Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani is expected to lodge an improved third bid of less than £5bn for Manchester United by Friday’s 10pm BST deadline. The offer would be markedly less than the £6bn valuation of the club’s owners, the Glazers.
Sheikh Jassim, a Qatari banker, remains intent on purchasing 100% of the club but will not pay more than what he believes United are worth. The Guardian understands this is more than £1bn below the American family’s asking price.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the only other publicly declared buyer for a controlling interest, is thought to want to acquire a little more than 50%, leaving Joel and Avram Glazer with a 20% stake. Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest people, may have to borrow to complete that deal.
A third option may be that one or more of the Glazers retain their stake and take investment into the club, with Elliott Investment Management and the Carlyle Group interested in doing so.
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The Raine Group, which is orchestrating the sale for the Glazers, has set the deadline in the hope of ending the protracted process in the coming weeks.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Says ‘Hidden OGWs’ Providing Any Sort Of Support To Militant Activities Are Being Identified
M S Naki
Jammu, April 28 (GNS): Director General of Police Dilbag Singh on Friday said April 21 attack on army in which five soldiers were killed and another was injured at Bhata Durian area in Poonch was not possible without some local support.
“The militants were provided shelter at one place and then provided transport to carry out the attack at another place,” the top police officer told reporters in Rajouri after reviewing security situation in the area.
He said that a number of militants who had managed to sneak inside were gunned down and that few of infiltrated militants are still active in the area for which police alongwith other security force are intensifying their operations to track them down.
With regard to militant module that was recently busted in the District, the DGP said they were providing support to militants besides were collecting drone dropped arms and ammunition and cash for them.
“Hidden OGWs and accomplices providing any sort of support to militant activities are being identified and stringent action against each and every individual involved in anti national activities shall be taken,” he said, adding, “We are identifying the natural hideouts as the (militants) are taking shelter mostly in forests areas in these natural hideouts.”
About the local support, he said that a local Nisar Ahmed, a resident of Gursai village, was already in the suspect list of police. “He has been an active OGW of militants since 1990. He was questioned several times in the past. This time, after corroborating the evidence, he was found involved in providing logistic and other support to militants who carried out the Poonch attack,” the DGP said, adding, “Nisar’s family is also involved in providing support to (militants). He said with the arrest of Nisar, the investigation has got a new direction and vital leads have been obtained so far.
He said that Pakistan and its agencies are supplying arms and ammunition through drone to carry out militant activities. “We have data of all involved and strict action would be taken against them.” Earlier Singh visited the Border areas of Rajouri district and reviewed security scenario of the area.
Accompanied by ADGP Jammu Mukesh Singh DGP was received by DIG Rajouri-Poonch Range Dr. Mohd Haseeb Mughal and SSP Rajouri Amritpal Singh. SSP Jammu Chandan Kohli and CO IR 2nd BN Randeep Kumar were also present.
DGP during his visit, the DGP took stock of the prevailing security situation of the District particularly the infiltration attempts, Narco trade and drone activities from across the border. He also visited the Darhal area in the outskirts of the District.
While interacting with the jurisdictional officers, he directed for strengthening of the security grid by activating Naka checking points on different routes to track the movements of militants and their supporters, according to a police statement issued to GNS later.
He also stressed for devising and executing a proper Area Domination Plan. “He emphasized on utilizing modern technology and human intelligence to monitor the suspected movement on borders and as also in the hinterland to prevent anti-national activities and incidents thereof.”
DGP stressed for intensified investigation into the recent militant incident to track down each and every person involved. (GNS)
Serendipity dictated that the American writer and academic James Shapiro received the Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction’s Winner of Winners award, given to celebrate its 25th year, at a ceremony in Edinburgh. In his teens and early 20s, Shapiro tells me as we talk over Zoom the morning after his victory, he would often hitchhike from London to the Edinburgh festival as part of his immersion in the plays of Shakespeare. This period in his life sowed the ground for his acclaimed book, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, first published in 2006. He was, he explains, recovering from the “awful experience” of studying the playwright in middle school; every summer for several years, he would save up enough money to come to the UK on a Freddie Laker plane, “where you could fly from New York to London for $100 round trip and sleep in church basements and for 50p see spectacular productions”.
In London, Stratford and Edinburgh, he’d see 25 plays in as many days, “and they’re all tattooed inside my skull to this day. The greatest one I saw was Richard Eyre’s Hamlet at the Royal Court in 1980 or so. Richard wrote me a note this morning, and it was so moving to me because that’s where it came from, seeing productions like his.”
