed emergency personnel to the girl after becoming concerned for her welfare.

The four-day festival features acts such as Wolf Alice, Biffy Clyro, Primal Scream, Scissor Sisters and The Libertines.

It takes place at Lowther Deer Park.

A festival spokesperson said in a statement: “The team at Kendal Calling are deeply saddened by the passing of a festival attendee in the early hours of Sunday morning following a medical episode.

“As soon as the individual became unwell, they were immediately attended to by our on-site security and medical teams.

“Paramedics and medical personnel provided emergency care at the scene and did everything they could to help.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the individual’s family, friends and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.

“We are supporting the relevant authorities and will continue to assist them with their investigation.”

Monday is expected to bring the hottest weather of the week, with a surge of hot air moving north from France ahead of an approaching Atlantic low-pressure system.

Southern and eastern parts of England will widely reach low to mid-30sC, with a few locations across London and the Home Counties likely to reach 34C.

Much of the Midlands, East Anglia and southern England will see temperatures reach around 30C or above, while eastern parts of Wales will also experience unusually hot conditions.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and western Britain will experience cloudier skies with outbreaks of rain as low pressure slowly moves across Ireland.

Overnight into Tuesday, rain in northern and western areas is expected to become locally heavy and thundery.

Further south, most places will stay dry, warm and humid, although a few thunderstorms could develop across south-east England.

“Officers responded quickly and working alongside event organisers, they formed a barrier between the surging crowds and people on the floor. Officers gave initial medical care, including CPR, to those who had sustained injuries. They were joined by paramedics and firefighters as part of a coordinated multi-agency response.

The star won gold for Scotland in the men’s mile race on Saturday night.

Josh Kerr hopes his triple bill of Commonwealth Games and world indoor gold – and a world record – finally gives him a shot at the BBC Sports Personality prize.

The Scots superstar, 28, ignited the fireworks at Scotstoun on Saturday night when he claimed the men’s mile title with a stunning victory. It came just two weeks after he ran the quickest time in history at the distance in London to join legends like Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Roger Bannister in holding the mark.

But Kerr admitted he was “massively disappointed” in 2023 when he was left off the six-person short-list for SPOTY despite winning the world 1500 metres title with Coe, now World Athletics president, tweeting, ‘are you having a laugh?’ And the two-time Olympic medallist, who kicked off the year by claiming his third global crown in the 3000m at the world indoor championships in Poland, is praying this is the year he gets the nod from the Beeb’s judging panel.

Kerr said: “I don’t want to get my hopes up too early for this one, but I would love to. It would be an honour for me. Obviously there’s been some fantastic sporting heroes for this year, with the Winter Olympics, with the World Cup, and all the rugby that’s going on. It’s difficult to keep up with all these guys.

“But I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, and hopefully they respect what I’ve done so far.”

Kerr began his career at Edinburgh Athletics Club in his hometown where he spent the past week training on the old routes he used before relocating to the USA at 18. But he celebrated into the night in Glasgow with a lot of his former coaches and supporters and he hailed the staff at Scottish Athletics for keeping him on track.

He said: “There were times in my career where I was really down in the dumps, not being able to make London mini-marathon teams. They pulled me out that hole and sent me in the right direction.

“And everything I can do when I wear that Scotland vest is really special. It’s something slightly different, and to have it every four years and to be able to do it in front of a home crowd, you just can’t get better than that. So I appreciate all the work they’ve done for me, and I’m glad I’m able to pay that back a little bit now.”

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A football association from the UK has become the first to officially withdraw its support for Infantino’s re-election next March, days after he U-turned on plans to ‘sell off’ the World Cup

A British football association has become the first FIFA member to officially pull its support for Gianni Infantino’s re-election.

The move is set to heap pressure on the Italian, who faces a severe backlash over his plans ‘sell off’ the World Cup. Even after cancelling the project, set to be led by a close Donald Trump ally, the FIFA President is rapidly losing support from major players in the game.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has now reportedly made its position clear and written to FIFA to withdraw its support for Infantino’s re-election.

The FAW also backed a boycott of FIFA competitions orchestrated by European governing body, UEFA, in response to Infantino’s plan to create a private company, open to investment, to run its headline competitions to raise billions of pounds.

It was reportedly going to be led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. After Infantino’s plans were revealed by the media, before some high-ranking FIFA officials were even informed of his intentions, he faced a severe backlash.

UEFA, the organisation which runs European football, said it would boycott FIFA competitions until the plans were killed, and CONCACAF, its North American counterpart, also criticised the plans. Key advisers to Infantino also resigned in protest.

Italian Infantino is due for re-election in March, but his future at the top of world football looks in doubt after this latest scandal.

Now, the FAW has heaped pressure on his tenure, officially withdrawing its support for Infantino’s re-election, according to reports.

The association told Sky News it “hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as FIFA President for the 2027-2031 term.

“The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football.

“Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.

“The Football Association of Wales has written to FIFA to inform them of their position.”

Other British football associations are yet to follow suit, but all approved the UEFA boycott. However, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has gone one step further and said Infantino is ‘the wrong man’ to lead FIFA.

The FAW has reportedly revoked its support for Infantino’s re-election as FIFA president following his controversial plans to sell stakes in the World Cup

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The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has withdrawn its support of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s re-election.

The FAW has become the first national governing body to publicly pull its backing of Infantino, just days after he dramatically U-turned on proposals to ‘sell off’ major competitions like the World Cup. FIFA planned to create a private company, open to investment, to run its headline competitions to raise billions of pounds.

It was reportedly going to be led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. After Infantino’s plans were revealed by the media, before some high-ranking FIFA officials were even informed of his intentions, he faced a severe backlash.

UEFA, the organisation which runs European football, said it would boycott FIFA competitions until the plans were killed, and CONCACAF, its North American counterpart, also criticised the plans. Key advisers to Infantino also resigned in protest.

Italian Infantino is due for re-election in March, but his future at the top of world football looks in doubt after this latest scandal.

Now, the FAW has heaped pressure on his tenure, officially withdrawing its support for Infantino’s re-election, according to reports.

The association told Sky News it “hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as FIFA President for the 2027-2031 term.

“The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football.

“Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”

“The Football Association of Wales has written to FIFA to inform them of their position.”

Other British football associations are yet to follow suit, but all approved the UEFA boycott. However, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has gone one step further and said Infantino is ‘the wrong man’ to lead FIFA.