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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump is not the only peddler of fake news. The misinformation against Israel costs lives
Our age is one where information is much more openly available and quickly verifiable than ever before. Yet it is also an age when speedily provable untruths are asserted ever more brazenly by leading figures, even in open, democratic societies. They do not seem to mind – or to suffer – when their untruths are exposed. Donald Trump is the best-known western leader who excels in these methods. This week, he launched one of his notorious Oval Office ambushes. He suddenly confronted president Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa with a film show purporting to prove the 'genocide' of South African white farmers. BBC Verify quickly got to work to demolish Trump's claims. His 'burial site' of 'over a thousand' white farmers was actually a line of temporary crosses commemorating the murder of one farming couple. A picture he waved at president Ramaphosa was actually a scene from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although Trump is right that white farmers are persecuted and occasionally murdered in South Africa (some fleeing to America), this is nowhere near a genocide and his facts, which the White House surely has the resources to get right, were wildly wrong. The BBC easily established this, and was happy to do so, because it hates Mr Trump. In the same week, another public figure made another unevidenced claim, on an even more incendiary subject. On Tuesday, the BBC Today programme interviewed Tom Fletcher, a former British diplomat who dislikes Israel even more than do his former employers at the Foreign Office and is therefore a frequent voice on the BBC. Nowadays he is the United Nations 'humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator'. In his Today interview, he strayed way beyond relief coordination and into politics, accusing Israel of using 'starvation as a weapon of war'. Grandly, he explained that, when addressing the Security Council, 'I weighed with great thought and care what I should say'. On the BBC, Mr Fletcher weighed nothing carefully at all. He said that if Israel did not let UN food through there were '14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them'. This was an obviously ridiculous statement. Even if Mr Fletcher were right – which he emphatically is not – that only Israel is to blame for the delay in getting aid through, no one could accurately name such a number in such a timescale. His words were uttered five days ago. Although some aid did get through this week, if Mr Fletcher had been speaking true, thousands of babies would have starved in Gaza in the past three days. Not one such death has been reported. The BBC did later probe Mr Fletcher's assertion and reported what they politely called 'more detail' on his claim. He had been relying on a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) that it expected 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition over the course of a year, should the same level of aid continue. His enumeration of mass deaths in 48 hours was a wild extrapolation for which he has not apologised and will surely not be punished. By the way, the same IPC whose projections he grossly distorted has admitted that there is currently no famine in Gaza. The substance of Mr Fletcher's claim was no more than that the blocking of aid would worsen hunger and suffering in Gaza. We knew that already, and we also know, though Mr Fletcher skirted this point, that the greatest problem with aid is that it is vulnerable to Hamas exploitation. The UN never admits this because its relationship with Hamas is collusive: it is, at root, a political not a humanitarian organisation. Anyway, the damage was done. In Parliament, 13 MPs supporting the attack on Israel by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, repeated the Fletcher dead baby formula, unrebuked. Tom Gross, the respected monitor of Israel coverage in the media everywhere, noted that the New York Times, NBC News, Time magazine, The Guardian and ABC news all repeated Mr Fletcher's 48 hours claim, citing the BBC as a reliable source. On Friday, Mr Fletcher's 14,000 dead babies were still up on the BBC website. Although admitting the 'horrendous level of suffering' in the conflict, Mr Gross also says, 'I follow it incredibly closely, and so far as I can tell, no one has yet died of hunger in this conflict'. Yet the times since October 7 2023 that the BBC has run starvation scares about Gazan people are almost uncountable. You barely hear that Israel's policy is not to stop the aid but to find more secure ways of distributing it. It is establishing aid delivery via a US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, protected by foreign security guards. Mr Fletcher probably has an untroubled conscience. He will brush aside his '48 hours' distortion and the BBC will treat him gently because it thinks his heart is in the right place. He may even feel proud of grabbing the headlines. But in Gaza, more than in any other current conflict, the battle is being fought not only by weapons, but by constant propaganda. The overall effect of this is to dehumanise Israelis and, by extension, all Jews. The constant use of the word 'genocide' to describe Israel's war is not merely a heartless insult. It is designed to make Jews seem like the Nazi murderers who sought their