Tag: BBC

  • We don’t take sides, says BBC journalist

    We don’t take sides, says BBC journalist

    Journalist John Simpson recently responded to criticism on why the BBC did not refer to Hamas’ gunmen (who attacked Israel on October 7) as terrorists.

    Referring to government ministers, newspaper columnists, and “ordinary people”, the foreign correspondent and world affairs editor of BBC News pointed out that it is not the job of a news agency to take sides or hand out labels.

    “Terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally. It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys,” he said.

    He reminded the people that the basis of his answer goes right back to the BBC’s founding principles.

    “The key point is that we don’t say it in our voice. Our business is to present our audiences with the facts, and let them make up their own minds.”

    With 50 years of reporting experience on the Middle East, Simpson has seen the aftermath of of Israeli bombing and artillery attacks on civilian targets in Lebanon and Gaza.

    “The horror of things like that stay in your mind forever”, he said. “But this doesn’t mean that we should start saying that the organisation whose supporters have carried them out is a terrorist organisation, because that would mean we were abandoning our duty to stay objective.

    And it’s always been like this in the BBC. During World War Two, BBC broadcasters were expressly told not to call the Nazis evil or wicked, even though we could and did call them “the enemy””

    He also quotes a BBC document stating, “there must be no room for ranting” and that the “tone had to be calm and collected”.

    “We don’t take sides”, he concluded. “We don’t use loaded words like ‘evil’ or ‘cowardly’. We don’t talk about ‘terrorists’. And we’re not the only ones to follow this line. Some of the world’s most respected news organisations have exactly the same policy.”

  • Four women accuse comedian Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault

    Four women accuse comedian Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault

    In a shocking expose by the Sunday Times, four women have publicly accused comedian Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse during the years 2006 to 2013, when his career was on its peak. The publication said all the women had chosen to remain anonymous, and felt ready to speak after being approached by reporters.

    A joint investigation carried out by Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatch said that two of the women, Los Angeles residents, alleged being raped and sexually assaulted by the comedian, with the second woman revealing that Brand threatened to take legal action against her if she went public with her allegations.

    Another woman revealed she was 16-years-old when Brand assaulted her, at a time when hewas in his early 30s, referring to her as a “child” during their emotionally abusive and controlling relationship.

    “Russell engaged in the behaviors of a groomer, looking back, but I didn’t even know what that was then, or what that looked like,” the woman said.

    The fourth woman alleged she was assaulted by the comedian.

    A day before the allegations by The Times were to be released, Russell released a video where he slammed the “serious criminal allegations” that were about to be made against him.

    The former husband of singer Katy Perry said in the video released on X, formerly Twitter:

    “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.

    “These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books I was very, very promiscuous.

    “Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.”

    In light of the rape accusations, several users have reshared a clip from a 2013 Vogue interview of Katy Perry, who married and then divorced the comedian in 2012. Brand had publicly divorced the singer with a breakup text, which was shown in the singer’s ‘Part Of Me’ documentary.

    “I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day,” the ‘Roar’ singer said. “I let go and I was like: This isn’t because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that.”

    The BBC have meanwhile responded to the allegations, saying that they were “urgently looking into the issues raised” by the allegations. Brand worked as a radio presenter for the channel in 2006 and 2008, and The Times quoted a complaint made to the organisation’s management about the comedian’s “alarming display of aggression and disrespect”.

    Channel 4 released a statement saying that they “asked the production company who produced the programmes for Channel 4 to investigate these allegations and report their findings properly and satisfactorily to us”.

    The organisation added they were conducting an internal investigation and encouraged “anyone who is aware of such behaviour to contact us directly.”

  • Foreign Office evaluating Pakistan’s participation in World Cup

    Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) likely new chairman, Zaka Ashraf, recently stated that he does not like the Hybrid Model for Asia Cup 2023.

    “I did not like the Hybrid Model. I feel that the present Hybrid Model seems to be an injustice with Pakistan. If all the important matches are going to take place in Sri Lanka and only less impactful matches will take place in Pakistan, then what is the purpose of having the hosting rights? Who will go to watch Nepal vs Pakistan,” he questioned.

    “The first thing I will do as PCB-chairman is reject the Hybrid Model. If Pakistan has the hosting rights, then all of the matches should take place in Pakistan,” Ashraf said recently.

    The statement stunned cricket fans all over Asia, and officials from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) expressed displeasure over it.

    If Zaka Ashraf rejects the Hybrid Model and if India does not agree to travel to Pakistan, will the Pakistan Cricket team travel to India for the World Cup 2023? The World Cup is a mega event of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

    Former PCB management committee chairman, Najam Sethi, released a statement to the BCC podcast, stating, “If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) consider the Hybrid Model for the Asia Cup, then we will go with the same model in the World Cup. Because if the Hybrid Model is applicable for the Asia Cup, then why would it not be a good option for the World Cup?”

