LONDON: Princes William and Harry’s former nanny on Thursday received substantial damages from the BBC over “false and malicious” claims about her used to obtain a 1995 interview with Princess Diana.
Alexandra Pettifer, known at the time as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, was given a public apology for “fabricated” allegations that she had an affair with the princes’ father, Prince Charles.
The High Court in London was also told that she was falsely accused of becoming pregnant by him when she was his personal assistant and of having an abortion.
Pettifer’s lawyer Louise Prince said the allegations caused “serious personal consequences for all concerned” and her client did not know where they came from.
But she said it was likely that the “false and malicious allegations arose as a result and in the context of BBC Panorama’s efforts to procure an exclusive interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.”
The explosive interview saw Diana detail her troubled marriage to Charles, his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and how she had also been unfaithful.
Questions were immediately raised about how little-known interviewer Martin Bashir secured Diana’s agreement to take part in the program, which sent shockwaves through the royal family.
It has since emerged that he used subterfuge, including fake documents alleging some of her aides were in the pay of the security services.
Pettifer’s lawyer said the “totally unfounded” claims “appeared to exploit some prior false speculation in the media” about her and Charles.
“After Diana, Princess of Wales, became aware of the allegations in late 1995, she became upset with the claimant without apparent justification,” she added.
Prince said Pettifer “holds the BBC liable for the serious impact the false and malicious allegations have had” which had caused her “25 years of lies, suspicion and upset.”
Pettifer said she was one of many people whose life had been “scarred” by the way the program was made and the BBC’s failure to investigate properly afterwards.
“The distress caused to the royal family is a source of great upset to me,” she added.
“I know first-hand how much they were affected at the time, and how the program and the false narrative it created have haunted the family in the years since.”
BBC director-general Tim Davie confirmed the corporation would pay “substantial damages” to Pettifer and pledged not to show the program again.
He also apologized to her, Charles, William and Harry “for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives.”
The BBC has previously paid damages to Diana’s former aide Patrick Jephson and a graphic designer who blew the whistle on the underhand methods used.
BBC pays ‘substantial’ damages to royal nanny over Diana interview
https://arab.news/znchq
BBC pays ‘substantial’ damages to royal nanny over Diana interview
- Alexandra Pettifer, known at the time as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, was also falsely accused of becoming pregnant by Prince Charles and getting an abortion
Arab News honored in London on its 50th anniversary
- Well-attended event organized by Global Arab Network at Frontline Club discussed news in the era of digital transformation and AI
- Attendees saw preview of “Rewriting Arab News,” a film about the newspaper’s relaunch and transformation between 2016 and 2018
LONDON: To mark the 50th anniversary of Arab News, the Global Arab Network hosted on Friday an event at the Frontline Club featuring a documentary preview and a panel discussion on the newspaper’s digital transformation and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the future of media.
Welcoming guests, Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the London-based Global Arab Network, commended Arab News, saying it has become “one of the most trusted newspapers in the Middle East.”
“Global Arab Network works to help people from Arab countries and other parts of the world understand each other better. They support projects that connect cultures, support development, and share news and ideas,” he said.
“Their work is similar to what Arab News does — they both want to bring the East and West closer together.”
FASTFACT
The Frontline Club in London describes itself as “a gathering place for journalists, photographers and other likeminded people interested in international affairs” that champions “independent journalism and freedom of speech; rallies the “protection of press freedom;” and “fights for the safety of freelancers in doing their important work.”
In his address, Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas said: “We thank the Global Arab Network for hosting this event and presenting the documentary. We hope that the attendees can benefit from the Arab News digital transformation success story as we all brace for an AI-led future”
He added: “For the past 50 years, Arab News has been at the forefront of technology when it comes to news gathering, verification, research and distribution. We vow to continue on this path, and our latest podcast, launched using Google NotebookLM, is a testimony to our commitment.”
The Frontline Club event in London was attended by renowned dignitaries, diplomats and journalists including Saudi Editor Othman Al-Omair, Asharq Network’s Nabeel Khatib and Al Majalla Editor in Chief, Ibrahim Hamidi.
Members of parliament, lecturers from British universities and former ministers and ambassadors were also among the attendees.
The event saw a preview of “Rewriting Arab News,” a short film about the newspaper’s relaunch and digital transformation between 2016 and 2018, which was presented by Global Arab Network.
The event paid tribute to the brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz, who launched Arab News as Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily newspaper, from a small garage in their hometown, Jeddah, while depicting the publication’s growth and milestones in the runup to it relaunch.
The evening also discussed how Arab News is consistently launching new initiatives and projects as part of its preparations for an AI-driven future.
“In 2000, less than 7 percent of the world’s population was connected to the internet; 25 years later, more than 60 percent of the world is connected to the internet,” Abbas said.
“We are at the brink of an AI revolution that is already happening, and the evolution of the news industry continues. We hope that Arab news can continue this challenge and thrive under this challenge.”
Arab News was established in 1975 under the slogan, “The Middle East’s Leading English Language Daily,” to give Arabs a voice in English while documenting the major transformations taking place across the Middle East.
