Latest news with #RonenBergman
Sky News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Israel's war against Iran is a gamble - and to pay off it can't afford to miss
"You come at the king, you best not miss," says Omar Little, channelling Machiavelli, in the US crime series The Wire. But the same principle applies to Israel's decision to attack Iran. It's war is a gamble - to pay off, it must be entirely successful. It cannot afford to miss. That may seem a strange thing to say as things stand. Israel seems to be hitting its targets with devastating accuracy. Take the stunning campaign of decapitation: Israeli intelligence correspondent Ronen Bergman reports that Israel has developed the ability to monitor Iran 's top officials "in real time". That fearsome power is being wielded with awesome effect. Iran's military and intelligence commanders are being traced and eliminated one by one - 20 of them in the first night alone. The destruction of Iran's air defences is also on the mark. It has left Iran's skies open to Israeli jets to destroy target after target with pinpoint accuracy. The mission is to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, but also it seems the regime's means of repression and control. 3:47 To be absolutely sure of success, Israel needs the regime to fall. It must destroy both Iran's ability to develop the bomb, but more importantly, its will to do so. Fail on either front, and Iran's leaders will prioritise building a nuclear weapon. They will have to, so they can defend themselves better next time. 2:12 Their ability to build the bomb will be impossible to destroy completely, however massive the munitions Israel puts into the centrifuge halls of Natanz and Fordow. The Iranian nuclear programme is too far developed. They have the knowledge and expertise. For as many nuclear scientists Israel kills, there are their students to replace them. 0:24 And the technology is in their favour. As one western source told the Israeli Haaretz newspaper over the weekend: "They have knowledge about the plant centrifuges. "They don't need as many centrifuges as they used to. They can build a small plant somewhere, heavily fortified underground, maybe even in less than three years." 1:36 At some point, the Israelis will need to end their campaign. The Iranians' desire to build the bomb will then be redoubled among what's left of their regime. The capacity to do so will have been degraded, but the know-how will remain. Toppling the regime will be the surest way of achieving Israel's aims if it ushers in a replacement not determined to go nuclear. Israel knows that and has been going after people and places essential to the regime's apparatus of internal control and repression. It has been attacking energy infrastructure, too, knowing soaring energy prices may fuel social unrest and dissent.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
George Polk Awards honor reporting on conflicts in Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti
NEW YORK (AP) — Reporting on four of the world's major conflict zones — Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti — was honored Monday with George Polk awards, one of journalism's highest honors. And one of the winners is a grand niece of the award's namesake. Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times Magazine won the Foreign Reporting prize for exposing how Israel condoned and shaped government policy in favor of ultranationalist settlers who terrorized Palestinians in the West Bank. Declan Walsh and his colleagues at The New York Times won the War Reporting prize for coverage of the civil war in Sudan. The United Arab Emirates paused some of its operations in the war-ravaged nation after Walsh reported that it and other countries were playing a secret role in the conflict in an effort to obtain resources and power. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Sarah A. Topol of The New York Times Magazine received the Sydney Schanberg Prize for long-form investigative or enterprise journalism for 'The Deserter,' a 35,000-word portrait of a combat officer who defected from the Russian military after the invasion of Ukraine. Marcia Biggs and a team from PBS NewsHour won the Foreign Television Reporting prize for their 'Haiti in Crisis' series, which documented how gang violence had upended daily life in the Caribbean nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. Biggs is a grand niece of the awards' namesake, George Polk, a CBS reporter who was killed while covering the Greek civil war. The awards, presented by Long Island University, were created in 1949 in his honor. This year, 15 winners were selected from nearly 500 submissions. Winners will be celebrated at a luncheon ceremony April 4 in Manhattan. 'Given the range and depth of exceptional reporting before us, winnowing the list to these 15 meant making some very hard calls," Polk Awards curator John Darnton said. "These winners represent the best of the best. The runners-up were all worthy.' Other winners included: Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher of The Baltimore Banner for Local Reporting for revealing the breadth and impact of a lethal overdose crisis; Sara DiNatale of the San Antonio Express-News for State Reporting for exposing solar energy scams that targeted elderly homeowners; and Katherine Eban of Vanity Fair for National Reporting for showing how politics and economic interests hampered the government's response to bird flu. The Justice Reporting prize went to Katey Rusch and Casey Smith, whose "Right to Remain Secret" series in the San Francisco Chronicle exposed how police officers arranged to clear their records of misconduct allegations, enabling them to collect hefty pensions. The Health Care Reporting prize went to a team from STAT for a six-part series on UnitedHealth Group's influence on all aspects of health care. The Medical Reporting prize went to a team from ProPublica for exposing how strict abortion bans led to preventable deaths of pregnant women. The Technology Reporting prize went to Bloomberg Businessweek for stories revealing how sexual predators and drug dealers use online gaming and social media platforms to exploit children. Two magazine writers were honored for exposes. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker received the Political Reporting prize for 'Pete Hegseth's Secret History,' chronicling the Defense Secretary's troubled past. Rachel Aviv of The New Yorker received the Magazine Reporting prize for 'Alice Munro's Passive Voice,' detailing the late novelist's dismissive reaction to allegations that a romantic partner had sexually abused her daughter. A team from NBC News and Noticias Telemundo, including the late Susan Carroll, was awarded the National Television Reporting prize for exposing how a Texas medical school was dismembering corpses of people who died alone and leasing the body parts for research and education. The Podcast prize went to Ben Austen and Bill Healy for Audible's 'The Parole Room,' which tracks a man's 20th attempt to win his release from prison, more than a half-century after he was convicted of killing two Chicago police officers — a crime he maintains he did not commit.
