Poland’s new government sacks state TV, radio and news bosses

Move follows regular accusations of biased reporting and transmission of propaganda when PiS was in power

The new Polish government has gutted the top management of public television, making good on a campaign promise to reform a broadcaster that functioned as a mouthpiece of its rightwing populist predecessor, but also prompting criticism of their methods from some quarters.

The government led by prime minister, Donald Tusk, was sworn into office last Wednesday. It has promised to launch an ambitious programme to reverse the damage done to rule of law in the country during eight years of government by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

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Lawyer apologises for saying Michelle Mone was not linked to PPE firm

Jonathan Coad, who represented former Tory peer, says sorry for unwittingly misleading the media

A lawyer who represented Michelle Mone has offered an “unqualified apology” for incorrectly claiming she was not connected to a firm that received PPE contracts worth £200m during the coronavirus pandemic.

Two other lawyers who acted for the former Conservative peer had told the media she was not connected to or involved in the company, PPE Medpro, and said client confidentiality limited what they could say about the matter.

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X to be investigated for allegedly breaking EU laws on hate speech and fake news

EU launches proceedings against Elon Musk’s social media platform under new Digital Services Act

The social media platform X, formerly Twitter, is being investigated for allegedly breaking EU law on disinformation, illegal content and transparency, the European Commission has announced.

The decision to launch formal infringement proceedings against the company, owned by the US billionaire Elon Musk, comes weeks after X was asked to provide evidence of compliance with new laws designed to eliminate hate speech, racism and fake news from platforms in the EU.

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Brittany Higgins told senior colleague she remembered Bruce Lehrmann on top of her, defamation trial hears

Linda Reynolds’ then chief of staff Fiona Brown was first to interview pair after alleged rape, which Lehrmann has always denied

Former Liberal staffer Fiona Brown was dramatically compelled to give evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial on Monday on the proviso the federal court’s live stream was disabled while she was in the witness box.

Brown was Senator Linda Reynolds’ chief of staff at the time Brittany Higgins claims Lehrmann raped her on the ministerial couch, and was the first person to interview both of them. She took contemporaneous notes.

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Tech giants could be forced to share secret news deals under Australia’s media bargaining code

New legislation will help ensure sustainability of public interest journalism, Labor says

Tech giants could be forced to hand over sensitive details on how they distribute news on their platforms to Australia’s competition watchdog as part of the federal government’s commitment to levelling the playing field for public interest journalism in the digital age.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will undertake periodic reporting into how platforms subject to the media bargaining code are distributing news content on sites and whether significant bargaining power imbalances between the tech giants and media organisations exist.

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World watches as landmark Jimmy Lai trial set to begin in Hong Kong

Territory’s global reputation on the line as media mogul and democracy activist finally tried over alleged national security crimes

Hong Kong’s global reputation will be tested this week when the long-delayed trial of the pro-democracy activist and former media mogul Jimmy Lai gets under way.

Lai, who turned 76 in jail this month, is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as sedition. If convicted, which experts say is highly likely, the British national faces spending the rest of his life in prison.

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Favourites Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola win this year’s Strictly Come Dancing

The ex-Coronation Street actor grew and grew over the series, while her partner went one better than his runner-up placing last year

It was a night of high-quality hoofing, high scores and high camp but ultimately, the Strictly Come Dancing final went the way that bookmakers predicted. Odds-on favourite Ellie Leach and her professional partner, Vito Coppola, were crowned champions. As they lifted the glitter ball trophy and sparkly confetti fell, it made a fitting climax to another feelgood series.

Former Coronation Street actor Leach, 22, had blossomed before viewers’ eyes. Initially an unfancied contender, she visibly grew in confidence to become a pocket rocket performer.

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BBC shelves Question of Sport, blaming ‘funding challenges’

Corporation halts production on world’s longest-running sport quiz after 53 years and says it is ‘not the final whistle’

The BBC is pulling Question of Sport, the world’s longest-running sport quiz, citing “funding difficulties”.

The show began in 1970 with David Vine as presenter, followed by David Coleman, Sue Barker and the current incumbent, Paddy McGuinness, who took over two years ago.

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Prince Harry’s victory puts the spotlight back on nervous newspapers

The Duke of Sussex’s determination to have his day in court over phone hacking has once again lifted the lid on media standards

Prince Harry’s victory against the Daily Mirror has placed phone hacking and media standards back under the spotlight, 11 years after the conclusion of the Leveson inquiry.

While millions of pounds have been paid out to victims of phone hacking in the intervening years, they were largely via out-of-court settlements, which kept a lid on the reputational damage to the perpetrators.

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Lisa Wilkinson tells court she was ‘largely out of the picture’ in lead up to Brittany Higgins broadcast

Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial also hears Wilkinson didn’t receive detailed summary of producer’s call with prime minister’s office

Lisa Wilkinson says she was “largely out of the picture” in the days leading up to the broadcast of The Project’s interview with Brittany Higgins in 2021, a federal court has heard.

Wilkinson and Ten are co-respondents in a defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann who says he was defamed by a rape allegation made by Higgins on Ten’s The Project. Lehrmann was not named but says he was identifiable.

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Rishi Sunak considers curbing social media use for under-16s

Reports suggest a ban is among potential options to protect young people from online harm

Rishi Sunak is considering limiting social media access for teenagers under the age of 16 to try to protect them from online harm, with reports suggesting a potential ban is on the cards.

The government is considering further action despite bringing in the Online Safety Act, which requires social media platforms to shield children from harmful content or face fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue.

