Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: Channel Ten wins bid to present fresh evidence

Justice Michael Lee has reopened high-profile case to allow fresh evidence from former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach

Justice Michael Lee will allow Channel Ten to present additional evidence in its defence of the defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, delaying the judgment until next week.

The case will be reopened and the evidence of a new witness, former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach, will now be tested on Thursday, the day the judgment was to have been handed down.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Al Jazeera faces ‘security threat’ ban as Israel passes new law

Benjamin Netanyahu says after approval of bill he will ‘act immediately … to stop channel’s activities’

Israeli legislators have approved a bill paving the way for a ban on Al Jazeera and other international news outlets perceived as posing a threat to security.

After the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised to take prompt measures to force the end of Al Jazeera’s operations within the country, parliament granted senior ministers authority to shut down foreign news networks.

Continue reading...

Photography bursary launched in memory of Guardian’s Eamonn McCabe

Royal Photographic Society says award reflects the support and encouragement McCabe showed for aspiring photographers

A bursary focusing on the theme of sporting endeavour and designed to help talented young photographers has been launched in honour of the memory of the award-winning Guardian and Observer photographer Eamonn McCabe.

The bursary, established by The Royal Photographic Society (RPS), The Guardian and Observer and McCabe’s family will give £3,000 to a photographer aged 25 or under to produce a project.

Continue reading...

Cleaners, builders, Primark shoppers: ads for London mayor hopeful Susan Hall reveal Tories’ targets

Analysis shows content is aimed at working-class over-50s, and plays on fears of crime, stirs anger and pushes conspiracy theories

Are you a cleaner or builder who likes Primark, the pub or reality TV – but doesn’t care about the environment? If yes, the Conservative party wants your vote.

These are some of the interest categories used by the campaign team for the Tories’ candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, to target audiences on social media.

Continue reading...

Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: Network Ten asks to reopen its defence, citing ‘fresh evidence’

Justice Michael Lee will hear an urgent application from Network Ten at 5pm on Tuesday

Network Ten will ask the federal court to reopen its defence on Tuesday at an emergency hearing scheduled less than two days before the judgement in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case is due to be handed down.

Justice Michael Lee was scheduled to deliver his judgment in the federal court in Sydney at 10.15am on Thursday 4 April in the defamation case Lehrmann brought against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Tehran denies involvement in London attack on TV presenter

Met police say investigation into stabbing of Iranian journalist near home in Wimbledon is being led by counter-terrorism officers

Iran’s most senior diplomat in Britain has denied claims that the Iranian government was behind a knife attack on a TV presenter in London amid growing fears over threats to dissidents.

The country’s charge d’affaires, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, said Iran “denies any link” to the stabbing of Pouria Zeraati, 36, a presenter at Iran International, outside his home in Wimbledon on Friday. He is in a stable condition and was looking forward to being discharged from hospital soon.

Continue reading...

Missouri AG sues Media Matters as Republicans take on critics of Musk’s X

Move follows similar lawsuit by Texas attorney general, raising fear that news outlets could be next targets

The attorney general of Missouri is suing Media Matters, a progressive watchdog group, alleging that it failed to turn over internal documents following its 2023 coverage of hate speech on the social media platform X. The head of the group says news outlets could be the next targets.

“Media Matters has pursued an activist agenda in its attempt to destroy X, because they cannot control it,” the lawsuit said, describing X – formerly known as Twitter – as a “free speech platform” that allows “Missourians to express their own viewpoints in the public square”.

Continue reading...

Iran International targeted by Tehran, says channel after London stabbing

Spokesperson tells Today programme that UK-based broadcaster has been under ‘heavy threat for last 18 months’

Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards have been targeting the broadcaster Iran International, a spokesperson for the channel said after a leading journalist was stabbed in London.

The Persian-language news television channel that employed Pouria Zeraati, who was attacked outside his London home, had received an increased level of threats beforehand, Adam Baillie told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday.

Continue reading...

US-funded Radio Free Asia shuts down in Hong Kong over safety concerns

News service says it closed bureau after passing of new national security law known as Article 23

US-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) has closed its Hong Kong bureau over safety concerns for its staff in the wake of a new national security law known as Article 23.

“Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a ‘foreign force’, raise serious questions about our ability to operate in safety with the enactment of Article 23,” its president, Bay Fang, said in a statement on Friday.

Continue reading...

Russian police detain journalist who filmed last video of Alexei Navalny alive

Rights groups say Antonina Favorskaya is accused of links to Alexei Navalny’s ‘extremist organisation’ and is one of six journalists held this month

A journalist who filmed the last video of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny before he died, Antonina Favorskaya, has been detained by authorities.

Favorskaya covered the trials of Navalny for several years and media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday she was one of six journalists across the country held this month.

Continue reading...

NSW police commissioner backflips on appointment of Steve Jackson as new media adviser

Decision announced on eve of Easter long weekend following weeks of controversy over Jackson’s former work as a journalist

The New South Wales police commissioner, Karen Webb, has backflipped on her decision to appoint former Network Seven producer Steve Jackson as her media adviser.

