Latest news with #Gall
Iraqi News
06-08-2025
- Automotive
- Iraqi News
German car sales jump in July but market still weak
Frankfurt – New car sales in Germany posted a big rise in July, official data showed Tuesday, but analysts warned against sounding the all-clear for Europe's top auto market. A total of 264,802 new cars were registered, up 11.1 percent year-on-year, the KBA federal transport authority said. Across a less volatile six-month comparison, however, new car registrations were down 2.5 percent, underlining Germany's sluggish market for new vehicles. 'Demand is still weak, individuals and companies are delaying purchases amid a weak economy and very uncertain prospects,' said Constantin M. Gall, an automotive analyst at consultancy EY. 'The new car market is not moving forward.' New car sales were particularly weak in July 2024 after customers had rushed to buy cars the previous month, hoping to avoid pricier vehicles before a new EU regulation mandating driver-assistance systems took effect. 'The big plus for July is down to special circumstances and does not mark the start of trend,' Gall said. The weakness in Europe's biggest economy is bad news for its car giants like Volkswagen and BMW as well as foreign rivals who make substantial sales in the country. Germany's car industry is already struggling with high production costs at home as well as a costly transition to electric vehicles and ferocious competition in key market China, where local competitors like electric carmaker BYD have stolen a march. These are now making inroads into Germany — despite steep European Union tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles — though overall market share remains small. BYD sold 1,126 cars in Germany in July 2025, the KBA figures showed, a rise of almost 400 percent year-on-year and more than the 1,110 that Elon Musk's Tesla managed. Tesla's sales were down 55 percent, the latest drop for the carmaker which has suffered worldwide due to intensifying competition and as Musk faces a backlash for having worked as an adviser to US President Donald Trump. Xpeng, another Chinese carmaker, meanwhile notched a rise of over 1,500 percent, registering 266 vehicles.
The National
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
In a dangerous era journalism needs to show some backbone again
Having spent almost my entire working life in journalism, it's almost a given then that at some point during a break, I reflect on the nature of the job and profession that has engaged me for the best part of 40 years. Two things added to that sense of questioning journalism's meaning during my brief time off. The first was my choice of holiday reading, a memoir of Graydon Carter the one-time editor of Vanity Fair magazine aptly titled When The Going Was Good, and the other was the death earlier this week of the great foreign correspondent, author and ITN news presenter Sandy Gall, with whom a certain generation of readers will no doubt be familiar. READ MORE: The 26 MPs who voted against proscribing Palestine Action It was Gall himself who in great part inspired my own initial reporting sorties in Afghanistan back in the early 80s when I first met him and before the country and its travails became a near obsession for the both of us. Both Carter and Gall were journalists of what some might call the 'golden age' of reporting in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was a time when budgets were high, as were the expectations of readers and viewers of the journalists they depended on to cover and explain the great stories of the time. Journalism back then seemed to have a clear sense of purpose in holding power to account with a laser-like probing power. No story was too far away. No person was exempt from scrutiny should they cross the line of acceptable political behaviour. Be it Watergate or war reporting, the journalists' beat knew few limits. It was a time too before 'fake news', a time also before journalists became targets – literally – for doing their job, or so it seems when looking back. The reality of course is slightly different, for such threats have in fact always posed a challenge to the media going about their work, just perhaps not to the extent they do now. Which brings me to the dire state of so much of today's journalism, for what a contrast there is between those times when Carter and Gall were in their heyday compared to the media landscape of today. For barring a few brave and notable exceptions, so much of our media landscape now seems inhabited by quislings and cowards. With hand on heart, I can say I've never at one and the same time been so ashamed and also so proud of some of my media colleagues. No story epitomises this right now more than events in Gaza and the Middle East. On the one side we have journalists seemingly paralysed by fear of asking the questions that need to be asked of our politicians and on the other, the resounding bravery of our Palestinian colleagues who pursue their reporting with a courage the like of which has rarely been matched by the global media in modern times. In such a climate, the likes of the BBC hides behind words like 'the perception of partiality,' in justifying its decision not to air the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, leaving it to Channel 4 to pick up. But leaving Gaza aside, there is a much deeper malaise in journalism right now. Some of it is a result of the media's own making. Lack of investment, a dearth of imagination whereby the easy option rather than the 