Two killed, five injured after high school graduation ceremony in Virginia
A student and his stepfather were killed and five others injured in a shooting at a high school graduation ceremony in Virginia.
Police identified a 19-year-old suspect as the gunman and said they believed the attack was "targeted".
The shooting outside the Altria Theater in Richmond sent hundreds of people, many of them wearing graduation gowns, running for safety on Tuesday evening.
"It was obviously chaos," the city's police chief said. "People scattered."
Renzo Smith, 36, was celebrating the graduation of his 18-year-old stepson, Sean D Jackson when the gunman opened fire. Both men were killed.
A nine-year-old girl who is "related to the family" was also hit by a car during the ensuing chaos, police said. She was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The suspect, identified as Omari Pollard, 19, was arraigned in court and faces two counts of second-degree murder, officials said at a news conference on Wednesday. Police believe the shooting was "targeted" and the "result of an ongoing dispute".
Officers did not fire their weapons when apprehending the suspect and several guns were recovered from the scene.
Police said all five victims injured in the attack have recovered and are in "non-life-threatening condition".
"A day that should have been a moment of joy and celebration with friends and family was taken away in seconds and lives changed forever," said Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney. "Our city, our community, will not be defined by this violence."
The gunman opened fire in Monroe Park, which is directly opposite the theatre, shortly after the ceremony for Huguenot High School had finished at around 17:15 (21:15 GMT).
Families and graduates were leaving the theatre, which is near the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University when at least eight shots rang out.
People ran to escape, some carrying young children and babies, while others sought cover in nearby buildings. Graduates hugged and cried when they were reunited after the attack.
As well as those who were shot, police said another 12 people were injured in the rush or treated for anxiety due to the chaos.
"This should have been a safe space. People should have felt safe at graduation," said interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards.
"It's just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community," he said.
Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools Jason Kamras said the attack occurred on what was "supposed to be a joyous day when our kids walk the stage and get their diploma".
"I don't have any more words on this, I'm tired of seeing people get shot, our kids get shot and I beg the entire community to stop," he said.
Source- BBC
The Environmental Health Department Raises Vector Control Awareness Among Students During Vector Control Awareness Month School Visit
The Environmental Health Department and by extension, the Ministry of Health and Human Services, a leading advocate for Public Health and Vector Control, made a significant impact on students' understanding of vector-borne diseases during recent school visits. As a part of Vector Control Awareness Month, the organization hosted an engaging and educational event at schools throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands between May 22-26, 2023, aimed at raising awareness about the importance of vector control measures.
Vector Control Awareness Month, observed annually during the month of May, serves as an opportunity to educate communities about the risks associated with vector-borne diseases and promote effective prevention strategies. The Environmental Health Departments Vector Control Unit school visits were designed to empower students with knowledge about vectors, the diseases they transmit, and the proactive measures individuals can take to protect themselves and their communities.
During the visits, the Vector Control Unit team of experts engaged with students through interactive presentations, hands-on activities, and informative demonstrations. The event focused on cultivating a deeper understanding of vector biology, the habitats of common vectors, and the diseases they can transmit, such as dengue fever and Zika virus.
By fostering a proactive mindset, the Vector Control Team emphasized the importance of implementing vector control measures, such as removing standing water, using insect repellents, and employing proper waste management techniques. These actions serve as crucial steps in reducing vector populations and minimizing the risk of vector-borne diseases within communities.
"We believe that education is the key to preventing vector-borne diseases," said Zatanya Handfield, Vector Control Coordinator. "Through our school visits, we aimed to empower students with the knowledge and encourage them to become proactive advocates for vector control within their families and communities."
The events at the schools were met with enthusiasm and active participation from both students and faculty members. Students expressed their appreciation for the engaging sessions, which equipped them with valuable information to protect themselves and their loved ones from vector-borne diseases.
The Environmental Health Department and the Ministry of Health and Human Services remain committed to raising vector control awareness beyond Vector Control Awareness Month, by offering resources, educational materials, and community outreach initiatives. We encourage schools, organizations, and individuals to take proactive steps in preventing vector-borne diseases and promoting Public Health.
Miami Heats levels NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets
Bam Adebayo sealed the 111-108 win with a pair of free throws with 48.3 seconds remaining.