extinction in the 1940s. If that propaganda succeeds, two things happen. The first is that, as in 1945, Israel will be made to face a legal reckoning for what will be claimed as war crimes. The rhetoric of Mr Lammy and, indeed, of the joint statement this week by Britain, France and Canada, ramps up the idea that international courts have the authority to punish Israel, and threatens trade and further arms export restrictions. By implication, they see what they call 'the Netanyahu government', as an illegitimate regime, even though it is the only government with democratic legitimacy in the Middle East. The second effect is on the collective mind of the West. If those in power here half-endorse the suggestion of genocide or, in the case of Mr Fletcher and UN agencies, directly state that Israel is deliberately engendering starvation, then officialdom endorses the logic of extremism. If Israel is killing babies, say angry, radicalised young men, let's kill the baby-killers. In Washington DC on Thursday, a young Israeli couple, engaged to be married, were murdered in the name of Free Palestine. The man arrested is said to be a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation of the United States. His extreme anti-Israel ideology was the gateway to his actions. If we judge by the slogans shouted in the pro-Gaza marches in Britain, many are passing through the same gateway here. For Labour, in particular, such people, chiefly Muslims, are a significant part of its constituency. The party will pay a high price in civil unrest and terrorism for feeding their delusions. In a lecture this week at Policy Exchange, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, tried to revive official interest in the concept of subversion, which our intelligence services took so seriously during the Cold War. At much the same time, in France, the interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, newly elected leader of his party, has succeeded in declassifying his government's internal report on subversion by the Muslim Brotherhood – the global organisation of which Hamas is a part – in his country. We have never managed the equivalent here, preferring the vapourings of people like Mr Fletcher. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Independent
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
We have persuaded France to change rules to stop migrants reaching Britain, Cooper says
French police will intervene to stop migrants getting on to small boats when they're in the water after the UK 'persuaded France to change its rules', the home secretary has said. Small boat smugglers have been picking up migrants from the sea rather than French beaches in the latest attempt to evade police. Yvette Cooper said on Tuesday that smugglers are using the dinghies as 'taxies', launching much further up the French coast and then travelling down to beaches closer to the UK to pick up migrants. Migrants are then wading or swimming out to clamber aboard the small boats in the water, rather than getting on the dinghy from the beach. These tactics have been particularly effective at evading the French police, as the authorities currently don't intervene once migrants are in the water, Ms Cooper explained. The home secretary told the BBC Today programme that the UK has recently 'persuaded France to change its rules'. The French have agreed to intervene once migrants are in the water to stop the crossings, but the plan has yet to be put into action, Ms Cooper added. She explained the trend saying: 'We have to go after the gangs. One of the things that they are increasingly doing is described as 'taxi boats'. The boat is launched much further up the coast, travels down the coast, and then picks people up from the water. 'If people are already in the water then the French authorities currently don't intervene. Those are their rules which they've had for a long time. They don't intervene in French waters. We've now persuaded France to change its rules. That's gone through cabinet now. They're changing their rules so that they can intervene in French waters to stop boats crossing, that's hugely important. It's not in place yet but it's step by step, practical things like that.' She said that the changes would come in 'over the next few months'. The number of people who have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year has now exceeded 10,000. Last year, this milestone was reached about a month later, on 24 May. Ms Cooper said that a high number of good weather days has had an impact on the level of crossings. She said the 'criminal smuggler gangs... are also taking advantage of the very high of calm weather days. This has been much higher than previous years. We can't carry on in this situation. The reason we are ending up in a situation with border security being affected by the weather is because of the way in which these gangs have taken root.' The Home Office announced on Tuesday that migrants convicted of sexual offences will be banned from claiming asylum in the UK. Under the Refugee Convention, countries are able to refuse asylum to those who have committed 'particularly serious' crimes and are a danger to the community, with the provision currently used to block claims from criminals handed prison sentences longer than one year. Sir Keir Starmer's crackdown will extend the provision to include anyone convicted of a crime which places them on the sex offenders register, regardless of the length of their sentence.
