In a letter to the Guardian, Uran Ferizi criticises ‘obsession’ with demonising Albanians
Albanians in Britain are paying the price in schools and workplaces of being scapegoated by rightwing media and politicians, the Albanian ambassador has said.
Uran Ferizi also criticised Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, for comments in parliament where she singled out Albanians when discussing problems with immigration.
Continue reading...Billionaire owner elects not to attend voluntary interview as part of investigation by French cybercrime unit
Elon Musk did not appear on Monday for a voluntary interview with lawyers in Paris, who had summoned the American tech billionaire over an investigation into his social media platform X and AI chatbot Grok.
The prosecutors told AFP that they had “taken note of the absence of the first people summoned”, without mentioning Musk’s name. The billionaire called the French authorities involved “retards” weeks earlier in a French-language post on X.
Continue reading...Dianna Russini, who was photographed with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, climbed on to Jeep to pull out man and dog
A day after resigning from the Athletic amid an internal investigation into photos of her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, the NFL reporter Dianna Russini rescued an older man and a dog from an overturned car in New Jersey.
Russini’s actions in the aftermath of a car crash on Wednesday in Wyckoff, New Jersey, were confirmed by a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Page Six on Friday first reported on the wreck and Russini’s intervention, 10 days after the celebrity news outlet exclusively published the photos of Russini and Vrabel.
Continue reading...Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was arrested after reporting on friendly fire incident during US conflict with Iran
The detention of a prize-winning international journalist over his reporting of a friendly fire incident in Kuwait is raising questions about the crackdown on freedom of speech across the Middle East as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran, the Committee to Protect Journalists has warned.
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, born in the US and a Kuwaiti national, was arrested on 3 March during a brief visit to Kuwait. He published footage of a US air force F- 15 E Strike Eagle crashing in al Jahra west of Kuwait city. On his Substack he said the pilot and weapons officer had successfully ejected and survived. He added that video circulating online showed local residents assisting one of the crew in a civilian truck.
Continue reading...Mayor says disinformation, including about London crime rates, is ‘eating away at basic bonds of trust’
Sadiq Khan has called on ministers to take significantly stronger action against social media companies that spread disinformation after a study showed a surge in hostile accounts posting falsehoods about London’s crime rates and integration.
In an intervention on what he called “the outrage economy”, the London mayor, who has also written to social media firms demanding change, said a lack of action could prompt more domestic terrorism by people who believe conspiracy theories they find online.
Continue reading...Wildlife film pioneer has died aged 74 ‘immersed in nature and surrounded by friends’, his representatives have said
An award-winning wildlife cameraman renowned for his work with David Attenborough has died aged 74 while trekking in Nepal.
Doug Allan, described as a “true pioneer” of wildlife film-making, won several Bafta and Emmy awards and was principal camera operator on a number of BBC series including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and The Blue Planet.
Continue reading...Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement announce four shows at Wellington venue Meow Nui from next week – their first gigs since 2018
New Zealand’s self-described “fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo-a cappella-rap-funk-comedy-folk duo” Flight of the Conchords sold out their first shows in eight years in minutes this week, sparking a frenzy among fans.
Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement formed the musical comedy act in 1998, soaring to worldwide fame off the back of their HBO comedy series of the same name with tunes including Business Time and Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros.
Continue reading...Freelancer Shelly Kittleson was reportedly held by Iran-backed militia which says she must now leave country
The US journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week, has been released, secretary of state Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday.
“We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” he said on social media.
Continue reading...A huge rise in internet users under the age of 30 has fuelled an increase in online violence against women and girls with devastating real-life effects, activists say
Activists and lawyers in Africa are calling for urgent action to protect women, girls and boys as digital violence surges across the continent.
A massive rise in internet users, coupled with huge numbers of people aged under 30, has fuelled an increase in gendered online violence across the continent, according to experts, by giving perpetrators new tools to control and silence women and girls, and influence boys.
Continue reading...Model posted pictures of herself naked and ‘in her full power’ to celebrate Mother’s Day, before Meta took them down for breaching nudity guidelines
The model Erin O’Connor has spoken out about the need for social media platforms to apply “clearer, more context-sensitive guidelines” after Instagram repeatedly removed two nude photographs she had posted on Mother’s Day, celebrating her heavily pregnant body.
The photos – which were removed, reinstated and then removed again by the platform – were taken in 2014 when O’Connor, who is 48, was eight and half months’ pregnant with her son Albert.
