BBC criticized for labelling Afghan footballer refugees as ‘false’

A team of young female Afghan footballers, seen here at a charity match in London in 2022, who were among those who fled Kabul. (AFP)
A team of young female Afghan footballers, seen here at a charity match in London in 2022, who were among those who fled Kabul. (AFP)
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Updated 19 March 2023

BBC criticized for labelling Afghan footballer refugees as ‘false’

BBC criticized for labelling Afghan footballer refugees as ‘false’
  • ‘Newsnight’ report claimed female players who fled Taliban rule to UK did not play for teams they named

LONDON: The BBC was at the center of another scandal after being accused of calling a group of Afghan female football players who escaped to the UK “false footballers.”

In a “Newsnight” report aired on Friday, of the 35 women and their families that fled to the UK through Pakistan in November 2021, 13 were claimed to have lied on their evacuation forms regarding the teams they played for.

Many social media users found the terminology condescending and belittling and argued that it detracted from the players’ bravery and accomplishments in escaping the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

One of the players Mozhdah Howaida, posted a video on Twitter describing how she was approached by a BBC reporter, and “thought it was a joke.”

She said: “I came here all alone. I lost my family, my friends, my old ones behind to pursue my education to just play the game which I love.”

Howaida added that she was still dealing with “trauma and nightmares every single night.”

In a tweet, another player Zeynab Mozaffri, said: “I am one of the players you wrote about. It’s sad to read this. I have a question: How come the BBC chose to interview the male coach who left us behind and didn’t fight for us? We as women were at risk, and now he is saying we don’t deserve to be safe?”

In response to the criticism, the BBC issued an apology for any offense caused, emphasizing that it had not intended to diminish the players or their achievements.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We were initially contacted by the former women footballers still in Afghanistan who were unhappy they had been left behind and who had seen others claiming to be top-tier sportspeople granted refugee status. We investigated their claims.

“The BBC has taken care not to identify anyone who hasn’t previously been identified in other media but we will always carefully consider representations from those involved in stories.”


Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers

Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers
Updated 33 sec ago

Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers

Microsoft to offer OpenAI’s GPT models to government cloud customers
  • Company said GPT technology will be integrated into Azure Government, which offers cloud solutions to government agencies
LONDON: Microsoft Corp. is bringing the powerful language-producing models from OpenAI to US federal agencies using its Azure cloud service, it said in a blog post on Wednesday.
The Redmond, Washington-based company has added support for large language models (LLMs) powering GPT-4 the latest and the most sophisticated of the LLMs from OpenAI, and GPT-3, to Azure Government.
Use of LLMs have boomed since the launch of ChatGPT from OpenAI, in which Microsoft holds a stake, and businesses of all shapes and sizes are racing to build features on top of them.
It is the first time Microsoft is bringing the GPT technology to Azure Government, which offers cloud solutions to US government agencies, and marks the first such effort by a major company to make the chatbot technology available to governments.
Microsoft generally offers it to Azure commercial cloud users through Azure OpenAI Services, which had 4,500 customers as of May.
Microsoft said government customers can adapt the language models for specific tasks including content generation, language-to-code translation and summarization.

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp
Updated 6 min 42 sec ago

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp

Meta introduces broadcast tool Channels on WhatsApp
  • New feature users will allow users to follow content on their hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials

LONDON: Meta Platforms on Thursday introduced WhatsApp Channels, a feature that the social media giant said would help make the app a “private broadcast messaging product.”
Users in Colombia and Singapore will be the first to receive access to Channels. Over the coming months, Meta will expand the availability of the tool for users in more countries, it said.
The company said users will be able to follow content on their hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials and others.
Profile photos and contact information of the channel admin would not be visible to followers. Similarly, followers will not have their phone numbers revealed.
Global launch partners for the feature will include the World Health Organization, FC Barcelona and Manchester City.


Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios

Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios
Updated 08 June 2023

Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios

Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios
  • Fox News accused Carlson of the violation in a letter to his legal team after he posted a clip of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday
  • Carlson was taken off the air by Fox last April following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud

WASHINGTON: Fox News on Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson’s legal team that the former prime-time host violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a copy of a letter obtained by the news website.

Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday, weeks after being taken off the air by Fox following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud.
Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar sent a letter to Carlson’s legal team saying Carlson “is in breach” of his contract agreement after he posted a clip of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday evening, according to Axios.
Carlson’s legal team could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters. His lawyer told Axios that any legal action by Fox would violate his First Amendment rights to free speech guaranteed by the US Constitution.
“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,” Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement cited by Axios.
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The letter quoted by Axios refers to Carlson’s contract, and said its former prime time star was “prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the Internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.’“


Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time

Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time
Updated 07 June 2023

Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time

Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time
  • Executives from the company’s regional and global operations told business and marketing experts from the region about its latest consumer insights, products and solutions

DUBAI: Google announced new consumer insights, products and solutions on Wednesday in Riyadh, as the company’s flagship global advertising and commerce event, Google Marketing Live, took place in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

Executives from Google’s regional and global operations joined business and marketing experts from the region at the event to discuss the future of artificial intelligence in the business world.

“We’re excited to host Google Marketing Live in Riyadh for the first time,” said Anthony Nakache, the managing director of Google MENA.

“Google’s presence here today is a testament to our commitment to supporting businesses in the Kingdom and their digital growth.”

The company showcased its latest advertising products and new features on Google Search and Maps, along with a range of AI features and products that will be available in Saudi Arabia. It said the innovations include an enhanced experience on PerformanceMax, Automatically Created Assets, and Merchant Center Next.

PerformanceMax, which allows advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign, will now use generative media models and large language learning models to generate “professional grade creatives” across YouTube, Display and Search with minimal information, the company said.

Automatically Created Assets will enable advertisers to generate and adapt their adverts in real time, so that they are more relevant to customers, it added.

In addition, Google said, businesses of all sizes can now manage online and offline product and business information through Merchant Center Next, which includes a simplified process for onboarding and product upload and management, together with improved ad integration and comprehensive reporting.

“AI has long been the cornerstone of Google’s products and services and we’re excited to announce new AI-powered features, such as AI in PerformanceMax and Automatically Created Assets, for businesses in Saudi Arabia to help drive better performance and reach more customers,” said Nakache.

Google Marketing Live is an annual event during which the company showcases its latest advertising and product offerings.


Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps

Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps
Updated 07 June 2023

Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps

Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps
  • The chief executive officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, informed CNN staff of Licht’s departure during the network’s daily editorial call
  • The departure of 51-year-old Licht came after The Atlantic recently published an extensive article headlined “Inside the Tremendous Meltdown at CNN”

LONDON: CNN chief Chris Licht on Wednesday announced that he would be leaving the network after a one-year tenure marked by serious programming missteps.
The chief executive officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, informed CNN staff of Licht’s departure during the network’s daily editorial call, according to CNN Business.
The departure of 51-year-old Licht, CNN’s chairman and CEO, came after The Atlantic recently published an extensive article headlined “Inside the Tremendous Meltdown at CNN,” highlighting the muddles and low ratings the company had experienced in the last year.
The most recent of his missteps, which attracted backlash, was the network’s town hall meeting with former US President Donald Trump, which the Financial Times described as “controversial.”
During the meeting, Trump’s supporters cheered as he insulted the event’s moderator Kaitlan Collins, who attempted to fact-check the ex-American leader. Although CNN journalists were angered, Licht said: “America was served very well by what we did.”
On Monday, Licht apologized to CNN employees, describing his experience as “tremendously humbling.”
But on Wednesday, Zaslav said: “For a number of reasons things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Licht will leave his role within 48 hours, Puck News reported on Wednesday.