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Abu Dhabi-backed group close to £1bn deal for Gogglebox maker All3Media

Telegraph bidder RedBird IMI in talks to buy UK’s largest independent TV production group

The Abu Dhabi-backed investment group that has struck a deal to buy the Telegraph is close to securing a £1bn-plus takeover of another prize UK media asset – All3Media, the TV production group behind shows including Call the Midwife, Squid Game: The Challenge, Gogglebox and Midsomer Murders.

RedBird IMI, a joint-venture between the US company RedBird Capital and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, the investment vehicle for the UAE vice-president, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, is understood to be in advanced negotiations to buy the UK’s largest independent TV production group.

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Bruce Lehrmann seeks ‘secret’ Sky News recordings of Brittany Higgins’ lawyer and fiance talking in Sydney bar

Recordings of Leon Zwier and others reportedly revealed lawyer discussing how Higgins could respond to cross examination in defamation trial. Zwier has denied coaching his client through her fiance

So-called “secret” recordings of Brittany Higgins’ lawyer speaking to Higgins’ fiance David Sharaz at a Sydney bar while she faced cross-examination are being sought by Bruce Lehrmann as he sues for defamation.

The recordings were taken of Leon Zwier and others at the Park Hyatt Lobby Bar on December 4 and reportedly revealed the lawyer discussing how Higgins’ could respond to questions in cross-examination.

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Elon Musk says X will reinstate Alex Jones’s account after poll of users

Rightwing conspiracy theorist was banned from platform in 2018, but could be back after 2m votes cast

The social media platform X will reinstate the account of the US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a poll of the site’s users backed his return, its owner, Elon Musk, has said.

“The people have spoken and so it shall be,” Musk posted in reply to a poll on Saturday on whether to reinstate the Jones account. Close to 2m votes were cast by the time the poll closed, with about 70% voting in favour of Jones’s return.

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David Cameron urged to tell China to free Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai

Newspaper tycoon’s son seeks meeting with foreign secretary as Briton, 76, faces trial and possible life sentence

Foreign secretary David Cameron is being urged to demand the release of newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai as the British national prepares for a high-profile trial in Hong Kong this month.

Lai, 76, is facing a life sentence, accused of colluding with foreign forces under the draconian national security law introduced by Beijing in 2020 following mass protests.

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Russian American journalist Masha Gessen put on Kremlin’s wanted list

Prominent journalist – who lives in the US – was placed on the list after discussing atrocities committed in Ukraine by Russian forces

Russian police have put prominent Russian American journalist and author Masha Gessen on a wanted list after opening a criminal case against them on charges of spreading false information about the Russian army.

It is the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown against dissent in Russia that has intensified since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine more than 21 months ago, on 24 February 2022.

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Almost 100 journalists killed and 400 imprisoned in 2023, says report

International Federation of Journalists says 68 killed covering Israel-Hamas war, more than in any other conflict in over 30 years

A leading organisation representing journalists worldwide has expressed deep concern at the number of media professionals killed around the globe doing their jobs in 2023, with more journalists killed during Israel’s war with Hamas than in any other conflict in more than 30 years.

In its annual count of media worker deaths, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said 94 journalists had been killed so far this year and almost 400 others had been imprisoned.

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The defamation trial gripping Australia: Bruce Lehrmann, Brittany Higgins and the witnesses so far

An allegation of rape, fiercely denied, in a ministerial office is being interrogated by weeks of testimony and cross-examination in a defamation trial brought by the accused

It has become one of Australia’s most convoluted and damaging political sagas, polarising the public.

An allegation of rape, fiercely denied, in a ministerial office in Parliament House has been discussed in news reports, interviews, speeches, and reams of commentary. It was examined in an aborted criminal trial, covered in four separate inquiries and now the first of several related civil cases is again calling witnesses and poring over evidence.

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Meta platforms are marketplaces for child predators claims lawsuit

Facebook and Instagram ‘enabled adults to find, message and groom minors’ for sexual exploitation, alleges state of New Mexico legal filing

Meta has allowed its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to become marketplaces for child predators, the state of New Mexico alleges in a lawsuit filed against the company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

The lawsuit claims that Meta “proactively served and directed [children] to egregious, sexually explicit images through recommended users and posts – even where the child has expressed no interest in this content”. It claims Meta “enabled adults to find, message and groom minors, soliciting them to sell pictures or participate in pornographic videos”. The company is also accused of fostering unmoderated user groups devoted to facilitating and selling child sexual exploitation content.

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Taylor Swift lambasts music industry and says Kim Kardashian feud ‘took me down psychologically’

In a lengthy interview as she is named Time’s person of the year, Swift speaks about toll of high-profile spat, and criticises music industry over treatment of young stars

Taylor Swift has spoken of the psychological damage of her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and lambasted the music industry over its treatments of young pop stars, in a new interview with Time, which has named her their person of the year.

After a year in which she has been at the centre of cultural conversations for her massively lucrative Eras tour, Swift spoke damningly of what she sees as a short-termist approach by record labels to replace, rather than nurture its stars. “By the time an artist is mature enough to psychologically deal with the job, they throw you out at 29, typically,” she says. “In the 90s and 00s, it seems like the music industry just said: ‘OK, let’s take a bunch of teenagers, throw them into a fire, and watch what happens. By the time they’ve accumulated enough wisdom to do their job effectively, we’ll find new teenagers.’” She said her solution was to change style with each new album project: “I realised every record label was actively working to try to replace me. I thought instead, I’d replace myself first with a new me. It’s harder to hit a moving target.”

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