    Today, the foreign office of Pakistan released a statement, stating, “We are evaluating the participation of Pakistan in the World Cup, with the security concerns of the players being of utmost priority.”

    This statement by the Ministry comes at a time when bilateral cricket has been suspended for a long time due to bad political relations between the two rival neighboring countries.

    The two have only played cricket against each other in multi-team events at neutral venues over the past decade, and Pakistan’s participation in the Cricket World Cup in October-November is still in doubt.

    Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Goa last month, is the first senior Pakistani leader to visit India in the last 9 years.

    The Foreign Minister’s spokesperson said, “Politics should be set aside from sports. India’s racist policy of not playing in Pakistan is ridiculous and disappointing.”

    Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said yesterday, “We are observing and evaluating all aspects related to our participation in the World Cup, including the security situation of Pakistani cricketers. We will let you know our opinion.”

    The uncertainty of Pakistan’s participation means that the dates and venues of the World Cup are yet to be finalized, even though the tournament is only three months away.

    India has already refused to come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup starting on August 31. In response, Pakistan has warned that if Pakistan loses the rights to host the Asia Cup, it will boycott the World Cup.

    To resolve the issue amicably, Najam Sethi proposed the Hybrid model, but Zaka Ashraf straight away dismissed it.

  • ‘Indian fans responded with more respect to my character in Tere Bin than Pakistanis did’: Sabeen Farooq

    ‘Indian fans responded with more respect to my character in Tere Bin than Pakistanis did’: Sabeen Farooq

    Sabeen Farooq is currently making waves for her role as the antagonist ‘Haya’ in the drama ‘Tere Bin’. But the actress addressed the feedback she was receiving including threats to her family. In an Instagram post, Farooq slammed the haters for not being able to tell the difference between what is real and what’s fake, as shown by Galaxy Lollywood.

    Farooq talked about the problem in an interview with BBC Urdu, stating that the threats she received from social media trolls were directly targeting her family:

    “If it was about my personality then it would be understandable, but these were personal attacks sent to my family. But thank Allah I don’t take these things personally or let my mental health get impacted by it. I don’t know how other people who have played negative characters on screen have dealt with this, but sending insults to my family and saying awful things is wrong. They did not mention my character, but would only talk about me.”

    Opening up about the popularity of ‘Tere Bin’ in India, Farooq revealed that she was astonished by how polite and respectful fans over there were:

    “These fans would like lovely letters to me where they would solely talk about Haya. And I’m shocked that the kind of praise I’m getting from them, it’s not how Pakistanis are reacting to my role. This is from a neighbouring country where the drama is trending. But over here, people are sending hateful messages.”

    Asked why she chose to play the antagonist, Haya, who plots ways to break apart the main leads Murtasim and Meerab, Farooq revealed that she fell in love with her character’s bluntness, and always had wanted an opportunity to work with Yumna Zaidi:

    “I lover her bluntness because she is not scared of anyone and can say anything she wants infront of everyone. She has the ‘pyaar kiya tou darna kya’ demeanor because she isn’t afraid to confess in front of everyone that she is in love with this man…Also. I learned that Yumna is there.. and I had always wanted to work with her. That is what made me think there is something good about this show other wise why would Yumna sign up for it?”

  • Ranbir Kapoor opens up about how fatherhood has changed him

    Ranbir Kapoor opens up about how fatherhood has changed him

    Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor was a guest on the BBC Asian Network where while promoting his upcoming movie ‘Tu Jhooti Mein Makaar’, the actor opened up about the birth of his daughter, Raha.
    Kapoor and actor Alia Bhatt got married last year and announced that they were pregnant in June. They told their fans the name they had chosen for their baby in an Instagram post.

    Speaking on how fatherhood had changed him, Kapoor revealed that he was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of love he felt for his baby:
    “There’s nothing that matters anymore but yet everything matters also. It’s a new emotion and it’s something that even I’m scared to talk about because it fills you up so much that you get scared thinking ‘will this go away?’”

    Kapoor also confessed that the love he felt towards his daughter was not something he had experienced before.
    “In the back of my mind I know there’s one thing that’s gonna live eternally with me till the day I die which is the love, and joy and the gratefulness that I feel. I haven’t felt that towards anything, any person, any movie, anything professionally,” the new father said.

    Watch the complete interview here:

  • BBC India office raided by tax official after airing documentary on Modi

    BBC India office raided by tax official after airing documentary on Modi

    Indian tax authorities raided BBC’s New Delhi offices on Tuesday, weeks after it aired a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the deadly riots of 2002 in the western state of Gujarat.

    A BBC employee based in the office told AFP that the tax raid was in progress and that officials were “confiscating all phones”.

    Police were at the BBC’s office in the centre of the capital to prevent people from entering or leaving, an AFP journalist at the scene reported.

    “A government procedure is happening inside the office,” an official said, declining to disclose which department he was from.