Shapiro is passionate about viewing Shakespeare through the lens of performance, the better to understand how central political and social context is to his work. He is currently advising on Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon’s production of Hamlet for the Public Theater in New York, set in a post-Covid 2021 and starring Ato Blankson-Wood as the prince. It is, says Shapiro, “a Hamlet that speaks to the now. And I have the street cred, as we say in Brooklyn, to tell Shakespeare purists, whatever that means, that these plays have always spoken to the moment. And to think that what Olivier did or Kenneth Branagh for that matter is where Shakespeare stops, is to be as unShakespearean in one’s thinking about Shakespeare as possible.”
James Shapiro with his Baillie Gifford winning book 1599. Photograph: The Baillie Gifford Prize
His vision for 1599, a microscopic look at the critical year in Shakespeare’s life when he was working on Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and the first draft of Hamlet, was not initially endorsed. His application for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in the US in the late 1980s was turned down twice, he remembers. “I wasn’t discouraged by that. I just felt they didn’t understand that I was trying to do something different.” The “something different” was to understand the immense anxieties of the age: the country poised on the brink of invading Ireland with a 16,000-strong force; the fear that Elizabeth I’s reign was approaching its end with no clear successor in sight; the strengthening possibility of another Spanish Armada. It’s no coincidence, says Shapiro, that Hamlet opens with men on the ramparts, nervously watching for hostile forces.
He was also frustrated with an academic orthodoxy that relied on speculation and anecdote, as well as an outmoded concept of the playwright: “The Shakespeare that existed when I was writing that book was still very influenced by Coleridge’s sense that Shakespeare was from another planet, or Ben Jonson’s line: he was not of an age but for all time. And that just struck me as completely wrong.” Instead, Shapiro wanted to ground Shakespeare in reality, finding out what the weather was each day of that single year, who he met, where he travelled.
Shapiro is also a judge on this year’s Booker prize for fiction, and he is fascinating on the distinction between his work and that of novelists. He admires “the way that creative minds can tease out things that are less visible to those of us who deal in facts”. How does he feel about historical novelists – indeed, about a work such as Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s family that has just been adapted for stage by the RSC?
He reveres Hilary Mantel, who was, he says, “a great historian, as well as a great novelist.” And he is, he replies, very happy for O’Farrell: “She deserves great success for that and for her more recent book, but it’s not a book that I can read comfortably, because it’s fiction.”
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“I draw a very sharp line between fiction and nonfiction,” he adds. “I think that the danger of fiction is to sentimentalise. So that’s one of the things that I’m extremely careful as a Shakespearean not to do. On the other hand, I understand how deeply people want to connect with Shakespeare the man, with Anne Hathaway, with Judith Shakespeare: they lived, they died, their internal lives went largely unrecorded. And it takes a talented writer to bring that to life. But that’s not the stuff that I do. I don’t write that; but somebody needs to.”
His next work is called Playbook, and will focus on America’s Federal Theatre Project of the 1930s, a progressive attempt to bring drama to mass audiences that was targeted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Then, as now, and as in the 16th century, theatre is powerful, and Shapiro intends to do everything he can to defend it.
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro (Faber & Faber, £14.99). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Says NEP Enables Youth To Become Job Giver Rather Than Job Seeker
Varanasi, April 28 (GNS): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha addressed the National Seminar on “National Education Policy-2020: Exploring the Prospects” at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, on Friday.
The Lt Governor highlighted various aspects of the National Education Policy and shared the vision to meet the challenges of future workplace.
“Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, NEP 2020 has brought transformative reform in education. It has ensured that education system meets the challenges of 21st century and enables youth to become job giver rather than job seeker,” said the Lt Governor.
The National Education Policy encourages Knowledge, Innovation and Independent thinking for students’ Holistic Development. Global outlook with an emphasis on Indian knowledge tradition makes the learning a lifelong process, observed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor said the latest innovations in Artificial Intelligence will have greater impact on fourth industrial revolution. He said, since automation is changing workplaces across the world, youth will need reskilling, tech upskilling & mental flexibility to adapt to ever-changing needs of the industry.
The Lt Governor called upon the Universities & educational institutions to focus on 6Cs – Curiosity, Choice, Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical Thinking, to empower youth. Our campuses & classrooms should reflect the change and issues affecting the world, he added.
The Lt Governor also highlighted the advantages of multidisciplinary Education.