'difficult-to-tell-story' is the order of the day. Then there are the shortcomings too when it comes to maximising the potential use of new formats and platforms. Producing quality and in some cases great journalism, as the days of Carter, Gall and their generation showed, was never cheap, and the age-old maxim that you pay for what you get is something the industry singularly fails to recognise today. But putting these internal inadequacies aside for a moment, there is another far more potent force undermining today's journalism. I'm speaking of course about the way prominent politicians the world over are directly attacking 'troublesome' journalists with threats, lawsuits, or worse. As Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, a senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, pointed out last year, many of these politicians are pressuring media companies to remove their work. 'They belittle and vilify individual reporters when it suits them, often singling out women and minorities. They encourage their supporters to distrust the news and sometimes incite them to attack journalists,' Nielsen rightly observed. Across the world – everywhere you look right now – a growing number of governments and political authorities are not fulfilling their role as guarantors of the best possible environment for journalism. Intimidation and censorship are today almost at unprecedented levels. Any thinking person too will recognise that at their worst, political threats to journalism are often part of wider, systematic, sustained efforts to weaken, undermine, or even dismantle the formal and informal institutions of democracy. As outright political hostility to journalism grows, so the media needs allies and support from other quarters. As Professor Nielsen says, this effectively means the public that the media aim and claim to serve. 'At its best journalism has much to offer the public,' Nielen attests, and he's right. That much was evident back 'when the going was good', in those days that Graydon Carter refers to and when journalism served the public. For that to happen again today two things especially are needed amongst others. The first is that public support must again be won over to deter political attacks and at least help build resilience to resist attempts to undermine independent news media. The second is that journalism today has to find and show some spine again. In a dangerous era for the media, it must stop playing the role of political quisling. Instead, it should again aspire to be brave, dogged, resolute, and not shirk from calling out those deserving of it.
Wales Online
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Tributes paid as journalist and TV presenter Sandy Gall dies aged 97
Tributes paid as journalist and TV presenter Sandy Gall dies aged 97 His journalism career spanned more than 50 years and he was a renowned foreign correspondent for ITN and the face of ITV's News At Ten from 1963 until 1992. Sandy Gall reported from Vietnam and Afghanistan (Image: PA Archive/PA Images ) Journalist Sandy Gall has been praised as a "giant and a gentleman" after his death at the age of 97. His journalism career spanned more than 50 years and he was a renowned foreign correspondent for ITN and the face of ITV's News At Ten from 1963 until 1992. His family revealed that he died at his home in Kent on Sunday, and said: "His was a great life, generously and courageously lived." Gall covered major events such as the assassination of US president John F Kennedy, the civil rights movement and the Lockerbie disaster, after entering journalism as a reporter for the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 1952. Tom Bradby, lead anchor of News At Ten, said: "He had, as a foreign correspondent, been there and done everything. "As a trainee walking through the doors of ITN 35 years ago, I was one of many young would-be reporters he inspired. Article continues below "His old-world charm and on-screen presence endeared him to so many viewers and so many of us. "He was a giant and a gentleman of our business. Everyone loved Sandy." Sir Trevor McDonald, former News At Ten presenter, said: "I think Sandy Gall was one of the most brilliant journalists out there. "And, around his work, ITN was able to build an enormous reputation. "He travelled the world, he covered wars, he covered political upheavals, and what he said, people believed. "He gave ITN and News At Ten its credibility. When Sandy Gall said something, everyone believed it." During his time as a foreign correspondent, Gall covered the arrival of the US into the Vietnam War in 1965, and the end of the conflict when the North Vietnamese army entered Saigon in 1975. Despite becoming a news presenter in 1970, he continued to report first-hand, spending weeks travelling on horseback to follow the Mujahideen in their guerilla war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. After his retirement in 1992, he founded and became chairman of Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal, a charity for disabled Afghans that helped war-related casualties, as well as children in refugee camps, for nearly 40 years. He was made a CBE in 1987 and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2011. Tom Tugendhat MP said: "Quite simply, a hero. "Sandy Gall told the stories we needed to hear and kept up with those whose lives he had brought to our notice. Article continues below "My condolences go to Carlotta Gall and the whole family. He was a legend to many, and a father to a lucky few."