Continue reading...CNN team detained while reporting on aftermath of attack by settlers in West Bank, Foreign Press Association says
An international media association has condemned what it described as a “violent assault” by Israeli soldiers who detained a CNN crew in the occupied West Bank this week.
A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when it was detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said on Saturday.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer promises to help parents limit children’s online activity as government issues guidance to families
Children under five should spend no more than an hour a day on screens, new government advice says.
Screen time for children under two should be avoided except for shared activities encouraging interaction, families are advised.
Continue reading...New Mexico hails ‘historic’ win after jury finds firm misled consumers over safety and enabled harm against users
A New Mexico jury on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375m in civil penalties after it found the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation, against its users.
This is the first bench trial to find Meta liable for acts committed on its platform.
Continue reading...Handful of billionaires gave huge sums in particular to media organisations that boosted rightwing politicians, says Liam Byrne MP
More than £170m was given to MPs, political parties, media organisations and thinktanks aligned with the UK’s populist right over the past five years, new research from the Labour MP Liam Byrne has found.
Byrne, a former cabinet minister who chairs parliament’s business committee, said he had identified a “media-political complex” funded largely by a handful of billionaires.
Continue reading...The Woman’s Hour host, who has died aged 75, could talk about hydrangeas, campaign against domestic abuse, then tear a strip off a politician – all within a few minutes
Before she took over Woman’s Hour in 1987, Jenni Murray was a presenter on the Today programme. She had joined the BBC in Bristol in 1973, and became a TV reporter and presenter for South Today, so arrived with solid news credentials. But Today in the 1980s was inveterately sexist – the guys took the politics, the women mopped up the rest – that the format was just too small for her.
Woman’s Hour, on the other hand, was absolutely reshaped in her image: there was no preconception of tone, and nothing was too serious or too light for it. Murray, who has died at the age of 75, could tear a strip off a politician, talk about hydrangeas, then campaign against domestic abuse, all within a few minutes. She was instinctively open and generous about her personal experience, but never solipsistic – an incredibly fine balance.
Continue reading...Mediahuis suspends Peter Vandermeersch, who says he ‘fell into trap of hallucinations’, after investigation by newspaper where he was once editor-in-chief
The publisher of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and the Irish Independent has suspended one of its senior journalists after he admitted using AI to “wrongly put words into people’s mouths”.
Peter Vandermeersch, the former head of the Irish operations at Mediahuis, said he “fell into the trap of hallucinations” – the term for AI-generated errors – when using the technology.
Continue reading...Australian Community Media says employee ‘wellbeing’ top priority amid ‘shock and deep concern’ over 59-year-old’s charges
Australian Community Media will hold a staff meeting on Monday afternoon to share the regional media group’s response to the arrest of its part-owner Antony Catalano who is facing charges of assault of a woman.
On Sunday the board and executive leadership team of ACM distanced itself from the 59-year-old newspaper mogul, saying they were “shocked and deeply concerned” about the charges.
Continue reading...Advisers say to ‘assume the cameras are always rolling’ as exchanges can be decoded in seconds and posted online
Royals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisers to watch what they say when they are out of the house – or palace – as a lip-reading phenomenon means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds.
Prince William was recently embroiled after a video of him speaking to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was translated by an expert lip-reader who was working as part of a forthcoming Channel 5 documentary, Lip-Reading the Royals.
Continue reading...Brendan Carr posts that he may cancel spectrum permits of ‘mainstream news’ outlets for ‘misleading’ coverage
The Trump administration’s communications licensing tsar fired a warning shot over the US broadcasting industry Saturday, threatening to cancel the spectrum permits of broadcasters pushing what he termed “hoaxes and news distortions”.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr posted on social media that broadcasters running “fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Continue reading...In China, one social media trend hangs on the idea that a life in the US is always one step from disaster, while another in the US has gen Z revelling in Chinese lifestyle hacks
Across two online worlds that are normally splintered, over the last few months there has been a mirroring of sorts. On TikTok and Instagram, young people are diving into the joys of Chinese culture – from drinking hot water to playing mahjong – all under the banner of “Chinamaxxing”. On the Chinese internet, however, the US is losing its decades-long grip on soft power, and is instead being replaced by a darker trend: the kill line.
The kill line is a dangerous place to be. In gaming, the term refers to the point at which a player’s strength is so depleted that one more blow could lead to total wipeout. In China, the term refers to the risks that come with daily life in the US.
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