Category Archives: Media

Netflix adds warning to Stranger Things episode after Texas shooting

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Netflix spokesperson says season four’s ‘opening scene is very graphic’, which will include warning of violence towards children when it launches on Friday

Netflix has added a last-minute content warning to the opening episode of the latest season of Stranger Things, in wake of the school shooting in Texas that left 21 people dead, including 19 children.

The first episode of the show’s fourth season will premiere worldwide on Friday, just days after the mass shooting at Robb elementary school in Uvalde. The season reportedly opens with a telekinetic massacre that includes the depiction of several dead children covered in blood.

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Israeli forces deliberately shot Shireen Abu Aqleh, Palestinian probe finds

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Israel claims the Al Jazeera journalist was killed during a battle between its soldiers and Palestinian militants

A Palestinian investigation into the shooting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh has concluded that she was deliberately killed by Israeli forces as she tried to flee, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has announced.

The conclusion echoed the results of a preliminary investigation announced nearly two weeks ago and was widely expected. Israel rejected the findings, with the defence minister, Benny Gantz, calling them, “a blatant lie.”

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‘Death to the enemy’: Ukraine’s news channels unite to cover war

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State-backed broadcast has strategic and practical justifications but some see it as dangerous monopoly

In an age of social media and satellite television, the singular wartime news bulletin evokes images of families tuning in to the radio during the second world war. But in Ukraine, the state-backed broadcast has remerged, albeit with a 21st-century spin.

Shortly after Russia invaded, the country’s main TV channels started broadcasting the same content 24 hours a day, nicknamed the United News telemarathon. Each channel has a daily slot on the broadcast, which is shown simultaneously on all the channels.

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Male Afghan TV presenters mask up to support female colleagues after Taliban decree

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#FreeHerFace campaign gathers force as high-profile men rebel against crackdown on face coverings in Afghanistan

Male TV presenters in Afghanistan are wearing face masks on screen to show solidarity after the Taliban issued an order that all women on news channels must cover their faces.

In a protest dubbed #FreeHerFace on social media, men on Tolo News wore masks to mimic the effect of the face veil their female colleagues have been forced to wear after a Taliban crackdown.

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Mark McGowan accuses travelling press pack of ‘bullying’ Anthony Albanese and reporting ‘lies’

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In a blistering attack in Perth, the Western Australia premier also took aim at Peter Dutton, labelling him a conservative ‘extremist’

Western Australian premier Mark McGowan has launched a blistering attack on members of the federal press gallery who followed Anthony Albanese’s election campaign, accusing them of reporting “lies” as well as “bullying” the new prime minister at press conferences.

McGowan, who joined Albanese for several media events in Perth during the six-week campaign, said he was “shocked and appalled” by some in the Canberra-based media pack, who attracted ongoing criticism from Labor supporters and veteran journalists for interjections and combative questioning.

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Pay gap in UK between bosses and workers likely to widen in 2022

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After narrowing during pandemic, analysis suggests FTSE 350 CEOs will collect 63 times average median pay at their companies

The gap between the pay of bosses and employees will widen again this year after narrowing during the pandemic, research suggests.

FTSE 350 chief executives are expected to collect 63 times the average median pay of workers at their companies , according to the High Pay Centre thinktank, which campaigns for fairer pay structures.

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UK under pressure over Alexander Lebedev sanctions after Canada move

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Labour says the case for the British government to follow Ottawa’s lead is ‘extremely strong’

The British government is under pressure to impose sanctions on Alexander Lebedev after Canada targeted the former KGB agent in a fresh wave of restrictions against Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The billionaire Russian businessman, who little more than a decade ago bought the UK’s Evening Standard and Independent newspapers, was named in Ottawa’s latest sanctions announced on Friday.

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Taliban orders female Afghan TV presenters to cover faces on air

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Female anchors post pictures of themselves being ‘erased’ on orders of virtue and vice ministry

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered all female TV presenters to cover their faces on air, the country’s biggest media outlet has said.

The order came in a statement from the Taliban’s virtue and vice ministry, tasked with enforcing the group’s rulings, as well as from the information and culture ministry, the Tolo news channel tweeted on Thursday. The statement called the order “final and non-negotiable”, the channel said.

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Widow of man killed in Libya accuses South Africa of ‘silence’ in hunt for his body

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The South African government sent Anton Hammerl’s passport to his widow in 2016 but has refused to say how it came to have it

The widow of a British-based photographer who was murdered by Col Gaddafi’s forces in Libya in 2011 has accused South Africa of withholding crucial information about her husband’s death that could help in efforts to locate his body.

Anton Hammerl was killed in an incident in May 2011 that saw other journalists, including James Foley – who was later kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic State in Syria – taken prisoner.

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John Peel: personal records and memorabilia set for Bonhams auction

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Items including a handwritten letter from David Bowie and Peel’s horn gramophone will be up for sale next month

Records and music memorabilia once owned by the celebrated former BBC DJ John Peel, including a signed mono pressing of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1968 album Two Virgins, is to be sold at auction in June.

Peel’s family said in a statement: “John/Dad was in a position to have access to many of the most celebrated people and events in the history of popular music. This is reflected in a wealth of souvenirs he collected. In going through the accumulation of 40 years of pop music moments, we decided that some of the most interesting items might find a home, with fans of his programme or of the artists whose music he played.”