Washington Post
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
George Polk Awards honor reporting on conflicts in Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti
NEW YORK — Reporting on four of the world's major conflict zones — Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti — was honored Monday with George Polk awards, one of journalism's highest honors. And one of the winners is a grand niece of the award's namesake. Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times Magazine won the Foreign Reporting prize for exposing how Israel condoned and shaped government policy in favor of ultranationalist settlers who terrorized Palestinians in the West Bank.
Associated Press
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
George Polk Awards honor reporting on conflicts in Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti
NEW YORK (AP) — Reporting on four of the world's major conflict zones — Israel, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti — was honored Monday with George Polk awards, one of journalism's highest honors. And one of the winners is a grand niece of the award's namesake. Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times Magazine won the Foreign Reporting prize for exposing how Israel condoned and shaped government policy in favor of ultranationalist settlers who terrorized Palestinians in the West Bank. Declan Walsh and his colleagues at The New York Times won the War Reporting prize for coverage of the civil war in Sudan. The United Arab Emirates paused some of its operations in the war-ravaged nation after Walsh reported that it and other countries were playing a secret role in the conflict in an effort to obtain resources and power. Sarah A. Topol of The New York Times Magazine received the Sydney Schanberg Prize for long-form investigative or enterprise journalism for 'The Deserter,' a 35,000-word portrait of a combat officer who defected from the Russian military after the invasion of Ukraine. 'Haiti in Crisis' series, which documented how gang violence had upended daily life in the Caribbean nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. Biggs is a grand niece of the awards' namesake, George Polk, a CBS reporter who was killed while covering the Greek civil war. The awards, presented by Long Island University, were created in 1949 in his honor. This year, 15 winners were selected from nearly 500 submissions. Winners will be celebrated at a luncheon ceremony April 4 in Manhattan. 'Given the range and depth of exceptional reporting before us, winnowing the list to these 15 meant making some very hard calls,' Polk Awards curator John Darnton said. 'These winners represent the best of the best. The runners-up were all worthy.' Other winners included: Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher of The Baltimore Banner for Local Reporting for revealing the breadth and impact of a lethal overdose crisis; Sara DiNatale of the San Antonio Express-News for State Reporting for exposing solar energy scams that targeted elderly homeowners; and Katherine Eban of Vanity Fair for National Reporting for showing how politics and economic interests hampered the government's response to bird flu. The Justice Reporting prize went to Katey Rusch and Casey Smith, whose 'Right to Remain Secret' series in the San Francisco Chronicle exposed how police officers arranged to clear their records of misconduct allegations, enabling them to collect hefty pensions. The Health Care Reporting prize went to a team from STAT for a six-part series on UnitedHealth Group's influence on all aspects of health care. The Medical Reporting prize went to a team from ProPublica for exposing how strict abortion bans led to preventable deaths of pregnant women. The Technology Reporting prize went to Bloomberg Businessweek for stories revealing how sexual predators and drug dealers use online gaming and social media platforms to exploit children. Two magazine writers were honored for exposes. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker received the Political Reporting prize for 'Pete Hegseth's Secret History,' chronicling the Defense Secretary's troubled past. Rachel Aviv of The New Yorker received the Magazine Reporting prize for 'Alice Munro's Passive Voice,' detailing the late novelist's dismissive reaction to allegations that a romantic partner had sexually abused her daughter. A team from NBC News and Noticias Telemundo, including the late Susan Carroll, was awarded the National Television Reporting prize for exposing how a Texas medical school was dismembering corpses of people who died alone and leasing the body parts for research and education. The Podcast prize went to Ben Austen and Bill Healy for Audible's 'The Parole Room,' which tracks a man's 20th attempt to win his release from prison, more than a half-century after he was convicted of killing two Chicago police officers — a crime he maintains he did not commit.