In April 2018, Arab News changed its 43-year-old logo with a new one as well as its motto to “The Voice of a Changing Region.” The newspaper relaunched with a new design and a new approach to stories that it believed was better suited to the internet age.
“Since 1975, Arab News has been the voice of the Arab world and the newspaper of record for Saudi Arabia and the wider region. As this region changes, and as the Arab world faces new challenges and new political, social and economic realities, so must that voice change. And so must Arab News,” the newspaper said in an editorial on April 4.
Arab News is marking its 50th anniversary at a shifting moment, as Lebanon and Syria form new governments and the Middle East prepares for a high-level conference on the Palestinian two-state solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, in New York this June.
“It’s remarkable looking back at history to see the pattern of how history repeats itself, but sometimes it could be a happy ending,” said Abbas.
A panel discussion after the screening of the documentary featured Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu); Juan Senor, partner at Innovation Media Consulting Group; and Abbas.
“Like Arab News, tech giants Apple and Google also started in garages — there’s something to be said about that,” Doyle said.
He praised Arab News for consistently reinventing itself “not just to keep up with the times, but to stay ahead of them.”
In April, Arab News launched its 50th anniversary collection, highlighting key events that shaped the Middle East over the past five decades, alongside the newspaper’s own evolution.
As part of its digital transformation efforts and complementing the anniversary project, Arab News released a podcast series last month. Produced using Google’s AI-powered research tool, NotebookLM, it features artificial hosts and AI-generated voices recounting pivotal moments that defined the region’s recent history.
Senor said: “Arab News has consistently set the standard for English-language journalism in the region, offering clarity and credibility at a time when balanced narratives about the Middle East are more important than ever.”
He added: “Arab News has played a crucial role in elevating regional voices that were often overlooked or misrepresented in international discourse — it’s journalism with purpose, not just headlines.”
As part of the same series of initiatives marking its 50th anniversary, Arab News hosted a special reception and talk last month in collaboration with Google on the opening day of the Arab Media Summit in Dubai in the UAE.
During the May 26 reception, Mona Al-Marri, director-general of Dubai Media Office, Government of Dubai, said: “I hope that all media outlets in our region follow in the steps of Arab News, because this is when you set a good working model for the whole region. … Arab News is leading this transformation.”
In a region where over 50 percent of the population is young, she added, “we should all follow this model.”
In his keynote speech at the event, Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, said: “Let’s all agree that how we create and consume media is changing dramatically. Look at the average attention span, which is eight seconds.”
He said the disruptive power of AI — from disinformation to audience mistrust — makes the “human touch” more vital than ever. “AI may be the hero of the next media chapter, but self-critique, adaptability and editorial responsibility will define its success,” Belhoul said.
Arab News, headquartered in Riyadh, has expanded its digital voice by establishing bureaus in London, Pakistan and Dubai, besides editions published in French and Japanese.
France eyes social media ban for under-15s after school stabbing
- A secondary school pupil was arrested on Tuesday after fatally stabbing a 31-year-old school assistant during a bag search in Nogent, eastern France
- President Emmanuel Macron said France would move ahead with a ban if the EU fails to make progress on a proposal to ban the platform for children in the coming months
PARIS: French authorities have announced plans to ban social media for under-15s and the sale of knives to minors after the murder of a teaching assistant by a 14-year-old boy plunged the country into shock.
A secondary school pupil was arrested on Tuesday after killing a 31-year-old school assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France.
Friends and well-wishers left flowers and messages of support in front of the secondary school struck by the tragedy.
“We share your pain,” read one message.
Laurence Raclot, who knew the teaching assistant, Melanie, said she was “stunned.”
“She was great with kids,” Raclot said. “In a quiet little town, we never would have thought this could happen.”
A former hairdresser, Melanie had retrained and worked at the school since September. She was the mother of a four-year-old boy and a councillor in a village near Nogent.
“There are no words,” added another local, Sabrina Renault. “It’s really sad for her whole family, for that little boy who’s left without his mum.”
Pupils and parents were seen entering and leaving the school, where a psychological support unit has been set up.
The suspect will remain in police custody for a further 24 hours, until Thursday morning, a police source told AFP on Wednesday. Little information has been released about his motive.
In the wake of the attack, authorities promised a raft of measures to tackle knife crime among children.
“I am proposing banning social media for children under 15,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X on Tuesday evening. “Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let’s do it,” he added.
Backed by France and Spain, Greece has spearheaded a proposal for how the EU should limit children’s use of online platforms as evidence shows that social media can have negative effects on children’s mental and physical health.
Macron said on Tuesday that if no progress was made within several months, then France would go ahead with the ban unilaterally.
“We cannot wait,” he told broadcaster France 2.
France has in recent years seen several attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren.
In March, police started random searches for knives and other weapons concealed in bags at and around schools.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s office said a ban on the sale of knives to minors will be implemented by a decree issued within the next two weeks.