“Education nurtures our soul. NEP emphasises on establishing balance in living & life and to inculcate the desire for lifelong learning process. Real education in the true sense starts from where the syllabus ends and a student begins to discover him or herself,” said the Lt Governor.
Our National Education Policy aims to transform higher educational institutions as knowledge hubs that will create vibrant communities; bridge the gap between disciplines; enable artistic, creative development of students; promote research & innovation and make the education more inclusive, he said.
As we are moving towards multi-disciplinary education, it is important that we focus on bridging technology gap and make our campuses a nursery of talents, who will make immense contribution to India’s knowledge economy, the Lt Governor added.
The Lt Governor also shared the efforts to implement NEP-2020, in letter and spirit, in J&K UT.
Prof. Anand Kumar Tyagi, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi; HoDs; faculty members, resource persons and students in large number were present on the occasion. (GNS)
In this series we ask authors, Guardian writers and readers to share what they have been reading recently. This month, recommendations include a memoir that wrestles with singleness, poetry that feels alive and excellent audiobooks. Tell us in the comments what you have been reading.
Yara Rodrigues Fowler, novelist
Recently I’ve been reading Abolition Revolution by Shanice Octavia McBean and Aviah Sarah Day, both trade unionists and activists in direct action feminist group Sisters Uncut. This book adds to the excellent emerging literature about police, prison and border abolition in a UK specific context (another I’d recommend is Against Borders: The Case for Abolition by Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha, and Liberty’s recent Holding Our Own report). Abolition Revolution is very special because McBean and Day combine deep theoretical and historical knowledge with practical organising experience, specifically in the context of violence against women and austerity. If you feel that there must be a better way to deal with harm and violence then this book is for you.
I’m co-writing a play at the moment, called Conference of the Trees, with Connie Treves and Majid Adin, based on the work of poets involved with the Change the Word Collective, Sarah Orola, Lester Gomez Medina, Diyo Mulopo Bopengo, Ian Andrew, Yordanos Gebrehiwot. I’ve spent over a year reading and rereading their poetry, much of which appears in An Orchestra of Unexpected Sounds, and it is still as crisp and alive as the first time I encountered it.
Fiction-wise, I’ve been enjoying audiobooks recently: I loved Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and am now listening to Guy Gunaratne’s In Our Madand Furious City (having previously read it in physical form), which is also very well produced.
Yara Rodrigues Fowler is one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists 2023. Her second novel, there are more things, is out in paperback now. To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Hollie Richardson, Guardian writer
Women have been taught that it is a weakness to say we want romantic love. That it’s better to post something positive on Instagram about being a “strong, independent woman” than publicly admit to wanting a relationship while struggling to find the right one. That it is a failure not to find love as soon as you recognise you’re ready for it.
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In her memoir, Arrangements in Blue, Amy Key totally gets this – she’s been single for over two decades. “It scares me to lay out all the ways in which absence of romantic love touches my life,” she admits in the introduction. “I must be brave enough to say aloud, I did want it. I do want it.” And it is her bravery, this vulnerability, that makes it such a generous read for so many of us who haven’t felt comfortable enough to say, “I like my life but I want more”.
Key uses the songs of her favourite album, Joni Mitchell’s Blue, to help guide us through her life without a romantic relationship – and, although I was initially quite sceptical, it works naturally as she writes about being child-free, living alone, travelling solo, friendships and attempts at love. Key’s background as a poet is evident: her writing is gorgeously lyrical, but she is also unafraid to share the colder, harsher parts of being single.
Arrangements in Blue is a short read, but each page feels so full and worth savouring. I already have friends who have sent me screenshots of the parts that made them feel so seen. And I have sent them mine.
Percival Everett. Photograph: John Davis/Windham Campbell prize
Paul, Guardian reader
For me, this year has been about discovering writers I’ve never read before. This month’s biggest discovery has been Percival Everett. His most recent novel, Dr No, is a comic masterpiece, but it is his novel The Trees that has been a real revelation to me. The descendants of people who committed lynchings in the past are being murdered, their corpses found with those of their long-dead victims. Everett shows how monstrous these crimes were, and how guilt is passed through the generations, but what makes the book so remarkable is its humour. Much of the dialogue is in the form of repartee between the characters, and it is often hilarious, despite the dark subject.
Patrick Gale is another writer new to me. His most recent book, Mother’s Boy, tells the early life of Cornish poet Charles Causley. It is beautifully written, and sent me back to the work of this very private man.
