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Sky News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Hillsborough bereaved hit out at reported appointment of former Sun editor to senior government role
Families bereaved by the Hillsborough disaster have urged Sir Keir Starmer to reconsider the reported appointment of a former Sun editor to a senior government role. David Dinsmore, who edited the tabloid newspaper from 2013 to 2015 and is now the chief operating officer of its parent company News UK, is expected to become permanent secretary for communications. In a letter to the prime minister, Hillsborough families have claimed he is "manifestly unsuitable" for the role because of his association with The Sun, which is widely reviled on Merseyside because of its reporting of the tragedy. In 1989, four days after the stadium crush, The Sun's front page had the headline 'The Truth' and included unfounded claims that some Liverpool fans had urinated on police officers resuscitating the dying, and that some had stolen from the dead. The reporting led to a city-wide boycott that remains in place to this day. The letter to Sir Keir said: "After the Hillsborough disaster in the midst of unimaginable suffering among the bereaved and the survivors, the Sun newspaper published vicious lies about the conduct of fans. "Graphic and false allegations cast the deceased and those who survived as barbaric, feckless and inhumane." The signatories, which include survivors and victims of other scandals, called Mr Dinsmore "manifestly unsuitable for public appointment". They also highlighted delays to the long-promised Hillsborough Law, adding: "This appointment gives us less reason to trust the government. "It risks damaging public confidence in the state among those affected by Hillsborough, everyone connected to Liverpool, and all who feel solidarity with them." The Sun apologised for its coverage of Hillsborough in 2012, after an independent panel concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible in any way for the disaster, and that the main cause was failings by police which were subsequently covered up. In 2016, an inquest jury found the victims were unlawfully killed. Charlotte Hennessy, who lost her father Jimmy Hennessy in the tragedy when she was six years old, told Sky News the claims in the Sun "is one of the main reasons why we had to fight for so long", as she urged the prime minister to "backtrack on appointing someone so unsuitable for public office as Dinsmore". The decision has also been criticised by Liverpool's Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, who called the appointment a "deeply insensitive choice". "The paper Dinsmore once led printed falsehoods that caused unimaginable pain. That shouldn't be brushed off as a footnote in his CV - it should be a red line," the former Labour MP said on X. Liverpool MPs Ian Byrne, Paula Barker, and Kim Johnson have also written to the prime minister to express concerns. They said that a key requirement of Hillsborough Law, which Sir Keir has promised to put on the statute books in full, is to ensure that senior government officials and civil servants would be legally compelled to tell the truth following a tragedy at the hands of the state. Their letter said: "What sort of message do you believe your appointment of Dinsmore into a senior Government role sends to Hillsborough families and survivors, who have lived through so much pain and suffering at the hands of the publication he has previously edited?". Mr Dinsmore's appointment was first reported by The Telegraph, which described the role as a new position created after the prime minister voiced concerns about government communications late last year. The appointment has not been officially confirmed.
Daily Maverick
07-07-2025
- Daily Maverick
Watch – In the name of God? The secretive Christian sect under FBI investigation
A shadowy Christian sect known as the Two by Twos (2x2s) — also called The Truth, The Way, or the No-Name Church — is at the center of a shocking global child sexual abuse scandal. A Daily Maverick investigation reveals that South African members have also come forward with disturbing allegations. The FBI and SAPS have confirmed an active investigation into historic sexual abuse within the church. Marianne Thamm explains. Marianne Thamm is a South African journalist, author and stand-up comedian. She is the assistant editor of the Daily Maverick and has written several books. In 2016, she released the memoir, Hitler, Verwoerd, Mandela and me. If you like this video, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more. Would you like to become a Maverick Insider and support our journalism? Click here for all the details. DM
Middle East Eye
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Outrage after French imam danced at ‘Israeli music festival' in Paris
A French imam has sparked outrage after dancing at an event organised in support of Israel and Israeli captives in Paris. On 22 June, during 'We Will Dance Again', an Israeli music festival, Hassen Chalghoumi was spotted on a stage, dancing and surrounded by Israeli flags. The event was organised by TheTruth, an association founded to challenge 'disinformation, denigration of Israel, anti-Semitism, political Islam', according to its social media accounts. Chalghoumi's participation in the festival amid Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza and its attack on Iran caused heated reactions online, with users accusing the imam of 'celebrating genocide' and of being a 'a mouthpiece for Israel in France'. "The best location in Paris, Trocadero, opposite the Eiffel Tower," posted one user. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Pro-genocide activists demonstrated to express their support for Israel, the criminal child-killing state. Note the participation of Imam Chalghoumi, a fervent defender of the genocide of the Palestinians." Chalghoumi qui fête joyeusement le génocide à Gaza et les frappes sur l'Iran. Qu'il est beau notre Imam. — Réfractaire le retour 👑 (@_Refractaire_) June 22, 2025 Translation: Chalghoumi, who happily celebrates the genocide in Gaza and the strikes on Iran. How beautiful our Imam is. Some social media users highlighted that he appeared on stage alongside MP Caroline Yadan, known for her staunch support of Israel. MEE contacted Chalghoumi for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. The festival controversy follows his recent statements backing Israel as it attacked Iran. Support for Israel When Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran on 13 June, Chalghoumi said on X that Israel was "defending itself against this terrorist octopus that oppresses its own people". 