Speaking to broadcaster TF1 on Tuesday evening, Bayrou said that the measure would come into force “immediately.”
The list will include “any knife that can be used as a weapon,” he said.
He also said parents and educators should be watching for “signs that a teenager is not doing well,” while acknowledging that there was a shortage of psychologists.
Bayrou has also called for a trial of metal detectors in schools.
Education Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a minute’s silence to be held in all French schools at midday on Thursday to honor the memory of the teaching assistant.
“The entire educational community is in shock, as is the whole nation,” she told France Inter radio on Wednesday.
Borne said she was “open to anything” to improve safety but added that ceramic blades would be invisible to metal detectors.
She also said that young people should be protected from “overexposure to screens.”
But trade unions said they were not sure how these proposals would be implemented and enforced.
“Teaching assistants have primarily educational duties within the school environment,” said Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU teachers’ union.
But, she added, “little by little, we have seen attempts to turn them into security guards.”
Remy Reynaud of the CGT Educ’action union criticized the government’s decision to introduce bag searches outside schools.
“They increase tensions,” he said.
“School management are pressuring teaching assistants to participate in the searches, which is not part of their duties.”
Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they ‘went too far’
- ‘I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far’
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and Donald Trump’s former adviser, said Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair’s public falling-out last week.
“I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.
Musk’s expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with “serious consequences” if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill.
Their blistering break-up – largely carried out on social media before a riveted public since Thursday last week – was ignited by Musk’s harsh criticism of Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill, which is currently before Congress.
Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk – one of the Republican Party’s biggest financial backers in last year’s presidential election – to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation.
“He’ll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,” Trump, who also branded Musk “disrespectful,” told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be.
Trump also said he had “no” desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has “no intention of speaking to him.”
In his post on Wednesday, Musk did not specify which of his criticisms of Trump had gone “too far.”
The former allies had seemed to have cut ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Trump giving Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But their relationship cracked within days as Musk described the spending bill as an “abomination” that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump’s second term in office.
Trump hit back at Musk’s comments in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore. I was surprised,” Trump told reporters.
Musk, who was Trump’s biggest donor to his 2024 campaign, also raised the issue of the Republican’s election win.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” he posted, adding: “Such ingratitude.”
Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts to Musk’s companies would be the “easiest way” to save the US government money. US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion.
With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters “I just wish him well,” and Musk responding on X: “Likewise.”
Trump had spoken to NBC on Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk had alleged that the Republican president is featured in unreleased government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges.
Trump was named in a trove of deposition and statements linked to Epstein that were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024. The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk posted on X. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.”
Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim.
He appeared to have deleted those tweets by Saturday morning.
Turkish court issues arrest warrant for owner of pro-opposition TV channel
- Arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organization
- Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation
ANKARA: An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a television channel aligned with Turkiye’s main opposition party on charges of bid-rigging, the prosecutor’s office said late on Tuesday.
The arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, was issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organization suspected of rigging public tenders by bribing public officials.
Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation, part of a widening legal crackdown against the jailed mayor of Istanbul, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, and the opposition.
Mahiroglu, a Turkish businessperson who lives in London, denied the charges in a post on X.
“I am being accused based on the fabricated false statements and slander of someone I have never met or seen in my life,” he said, adding that he has been living abroad for 35 years.
“So, there is a price to be the owner of Halk TV, the people’s television, and to defend democracy, rights and law.”
He did not say if he would return to Turkiye to contest the charges.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), who leads Erdogan in some opinion polls, was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies.
His arrest triggered mass protests, economic turmoil and broad accusations of government influence over the judiciary and anti-democratic applications. The government has denied the accusations and said the judiciary is independent.
Since his arrest, authorities have detained dozens of CHP members, officials from the Istanbul municipality, and other CHP-run municipalities.
Media groups condemn arrest of 2 journalists aboard Madleen boat
- The journalists were identified as Yanis Mhamdi, from the independent media outlet Blast, and Omar Faiad, a reporter for Al Jazeera
LONDON: Media groups have condemned the arrest of two French journalists who were on board the Gaza-bound Madleen boat, which was intercepted by the Israeli military on Monday.
The journalists were identified as Yanis Mhamdi, from the independent media outlet Blast, and Omar Faiad, a reporter for Al Jazeera.
In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for the immediate release of journalists who were part of the pro-Palestinian convoy of activists delivering aid to Gaza as a symbolic protest against the ongoing war and to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis.
It urged EU leaders to pressure Israel to “stop all assaults on press freedom and protect journalists.”
Condemning the arrest, Reporters Without Borders said: “Boarding a civilian vessel in international waters to intercept a crew that included two French journalists documenting a peaceful humanitarian initiative is not only illegal, but constitutes a serious violation of international law and press freedom.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the activists and journalists aboard the boat were deported on Tuesday morning from Ben Gurion Airport to their home countries.
“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation. Consuls from the passengers’ home countries met them at the airport,” the Foreign Ministry posted on X.
The ministry also posted pictures of the renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg on a flight to Sweden following her deportation.