I’m late to the party, but Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is every bit as good as everyone says, and Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water is beautiful inside and out, a deeply poetic and moving account of a tentative affair between two young people.
Finally, I’ve just finished Play It As It Lays, by the remarkable Joan Didion. An account of the breakdown of a female actor in 1960s Hollywood, it’s beautifully observed and a really powerful book. I’ve read a lot of different writers this month, but all have in common that sense of looking into someone else’s world that the best fiction can convey.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Srinagar, April 28 (GNS): The Government on Friday accorded sanction to the constitution of Inter- departmental Coordination Committee (IDCC) for recommending policy reforms for implementing Digital Communication Readiness Index (DCRI) framework and recommend policy reforms in J&K.
Headed by Chief Secretary, J&K, the 12-member committee has also been tasked to conduct quarterly review of progress on the implementation of DCRI framework, according to an order issued by the government, a copy of which lies with GNS.
As per the order, the Committee is required to start preparatory exercise and undertake initiatives for implementing DCRI framework and recommend the policy reforms in the J&K.
The members of the committee include Principal Secretary to the Government, Department of Forest, Ecology & Environment; Principal Secretary to the Government, Industries and Commerce Department; Principal Secretary to the Government, Power Development Department; Principal Secretary to the Government, Housing & Urban Development Department; Principal Secretary to the Government, School Education Department; Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj; Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, Information Technology Department; Secretary to the Government, Health & Medical Education Department; Chief Executive Officer, JaKeGA-Information Technology Department; Representative of Department Telecommunication, Government of India (Not below the rank of Director LSA, J&K) and any officer/official/expert to be co-opted as Special Invitee with the approval of Chairman. (GNS)
Srinagar, April 28 (GNS): Weather department here on Friday forecast more rains till May 4 in Jammu and Kashmir.
A meteorological department official here told GNS said from April 29- May 2nd, he said, the weather is expected to be partly cloudy. “Possibility of intermittent rain/thunderstorm at scattered places is expected towards late afternoon/evening (50% chance).”
From May 3-4, he said, there is possibility of widespread light to moderate rain and thunder expected in J&K. “Some places are likely to receive heavy rains,” he said.
Overall, he said, “weather is very likely to remain erratic till May 4.”
“Farmers are advised to postpone spraying of orchards till May 4,” he added.
in last 24 hours till 8:30 a.m. this morning, Srinagar recorded 18.6mm of rain, Qazigund 6.8mm, Pahalgam 7.7mm, Kupwara 15.3mm, Kokernag 5.0mm, Gulmarg 26.4mm and Banihal 1.1mm.
Regarding temperature, he said, Srinagar recorded a low of 6.5°C against 7.0°C on the previous night and it was 2.8°C below normal for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of 6.8°C against 6.6°C on the previous night and it was 1.0°C below normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of 4.2°C against 3.5°C on previous night and it was 0.2°C below normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of 5.7°C against 5.2°C on the previous night and it was 2.4°C below normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 1.0°C against minus 0.5°C on previous night and it was 5.2°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at 5.6°C against 3.4°C on the previous night and it was 2.2°C below normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 19.4°C against 19.1°C on the previous night. It was 2.8°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal, he said, recorded a low of 8.3°C (1.4°C below normal), Batote 10.4°C (1.6°C below normal), Katra 16.8°C (2.1°C below normal) and Bhadarwah 7.8°C (1.1°C below normal). Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 2.2°C and 4.6°C respectively, the official said. (GNS)
“Rupert has shown a rare sign of weakness,” says one longtime Murdoch watcher. “There is something of the smell of blood in the water.”
In the space of two weeks the 92-year-old’s media empire has taken a reputational hammering on both sides of the Atlantic, putting a renewed focus on the future shape of the global conglomerate’s businesses – and who will run them.
Theories abound about what may happen when control of the empire moves to Rupert’s children – the Murdoch family trust owns 39% of the voting shares in News Corp and 42% in Fox Corporation – with Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prue holding equal power.
Scenarios not out of place in HBO’s Murdoch family-esque hit drama Succession, which Lachlan reportedly believes his younger brother James leaks plot lines to, include James, Elisabeth and Prue eventually coming together to oust their sibling.
Earlier this week, the Duke of Sussex, the “spare” royal on a mission to bring tabloid newspapers to account over phone hacking, presented a string of headline-grabbing allegations in a case against the Sun that threatens to put Murdoch favourite Rebekah Brooks back in the spotlight.
