Category Archives: BBC

Whistleblowers to sue Labour as antisemitism row deepens

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Ex-party staff to act over ‘defamation’ as angry Jeremy Corbyn criticises BBC documentary

The Labour high command is to be sued by former employees who broke cover last week to criticise the party’s handling of cases of alleged antisemitism in a dramatic escalation of the row engulfing Jeremy Corbyn’s party.

Two of the whistleblowers who featured in last week’s explosive BBC Panorama programme entitled Is Labour Anti-Semitic? – Sam Matthews and Louise Withers Green – contacted the Observer last night to say they had instructed the prominent media lawyer Mark Lewis to act on their behalf because they believed the party had defamed them in its response to their claims. Others who spoke to Panorama are also understood to be considering contacting Lewis to represent them in libel actions.

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Corbyn decries BBC’s ‘inaccuracies’ over Labour antisemitism

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Labour leader says Panorama adopted ‘predetermined’ critical position

Jeremy Corbyn has said there were “many, many, inaccuracies” in the BBC Panorama documentary about antisemitism in the party, saying that the programme adopted a “predetermined position” before it was aired.

The Labour leader made the comments during a visit to the Durham Miners’ Gala. He said: “I watched the programme and I felt there were many, many inaccuracies in the programme. The programme adopted a predetermined position on its own website before it was broadcast. We’ve made very clear what our processes are.

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Third of Britons say they avoid news out of Brexit frustration

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Claims in YouGov poll come as news websites report record numbers of visitors

A growing number of Britons claim they are actively avoiding the news out of frustration at coverage of Brexit, research has found, even as news websites report record numbers of visitors wanting to read about major developments.

The discrepancy suggests that while many people publicly insist they are avoiding news about the UK’s ongoing political crisis, some may be unable to stop themselves secretly gorging themselves on updates about Britain leaving the EU.

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Russian broadcaster hits out at BBC show parodying Putin

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Tonight With Vladimir Putin portrays Russian president as a talkshow host

Russia’s government-owned news service RT has denounced a BBC comedy chatshow featuring a 3D animation of Vladimir Putin interviewing the likes of Alastair Campbell.

The BBC described Tonight With Vladimir Putin, which has yet to air, as a “television first” with new technology enabling a “3D digital cartoon of Putin to walk around and sit behind the desk, interviewing real human guests in front of a studio audience, all in real time.”

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What’s the next Game of Thrones? All the contenders for fantasy TV’s crown

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The saga of the Seven Kingdoms may be bowing out, but it has opened the floodgates. Here’s your guide to the next big heroes

Rand al’Thor was found as a baby on the slopes of Dragonmount and taken to Two Rivers, where he grew into a broad-shouldered shepherd boy. But Rand is possessed of immense power, a power as yet untapped, for he is also The Dragon Reborn, destined to be hunted by Darkhounds and Darkfriends as he bids to prove himself a mighty warrior leader. Among other things, Rand’s existence shows that you should always believe ancient prophesies, that even the low-born can save the world – and that characters in TV fantasy series must always have two names.

Rand is just one of the 2,782 characters who appear in Wheel of Time, the bestselling saga of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan. We can only hope the forthcoming adaptation on Amazon will hone the cast down a little, as we follow Rand and his forces towards Tarmon Gai’don, or the final battle between good and evil.

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Use forecast to talk about climate change, urges ex-BBC presenter

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Bill Giles calls on broadcasters to add slot explaining humans’ impact on climate

The veteran weatherman Bill Giles is calling on the BBC and other major broadcasters to radically overhaul their forecasts to incorporate information about climate change.

The former head of BBC weather presenters has said more needs to be done by broadcasters to highlight climate change to face the “reality more squarely and openly”.

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‘Unbelievable’: Alan Sugar irate over not owning a Bafta award

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The Apprentice host says his wife is upset he has never been allowed to keep a statuette

Awards season is in full swing but one man feels particularly hard done by: Alan Sugar.

The host of The Apprentice has called for himself to be given his own special award in recognition of the reality show’s success, after revealing that his wife is upset that he has never been allowed to keep a Bafta statuette.

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UK foreign secretary condemns attack on BBC cameraman at Trump rally

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A man was seen shoving BBC cameraman Ron Skeans before being pulled away, according to a BBC video

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has condemned an attack on a BBC cameraman by a supporter of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas.

Asked whether it was acceptable for Trump to whip up his fans to the point that a cameraman was attacked, Hunt told Sky News: “It is never acceptable when journalists and cameramen are attacked just for doing their job.“

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When Angela Merkel upset Donald Tusk over immigration

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New BBC documentary reveals European Council president’s anger when German chancellor had private talks with Turkey

Donald Tusk was enraged when Angela Merkel held private talks with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees and migrants into the European Union, warning the plan would be “a catastrophe”, a new documentary reveals.

“I couldn’t believe it was true. These were my closest partners,” Tusk tells a BBC2 documentary, Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil, about the migration crisis to be aired on Monday.

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British PM Theresa May To Talk Post-Brexit Trade Deal With President Trump At White House

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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves the BBC's Broadcasting House in London, Britain, January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall PHILADELPHIA-British Prime Minister Theresa May lands in Philadelphia Thursday and will be the first world leader to have face to face talks with President Donald Trump after she delivers remarks to Republican members of Congress at their annual retreat.