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Elon Musk: Twitter deal cannot progress without proof on bot numbers

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Tesla CEO and world’s richest person expressed concerns about presence of fake accounts on platform

Elon Musk has cast further doubt over his $44bn (£35bn) takeover of Twitter after stating the deal “cannot move forward” until the social media company proves that less than 5% of its users are fake or spam accounts.

The Tesla chief executive used his Twitter account to say the agreed deal would not progress until the firm showed proof that only a small proportion of its users were fake.

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Shireen Abu Aqleh: UN security council condemns killing of journalist

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In rare unanimous statement, council calls for ‘immediate and impartial’ inquiry into the Al Jazeera journalist’s death

The UN security council has unanimously condemned the killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh while she was covering an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank, diplomats said.

In a rare unanimous statement, the security council also called for “an immediate, thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into her killing”.

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US secretly issued subpoena to access Guardian reporter’s phone records

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Newspaper decries ‘egregious’ move by DoJ to obtain details of Stephanie Kirchgaessner as part of investigation into media leaks

The US justice department secretly issued a subpoena to gain access to details of the phone account of a Guardian reporter as part of an aggressive leak investigation into media stories about an official inquiry into the Trump administration’s child separation policy at the southern border.

Leak investigators issued the subpoena to obtain the phone number of Stephanie Kirchgaessner, the Guardian’s investigations correspondent in Washington. The move was carried out without notifying the newspaper or its reporter, as part of an attempt to ferret out the source of media articles about a review into family separation conducted by the Department of Justice’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz.

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Chilean journalist dies after being shot while covering Workers’ Day marches

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Francisca Sandoval, 29, is the first journalist to be killed in the line of duty in Chile since the Pinochet dictatorship

A Chilean journalist who was shot in the head by a street trader while covering Workers’ Day marches on 1 May has died of her injuries.

Francisca Sandoval, 29, was reporting in Barrio Meiggs, a ramshackle market district in the centre of the capital, Santiago, when a group of men opened fire after a standoff with the marchers.

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‘Wagatha Christie’ trial: Rebekah Vardy accused of throwing friend ‘under bus’

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Lawyer for Coleen Rooney suggests Vardy is trying to shift blame for leaking of information to Sun newspaper

Rebekah Vardy has been accused of throwing her former agent and friend “under a bus” in a last-ditch attempt to save her reputation in the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial.

The footballer’s wife was accused – during the third day of a libel trial at the high court on Thursday – of deliberately destroying evidence, habitually leaking stories to the Sun newspaper, and trying to shift the blame on to her adviser Caroline Watt.

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Shireen Abu Aqleh: thousands attend state memorial in West Bank

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Palestinians line streets in Ramallah as journalist’s coffin travels through, after shooting in Jenin on Wednesday

Shireen Abu Aqleh, the Palestinian American journalist shot dead during an Israeli army operation, has been honoured with a full state memorial in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

At least 5,000 people lined the streets on Thursday as her coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag, was driven through the city and the Qalandia checkpoint en route to St Joseph hospital nearer her home in occupied East Jerusalem. Her funeral will be held in the holy city on Friday.

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GB News chairman has history of dismissing threat of climate crisis

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Revelation Alan McCormick has tweeted articles denying climate science fuels fears of GB News’s role as climate sceptic platform

The new chairman of GB News has a history of sharing articles that dismiss the threat of climate breakdown, it can be revealed, sharpening concerns about the TV channel’s role as a platform for advocates of the continued burning of fossil fuels.

Alan McCormick, a co-founder of Legatum Group, a Dubai-based investment firm and one of the channel’s key funders, tweeted several articles by climate science deniers, an investigation by DeSmog found, including one claiming there was “no scientific proof” that humans were causing the climate emergency.

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Spanish journalist held in Poland on suspicion of pro-Russian espionage

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Pablo González, who has joint Spanish and Russian nationality, alleged to have worked for GRU military intelligence

A freelance journalist from Spain is spending his 10th week in Polish custody while prosecutors there investigate what they claim is a case of espionage linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a case that raises red flags about press freedom in Europe at a time of war, prosecutors are expected next week to ask a judge for a further three-month extension to the detention of Pablo González, who has freelanced for media including Spain’s La Sexta TV channel, Spanish state news agency EFE and the US-government funded Voice of America.

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BBC to invest £10m and double comedy pilots in bid to find next Fleabag

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BBC Comedy development drive to fuel search for ‘relatable British characters’

The BBC will double the number of half-hour comedy pilots it makes and invest an extra £10m in the genre in a bid to find the next Fleabag or Motherland.

Sharing plans for the future of comedy at the corporation, the director of BBC Comedy, Jon Petrie, said his department was investing in its “development process”.

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Al Jazeera accuses Israeli forces of killing journalist in West Bank

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Israeli official appears to back away from earlier claims Palestinians to blame for death of Shireen Abu Akleh

Al Jazeera has accused Israel of deliberately killing one of its reporters during a military raid in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin.

Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a Palestinian American and one of the Arab world’s best-known journalists, who had covered the conflict for decades, was shot in the head on Wednesday morning and taken to hospital in a critical condition.

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