PHOENIX, Arizona: A 20-year-old student at Arizona State University broke the news that a key State Department official who was involved in talks between President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian government had stepped down from his post.
Andrew Howard, a managing editor of The State Press student newspaper, reported Friday evening that Kurt D. Volker stepped down from his role as the State Department’s special envoy for Ukraine.
“I’m not sure any of us thought it would just be this big scoop,” Howard told The Associated Press. “It’s just incredible.”
Usually, the State Press competes with Arizona media outlets, he said.
“It turned out we were competing with the world,” Howard said. “I was never thinking we have to beat the Times and the AP and the Washington Post.”
Volker is executive director of the McCain Institute, a think tank in Washington that is run by Arizona State University.
Howard said he knew about Volker’s ties to the McCain Institute and decided to see if he could get information about him from his work with the university.
“I just talked to editor in chief (of the State Press) and said we should look into this because we thought it would be good to localize a big story,” he said.
Howard began looking into Volker and, by Friday evening, confirmed with an unnamed school official that Volker had resigned. He worked on the story with the editor in chief and another managing editor.
“We did hard work. We wanted to make sure our facts are right,” Howard said.
When the story went online about 6:15 p.m., Howard was working in the newsroom of the Arizona Republic, where he is an intern.
Howard said he jokingly apologized to the newsroom for the story.
“I briefly said out loud: ‘Sorry about that,’ ” he said. “They were incredibly nice about it. It was sort of a funny moment.”
Prominent Washington journalists praised the State Press on Twitter. “Hell of a scoop,” wrote Times White House reporter Maggie Haberman.
“I appreciate all the media attention we’re getting,” Howard said. “It’s great for our paper. It’s awesome that we proved student journalists can do the same reporting everyone else can.”
Howard, who grew up in Phoenix, said his mother studied journalism in college and he worked for his high school newspaper.
“I grew up in a family that valued news and understood it,” he said.
The State Press is his main focus at Arizona State, said Howard, whose major is in journalism and minor is in political science.
“I do spend a lot of time at the State Press, probably too much time,” he said.
Student journalist scores big scoop in Trump-Ukraine story
Student journalist scores big scoop in Trump-Ukraine story
- Andrew Howard of the State Press broke the news that the State Department’s special envoy for Ukraine has stepped down
- Trump is the subject of an impeachment attempt in the US Congress in connection with the US-Ukraine crisis
Labour Party dumps UK election candidate over 10-year-old tweets about Israel and Islamophobia
- Faiza Shaheen blocked from standing for the party at the General Election on July 4 because of a handful of interactions on social media platform X over the past decade
- The tweets include one about her experience of Islamophobia in the party, and a clip from The Daily Show in which host Jon Stewart discussed Israel’s actions in Gaza in 2014
LONDON: Labour Party bosses have blocked a candidate from standing at the upcoming UK General Election because of a handful of interactions on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, over the past 10 years.
In once case, economist and academic Faiza Shaheen “liked” a video of a TV comedy sketch about Israel by acclaimed American comedian Jon Stewart, host of satirical news program The Daily Show. In another she wrote about her own experiences with Islamophobia within the Labour party.
Shaheen said she was informed on Wednesday night that she could not stand for the party at the election, after she was called to a meeting to discuss accusations of antisemitism and other misconduct. She told the BBC’s Newsnight program on Wednesday of her shock upon receiving the email confirming her candidacy had been blocked.
“Fourteen tweets since 2014 — 10 years,” she said. “Three of those were about the Green Party, me liking my friends’ tweets before I joined the Labour Party, and one of them was about my experiences of Islamophobia in the party.
“How am I not allowed to talk about my experiences of Islamophobia and the double standards that I’ve seen.”
I’m genuinely worried for my civil liberties under a @Keir_Starmer government.
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) May 29, 2024
Watch this, from @faizashaheen tonight on #newsnight pic.twitter.com/Qy2suvfuvd
Shaheen, an academic who specializes in the study of inequality, had been presented with a list of tweets earlier in the day, including one that included a clip from The Daily Show broadcast in July 2014. In it, host Stewart, who is of Jewish heritage, starts to discuss an Israeli ground offensive during the 2014 Gaza War. He is immediately surrounded and rebuked by four of the Comedy Central show’s correspondents who, as part of the show’s satirical commentary on the issue, accuse him of being a “self-hating Jew” for questioning the actions of Israel.
Shaheen’s interaction with video on social media prompted a complaint from the Jewish Labour Movement, which is affiliated with the Labour Party.
“It was the middle of the night, if you look at the time. I was probably with the baby, breastfeeding. I don’t even remember liking that tweet,” she said during her appearance on Newsnight.
She later accused the Labour Party of waging “a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia and bullying” and alleged that the party, led by Keir Starmer, has “a problem with black and brown people.”