Questions about the appointment were raised last week when images of Jackson, who produced Seven’s Spotlight interview with Bruce Lehrmann, began circulating in the media industry in Sydney. Seven paid more than $100,000 in rent for the former Liberal staffer in return for the exclusive interview.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Know your audience’: BBC 5 Live chief on the station’s staying power

On 5 Live’s 30th birthday, Heidi Dawson says more of the BBC should be based outside London to reflect the national conversation

More of the BBC needs to be based outside London to reflect the “conversation of the nation” and secure its future, according to the controller of BBC Radio 5 Live.

As the station celebrates its 30th birthday on Thursday, with a series of shows and tributes, Heidi Dawson says 5 Live is well placed to see off the multiple headwinds buffeting its HQ in London, including a further £200m in annual cuts announced by the BBC’s director general this week.

Continue reading...

Eric Cantona reveals inspiration for 1995 seagulls comment: ‘It just came out’

Former Manchester United star says his near 30-year silence on subject has been his revenge on the press

It was one of the most baffling utterances ever made by a footballer.

When Eric Cantona said at a 1995 press conference: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea,” everyone was left scratching their heads.

Continue reading...

Hire factcheckers to fight election fake news, EU tells tech firms

Parliamentary elections thought vulnerable to fake news will test social media firms and bloc’s new DSA laws

Social media firms including TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram will be required to put an army of factcheckers and moderators in place with a collective knowledge of 24 EU languages amid fears that the European parliamentary elections will be a prime target for disinformation campaigns run by Russia and others including the far right.

The new rules flow from the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates content on social media, and follows a public consultation with civil society and election observation groups in February.

Continue reading...

Russian detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich extended by three months

Friday will mark one year since the journalist was arrested on espionage charges

A Russian court has extended by three months the pre-trial detention of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter arrested almost a year ago on suspicion of espionage while on a reporting trip in the city of Ekaterinburg.

Gershkovich, 32, became the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the cold war when he was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on 29 March 2023.

Continue reading...

NSW police commissioner says appointment of media adviser under review after new information received

Karen Webb says checks still under way in the appointment of Channel Seven journalist Steve Jackson to the role of police media adviser

The New South Wales police commissioner, Karen Webb, has revealed the appointment of a new police media adviser is under review after she received new information about the candidate.

A spokesperson for NSW police told Guardian Australia the review of the appointment of the Channel Seven and News Corp journalist Steve Jackson to the $320,000-a-year role “remains ongoing”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Apologies for Kategate – but will the spirit of restraint on social media last?

The Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnosis has put a stop to the internet’s wilder conspiracy theories, but it could be temporary

After Friday’s filmed statement from the Princess of Wales, it is now TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, who are in the dock. This weekend thousands of individual users have expressed contrition over the conspiracy theories they aired and the boss of X herself tried to reposition her platform by urging compassion.

“A brave message delivered by Princess Kate with her signature grace,” CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino, posted, adding, “Her request for privacy, to protect her children and allow her to move forward (without endless speculation) seems like a reasonable request to respect.”

Continue reading...

Out of control media left Kate with little choice over opening up about health

The Princess of Wales’s video was intended to calm the fevered speculation about her but may just spark yet more incessant coverage

When she met Prince William, the heir to the British throne, more than 20 years ago at St Andrews University, Catherine, the Princess of Wales had her first taste of the appetite for news about her life and her budding romantic involvement with the young prince.

Since their marriage in 2011, the desire for news, any news, about Catherine has only grown. Her every movement has been tracked, every outfit remarked upon, every decision – around her work, her children, the way she spends her free time, the way she moves – has been endlessly analysed, assessed, lauded or judged.

Continue reading...

Candace Owens leaves Daily Wire site amid Israel and antisemitism tensions

Far-right commentator posts ‘The rumors are true – I am finally free’ following clashes with site’s co-founder Ben Shapiro

The far-right commentator Candace Owens left the rightwing Daily Wire website amid tensions over her alleged antisemitism and opposition to US funding of Israel’s war in Gaza.

“Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship,” said Jeremy Boreing, co-founder of the site with the rightwing commentator Ben Shapiro, who has clashed with Owens and is a strong supporter of Israel and its actions.

Continue reading...

‘Flat and shallow’: Netflix’s 3 Body Problem divides viewers in China

Eight-episode series based on Liu Cixin novels triggers accusations of ‘Americanisation’ of a Chinese story

Netflix’s big-budget adaptation of Three-Body Problem, a series of novels by the Chinese author Liu Cixin, has divided opinion on Chinese social media.

The eight-episode series, 3 Body Problem, was released in full on Netflix on Thursday. It is based on the first book in Liu’s trilogy, an ambitious sci-fi series spanning civilisation from the 1960s to the end of humanity.

Continue reading...