    Last month, the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary alleging that the then-Chief Minister Modi ordered police to turn a blind eye to the riots. The violence left at least 1,000 people dead, most of them minority Muslims.

    Government adviser Kanchan Gupta had slammed the documentary as “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage”.

    Earlier, the Indian foreign ministry dismissed the news as “propaganda”.

    According to the documentary, the inquiry team assessed that Modi had prevented the police from acting to stop the violence targeted against Muslims, stating that he had specifically ordered law-enforcing authorities not to intervene. The documentary also features a former top UK diplomat who says that the violence had been planned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)

    Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, has termed the BBC documentary a “propaganda piece”.

    India’s government blocked videos and tweets sharing links to the documentary soon after its release, calling it “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage”.

  • Indian govt calls BBC Modi documentary ‘propaganda’

    Indian govt calls BBC Modi documentary ‘propaganda’

    The Indian foreign ministry has dismissed a BBC documentary about Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujrat riots as “propaganda”.

    The first of the two-part series was aired in the UK on Tuesday with the second part scheduled to hit airwaves a week later. The documentary tracks Modi’s first steps into politics, including his rise through the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to his appointment as chief minister of Gujrat.

    Modi was still holding the position when communal riots rocked the state, leaving more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.

    According to the documentary the inquiry team had assessed that Modi had prevented the police from acting to stop the violence targeted against Muslims, stating that he had specifically ordered law-enforcing authorities not to intervene. The documentary also features a former top UK diplomat who says that the violence had been planned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)

    Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, has termed the BBC documentary a “propaganda piece”.

    On Thursday, British PM Rishi Sunak was asked in parliament if he agreed with the report that Modi was directly responsible for the violence. In reply, Sunak defended his Indian counter-partner.

    “We don’t tolerate persecution anywhere”, the British Prime Minister said but added that “he did not agree with the characterisation” of Modi as depicted in the documentary.

  • Justice Ayesha Malik is part of this year’s BBC 100 inspiring women

    Justice Ayesha Malik is part of this year’s BBC 100 inspiring women

    The first female judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, (SCP) Justice Ayesha A. Malik, has been listed as one of the 100 most influential and inspiring women of 2022 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC ).

    On Wednesday, BBC revealed the names of 100 influential and inspiring women from around the world who made it to the privileged list for this year. Among the honourees is Justice Malik, the only Pakistani woman to have been featured on the list.

    The BBC highlighted that Justice Ayesha has authored judgments protecting the rights of women, including her “landmark judgment which banned the so-called two-finger test of rape victims” which was performed during the examination of sexual assault cases.

    “Alongside her role on the Supreme Court, Malik also conducts training for judges around the world and has inaugurated conferences for women judges in Pakistan, encouraging debate around and including the gender perspective in the justice system”.

    Earlier this year, the 56-year-old judge made history after being sworn in as the top court’s first female judge. She will become the first woman Chief Justice of Pakistan after Justice Yahya’s retirement in January 2030.

    Her elevation to the apex court was hailed by human rights activists and civil society across the country.

  • Ahsan Iqbal’s remarks about cutting down chai consumption make international headlines

    Ahsan Iqbal’s remarks about cutting down chai consumption make international headlines

    Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal’s recent statement about cutting down on tea has not just taken social media by storm but international media has widely covered his remarks.

    “I appeal to the nation to reduce tea intake by one or two cups daily because we borrow money for tea import as well,” said Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday.

    People in Pakistan urged to drink fewer cups of tea was how BBC covered it.

    CNN’s headline says: Pakistanis told to drink less tea as nation grapples with the economic crisis

    People in Pakistan urged to drink fewer cups of tea, was how Iqbal’s statement was covered by the Saudi Gazette.

    AlJazeera also reported Ahsan Iqbal’s statement: Pakistan minister slammed for ‘drink less tea, save money’ appeal

    Turkish news media outlet TRT also did a story and a video on the same with the title: Pakistan minister stirs controversy with ‘drink less tea, save money’ plea

    Indian media also jumped in and did a news piece with the title: Pak Minister Asks Citizens To Drink Less Tea As Economy Faces Loan Burden: Report

    The Print wrote: ‘First roti, now tea? Pakistan’s angry response to the minister who wants them to drink less

    ABC Australia did a video report on Ahsan’s statement.

    ‘Cutting chai’ | Pakistan Minister urges people to reduce tea consumption, wrote The Hindu.

  • Man crashes new Ferrari right after buying it

    Man crashes new Ferrari right after buying it

    A man in Derby, England bought a new Ferrari and crashed it after driving it for 3.2 kms only.

    According to the BBC, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed it after driving.

    The Derbyshire Roads Policing Unit wrote on Twitter that the man purchased the vehicle on April 1. Following the crash, no injuries were reported. The driver remained unhurt and no other vehicle was affected in the crash.