Adding that she will challenge the party’s decision in the courts, she said: “This campaign of prejudice, bullying and spiteful behavior has finally been rewarded by Labour’s NEC (National Executive Committee) and my name has been added to the list of those not welcome in the candidate club. And it is no surprise that many of those excluded are people of color.”
Stewart reacted to the Labour Party’s action against Shaheen with a message on Twitter in which he wrote: “This is the dumbest thing the UK has done since electing Boris Johnson.”
This is the dumbest thing The UK has done since electing Boris Johnson…what the actual fuck… https://t.co/n6Ekibi5is
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) May 30, 2024
The decision by Labour bosses to prevent Shaheen from standing in the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency in North East London comes as the party campaigns for the General Election on July 4, which many experts predict will result in a landslide victory for the party.
However, under Starmer, who became leader in 2020, the party has faced criticism on a number of issues, including its stance on the war in Gaza and its handling of internal matters.
In 2020, watchdogs ruled that the party was responsible for “unlawful” acts of antisemitic harassment and discrimination during the four-and-a-half years when Starmer’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, was party leader.
Arab News columnist Baria Alamuddin receives lifetime achievement honor at May Chidiac Foundation Media Awards
- The MCF Awards ceremony was held on in Dubai, UAE, for the second year
- Mamdouh Al-Muhaini, general manager of Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, received the Excellence in the Media Industry Award
DUBAI: Acclaimed international journalist and broadcaster Baria Alamuddin was celebrated at the May Chidiac Foundation Media Awards for her valuable contributions to the Arab world’s media industry.
Alamuddin, an Arab News columnist, editor of the Media Services Syndicate and former foreign editor of Al-Hayat newspaper, accepted the Antoine Choueiri Special Tribute for Lifetime Achievement during Tuesday’s ceremony.
Presenting the accolade were Pierre Choueiri, CEO and chairman of the leading media representation group in the Middle East, Choueiri Group, and Lebanon’s ambassador to the UAE, Fouad Chehab Dandan.
The annual MCF Awards, hosted by Dubai for the second year in a row, recognized the contributions of several other prominent figures in the Arab media industry.
Awards were presented by MCF President May Chidiac and other notable media personalities, including Lebanese journalist and writer Samir Atallah, CEO of International Media Investments and former CNN Commercial Worldwide president Rani Raad, and Beirut Institute founder and executive chairman Raghida Dergham.
Mamdouh Al-Muhaini, general manager of Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, accepted the Excellence in the Media Industry Award.
The Excellence in Media Award went to Nadim Koteich, general manager of Sky News Arabia, International Media Investments, to recognize his commitment to excellence and his impact on the media landscape over the past two decades.
Palestinian journalist Heba Akila, best known for her coverage of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, was recognized for her Courage in Journalism.
Anas Bukhash, entrepreneur and podcast presenter of ABTalks, accepted the Content Development Award from award-winning international journalist Hadley Gamble and Bahraini business pioneer Akram Miknas, who heads Promoseven Holdings.
Award-winning investigative journalist and television host at France 2, Elise Lucet, received the Engaged Journalist Award, presented by Nobel laureate Ouidad Bouchamaoui and Lebanese Member of Parliament Ghassan Hasbani.
The Outstanding Media Performance Award was presented to American journalist and war reporter Ben Wedeman, CNN’s Beirut-based senior international correspondent.
Founded by journalist and former Lebanese Minister for Administrative Development May Chidiac, the foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to research and development in the fields of media, international affairs, women’s rights, democracy and social welfare, among others, with the aim of establishing Lebanon as a proactive player in the Middle East and global economy.
Meta removes over 500 Israeli social media accounts misleading public on Gaza war
- Tech giant bans STOIC, which is a Tel Aviv-based political-intelligence firm
- Human Rights Watch accused Meta in December of censoring Palestinian content
LONDON: Meta has removed over 500 Facebook and Instagram accounts, operated as a network from Israel, which were seeking to “manipulate” public debate about Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza, the tech giant revealed on Wednesday.
In its latest Adversarial Threat Report, published on May 29, Meta highlighted that the Israeli network — shut down during the first quarter of 2024 — comprised 510 Facebook and 32 Instagram accounts, 11 pages and one group.
Meta’s investigation found these accounts to have violated its policy defined as “coordinated efforts to manipulate public debate for a strategic goal, in which fake accounts are central to the operation.”
The network targeted audiences in the US and Canada but was discovered and stopped early in its audience-building efforts, Meta said. It had about 500 Facebook and 2,000 Instagram followers, and less than 100 group members.
Meta’s investigation found that these fake accounts had cross-internet operations, with activity on X and YouTube.