The Heat were 15 points down in the first half but outscored their opponents 36-25 in the final period.
Miami hosts game three of the best-of-seven series on Wednesday (Thursday 01:30 BST).
The Heat, who are aiming to become the first eighth-seeded team to win the title, were led by Gabe Vincent (23 points). Adebayo and Jimmy Butler scored 21 apiece in the win.
Nikola Jokic top-scored with 41 points for the Nuggets, but the defeat - their first home loss since 30 March - left coach Michael Malone frustrated.
"Let's talk about effort," said Malone. "I mean, this is the NBA Finals and we're talking about effort. That's a huge concern of mine.
"We had guys out there that were just, whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots, or thinking they can just turn it on or off.
"This is not the pre-season. This is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That to me is really, really perplexing, disappointing."
The Heat, who lost the series opener 104-93, started game two strongly and led by 11 with less than five minutes to play in the first quarter but the Nuggets, with their bench players to the fore, battled back to lead 57-51 at the break.
The Heat tied it up at 66-66 midway through the third quarter but was 83-75 down going into the deciding period.
However, the visitors went on a 15-2 scoring run, taking the lead for the first time since the first quarter thanks to a Vincent three-pointer with 10:10 to play, and never trailed again.
"During the fourth quarter, our guys love to compete," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They love to put themselves out there in those moments of truth.
"Fortunately we were able to make a lot of big defensive plays down the stretch, and then we got a lot of contributions, which you're going to need against a team like this."
Source- BBC
'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' swings to massive $120.5 million opening
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opened in U.S. and Canadian theaters with a massive $120.5 million, more than tripling the debut of 2018 animated original and showing the kind of movie-to-movie box-office growth that would be the envy of even the mightiest of Hollywood franchises.
Sony Pictures' “Across the Spider-Verse,” the multi-verse spinning animated Spider-Man spinoff, sailed way past expectations, according to studio estimates Sunday, riding terrific reviews (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and strong buzz for the hotly anticipated follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
In the sometimes formulaic realm of superhero movies, 2018's “Into the Spider-Verse" offered a blast of originality, introducing a teenage web-slinger from Brooklyn, Miles Morales ( Shameik Moore ), a punk-rock Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), and a host of other Spider-People. It launched with $35.4 million on its way to $384.3 million worldwide.
“Across the Spider-Verse," which exponentially expands the film's universe-skipping worlds, cost $100 million, about half the cost of the average live-action comic-book movie. So at even the forecast $80 million that “Spider-Verse” had been expected to open, “Across the Spider-Verse” would have been a hit.
Instead, it has turned out to be a box-office sensation, and the second-largest domestic opening of 2023, trailing only “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” “Across the Spider-Verse,” directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, even topped “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which debuted with $118 million, for the best opening weekend of the summer so far.
The film, shepherded by writer-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is part two in a trilogy that will conclude with a third chapter to be released next year. “Across the Spider-Verse” over-performed abroad, too, with $88.1 million overseas.
After a few family offerings for much of the first half of 2023, theaters are suddenly flush with kid-friendly entertainment. Last week's top film, the Walt Disney Co.'s live-action remake “The Little Mermaid,” slid to second with $40.6 million in its second weekend.
After launching with $95.5 million and $117.5 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, “The Little Mermaid” dipped 57%, partly due to the formidable competition from “Across the Spider-Verse.”
Having cost a reported $250 million, “The Little Mermaid” was met with mixed reviews but more enthusiasm from audiences, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. But overseas, where previous Disney live-action remakes have thrived, is proving harder territory this time. The film added $42.4 million internationally over the weekend.
Disney also supplied the weekend's top counter-programming option in “The Boogeyman,” a mostly well-received horror adaptation of a Stephen King short story. Director Rob Savage's $35 million film, starring Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina, had been initially intended to debut on Hulu before the studio pivoted. It opened with $12.3 million in ticket sales.
In limited release, the Sundance breakout film “Past Lives" launched with an impressive $58,067 per-screen average on four screens. Celine Song's directorial debut stars Greta Lee as a woman torn between a childhood friend from Korea (Teo Yoo) and her American husband (John Magaro).
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," $120.5 million.
2. “The Little Mermaid,” $40.6 million.
