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CNN founder Ted Turner dead at 87

CNN founder Ted Turner dead at 87

Ted Turner, the brash sportsman and entrepreneur whose ambition and instincts led to a media empire that included the groundbreaking news network CNN, has died, CNN reports, citing a press release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87. No cause of his death on Wednesday was given. In September 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease. He became a billionaire by taking over his father’s billboard business, buying a television station in the 1970s and parlaying that into what would become a vast, groundbreaking television group. “Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid and fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement. He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN,” CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement. “Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world.” Turner became one of the most powerful figures in US media and entertainment, his networks specialising in news, sports, reruns and old movies. But he did not stop there. He added the MGM/UA movie studio to his portfolio before making an even bigger move – merging his Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner in 1996. Turner headed the new company’s cable networks division and was its leading shareholder, but he struggled to fit into a corporate system after decades of running his own show. He eventually lost control of his networks. He made a name for himself with spectacular business deals, his ownership of professional sports clubs, his marriage to actor Jane Fonda, his leadership of a competitive yachting team, and his devotion to charitable and environmental causes. Advertisement “Ted Turner was a bold man, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, and even those who at times strongly disagreed with him respected him,” Brian Kemp, governor of the state of Georgia, where CNN’s main studio is located, said in a social media post. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1938, Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee and then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating. Turner took over a faltering family advertising business after his father, despondent over financial problems, committed suicide. Media mogul Ted Turner and his then-wife, actor Jane Fonda, leave the Elysee Palace in Paris on May 18, 1994, after visiting French President Francois Mitterrand [AFP] First 24-hour cable news network After he bought a number of radio stations, Turner’s purchase of a struggling Atlanta station in 1970 was his first move into television. Ten years later, that became the flagship of his nationwide Turner Broadcasting System, the profits from which he used to launch CNN. CNN went on the air in 1980 as the first 24-hour cable news network, gaining traction in the United States and later internationally. The launch came as viewers were shifting from broadcast TV to cable, and CNN became a key news source during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, delivering extensive live coverage via satellite. “Ted Turner created an unstoppable media revolution for the BENEFIT of all humankind,” CNN International Anchor Christiane Amanpour said in a social media post. “Throughout nearly 43 years at CNN, working for Ted and his vision has been the proudest achievement of my lifetime.” Ted Turner addresses the CNN World Report Contributors banquet on May 4, 1995, in Atlanta, Georgia, the US [File: John Bazemore/AP Photo] (AP) CNN’s success inspired the creation of other 24-hour news channels, including Fox News, launched by longtime Turner rival Rupert Murdoch, MSNBC, and many more worldwide. Turner’s television empire expanded beyond CNN to include TBS and TNT for sports and entertainment, Turner Classic Movies, and the Cartoon Network, among others. Turner sold back the Hollywood group MGM/UA five months after buying it, while retaining rights to large portions of its catalogue, including MGM films. Adblock test (Why?)

Four killed in post-election violence in India’s West Bengal

Four killed in post-election violence in India’s West Bengal

Unrest grips the key eastern state after Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP wins the state election for the first time. Published On 6 May 20266 May 2026 At least four people have been killed in political unrest after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party won the state election in West Bengal, police and party officials say. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the polls in its first-ever victory in the key eastern state, home to about 100 million people, winning 206 of the 294 assembly seats, according to results announced on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list West Bengal had been ruled by Modi’s fierce critic and adversary, Mamata Banerjee, as chief minister since 2011. Banerjee, leader of the regional All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, also lost her seat in the polls and has rejected the results, accusing the federal government of rigging the election. Police said clashes between rival party supporters erupted in the state capital, Kolkata, and other West Bengal districts after the results were announced. The BJP said two party workers were killed, while the TMC said two of their workers were beaten to death. “Two of our workers were killed after results of the elections were announced on Monday,” BJP state leader Samik Bhattacharya told the AFP news agency, insisting that the party stands “for peace”. TMC, in a statement on social media, reported the “brutal murder” of two party workers. “Our party offices were attacked in several areas of the state,” TMC spokesman Narendranath Chakraborty told AFP. “Two of the victims were grassroots political workers.” A senior police officer, who was not authorised to speak to reporters, confirmed four deaths in clashes and said one officer had been shot in the leg. Advertisement The TMC also said its offices were vandalised by alleged BJP workers. Police in Kolkata said a law and order situation arose on Tuesday in parts of Topsia and Tiljala areas, “during which certain miscreants vandalised public property, etc”. Police guard the road leading towards the official residence of outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata [AFP] After the election results were announced, Banerjee refused to resign as chief minister. Calling the BJP’s win an “an immoral victory,” Banerjee claimed more than “100 seats were looted by the BJP”. According to the Indian constitution, ⁠the state’s governor can demand Banerjee’s resignation or wait for her term to expire, after which newly elected politicians would be sworn ⁠in and the process of forming a new government would ⁠begin. Banerjee’s term is set to end on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI), which has denied allegations of misconduct, directed West Bengal’s top officials to enforce “zero tolerance” towards any incidents of post-poll violence. “The ECI asked the state administration and security agencies to take all necessary steps to prevent intimidation, reprisals or clashes linked to the electoral outcome,” public broadcaster All India Radio reported. Analysts say the BJP’s victory in the largely Bengali-speaking state is one of its most significant since Modi was first elected prime minister in 2014, expanding its dominance beyond the Hindi-speaking heartland of north and central India. Adblock test (Why?)