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Musk wan reduce role for Trump goment after Tesla profits don drop
Di boss of Tesla - Elon Musk tok say im go reduce im role for Donald Trump im administration afta di company profits fall during di first three months of di year. Sales reduce wia di electric car maker don face kasala as Musk bin chop post for di White House. On Tuesday, di company report 20% drop for dia first quarter of 2025, if una compare wit di same period last year; na so di profit also drop more dan 70%. Di company don warn investors say di pain go kontinu, as dem refuse to tok if tins go beta as "to change political sentiment" go worry di demand for dia cars. Di company don dey suffer as pipo begin to chook mouth afta Musk enta Trump im administration; im tok say di appointment bin shift im focus from di company. Musk bin contribute more than one quarter of a billion dollars during Trump im ere-election campaign. Im also dey lead Trump im department of goment efficiency (Doge) initiative to reduce federal spending and to slash goment workforce. Musk tok say im "go reduce di time im dey spend for di Doge project next month." Im tok say im go spend only one to two days every week on goment matters "as long as di president go allow." Di way Musk dey involve for politics don vex many pipo wia im cause protests; na so pipo boycott Tesla around di world. Im blame di kasala on di way some pipo bin dey try to "attack me and di Doge team", but dis work dey "critical". According to di fresh figures, di moni dem make from Tesla for di quarter na $19.3bn (£14.5bn); dis don reduce by 9%. Dis na less dan di $21.1bn wey sabi pipo bin dey expect, na so di company begin to dey reduce prices to attract buyers. Di new tariffs wey Trump bin dey introduce for China also bin affect Tesla, sake of some parts of di cars wia dem dey sell for di home market, comot China, even tho na US dem assemble dem for. "Trade policy wia don dey change quick quick" fit to affect di supply chain wia go increase di cost, according to di company. "Dis development togeda wit di politics fit to affect how pipo dey buy our cars for future", Tesla tok for dia quarterly update. Musk don clash wit some of ogbonge pipo for di Trump goment – e don include di trade advisor Peter Navarro. Early dis month, Musk bin call Navarro "moron" afta im make some comment about Tesla. Navarro don tok say Musk "neva be car manufacturer" but im be "car assembler". Georg Ell, wey sabi Musk well well wey also be oga for Western Europe for Tesla, tok di BBC Today programme say if di multi-billionaire begin to dey "focus on di companies wia im sabi well well, I tink pipo go focus once again for di quality of di product and experiences." "I tink Elon no be pesin wey don surround imserf wit pipo wey gat different opinion to challenge di way im dey tink, oga Ell wia now be chief executive for translation software company – Phrase don add. Musk tok on Tuesday say im tink say Tesla na car company wia di tariffs no affect plenty sake of im get supply chains for north America, Europe and China, but im add say di tariff "still dey tough on di company as di profits don dey low." "I go kontinu to ask say make dem reduce di tariffs, dat be wetin I fit do," im tok on Tuesday. Tesla also tok say artificial intelligence (AI) go fit help to grow di business for di future, even tho investors neva dey convinced by dis argument. Di company shares don reduce about 37% of dia value dis year by di time di market don close on Tuesday, wia dem rise by more than 5% after-hours trading afta di results. One sabi pesin Dan Coatsworth wey im be investment analyst for AJ Bell, tok say im expectations dey low afta di company tok dis month say di number of cars dem don sell for di quarter don fall to 13%, wia be dia lowest for di last three years. Di company now dey face ogbonge competition, na so oga Dan Coatsworth warn say di global supply chain wahala afta Trump im trade war, fit "cause Tesla im problems to become worse."
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Former BBC Today host Mishal Husain reveals US revolutionary secrets of her ancestors - days after thinly veiled swipe at 'bombastic' presenters
Former BBC Today host Mishal Husain has revealed how her ancestors were 'in the room' at the start of the US Revolution - days after criticising 'bombastic' presenters for focusing on their personal lives. Husain, 52, stood down from her role at the BBC in December 2024 after 11 years at the helm of Radio 4 and more than two decades at the corporation. And after publishing a memoir last year detailing the lives of her grandparents through the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Husain has further divulged details of her ancestry. Speaking in BBC's Who Do You Think You Are series, Husain said it 'blew her mind' to have discovered family ties to the American Revolution in 1775. She said: 'It has given me a much broader sense of myself. To realise I had a connection to the end of the British Empire in another party of the world was extraordinary.' After researching her family history, Husain discovered that her four-times great grandfather Joseph Farley - who she initially believed to be Irish - was a trader who moved from America to India in the 1800s. She then found that Farley's own father was involved in the American War of Independence, and had fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston. And his father Michael - believed to be an ally of George Washington - was among the 92 men who voted against the first calls for 'no taxation without representation'. After publishing a memoir last year detailing the lives of her grandparents through the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Husain has further divulged details of her ancestry Speaking in BBC's Who Do You Think You Are series, Husain said it 'blew her mind' to have discovered family ties to the American Revolution in 1775 Husain said she 'could have never imagined' having ties to the Revolution and that she was 'so proud' that her family thought about 'a different and better world'. The 52-year-old's revelations come less than a week after she took aim at 'bombastic' presenters, following concerns that the BBC Radio 4 programme has become more personality-focused. The comments, which could be perceived as a veiled swipe aimed towards current presenters incuding Amol Rajan and Emma Barnett, were made after she was asked about the changes at the flagship Radio 4 breakfast show. She told Vogue: 'Personality-focused journalism doesn't have to be bombastic. It doesn't have to be about the presenters centring themselves. 