New York Times
17-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The New York Times Wins 3 Polk Awards
Journalists from The New York Times, The New Yorker and ProPublica were among the winners of the George Polk Awards, which were announced on Monday. Long Island University, the home of the awards, selected the winners from 493 submissions of work published in 2024, many of which focused on reports from wars and conflict zones and health and medical investigations. The New York Times won three Polk Awards, the most of any publication. 'Given the range and depth of exceptional and occasionally remarkable reporting before us, winnowing the list to these 15 meant making some very hard calls,' said John Darnton, the curator of the awards. 'These winners represent the best of the best.' Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times Magazine won the foreign reporting award for 'The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel,' a nearly 14,000-word investigation into half a century of Israeli authorities ignoring or condoning violence by ultranationalists against Palestinians. Declan Walsh and the staff of The New York Times were given the prize for war reporting for their ongoing coverage of devastation and destruction from the civil war in Sudan, including revealing that the United Arab Emirates was using a humanitarian effort in the country as cover while secretly funneling weapons to the side it supported. The national reporting prize went to Katherine Eban, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, for 'Inside the Bungled Bird Flu Response, Where Profits Collide With Public Health,' which examined why a key government agency was slow to respond to the bird flu outbreak. The Baltimore Banner's Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher won the local reporting award for an investigation that compiled data to show that Baltimore had become the drug overdose capital of the United States, with a death rate from 2018 to 2022 nearly double that of any other large city. Their work was a collaboration with The New York Times's Local Investigations Fellowship, which is a one-year fellowship program for young journalists from local newsrooms. It was also published in The Times. Sara DiNatale of the San Antonio Express-News was awarded the state reporting prize for a four-part series that exposed how some door-to-door sellers of rooftop solar energy in Texas had scammed homeowners, leaving them with damaged roofs, expensive loans and false promises of rebates. The health care reporting award went to Bob Herman, Tara Bannow, Casey Ross and Lizzy Lawrence of STAT for the investigative series 'Health Care's Colossus,' which examined how UnitedHealth Group wielded its dominance to increase its profits and exposed the conflicts of its reach inside every aspect of the health care system. Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser, Cassandra Jaramillo and Stacy Kranitz from ProPublica won the medical reporting award for their investigation that used hospital records and death certificates in Texas and Georgia to uncover the preventable deaths of at least five women who were denied care under abortion bans. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker won the political reporting prize for 'Pete Hegseth's Secret History,' her investigation into Mr. Hegseth, who is now the U.S. secretary of defense. Her reporting revealed that he had previously been forced out of leadership positions in advocacy groups over allegations of financial mismanagement, sexist behavior and intoxication. Two alumnae of the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism's investigative reporting program, Katey Rusch and Casey Smith, were awarded the justice reporting prize for the two-part series 'Right to Remain Silent,' which was published by the San Francisco Chronicle. Their investigation revealed a secret system of legal settlements that allowed California police officers to cover up misconduct on their records and find new jobs in law enforcement. The technology reporting award went to Olivia Carville and Cecilia D'Anastasio of Bloomberg Businessweek for exposing how predators groomed children on the gaming platform Roblox. After their reporting, Roblox announced that it would require parents to monitor the online activity of preteens. Rachel Aviv of The New Yorker won the magazine reporting award for 'Alice Munro's Passive Voice,' her 20,000-word article examining why the celebrated author stayed silent when confronted with her partner's sexual abuse of her daughter, but used the abuse to transform her fiction. The national television reporting award went to Mike Hixenbaugh, Jon Schuppe, Liz Kreutz and the late Susan Carroll of NBC News and Noticias Telemundo for 'Dealing the Dead,' which uncovered how a Texas medical school sold the body parts of corpses for research and education while making little effort to find the individual's family to get consent. Marcia Biggs, Eric O'Connor and André Paultre of the PBS News Hour won the foreign television reporting award for 'Haiti in Crisis.' The journalists traveled to Haiti to show the grim extent of the devastation and barbarism wrought by the gang warfare that has sown chaos in the country's capital, Port-au-Prince. The podcast award was given to Ben Austen and Bill Healy of Audible for 'The Parole Room,' which went behind the scenes of the 20th parole hearing for Johnnie Veal, an inmate who was convicted of murdering two police officers in 1970 but has maintained his innocence. The Sydney Schanberg Prize, which honors long-form investigative journalism, was awarded to Sarah A. Topol of The New York Times Magazine for 'The Deserter,' a five-part epic following a Russian soldier who defected during the war on Ukraine and fled Russia for his life and his love.