'The Israeli people are waging this fight in the name of all free peoples,' he continued. Chalghoumi, the imam of Drancy's municipal mosque near Paris, often speaks about and calls for dialogue between Muslims and Jews. 'It's high time the Muslims of France got rid of you for all the harm you've done to them' - Rima Hassan MEP But many in France's Muslim community say his advocacy strays from interreligious dialogue, and promotes Israel and Israeli talking points instead, pointing to his trips to Israel, including one where he met the Israeli army spokesperson. He also went on a trip to the occupied West Bank at the invitation of Israeli settler leaders, and has denounced boycotts of Israel, which many pro-Palestinian voices advocate as a nonviolent form of protest. On his social media account, he frequently posts against "Islamism" and warns about the alleged "infiltration and destablising" goals of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. In a May interview, he said: "We must hunt down Islamists, in cellars, on social media and in their mosques." Chalghoumi has framed his views as a stand against 'apologia for terrorism', while critics see it as part of a pattern of silencing Palestinian and Muslim voices. His attendance at the Paris music festival is not his first controversy related to Israel's war on Gaza. In March, he publicly called for a French-Palestinian member of the European parliament, Rima Hassan, to be stripped of her French nationality, accusing her of supporting terrorism over her remarks on Hamas. Hassan responded, calling him 'illegitimate to represent Muslims in France' and added: 'It's high time the Muslims of France got rid of you for all the harm you've done to them.'
Newsweek
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Meghan Markle Shows She's Still Not Ready to Accept Her Flaws
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Meghan Markle was asked what she would have done differently to re-write her narrative and responded: "I would ask people to tell the truth." The Duchess of Sussex was asked the question as a guest on the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast, but her answer is problematic for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that the veracity of some of her own and Prince Harry's past statements has been called into question. However, there is a second underlying issue, which is that she did not actually answer the question that was put to her, and swerving it speaks to a longstanding flaw in her messaging. Meghan Markle attends the Children's Hospital Los Angeles gala at L.A. Live Event Deck, in Los Angeles, California, on October 5, 2024. Meghan Markle attends the Children's Hospital Los Angeles gala at L.A. Live Event Deck, in Los Angeles, California, on October 5, Meghan Markle Told Emma Grede About 'The Truth' Grede asked Meghan: "If you could rewrite your public narrative from scratch, is there anything that you would do differently?" The duchess replied during Tuesday's episode: "Yes, I would ask people to tell the truth." The remark sparked a perhaps predictable backlash from the British press, with some newspapers going as far as suggesting it was a veiled attack on the monarchy. It is easy to see how some might view the comment as hypocritical after some of Meghan and Harry's own statements have been publicly questioned. For example, Meghan's account of an unnamed royal expressing "concerns" about her unborn child's skin tone in March 2021 prompted King Charles III to write to Meghan to say the comment was simply curiosity, according to biography Endgame. And when Harry told ITV in January 2023 that Meghan had never accused the royals of racism but rather unconscious bias, it prompted some to argue that if the public had misinterpreted her comments, the couple should have corrected the record right away instead of waiting around a year and a half. Dickie Arbiter, a former spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth II, also said he was misquoted in Prince Harry's book, Spare, which suggested he was part of a "Fleet Street jury" and "concluded, with his fellow jurors, that we should hereafter 'expect no mercy'" following the couple's decision to quit royal life. In reality, the quote had come from British journalist Sir Trevor Phillips, while Arbiter told Newsweek he deserved an apology, though he did not get one. There are innumerable other examples, from the Archbishop of Canterbury correcting Harry and Meghan's account of marrying in secret to the couple contradicting each other in relation to Meghan's first curtsy to Queen Elizabeth II. In their 2022 Netflix biopic, Meghan said she messed up the curtsy: "I mean, Americans would understand this. We have Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament [a dinner theater]...it was like that." But in Spare, Harry wrote: "Meg went straight to her and dropped a deep, flawless curtsy." And, of course, Queen Elizabeth II responded to their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview with the famous line: "Some recollections may vary." The problems, though, go beyond the question of whether it is hypocritical for Meghan to demand the truth from others. Prince Harry Denounces the Media Days Into Their Relationship Not least of all, the couple effectively did ask people to tell the truth, albeit using a more elaborate form of words. Harry released a statement through Jason Knauf, the communications secretary at Kensington Palace, on November 8, 2016, just more than a week after their relationship became public knowledge, which stated: "The past week has seen a line crossed. His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. "Some of this has been very public—the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments. "Some of it has been hidden from the public—the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life." The reference to "defamation" and a "smear" was a clear indication Harry felt the stories in the papers were untrue. And that was itself a re-iteration of Harry's longstanding and very well-known position in the British media. For example, when he turned 21, he gave an interview in which he spoke about how protective he was of then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy: "I suppose that is the media in general. There's truth and there's lies and unfortunately I can't get the truth across because I don't