3. “The Boogeyman,” $12.3 million.
4. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” $10.2 million.
5. “Fast X,” $9.2 million.
6. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $3.4 million.
7. “About My Father,” $2.1 million.
8. “The Machine,” $1.8 million.
9. “Suga: Agust D Tour Live in Japan,” $1.2 million.
10. “You Hurt My Feelings,” $770,000.
Source- ABC News
GM to invest over $1 billion in Flint plants to boost truck production
General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Monday it plans to invest more than $1 billion to re-tool two manufacturing sites in Flint, Michigan to prepare for a new generation of its internal combustion engine heavy-duty (HD) trucks.
GM has outlined this year a total of $1.7 billion in investments in Flint facilities to support the next generation of its heavy-duty pickups.
GM said it will spend $579 million at its Flint Engine Operations to produce a sixth generation of its small block V-8 combustion engine. Another $103.5 million will be spent upgrading a separate Flint facility that supports truck production.
GM's trucks compete with the recently redesigned Ford Motor Co (F.N) Super Duty and other heavy-duty versions of Stellantis NV's (STLAM.MI) Ram pickup, among the most profitable vehicles sold by the Detroit Three automakers, or any rival.
Last year, GM sold nearly 288,000 trucks with HD pickup sales, which rose 38% from a year earlier.
GM expects to start bargaining with the United Auto Workers union for a new contract with a deadline of Sept. 14 to reach an agreement with its U.S. production workers. Investment to secure jobs is a top union priority.
"When business is booming as it has been for the past decade — due to the hard work of UAW members — the company should continue to invest in its workforce,” Mike Booth, the UAW vice president in charge of the GM department said in a statement regarding the Flint investments.
Just ahead of GM's announcement in Flint, the UAW issued a video in which union President Shawn Fain and the head of the union's GM department slammed the automaker for outsourcing semiconductor production once done at a GM factory in Kokomo, Indiana.
Fain is from Kokomo, and members of his family worked at the GM facility that once employed 15,000 people. The plant now has just 100 workers. In the video, Fain criticizes GM for cutting U.S. semiconductor production in 2017 only to face a shortage over the past two years of semiconductors imported from Asia.
Source- Reuters
Apple expected to launch mixed-reality headset at WWDC
All eyes are on Apple as it is expected to launch a mixed-reality headset at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), in California.
It would be the technology giant's most significant product release since it unveiled the Apple Watch, in 2015.
Boss Tim Cook is expected to use his keynote speech to say this new product is the future.
But its expected price tag of about $3,000 (£2,400) might make that a tough sell for consumers.
While Apple has not yet confirmed its existence, reports suggest the headset will offer both virtual- and augmented-reality experiences.
Images online show the "Reality Pro" looking a bit like wraparound ski goggles.
If the leaks are correct, Apple has made its headset smaller and lighter by removing the internal battery. Users will instead have to carry an external battery that connects to the headset by a cable.
A reveal at WWDC will not mean the headset will be on immediate sale - it will hit the shelves later in the year, reports suggest.
Sol Rogers, from visual-effects film studio Magnopus, told BBC News the industry would not change overnight as a result of WWDC but it would bring "validation and credibility" to the technology as a whole.
And when Apple does "find success", it would "redefine our digital and physical realities and propel us into a future where the extraordinary becomes every day".
The conference, at Apple Park, the company's headquarters, in Cupertino, California, will be streamed live on its website and YouTube channel.
Mr. Cook is also expected to speak about Apple's artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.
Since the rise of OpenAI's ChatGPT, punters are growing more interested in deploying generative AI on their iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs.
Apple has been quieter than Microsoft and Google when it comes to this hotly contested AI arms race.
But recent job adverts for more software engineers suggest it is looking to ramp up its AI expertise.
Apple is also expected to reveal a 15in (38cm) MacBook Air laptop and updates to its iOS, iPadOS, and macOS operating systems.
A report from the Wall Street Journal also detailed how Apple would launch a mental-health journaling iPhone app at WWDC.
Last week:
Meta teased the latest Quest virtual-reality headset, with a much cheaper price of $499 (£402)
Lenovo released its latest ThinkReality VRX headset
Meta has also invested heavily in mixed-reality - but right now the sector is struggling.