Lachlan Murdoch reportedly believes his younger brother James leaks plot lines to the HBO drama Succession. Photograph: HBO
Since being found not guilty of phone hacking at a criminal trial almost a decade ago, Brooks, the former Sun editor who runs Murdoch’s UK business including the Times, TalkTV and Virgin Radio, has focused on rehabilitating her corporate image with a future eye on a global role in New York.
“Rebekah is going to be spending a lot more time in New York,” says one source. “She has always been a significant adviser, very much a right-hand person, but every time there is a gap between wives she spends more time with Murdoch.”
Earlier this month, Rupert called off his engagement to his would-be fifth wife, Ann Lesley Smith, just two weeks after proposing, having finalised his divorce from Jerry Hall less than a year ago.
The 54-year-old Brooks started her career in the family publishing empire as a 20-year-old secretary at the News of the World, where she would work under Piers Morgan.
From humble beginnings – her father was an odd-job man and she attended a comprehensive school near Warrington, between Liverpool and Manchester – Brooks would rise to become editor of the News of the World in the early noughties and the first female editor of the Sun from 2003 to 2009.
Brooks is one of the most powerful women in media, having served two stints as chief executive of Murdoch’s British media empire. She was forced to resign in 2011 after the Milly Dowler phone-hacking scandal that resulted in the closure of the News of the World.
Rebekah Brooks, pictured with her husband Charlie, is one of the most powerful women in media. Photograph: David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Pragnell
During her time outside the Murdoch empire she received more than £16m in compensation before returning as boss in 2015, a year after being cleared of any wrongdoing.
Brooks is part of the “Chipping Norton set”, which includes former UK prime minister David Cameron and the former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who introduced her to the racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, whom she married in 2009 while editor of the Sun. The couple had a daughter via a surrogate mother in 2012.
She had divorced the former EastEnders actor Ross Kemp, with whom she had a fiery relationship, in 2002.
Brooks’s ambition to rise further is unlikely to be thwarted by the prospect of executives including Murdoch being called to testify – more than $1.5bn (£1.2bn) has been spent keeping cases from going to trial to date. “They will make a big payout to Harry, that’s what they do,” says the source. “What difference is [Harry] going to make, ultimately?”
It is the fallout from Murdoch’s almost $800m 11th-hour settlement to stop a public trial over Fox News’s role broadcasting false claims of election rigging during the 2020 US presidential election that has more bearing on dynastic succession and executive musical chairs.
“Before this they only ever settled sexual harassment and phone-hacking lawsuits; this is a moment of weakness I’ve never seen,” says one former senior executive. “It is the right strategy, but it is still a stain on the company and there has been something of a cultural shift against Fox in the US, temporarily at least.”
Fox, which is run by Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan, is facing a shareholder legal action stating that bosses breached their governance duties by knowingly following a pro-Trump conspiracy line on-air.
Fox is run by Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan. Photograph: Andrew Harrer/Getty Images
The company is also facing a $2.7bn defamation suit by Smartmatic, a voting machine company, although sources say that it is seeing off the much more dangerous Dominion case that matters most. If Murdoch chooses to settle out of court with Smartmatic – Fox has said it is ready to go to trial – a figure of less than $500m has been rumoured.
Despite the embarrassing disclosures and reputational damage wrought by the Dominion case, which resulted in the shock firing of Fox News’s biggest star, Tucker Carlson, days after the settlement was reached, the fallout is viewed by some as cementing Lachlan’s position as Murdoch’s ultimate successor.
“Shareholders may say there is one pickle after another,” says Claire Enders, a co-founder of Enders Analysis. “They are not through this crisis yet, there will be a further elements of a clean-up operation, but they have been here before. The fact is there is always a constant movement of pieces in Rupert’s conglomerate.”
From this point on, Fox News, which was already swinging toward the new and less controversial Republican star Ron DeSantis, will have to show more careful editorial oversight of the content of its broadcast output – as will more extreme rivals such as Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN).
Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News less than a week after it settled a lawsuit over the network’s 2020 election reporting. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP
Seeing off lawsuits and a future with less chance of legal action at the immensely profitable Fox, which makes about $3bn in underlying profits each year, could ultimately strengthen Murdoch’s case to prove the merits of his desire to recombine his TV and newspaper empires to sceptical investors.
After recently scrapping the planned merger of Fox and News Corp, which Murdoch was forced to split a decade ago after the phone-hacking scandal, a multibillion-dollar side deal to sell a lucrative property listings business in the US to a rival also fell through.
