DUBAI: British-Irish columnist Kevin Myers was sacked from The Sunday Times after he wrote an “unacceptable” article in which he suggested that two women in the British entertainment industry were paid more because they are Jewish.
The newspaper’s editors were forced to issue an apology after Myers’ article on the gender pay gap at the BBC, which has been heavily reported on after the organization published the salaries of its top stars revealing a large gender pay gap, caused outcry.
In his article published Sunday in the newspaper’s Ireland edition, Myers pointed out that the BBC’s best-paid female presenters – Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz – are Jewish.
“Good for them,” he wrote. “Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate, lost-with-all-hands stupidity.”
Myers added that men tend to work harder and do not get pregnant.
The Sunday Times’ editor Martin Ivens released a statement confirming that Myers had been sacked.
“Further to our earlier statement we can confirm that Kevin Myers will not write again for the Sunday Times Ireland,” he said.
“A printed apology will appear in next week’s paper. The Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens has also apologized personally to Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz for these unacceptable comments both to Jewish people and to women in the workplace,” a previous statement said.
Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of the Sunday Times Ireland, took responsibility for the publication of the article.
‘As the editor of the Ireland edition, I take full responsibility for this error in judgment,’ he said.
Sunday Times sacks columnist over ‘unacceptable’ comments on Jews, women
Sunday Times sacks columnist over ‘unacceptable’ comments on Jews, women
UAE outlines approach to AI governance amid regulation debate at World Economic Forum
- Minister of State Maryam Al-Hammadi highlights importance of a robust regulatory framework to complement implementation of AI technology
- Other experts in panel discussion say regulators should address problems as they arise, rather than trying to solve problems that do not yet exist
DUBAI: The UAE has made changes to 90 percent of its laws in the past four years, Maryam Al-Hammadi, minister of state and the secretary-general of the Emirati Cabinet, told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
Speaking during a panel discussion titled “Regulating at the Speed of Code,” she highlighted the importance of having a robust regulatory framework in place to complement the implementation of artificial intelligence technology in the public and private sectors.
The process of this updating and repealing of laws has driven the UAE’s efforts to develop an AI model that can assist in the drafting of legislation, along with collecting feedback from stakeholders on proposed laws and suggesting improvements, she said.
Although AI might be more agile at shaping regulation, “there are some principles that we put in the model that we are developing that we cannot compromise,” Al-Hammadi added. These include rules for human accountability, transparency, privacy and data protection, along with constitutional safeguards and a thorough understanding of the law.
At this stage, “we believe AI can advise but still (the) human is in command,” she said.
Authorities in the UAE are aiming to develop, within a two-year timeline, a shareable model to help other nations learn and benefit from its experiences, Al-Hammadi added.
Argentina’s minister of deregulation and state transformation, Federico Sturzenegger, warned against overregulation at the cost of innovation.
Politicians often react to a “salient event” by overreacting, he said, describing most regulators as “very imaginative of all the terrible things that will happen to people if they’re free.”
He said that “we have to take more risk,” and regulators should wait to address problems as they arise rather than trying to create solutions for problems that do not yet exist.
This sentiment was echoed by Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, who said “imaginative policymakers” often focus more on risks and potential harms than on the economic and growth benefits of innovation.
He pointed to Europe as an example of this, arguing that an excessive focus on “all the possible harms” of new technologies has, over time, reduced competitiveness and risks leaving the region behind in what he described as a “new technological revolution.”