The headset market saw a 54% drop in global sales last year, according to the International Data Corporation.
And Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg will probably be hoping Mr. Cook can turn the focus firmly on headsets as the next big thing.
Source- BBC
Linda Yaccarino replaces Elon Musk as Twitter boss
Linda Yaccarino, the new boss of troubled social media firm Twitter, has started the role earlier than expected.
Ms. Yaccarino, previously head of advertising at NBCUniversal, joined days after Twitter lost its second head of trust and safety.
Elon Musk had announced on 12 May that his successor would join in six weeks but her start date appears to have been brought forward.
Twitter also announced it had recruited Joe Benarroch from NBCUniversal.
Mr. Benarroch was senior vice president of communications, advertising, and partnerships at the media giant.
He also worked for a number of years at Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram. At Twitter, he will focus on business operations.
Mr. Musk has said he plans to remain involved with the firm.
The billionaire owner of Twitter said last year he would resign as chief executive once he found "someone foolish enough to take the job".
It followed a Twitter poll when Mr. Musk asked people to vote on whether he should resign - 57.5% voted yes.
Ms. Yaccarino welcomed her former NBCUniversal co-worker Mr. Benarroch to Twitter, which is known for its logo of a bird.
She tweeted: "Welcome to the flock @benarroch_joe! From one bird to the next."
He said: "I am looking forward to bringing my experience to Twitter, and to working with the entire team to build Twitter 2.0 together."
Ms. Yaccarino, who is 60 years old, will oversee business operations at the platform, which has been struggling to make money.
Since buying Twitter, Mr Musk cut 75% of its employees including teams charged with tracking abuse, and changed how the company verifies authentic accounts.
Meanwhile, advertisers have left in large numbers.
Ms. Yaccarino is credited with helping to steer NBCUniversal through the upheaval caused by technology firms.
In her former role, she overhauled the ad sales business, pushed the 2020 launch of its ad-supported streaming platform Peacock, and drove industry-wide debates about data gaps as audiences migrated online.
Late last week, reports emerged that Twitter's second head of trust and safety under owner Mr. Musk had resigned.
Ella Irwin took the post when the previous head Yoel Roth left in November 2022 - a month after Mr. Musk took over the company.
The head of trust and safety is tasked with content moderation, a topic that has come under the spotlight since Mr. Musk's takeover of the firm.
The reason for Ms. Irwin's resignation is unclear. However, it came a day after Mr. Musk publicly criticized a content moderation decision made at Twitter.
Since buying Twitter for $44bn (£35.4bn), Mr Musk had been under pressure to find someone else to lead the firm and refocus his attention on his other businesses, which include electric carmaker Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX.
He will continue as Twitter's executive chairman and chief technology officer.
Source- BBC
Bahamian authorities detain foreign nationals in possible human smuggling ring
Bahamian officials said they detained 22 foreigners, including two children on Sunday after intercepting a 32-foot vessel in Bahamian waters carrying a United States flag in a possible human smuggling ring.
“We are going to remain firm. We are going to be relentless in our pursuit and once we find out you are engaging in human smuggling, human trafficking we’re going to place you before the courts and you will rightly go where you rightly deserve,” Police Press Liaison Officer, Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings, told reporters.
She said that the group included 13 men, six women, two children and one infant from Ecuador, Italy, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil. They were reportedly on their way to North America
The migrants were apprehended by the Royal Bahamas Police Force Marine Unit acting on intelligence and intercepted the vessel west of New Providence.
The police said they have since handed over the migrants to the Immigration Department for processing.
Source- Jamaica Observer
Ben Roberts-Smith threatened witnesses in defamation trial, judge says
A judgement in a landmark defamation trial says Australia's most decorated living soldier lied to cover up his misdeeds and threatened witnesses.
It also found Ben Roberts-Smith "complicit in and responsible for" the murder of three Afghans.
Last week, he lost a defamation suit against three Australian newspapers over war crimes allegations.
It's raised the spectre of a possible wider reckoning over claims of war crimes by Australian forces.
On Thursday, Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko threw out the former special forces corporal's case against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Canberra Times.
Roberts-Smith claimed the papers ruined his life by their reports that he had broken the moral and legal rules of war.