The move into property listings in the US and Australia, championed and engineered by Lachlan, has proved a masterstroke, accounting for up to a third of News Corp’s profits. Despite the US deal falling through, the real estate business is expected to be the focus of future corporate activity when macroeconomic conditions improve.
The performance of Murdoch’s newspaper operations is much more hit and miss. The Wall Street Journal remains a juggernaut with 3.78 million subscribers – 84% of whom are digital-only – with analysts ascribing a standalone value of $10bn to its parent company Dow Jones. Murdoch acquired the business for $5.6bn in 2007.
In the UK, the Times and Sunday Times have also grasped the digital future transforming a £70m loss in 2009 into a £73m profit last year. However, the Sun continues to struggle, doubling pre-tax losses to £127m last year, mostly due to charges relating to phone hacking. Stripping this out, the Sun made £15m.
Ever the arch-pragmatist, Murdoch has shown that he is willing to make tough decisions to ensure the long-term survival of his empire.
In 2018, he sold 21st Century Fox, which ultimately also meant his crown jewel Sky, to Disney and Comcast respectively, after failing to engineer a takeover of Time Warner to give his entertainment business the global scale it needed to compete in the streaming era.
However, a recent expose by Vanity Fair revealed a string of worrisome health problems in recent years – including breaking his back, seizures, two bouts of pneumonia, atrial fibrillation and a torn achilles tendon – and has once again raised questions over whether it is time to hand the reins to the next generation.
“I don’t think the fallout in the US hurts Lachlan; he is still the heir apparent,” says the former executive. “Not least because James isn’t interested in the company with Fox part of it and Elisabeth and Prue certainly don’t want to do it.”
Lachlan Murdoch (right) is seen by many analysts as Rupert’s heir apparent. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
The 51-year-old Lachlan, who still hankers after a life in Australia despite buying the most expensive home in Los Angeles, also has a good relationship with Brooks.
News Corporation, which as well as the UK papers owns titles including the New York Post, the Australian, and the crown jewel Wall Street Journal, is run by Robert Thomson.
The 62-year-old Thomson, who shares a birthday with Rupert, has been his right-hand man for decades.
“Lachlan is ambivalent to Robert, which is not to say he hasn’t done a good job,” says the former executive. “But Lachlan gets ever more powerful, every day this is more Lachlan’s company. And that would mean that at some point it is Rebekah’s job.”
But with the newly single nonagenarian once again energetically throwing himself into work, the time for plotting and scheming may still be some way off.
“I felt Rupert was very impressive in terms of what we saw in documents released relating to the Dominion case,” says Enders. “His answers were sharp and he showed perfect recall, and didn’t get himself in a perjury situation. With Joe Biden running for president 80 is the new 60, and for Rupert 92 is the new 80. He doesn’t look as if he is going anywhere soon.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Kupwara, Apr 28 (GNS): A road, connecting Zirhama – Jumgund areas in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, has been blocked due to landslide even as clearance process is underway at the site.
Reports reaching GNS said that a huge landslide occurred along Zirhama – Jumgund, shutting it for all types of movement.
An official told GNS that the R & B Department has already started the clearance process on the road and hopefully it will be cleared in a while by now.
“To avoid any inconvenience, all types of movement has been restricted on the road till further orders”, the official said. (GNS)
Srinagar, April 28 (GNS): Jammu and Kashmir reported 38 fresh covid-19 cases while there was one death due to the virus during the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday.
They said that 19 cases each were reported from Jammu and Kashmir divisions, taking the overall tally to 481551. Among the cases, 174932 are from Jammu division and 306619 from Kashmir Valley.
Providing district wise details of the cases, they told GNS, Jammu reported 15, Udhampur 2, Rajouri 0, Doda 1, Kathua 0, Samba 1, Poonch 0, Ramban 0, Reasi 0, Srinagar 2, Baramulla 2, Budgam 2, Pulwama 1, Kupwara 7, Anantnag 2, Bandipora 0, Ganderbal 1, Kulgam 2 and Shopian 0.
There was one death from Jammu division during the time. So far 4790 people have succumbed to the virus and among them include 2357 from Jammu division and 2433 from the Valley.
Besides, they said, 39 Covid-19 patients recovered during the last 24 hours—29 from Jammu division and 10 from Kashmir Valley. There are now 325 active cases— 166 in Jammu and 159 in Kashmir. (GNS)