have my own column in the paper." Meghan also made similar comments during an interview in 2019 for ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey: "I never thought this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair. And that is the part that is hard to reconcile." All of these interventions were interpreted as pleas for the media to tell the truth at a point when Harry had very firmly established his position that the tabloids were full of lies. Needless to say, none of these interventions resolved the couple's conflicts with the media. Harry and Meghan's Inability to Acknowledge Their Own Flaws In reality, Meghan's answer has the effect of deflecting the question away from how she might have done things differently and onto her frequently repeated existing narrative about what others should have done differently, namely, she wanted them to tell the truth and feels they did not. And it has been said for years that for all their criticisms of other people, Harry and Meghan have done nowhere near enough to acknowledge their own flaws. Rather than batting the question away, Meghan could have finally engaged with the idea that some aspects of her current situation may be a product of her own past mistakes. Prince Harry told Anderson Cooper during his 60 Minutes interview in January 2023: "Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologize for anything that we did wrong, but every time we ask that question, no one's telling us the specifics or anything." However, that statement is hard to reconcile with the passage of his book Spare, in which he described tensions with the staff: "Nerves were shattering, people were sniping. In such a climate there was no such thing as constructive criticism. All feedback was seen as an affront, an insult. "More than once a staff member slumped across their desk and wept. For all this, every bit of it, Willy blamed one person. Meg. He told me so several times, and he got cross when I told him he was out of line." The question of whether there is anything Meghan and Harry might have done differently may well come up again in the future, and it might not be the worst idea for them to have an actual answer for it that does not deflect the blame onto others. Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page. Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@ We'd love to hear from you.
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Rachel Gupta cries, shares truth about Miss Grand International: 'Made to sell cheap products on TikTok like salesgirl'
Rachel Gupta, the 21-year-old winner of Miss Grand International 2024, has been at the centre of controversy after announcing her resignation from the title. On May 28, Rachel took to Instagram to share that she's stepping down due to a 'toxic environment and repeated unkept promises' during her reign as Miss Grand International 2024. On May 29, she took to her YouTube channel to share a video of herself, which she titled 'The Truth about Miss Grand International - My Story'. Also read | Rachel Gupta returns Miss Grand International 2024 crown, alleges mistreatment; organisation says she was terminated While Miss Grand International Organisation has a different version of events and said that Rachel Gupta was officially terminated from her position, in the video, Rachel, narrated her experience over the past 7 months. From being made to lived in 'cramped' Thai hotel room for 1 month after her win and then being 'locked in a house all day long' with no food or basic amenities to being 'hounded about her weight all the time', Rachel made serious allegations against the Miss Grand International organisers. She said, 'Frankly they don't care if I live or die. As long as I'm there to smile at their events, as long as I keep my body super skinny, the way they like, they don't care if I live or die. They just want me to be there, to go on TikTok Live and make money for them and show up at their events. That's it, that's all they want from me... I realised they would never, never support me, and I was completely on my own... they made us sell. You guys know they made us sell these cheap, tacky products on TikTok like we were salesgirls. You've crowned queens, girls who have careers in our country, we do things, we're well respected, and they're making us sell cheap products on TikTok because it makes them money and you can't say no.' A post shared by Rachel Gupta (@_rachelgupta) Rachel also slammed the organisation for promoting unrealistic beauty standards and body shaming her, which led to her low self-esteem and mental health issues. She said she had to buy herself food and struggled with taking care of her health and fitness. She said, 'I asked them I need access to a gym because obviously, you have to keep taking care of yourself, like that's the job,. But they didn't arrange that for me. I had to beg and beg for them to give me a yoga mat... at the same time they were hounding me and constantly talking about my weight and my body all the time. I remember one time, they sent their representative to me and he just comes up to me and he starts pinching me in different places and he's like 'Oh you need to lose weight here, you need to lose weight here'. What am I supposed to say to that? It's so embarrassing. It makes you feel so small and so bad. I understand, obviously I have to stay fit for the job I have, and stay in shape, but it's so difficult when you don't have access to anything and you're just locked in a house, basically all day long.' In the video, Rachel also said that countries could pay for votes during Miss Grand International 2024 pageant, and the organisation accepted these payments, creating unfair competition. She also expressed concerns about the organisation's handling of serious issues, including a case of sexual harassment reported by a former titleholder. She wrote in her YouTube caption, 'It's taken a lot of courage to speak so openly and honestly, but I truly hope this helps girls who share the dream I once had. While my story may polarize you, I urge you to keep the focus on the issues that matter. I have screenshots and receipts for everything, but am not willing to stoop to that level. People who believe me will do so regardless of proof. It is not easy to give back what you fought so hard to achieve but my decision to step down is based on integrity and self-respect. Thank you for listening to me and supporting me.' The 21-year-old model from Jalandhar was crowned Miss Grand International 2024 last year, becoming the first Indian to win the title.