Who is Zack Polanski, UK Greens leader and rising political star?

Who is Zack Polanski, UK Greens leader and rising political star?

The United Kingdom’s Green Party leader Zack Polanski, a 43-year-old self-styled “eco-populist” presenting himself as a progressive alternative to Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party, is banking on a political breakthrough in British local elections this week. More than 5,000 council seats will be up for grabs on Thursday as voters in 136 local authorities head to the polls, including in London and other major UK cities. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list According to polling group YouGov, the Green Party appears set to make major gains in the capital and could come first in as many as eight of London’s 32 councils. The party’s ratings have steadily improved since Polanski was elected leader in a landslide victory in September last year. In February, the Green Party won its first-ever parliamentary by-election, taking Gorton and Denton, a constituency in Greater Manchester which had been held by the governing Labour party for nearly a century. Polanski is viewed by political observers in the UK as a media-savvy representative of a green socialist movement which seeks to inspire younger generations for change, along the lines of New York’s Zohran Mamdani. To achieve this, the Green Party has expanded beyond its core environmental mission, experts say. Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said that under Polanski’s leadership, the Greens have become “far more left-liberal and pro-Gaza focused than environmentally concerned”. “The reason the party’s poll ratings have increased lies partly in the visibility his considerable communication skills have given them, partly in Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon, and partly in widespread frustration among left-liberal voters at the Starmer government’s hardline rhetoric on immigration,” Bale told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “The Greens have elected a headline-grabbing leader at the same time as they’re facing off against a terribly unpopular PM and government that has disillusioned many of its 2024 voter coalition.” If the polls are accurate, the upcoming local vote could consolidate the Green Party’s position as an alternative to Starmer’s Labour party – traditionally associated with the working class in the UK. Who is Zack Polanski? The Green Party leader grew up as David Paulden in a Jewish community in Salford, Greater Manchester. At the age of 18, he changed his anglicised name to a version of his original family name to recognise his Jewish heritage, he said. He studied drama at Aberystwyth University in Wales and began a career in community theatre, before switching to become a hypnotherapist and mental health counsellor. Polanski, who is openly homosexual and “proudly vegan”, began his political career with the Liberal Democrats, standing for the party as a councillor in north London in 2015 and as a London Assembly candidate in 2016. He joined the Green Party the following year and was elected to the London Assembly in 2021 and as deputy leader of the Green Party in 2022. He was nominated as party leader in September last year, winning the vote with 20,411 votes against 3,705 ballots cast for his rivals Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, who ran on a joint ticket. What are some of Polanski’s key positions? Following his election as party leader, Polanski promised to “work every single day to deliver environmental, social, racial and economic justice”. He professes a brand of “eco-populism” that links environmental policies with socialist ones, including a wealth tax on billionaires, stronger workers’ rights in cases of unfair dismissal and a 15-pound ($20.41) per hour minimum wage for workers of all ages. In an interview with the podcast The Rest Is Politics, hosted by former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and former Conservative leadership contender Rory Stewart in November last year, Polanski argued it was necessary to take back the term “populism”, arguing it should represent those who support the interests of the 99 percent of people rather than the wealthy 1 percent majority. In the UK, as in other Western countries, the term “populism” has become associated with the far-right, driven by concerns over immigration and declining trust in governance as expressed by political parties such as Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage. Going by his definition, Polanski told the podcast, “I am a populist, Farage is not.” Why is the Green Party facing accusations of antisemitism? Polanski has called on Starmer’s government to take action over Israel’s genocide in Gaza. “We have to be clear and say this loud – our government is not just complicit but active participants,” he told crowds of protesters gathered at a march for Palestine in London last year. Advertisement “This is not self-defence [by Israel], this is collective punishment. The UK must immediately end arms sales to Israel, support an urgent and permanent ceasefire, and back a full international investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity.” But Polanski’s popularity has taken a hit in the run-up to the local elections this week in the wake of a row with the chief of the Metropolitan Police after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, a residential area of north London with a large Jewish community, on April 29. Both victims suffered serious injuries in the attack, which the Metropolitan Police declared a terrorist incident. Polanski later apologised for sharing an “inaccurate” post on social media in which he criticised police officers for “violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” during their intervention. He claimed he had found the whole incident “very traumatic, especially as a Jewish person”. Despite his heritage, Polanski and other Green Party candidates have also faced accusations of anti-Semitism over a series of social media posts. One post by Philip Brookes, a Green candidate for Newcastle City Council, described Israel as “a bunch of Polish, Russian, Hungarian terrorists killing Palestinian people for 76 years”. Brookes also published an image of an Israeli flag being torn up to reveal a Nazi swastika flag on his Facebook page, and wrote that it “takes serious effort not to be a tiny bit antisemitic” when considering the situation in Gaza. Mohammed

Govt brings new LPG rule: What is it? How will it impact households?

Govt brings new LPG rule: What is it? How will it impact households?

The current US-Iran situation has again disrupted oil and gas supply, and meanwhile, India has introduced a new rule that will directly impact lakhs of households across the country. Under the new rule, the government has made it mandatory for all households to give up all LPG cylinders except one.