STV News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Legendary ITV News presenter Sandy Gall dies aged 97
ITV News Europe Editor James Mates looks back at Sandy Gall's legendary career The veteran broadcaster and journalist Sandy Gall has died aged 97, his family has confirmed. Gall became one of the most familiar faces in the country, firstly as a foreign correspondent for ITN, before becoming co-presenter of News at Ten. His family revealed he died at his home in Kent on Sunday, and paid tribute to him saying: 'His was a great life, generously and courageously lived.' Gall's career in journalism spanned more than 50 years, starting in 1952 when he joined the Aberdeen Press and Journal. Gall became a household name as co-presenter of News at Ten / Credit: ITV News He then worked at Reuters news agency for ten years as a foreign correspondent, before joining ITN in 1963. It was at ITN where he was to become a household name in the UK, until his retirement from the broadcaster in 1992. One of his first assignments with ITN was in Dallas, Texas just hours after the assassination of President Kennedy. Sandy Gall reporting on the Soviet-Afghan War in 1989. / Credit: ITV News His time at ITN saw him cover some of the 20th century's biggest stories, such as the Vietnam War, the Soviet-Afghan War and America's civil rights movement, where he interviewed Martin Luther King in 1965. He was also one of the few journalists to remain in Vietnam after the victory of the North Vietnamese to cover the fall of Saigon in 1975. Paying tribute, his former colleague at ITN John Suchet said: 'One of the loveliest things about Sandy was that he was really happy to pass on his knowledge to us juniors, who were desperate to do well. 'A gentleman, a true gentleman, that's what the obits will say about him. 'His name will always be associated with those big stories the fall of Saigon, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. 'Things move on but when the history books are written, his name will be there.' Sandy Gall interviewing Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965. / Credit: ITV News Gall went on to co-present News At Ten in 1970, which was then the UK's most watched news programme. He made his final presenting appearance on News at Ten in 1991, before returning to work with the company as a special reporter until his final retirement in 1992. He later became the founder and chairman of Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal, a charity for disabled Afghans that ran for nearly 40 years. It began with a focus on treating Afghans with war-related casualties and land mine victims, as well as children in refugee camps. This focus widened, as the rehabilitation needs of many other people with disabilities became apparent. Sandy was awarded a CBE in 1987 and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2011. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
RTÉ News
01-07-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
ITV News at Ten presenter Sandy Gall dies aged 97
Journalist Sandy Gall has been praised as a "giant and a gentleman" after his death at the age of 97. His journalism career spanned more than 50 years. He was a renowned foreign correspondent for ITN and the face of ITV's News at Ten from 1963 until 1992. His family revealed that he died at his home in Kent on Sunday. "His was a great life, generously and courageously lived," they said. Gall covered major events such as the assassination of US President John F Kennedy, the civil rights movement, and the Lockerbie disaster, after entering journalism as a reporter for the Aberdeen Press and Journal in 1952. Tom Bradby, lead anchor of News at Ten, said: "He had, as a foreign correspondent, been there and done everything. "As a trainee walking through the doors of ITN 35 years ago, I was one of many young would-be reporters he inspired. "His old-world charm and on-screen presence endeared him to so many viewers and so many of us. "He was a giant and a gentleman of our business. Everyone loved Sandy." Trevor McDonald, former News at Ten presenter, said: "I think Sandy Gall was one of the most brilliant journalists out there. "And, around his work, ITN was able to build an enormous reputation. "He travelled the world, he covered wars, he covered political upheavals, and what he said, people believed. "He gave ITN and News at Ten its credibility. When Sandy Gall said something, everyone believed it." During his time as a foreign correspondent, Gall covered the arrival of the US into the Vietnam War in 1965, and the end of the conflict when the North Vietnamese army entered Saigon in 1975. Despite becoming a news presenter in 1970, he continued to report first-hand, spending weeks travelling on horseback to follow the Mujahideen in their guerilla war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. After his retirement in 1992, he founded and became chairman of Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal, a charity for disabled Afghans that helped war-related casualties, as well as children in refugee camps, for nearly 40 years.
