News Round-Up

• “Israel proposes two-month pause in fighting in exchange for all Hamas hostages” – Israel has proposed a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages, according to Axios. But Hamas has declined.
• “Musk says he was ‘naive’ about antisemitism as he visits Auschwitz” – Elon Musk has admitted to being “frankly naive” about the extent of antisemitism in the West, and slammed America’s elite colleges for “fostering hate”, reports the Mail.
• “Online slang bible uses ‘grossly offensive’ definition of antisemitism” – An online slang bible has been accused of using a “grossly offensive” definition of antisemitism, says the Telegraph. The British Friends of Israel has written to the Urban Dictionary to complain.
• “Ministers blundered by turning a new Holocaust memorial into a controversy” – How have we got to a point where even survivors of the death camps oppose the ill-considered plans for a Holocaust memorial in Westminster? asks Philip Johnston in the Telegraph.
• “How can the war between Israel and Hamas ever end?” – How can the Israel-Palestine conflict end when so many schools in Gaza – run by a UN agency backed by our millions – teach children to hate Jews? asks David Patrikarakos in the Mail.
• “Jewish BBC staff ‘lodge formal complaints about antisemitism and Gary Lineker’” – Jewish BBC staff have lodged formal complaints about antisemitism and Gary Lineker’s social media use, according to the Telegraph.
• “Rishi Sunak backs ‘biased BBC’ claim” – Rishi Sunak believes that the BBC is biased and has “more work to do” to demonstrate its impartiality, reports the Times.
• “The BBC sees itself as the voice of righteousness – that is why it can never cure itself of bias” – The BBC’s funding model is hopelessly out of date, but politicians hoping to be elected are unwilling to challenge the licence fee, writes Janet Daley in the Telegraph.
• “The BBC is grooming the nation – and Ofcom is still powerless to stop it” – The BBC’s idea of impartiality is phoney. Why has the Government squandered yet another chance to bring it to book? asks Robin Aitken in the Telegraph.
• “Oust Sunak or Tories face election massacre, warns former Cabinet ally” – Ex-Cabinet minister Simon Clarke says it’s time for Rishi to step aside if the Conservative Party is to avoid ‘extinction’ at the next General Election, according to the Telegraph. Read Clarke’s article here.
• “In early 2020, a Chinese source trusted by FBI said Covid leaked from Wuhan lab, sources say” – On the Public Substack, Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag have learned from multiple sources that the FBI knew, since at least March 2020, that Covid was the result of a lab leak.
• “Gen Z staff ‘miss a day’s work a week due to mental health’” – New research shows that younger office staff are slacking off work at least one day a week, citing mental health problems, according to the Times.
• “Feeble Britain needs to stop catastrophising the weather” – “Not once in my childhood do I remember school being cancelled due to the wind. Now, storms have become another excuse not to show up,” says Ross Clark in the Telegraph.
• “U.K. ONS admits that they are not interested in exploring ways to increase data transparency” – The U.K. Office for National Statistics is not serving the interests of the people, rather it seems to be working for Big Pharma, remarks Steve Kirsch on Substack. 
• “Face masks provide cover for violence and extremism” – Face masks intimidate people and prevent identification by police – and are intended to do so, says Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “CDC labelled accurate articles as misinformation, documents show” – According to internal emails and experts, the top U.S. public health agency labelled multiple news articles as misinformation even though the articles were accurate, reports the Epoch Times.
• “Is the U.S. vaccine safety system broken?” – A new investigation exposes critical flaws in the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, highlighting its inability to respond effectively to the high volume of reports following the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, says the SciTechDaily.
• “Top cancer centre seeks to retract or correct dozens of studies” – A top U.S. cancer centre says it will retract six research papers and correct dozens of others after a British scientist found that work by some of its top executives was rife with duplicated or manipulated data, reports the NY Times.
• “U.K. Confirms its Commitment to WHO Pandemic Treaty” – On Substack, the Naked Emperor reports the depressing news that the U.K. Government has affirmed its intention to the WHO’s new Pandemic Accord and targeted amendments of the International Health Regulations.
• “The anti-democratic plot to ban the AfD” – The seemingly unstoppable rise of the AfD has persuaded Germany’s political establishment that they have to destroy democracy in order to save it, says Fraser Myers in Spiked.
• “Back brave head Birbalsingh and ban school prayer mats” – We want more schools to follow Michaela’s lead, not for it to be forced to become like so many others, writes Nadine Dorries in the Mail.
• “Civil Service lists ‘change of government’ as main wish for 2024” – Civil service bosses have listed a “change of government” as one of their top wishes for this year, sparking accusations of anti-Tory bias in Whitehall, reports the Telegraph.
• “Eco-campaigners to protest against council reintroducing weedkillers” – Eco-campaigners in Brighton are planning to take to the streets to protest about the reintroduction of weedkillers, according to the Mail.
• “Global boiling era – untouched disinformation or when fact-checking goes silent” – Fact-checkers are conspicuously silent when it comes to the claim of a “global boiling era” says Theo L. Glück on Substack.
• “Student Tories slammed for event where guests debate sinking migrant boats while drinking port” – Conservative students have come under fire after a motion to “invade Yemen” and “sink the boats” was put forward at a Port-drinking social event, reports the Sun.
• “Scrooge is a Tory who hates refugees in Christmas Carol remake” – Ebenezer Scrooge will be portrayed as a “Tory who hates refugees” in an upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol by the director of Bend it Like Beckham, says the Telegraph.
• “Shakespeare’s Globe issues ‘misogynoir’ trigger warning for Cleopatra play” – Shakespeare’s Globe is to include a trigger warning for ‘misogynoir’ – discrimination against black women – in its new production of Antony and Cleopatra after casting a non-white actress in the lead role, reports the Telegraph.
• “A phoenix rises” – The Free Speech Union’s Freddie Attenborough on the latest gender critical feminist to win an employment tribunal in the Critic.
• “The age of outrage has arrived” – There is now a sense of a society falling apart, marking the end of the liberal postwar settlement, writes Gareth Roberts in the Spectator.
• “Britain isn’t a free country” – Ed West presents the mounting evidence that Britain is no longer a free country in the Spectator.
• “If there’s a more embarrassing Opposition photo than this, I’ve yet to see it” – In the Telegraph, Allison Pearson says Keir Starmer has got a bit of a cheek claiming the culture ware is a Tory invention.
• “Looking back on a decade of cancel culture” – In Quillette, Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott trace the rising threat to free speech on American campuses and explain how students, teachers, administrators and parents can become part of the solution.
• “Gript’s Ben Scallon talks to Elon Musk about Ireland’s hate speech bill, the war on farmers and more” – Take a look at this interview with Elon Musk on X by Ben Scallon, a rising star of Irish media.

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