LONDON: Former BBC TV news presenter Huw Edwards, a household name in Britain, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of making indecent pictures of children.
Edwards, 62, who was the BBC’s highest paid journalist and top news anchor until he quit in April, had arrived at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing sunglasses through a throng of photographers and camera crews.
After confirming his identity, he was asked if he wished to indicate a plea to the three charges, which relate to three different categories of indecent images. Edwards said: “Guilty.”
Judge Paul Goldspring said Edwards would be sentenced on Sept. 16.
During the 25-minute hearing, prosecutor Ian Hope said the 41 still or moving images had been sent to Edwards by an adult male on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
Hope added that seven of the 41 images were of the most serious kind and that two of that seven were pornographic videos of a child possibly aged seven and nine years old.
Edwards’ lawyer Philip Evans emphasized that the charges to which his client had indicated guilty pleas related only to images that were sent to him via WhatsApp.
“There is no suggestion in this case that Mr.Edwards has in any way made, in the traditional sense of the word, any images in any physical way or created any images of any sort,” Evans said.
Edwards, who announced the death of Queen Elizabeth to the nation in 2022 and led coverage of elections, royal weddings and the 2012 Olympics, has not been on TV screens for a year and the court appearance was his first in public since then.
He quit in April on medical advice after newspaper allegations last year that he had paid a young person thousands of pounds for sexually explicit photos.
Ex-BBC news presenter Huw Edwards pleads guilty to indecent child pictures charges
https://arab.news/rh3jj
Ex-BBC news presenter Huw Edwards pleads guilty to indecent child pictures charges
- The Welsh journalist pleaded guilty to all three counts
- Sentence to be indicated on Sept. 16
TikTok names 2025 MENA Awards nominees ahead of Dubai ceremony
- Awards celebrate 66 creators across 11 categories, spanning food, sport, education, entertainment, fashion, and beauty
- Ceremony will take place during the 1 Billion Followers Summit on Jan. 8
LONDON: TikTok has announced the nominees for its 2025 MENA Awards, an annual showcase of the creators, trends and cultural moments that shaped the region’s online conversation over the past year.
For the first time, the awards will be held in Dubai during the 1 Billion Followers Summit in January, which is one of the world’s largest gatherings of digital creators.
“We’re proud to celebrate the return of the TikTok Awards in MENA, a moment dedicated to spotlighting the remarkable creativity emerging from our region and the creators who continue to inspire creativity and bring joy to millions every day,” Kinda Ibrahim, regional general manager of operations, TikTok Middle East, Africa, South and Central Asia, said.
This year’s TikTok Awards MENA will highlight 66 creators across 11 categories, spanning food, sport, education, entertainment, fashion, and beauty, alongside four cross-cutting prizes: Creator of the Year, Visionary Content Award, Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Changemaker of the Year.
TikTok said the shortlisted accounts reflect how MENA creators drove global conversations in 2025, from viral sounds and challenges to issue-based campaigns and long-form storytelling that traveled beyond the region’s borders.
The platform said the awards are an opportunity to recognize creators whose work has helped define the platform’s mix of humor, lifestyle, music, and social commentary in Arabic and other languages.
The ceremony will also include performances by regional artists whose tracks have underpinned major TikTok trends this year, with the full lineup due to be confirmed later in December.
A full list of nominees is available on TikTok MENA channel. Public voting for the awards is now open and runs until Dec. 23, with winners set to be announced at the summit on Jan. 8.