The judge delayed releasing the reasons for his judgement until Monday, to allow Australian authorities time to ensure it did not inadvertently divulge national security secrets.
But Judge Besanko found the claims that Roberts-Smith had murdered unarmed prisoners and civilians while serving in Afghanistan were "substantially true".
Saying that the 44-year-old was "not an honest and reliable witness", he added: "I have difficulty accepting the applicant's evidence on any disputed issue".
He further found that the Victoria Cross recipient invoked a special forces code of silence to intimidate witnesses, and also smeared and threatened others.
In a bid to silence a fellow Afghanistan veteran, Roberts-Smith went to the extent of sending a legal threat to Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest woman, warning that the ex-soldier - Ms Rinehart's relative - would be sued for speaking ill of him.
He even hired a private detective to investigate another former soldier who was questioning his past, producing a report that profiled not only the veteran but his wife and parents as well.
In a tape recording, Roberts-Smith was also heard lambasting soldiers who broke the silence code. "A few people [in the special forces] had done what we don't do and that's talk out of school."
Roberts-Smith has not commented since the ruling, but he is expected to appeal to the full bench of the federal court.
The 110-day defamation trial costs an estimated A$25m ($16.3m, £13.2m).
Roberts-Smith had been considered a national hero for having single-handedly overpowered Taliban machine-gunners who were attacking his Special Air Service (SAS) platoon, earning him Australia's highest military honour.
He was appointed to high-profile executive positions and received a string of accolades, even being crowned Father of the Year in 2013.
But while he has not been charged with any offences, the father of two is currently the subject of an Australia Federal Police inquiry into alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
In 2020, a landmark investigation known as the Brereton Report found "credible evidence" that elite Australian soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people in Afghanistan.
It recommended that 19 current or former soldiers should be investigated over alleged killings of prisoners and civilians from 2009-13.
Source- BBC
Alison Hammond breaks down on This Morning over Phillip Schofield interview
This Morning presenter Alison Hammond has broken down live on the program while reacting to the departure of ex-colleague Phillip Schofield.
Schofield told the BBC he feels his "career is over" following the affair he had with a young male colleague.
Speaking on Friday's show, Hammond said he had apologized and urged people not to judge his actions too harshly.
"I'm just finding it really painful because obviously, I loved Phillip Schofield," she said.
"And it's weird because I still love Phillip Schofield. However what he's done is wrong, he's admitted it, and he's said sorry.
"But as a [TV] family we're all really struggling to process everything and I never know what to say."
She continued: "But I remember what my mum always said: 'Use your Bible as your Sat Nav in life Al', and in the Bible, it says 'he without sin, cast the first stone'.
"And I just don't want to say anything bad because obviously, I'm in conflict."
Schofield, 61, left the ITV show last week after he admitted lying about the affair with a male colleague, who he first met at the age of 15 and helped to get into the industry.
The network has asked a barrister to lead a review into its handling of the short-lived relationship.
This week, instead of its usual presenters Schofield and Holly Willoughby, This Morning has been fronted by Hammond alongside Dermot O'Leary.
O'Leary noted that "what Phil has done is wrong" but offered, given the widespread coverage, there should now be concerns about his mental health.
Clutching a small green vape during an interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan, Schofield suggested recent events had left him feeling suicidal and drew a parallel with the media treatment of both him and Caroline Flack.
Former Love Island presenter Flack's death prompted an outpouring of grief as well as a demand for it to become a turning point for the treatment of celebrities on social media and the press.
She took her own life in 2020, having stood down from the dating show after she was charged with assaulting her partner in December.
Several Twitter users commented that Schofield's comparison was "distasteful".
O'Leary said on This Morning: "As a society, quite rightly we talk about mental health all the time but that can't be the preserve of people who are on the right side of history."
Hammond added: "There's [only] so much a man can take, isn't there? And I don't want any death in this situation."
Schofield, who is married with two children, received an outpouring of support in 2020 after revealing he is gay.
Another This Morning regular, Gyles Brandreth, said the controversy around him was "a human story but with public implications".
"The point is, the public implication is to do with broadcasting and to do with workplace rules, regulations, good behavior [and] that is going to be dealt with by the review and we'll learn the consequences of that," he said.
"At the same time, we are dealing with the human being that all of us here have known and liked over many years, so it makes it difficult for us.