Portrayed as representing US and Canadian citizens, the accounts featured posts mostly in English about Israel’s war on Gaza. They included praise for the actions of Israel’s military, criticism of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and calls for the release of the Israeli hostages.
The network also operated “distinctly branded websites focused on the Israel-Hamas war and Middle Eastern politics.” And promoted them by posting comments on the Facebook pages of international and local media organizations, as well as those of political and public figures, including US lawmakers.
On Oct. 7, Hamas carried out a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.
In retaliation, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip, killing more than 35,000 Palestinians, displacing 90 percent of the population, and destroying critical infrastructure, according to UN figures.
Meta began investigating the network’s activity following a review of public reports by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab about inauthentic behavior on X. Meta then found corresponding activity on its own social apps.
But even before the investigation began, Meta’s automated systems had detected and disabled several fake and compromised accounts. However, as these accounts were disabled, the people behind them added others, likely acquired from account farms, it was revealed.
The report found that the backers of the network also purchased inauthentic engagement, including likes and followers, from Vietnam.
The investigation found that there was an attempt to conceal the source of the accounts by leveraging North American proxy infrastructure; and that they were linked to STOIC, a Tel Aviv-based political marketing- and business-intelligence firm.
After banning STOIC on its platforms, Meta sent the firm a letter demanding that they immediately cease activity that violates its policies.
Last week, Meta said it had deactivated the accounts of several Israeli settlers who used Facebook and Instagram to coordinate raids on aid convoys bound for the Gaza Strip. The company said these operations violated its Coordinating Harm policy.
But in December last year, Human Rights Watch accused Meta of “broken promises” after finding the company guilty of “systemic censorship of Palestinian content” and failing to “meet its human rights due diligence responsibilities.”
Google to invest $2 bn in data center in Malaysia
- Firm’s first data center in the country will support creatioin of an estimated 26,500 jobs
KUALA LUMPUR: Google will invest $2 billion in Malaysia to house the firm’s first data center in the country, the government said Thursday, making it the latest tech titan to pump cash into the region in search of growth opportunities.
The government said the cash would support 26,500 jobs across various sectors in Malaysia, including health care, education, and finance, and comes days after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim targeted at least $107 billion in investments for the semiconductor industry.
Anwar said in April that he planned to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park, while offering incentives including tax breaks and subsidies to attract global tech companies and investors.
Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google and its parent firm Alphabet, said: “Google’s first data center and Google Cloud region is our largest planned investment so far in Malaysia — a place Google has been proud to call home for 13 years.
“This investment builds on our partnership with the Malaysian government to advance its ‘Cloud First Policy’, including best-in-class cybersecurity standards.”
Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the cash “will significantly advance” Malaysia’s digital ambitions outlined in a 2030 masterplan.
He added that the data center and cloud region “will empower our manufacturing and service-based industries to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies to move up the global value chain.”
Earlier this month Microsoft said it would spend $2.2 billion on AI and cloud computing in Malaysia, with boss Satya Nadella pledging to invest billions in Thailand and Indonesia during a tour of the region.
And Amazon said it would spend $9 billion in Singapore over the next four years to expand its cloud computing capabilities in the city.
The facility announced on Thursday will be located at a business park west of the capital Kuala Lumpur and will power Google’s popular digital services such as Search, Maps, and Workspace.
“When operational, Malaysia will join the 11 countries where Google has built and currently operates data centers to serve users around the world,” the statement said.
The Google Cloud region “will deliver high-performance and low-latency cloud infrastructure, analytics, and AI services to large enterprises, startups, and public sector organizations,” it added.
A key player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch.
Research by global consulting firm Kearney showed AI was poised to contribute $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product by 2030, with Malaysia predicted to see more than a tenth of that.
“Now that many of these American tech giants are diversifying their investment risks away from China, Malaysia with its traditional involvement in high-tech industry is in a good position to welcome the relocation of their operations,” said Oh Ei Sun, an analyst with the Pacific Research Center of Malaysia.
Saudi Press Agency honored at Arab Media Excellence Awards
DUBAI: The Saudi Press Agency was honored on Wednesday at the 8th Arab Media Excellence Awards in the Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Media section of the digital media category.
The agency’s winning entry was an investigative report titled “King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center works to deliver aid to Gaza Strip within three priorities: food, shelter, and health.”
Fahd Al-Aqran, the president of the SPA, accepted the trophy during an awards ceremony on the sidelines of the 54th session of the Council of Arab Information Ministers in Manama.
Organizers said they received more than 100 entries for this year’s awards across television, radio, newspaper and digital media, the SPA reported.
The awards were introduced in 2015 by the Council of Arab Information Ministers to encourage creativity, innovation and media excellence among government and accredited media institutions, Arab organizations, federations with observer status within the Arab League, and media personalities.
