Newspin: Balancing the News (UK)

News for Mar 17, 2023

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Evacuated Afghan women's team included "false" footballers, BBC investigation told -- BBC News (UK)

Thirty-five women and their families - 130 people - were flown to the UK from Pakistan in November 2021; Women footballers were seen to be at risk from the Taliban, and some feared they would be punished for participating in a sport the new regime viewed as un-Islamic

Outline: (what is this?) afghan female footballers

Tone: (what is this?) - negative

Discussion: (what is this?) - BBC, - Afghanistan, - Taliban

Lineker thought he had special BBC Twitter agreement - agent -- BBC News (UK)

Gary Lineker thought he had "special agreement" with BBC's director general to tweet about refugees and immigration, agent says

Outline:  special bbc twitter agreement

Tone:  + positive

Discussion:  - BBC, ++ Lineker, ++ Tory

Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse says she can't understand northern accents -- BBC News (UK)

Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse said she struggles with accents in the UK; The 41-year-old grew up in South Africa but now lives in Germany

Outline:  northern accents

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  - BBC, - Motsi, ± London

Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse says she cant understand northern accents -- The Guardian

Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse said she struggles with northern accents; The dance expert can communicate in five languages, including English and South African

Outline:  northern accents

Tone:  + positive

Discussion:  ? Glasgow, ? Britain, ? Yank

3,999 for a cargo bike?! How a new kind of class politics arrived on Britain's streets | Adrian Chiles -- The Guardian

In the early years of this century a new kind of bicycle, or rather tricycle, appeared on the roads around me; They were big, heavy things with open wooden boxes bolted on the front

Outline:  pedals

Tone:  + positive

Discussion:  - Adrian, -- BMW, ? Porsches

Mounted police ride after driver holding his phone -- BBC News (UK)

Police on horseback ride after driver using phone while driving

Outline:  mounted police ride

Tone:  + positive

Discussion:  ? s, ? Florida, ? Tik Tok

BBC News Home -- BBC News (UK)

Fridays Express: Victory for common sense and patients

Outline:  patients xi jinping

Tone:  ± mixed

Discussion:  - BBC, -- Oxfam, ? Tory

'Come to Russia for turnips': Vladimir Putin mocks western vegetable shortage video -- The Guardian

Putin said western countries were facing the challenges many thought Russia would; He suggested European countries turn to Russia to tackle those challenges

Outline:  russian food sector

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  - Putin, -- Russia, ? Vlad

Russia-Ukraine war: UN says Russia has committed wide range of war crimes; Poland to transfer four MIG-29 planes to Ukraine as it happened -- The Guardian

Russia-Ukraine war live: we are no longer receiving Russian gas, says Moldava energy minister; race to reach US drone wreckage

Outline:  russian detention facilities

Tone:  ? Unclear

Discussion:  ? US

University student's hair claw clip warning after car crash -- BBC News (UK)

Jeena Panesar said she lost control of her car in thick fog on a country road in January; The 19-year-old said the car skidded, hit a tree and flipped for 50m, coming to a stop on its roof

Outline:  hair claw clip warning

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  ? Scam, ? BBC News, ? Highway Code

Man jailed after 100kg of cocaine worth 8m seized -- BBC News (UK)

Jamie Gough, 41, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the drug haul; Leicestershire Police said it was one of the biggest single cocaine seizure in its history

Outline:  biggest single cocaine seizure

Tone:  ± mixed

Discussion:  ? Pfizer, ? UK, ? Ajax

Woman facing eviction from home of 62 years -- BBC News (UK)

Anne Marsh, 83, has lived in her home in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, for 62 years; She has been told she must vacate the property by 14 May due to energy efficiency rules

Outline:  eviction

Tone:  ++ v. positive

Discussion:  ? Edwinstowe, ? Charles Dickens, ? UK

London council plans to build 11,000 homes in flood zones -- BBC News (UK)

Waltham Forest is planning to build 11,000 homes in medium to high-risk flood zones; It amounts to around half of all the sites earmarked in the borough's draft plan

Outline:  east london council

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  -- London, - BBC, ? Tory

AI: How 'freaked out' should we be? -- BBC News (UK)

Is the world prepared for the coming AI storm?

Outline:  new ai technology

Tone:  ± mixed

Discussion:  ++ AI, - Al, ? covid

TikTok: UK ministers banned from using Chinese-owned app on government phones -- BBC News (UK)

TikTok to be banned on UK government phones

Outline:  government phones tiktok

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  - TikTok, ++ China, ? UK

Drought risk to England regions after dry February, scientists warn -- BBC News (UK)

Parts of England need unseasonable rainfall to compensate for abnormally dry winter; Rivers in some of England and Wales ran their lowest on record for February

Outline:  dry february

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  - BBC, - UK, + England

Hostile, authoritarian UK downgraded in civic freedoms index -- The Guardian

UK downgraded from 'narrowed' to 'obstructed' in Civicus Monitor's annual index of civic freedoms; UK's willingness to clamp down on civic freedoms means it is now classified as ‘obstructed’ Countries such as Poland, South Africa and Hungary also downgraded

Outline:  authoritarian uk

Tone:  + positive

Discussion:  ++ Guardian, + Covid, ++ UK

Insulate Britain activists cleared of disproportionate criminal charges -- The Telegraph

Four climate protesters who caused significant disruption after blocking traffic on the M25 have been cleared of a criminal offence, as a judge said convicting them would not be proportionate

Outline:  m25 protest

Tone:  - negative

Discussion:  ? Russia, ? China, ? Brexit

People urged to take gonorrhoea tests as cases rise in England -- BBC News (UK)

Gonorrhoea cases in England have resurged since easing of Covid restrictions; Diagnoses in first nine months of 2022 hit 56,327 - 21% higher than for the same period

Outline:  gonorrhoea tests

Tone:  ± mixed

Discussion:  ? China, ? Gonorrhora, ? Michelle

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