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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EE launches streaming TV with custom Apple TV box in UK first

Live and on-demand TV over broadband replaces BT TV as firm continues brand and service revamp

The BT-owned EE is rolling out its revamped TV over broadband offering, which delivers live and on-demand services streamed to a choice of set-top boxes that includes a customised Apple TV – a first for the UK.

The new IPTV service continues the firm’s replacement of the BT brand with EE and ditches the aerial while still offering free-to-air and premium channels in a range of packages starting at £18 a month on top of the required EE broadband subscription.

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YouTuber gets six months in prison for staging plane crash to make video

Trevor Daniel Jacob, 30, sentenced for obstructing investigation after deliberately crashing his plane in California

A California YouTuber who authorities say deliberately crashed his plane and posted a video of it online was sentenced to six months in federal prison for obstructing the investigation by destroying the wreckage.

Trevor Daniel Jacob, 30, an experienced pilot and skydiver, pleaded guilty in June to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Jacob destroyed wreckage from the small single-engine plane that he crashed in Los Padres national forest in 2021, authorities say.

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Channel Seven paid $4,000 a fortnight in rent for Bruce Lehrmann interview, documents reveal

Document uploaded by the federal court suggests former Liberal staffer’s deal with the network may be worth $104,000

Channel Seven paid Bruce Lehrmann’s fortnightly rent of $4,000 for a period in June for exclusive access to the former Liberal staffer, according to documents uploaded by the federal court.

Seven agreed in a separate exclusivity document, which was also uploaded on Tuesday, to pay Lehrmann’s rent for 12 months in return for exclusive access to him from mid-2023 to mid-2024.

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‘Jail crushes you slowly’: Kashmiri journalist reflects on prison ordeal

Fahad Shah, whose case was a symbol of harassment of region’s media, says he has different outlook after months behind bars

During his more than 600 days behind bars, Fahad Shah, a Kashmiri journalist, had begun to lose hope that he would ever see freedom again. It was in February last year that Shah, 34, the editor of the Kashmir Walla, one of the last remaining independent news websites in the region, was arrested on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and publishing “anti-national content”.

What followed was a crushing 21 months for Shah as his high-profile case became a symbol of the growing harassment faced by Kashmiri journalists. He was granted bail in one case, only to be swiftly re-arrested and hit with new, more draconian charges.

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BBC set to receive below-inflation rise in licence fee

Imminent announcement likely to signal further cuts to broadcaster’s staffing and programmes

The BBC will receive a below-inflation increase to the licence fee, the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, has effectively confirmedafter Rishi Sunak said he welcomed cuts made by the corporation to its spending and services.

The £159 annual fee has been frozen for two years, and if it were to increase in line with inflation it would go up by about £15. During an interview round on Monday, Frazer said this was extremely unlikely to happen.

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UK ad watchdog to crack down on ‘biodegradable’ and ‘recyclable’ claims

Consumers left angry and dismayed when they found out the truth about these terms, says Advertising Standards Authority study

Plastic bottles, takeaway cups and food packaging that could take an unlimited amount of time to break down are being advertised as “biodegradable”, with the advertising regulator calling for more clarity on such claims from businesses.

British consumers believe they are making green choices while disposing of waste when they are often not, according to a new report. The study, from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), based on extensive interviews with consumers, found widespread misunderstandings around common terms such as “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “recyclable”, leaving participants angry when they discovered what they meant.

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Brexit-backer Richard Desmond invokes EU law to sue Gambling Commission

Ex-Express owner is expected to claim regulator made errors during bidding war for national lottery contract

Richard Desmond, the Brexit-backing media tycoon, is invoking EU law to sue the gambling regulator after it rejected his “fanciful” bid to run the national lottery, in a suit that could deprive good causes of millions of pounds.

The former owner of the Daily Express has vowed previously to seek damages from the Gambling Commission after his company Northern & Shell missed out on a 10-year contract, worth £6.5bn, to run the lottery from next year.

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Vox and Condé Nast are latest to announce media layoffs

Vox lays off at least 20 people in second round of cuts this year while Condé Nast to reduce staff by 5% over next few months

Vox Media and Condé Nast announced sweeping cuts this week in various departments, adding to a long list of recent upheaval within media organizations around the world.

The two media powerhouses held layoffs on Thursday after losing a hard-fought battle against the declining ad market, which makes up a large portion of revenue for these companies.

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University Challenge special axed over lack of support for disabled contestants

Christmas alumni episode had one blind entrant and another who was neurodivergent, both of whom say they did not get help

The BBC has apologised and pulled a Christmas episode of University Challenge after two contestants complained about a lack of provision for their disabilities.

The festive spin-off from the BBC Two quiz show, hosted by Amol Rajan, features teams of distinguished alumni who compete on behalf of their former universities.

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Fears raised after Hong Kong journalist fails to return from China trip

Minnie Chan has reportedly been out of contact since travelling to Xiangshan Forum a month ago

Friends and colleagues of a Hong Kong journalist have raised concerns after she failed to return from a defence and security forum in Beijing a month ago.

Minnie Chan, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, has not been in contact since she went to the Xiangshan Forum, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Thursday. Chan filed several stories from the forum, the most recent of which was published on 2 November.

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Nine men to be tried for murder of Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries

Hearing to start in January in case of journalist shot in the street in 2021 who was adviser to a witness in trial of a Dutch drug baron

Nine men suspected of the murder of prominent Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries will go on trial in January, a Dutch court has announced, with a verdict expected by the summer.

De Vries was gunned down on a busy Amsterdam street on 6 July 2021, shortly after leaving a TV studio where he had appeared as a guest on a programme.

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