'Hopefully, if they're a personality with journalistic integrity, journalistic values, then they can be a conduit to the news for people.' When the broadcaster was asked if she was comfortable with the changes, she said she was always part of a wider team - rather than being focused on herself. She said: 'What was true to me was that I would very rarely use the word "I", actually on air. 'I would quite often say: 'We've talked to so and so, because you're always part of a team.' 'From the booking of guests, the deciding to go down a certain route, the writing of a brief – broadcasting is a team effort.' 'So I would always say 'we' and very rarely use the word 'I'. That's just what came naturally to me.' Last November, Husain also said in a speech that she had faced more racism then 'at any point' in her career. The British Muslim presenter also said Britain now feels 'worse' and 'more febrile' than the month immediately after 9/11. She said: 'Racism is a part of many people's everyday experience and people are at the sharp end of prejudice in many different ways as part of their daily experience, so I don't think that what I've felt myself in the past year is, sadly, anything special or notable. It's just that this past year was the moment where it came home to me.' Who Do You Think You Are is set to air on BBC One this evening and will feature other guests such as actors Andrew Garfield, Diane Morgan and Ross Kemp. The episode featuring Husain will be broadcast next Tuesday, April 29.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cooper hits back over ‘utterly shameful' approach to grooming gangs
Yvette Cooper has hit back at criticism of the Government's grooming gang plans after Labour was accused of watering down proposals to investigate the scandal. The Home Secretary denied scaling back plans for independent local inquiries into grooming gangs over fears that they would offend Pakistanis and other ethnic minority voters. She was responding to comments by Sir Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who said Labour's approach to the grooming gangs scandal was 'utterly shameful' because it was 'so obviously political' to avoid offending a particular demographic of voters. The broadcaster, who previously stood as a Labour candidate for London mayor, said the move risked providing an 'open goal' to Right-wing critics of the party's policies on immigration. However, Ms Cooper told the BBC Today programme: 'This is total nonsense. There's been a lot of misinformation, and sadly, party political misinformation being put out about this and it's just fundamentally wrong. 'So not only are we continuing with the plans for local inquiries, as we set out in January, that has not changed. We're also saying we will support areas that want to do more to work with victims and survivors. That has not changed. 'But most crucially of all, we are supporting increased police investigations into these vile crimes. We have got increased investigations taking place.' Her comments came after home office minister Jess Phillips told MPs the Government was shifting from prescribing up to five inquiries backed by a £5 million fund to a 'flexible approach', where the money would be available for local councils to use as they wished to support grooming gang work. She said that this could mean full independent local inquiries, but could also mean 'more bespoke work, including local victims' panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases'. Home Office sources insisted the change did not necessarily mean that five inquiries would not go ahead but ministers had decided to not be prescriptive following the local consultation. The Conservatives accused Labour of watering down their response to the grooming gangs inquiry in an announcement just 45 minutes before Parliament broke for recess. Ms Cooper said: 'We're increasing the action on child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse. These are some of the most vile crimes... grooming gangs, rape, coercion, exploitation and horrendous crimes. 'Both of these were obviously covered as part of the national statutory inquiry [by Professor Alexis Jay], the seven-year inquiry that took place. 'But we're also supporting local inquiries. We've already said we'll support Oldham to have a local inquiry, and we're currently drawing up the framework for further local inquiries. 'We always said from the start we would also support areas that wanted to set up victim panels, but we're continuing to support the local inquiries too, just as we said earlier this year.' The scale of and driving factors for grooming gangs is currently being audited by Baroness Casey, a Whitehall troubleshooter who has specialised in fast-track investigations into sensitive issues such as the Metropolitan Police's culture and standards. The Home Office says the framework for local areas to be identified for inquiries will be set out 'shortly' and will be informed by Baroness Casey's audit. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