"And really, what I'm saying is that the reaction to it has been in some ways disproportionate at the human level."
Fellow broadcaster Richard Bacon also lent his support, tweeting it was "time to stop piling in on this human being". The former Blue Peter presenter was sacked from the show in 1998 after admitting to taking cocaine.
Former Good Morning Britain presenter and broadcaster Piers Morgan agreed it was "time to stop this relentless persecution of a guy who's lost everything and looks right on the edge to me.
"He doesn't seem to have committed any crime, and he's not a govt minister."
But Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of the Sun, disputed Schofield's claim that public scrutiny of his relationship with a younger man was homophobic.
"Don't agree," he posted. "Suspect it would have been even worse had he met a girl of 15, arranged for her to have a job with him at 18, and then at some stage turned the 'friendship' into an affair."
"He's only 'sad' because his dirty secret came out," said political commentator Bushra Shaikh, "Otherwise he'd still be sitting presenting on that sofa.
"[Forget] his crocodile tears."
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has been asked to face questions from MPs on the situation at ITV and This morning, at a session of the committee on 14 June.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of Parliament's Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today program that Schofield's interview was "very hard to listen to".
"This is two lives blown apart by this incident," she said.
"This is two careers devastated by this and not to mention all the families and loved ones that are going to be impacted as well. It's a very difficult interview to listen to."
Lauren Beeching, the founder of crisis management agency Honest London, told the BBC the public response to his interview had "picked out certain parts that Phillip has said, and disagreed with and shared, pushing even more of a 'witch hunt'".
"It's clear that Phillip felt the urge to respond to the hate, but right now, very little can be said to improve his situation. I would have advised him to stay silent until public anger calmed down."
But she disagreed with Schofield saying his career was over, adding: "I've worked with celebrities experiencing similar levels of public outrage, and in every instance, with time, the public backlash lessens. This is when Phillip can begin rebuilding his reputation."
Simon Wadsworth, the founder of Igniyte, a reputations management consultancy, told the BBC he saw the interview as a "positive step" which could "help sway public opinion in his favor", adding: "Phillip Schofield was right to come out with his side of the story, which must have been very difficult. The interview will help to balance the narrative."
He also thought the presenter's TV career was not over, saying: "At the moment yes it would seem so but in the long term no... No presenter is irreplaceable. He needs to take himself away to rebuild and reassess."
At the end of This Morning's Friday show, Hammond also confirmed that Holly Willoughby would return to the sofa to present it on Monday, alongside Josie Gibson.
ITV told the BBC it was not issuing any further statements, referring back to the independent review into its handling of a relationship between Schofield and his colleague, set up earlier this week.
For more reaction to the Phillip Schofield interview, listen on BBC Sounds to 5 Live's Voice of the UK with Nicky Campbell.
Lauren Beeching, a founder of crisis management agency Honest London, told the BBC the public response to his interview had "picked out certain parts that Phillip has said, and disagreed with and shared, pushing even more of a 'witch hunt'".
"It's clear that Phillip felt the urge to respond to the hate, but right now, very little can be said to improve his situation. I would have advised him to stay silent until public anger calmed down."
But she disagreed with Schofield saying his career was over, adding: "I've worked with celebrities experiencing similar levels of public outrage, and in every instance, with time, the public backlash lessens. This is when Phillip can begin rebuilding his reputation."
Simon Wadsworth, a founder of Igniyte, a reputations management consultancy, told the BBC he saw the interview as a "positive step" which could "help sway public opinion in his favor", adding: "Phillip Schofield was right to come out with his side of the story, which must have been very difficult. The interview will help to balance the narrative."
He also thought the presenter's TV career was not over, saying: "At the moment yes it would seem so but in the long term no... No presenter is irreplaceable. He needs to take himself away to rebuild and reassess."
At the end of This Morning's Friday show, Hammond also confirmed that Holly Willoughby would return to the sofa to present it on Monday, alongside Josie Gibson.
ITV told the BBC it was not issuing any further statements, referring back to the independent review into its handling of a relationship between Schofield and his colleague, set up earlier this week.
For more reaction to the Phillip Schofield interview, listen on BBC Sounds to 5 Live's Voice of the UK with Nicky Campbell.
Source- BBC