Bristling at ‘Gulf of Mexico’ name change on maps, Mexico threatens to sue Google

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Updated 14 February 2025
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Bristling at ‘Gulf of Mexico’ name change on maps, Mexico threatens to sue Google

  • After assuming office as US president, Donald Trump declared that he was changing the name Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America
  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the name Gulf of Mexico dates back to 1607 and is recognized by the United Nations
  • Google has said that it maintains a “long-standing practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources”

MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that her government wouldn’t rule out filing a civil lawsuit against Google if it maintains its stance of calling the stretch of sea between northeastern Mexico and the southeastern United States the “Gulf of America.”
The area, long named the Gulf of Mexico across the the world, has gained a geopolitical spotlight after President Donald Trump declared he would change the Gulf’s name.
Sheinbaum, in her morning news conference, said the president’s decree is restricted to the “continental shelf of the United States” because Mexico still controls much of the Gulf. “We have sovereignty over our continental shelf,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that despite the fact that her government sent a letter to Google saying that the company was “wrong” and that “the entire Gulf of Mexico cannot be called the Gulf of America,” the company has insisted on maintaining the nomenclature.
It was not immediately clear where such a suit would be filed.
Google reported last month on its X account, formerly Twitter, that it maintains a “long-standing practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”
As of Thursday, how the Gulf appeared on Google Maps was dependent on the user’s location and other data. If the user is in the United States, the body of water appeared as Gulf of America. If the user was physically in Mexico, it would appear as the Gulf of Mexico. In many other countries across the world it appears as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”
Sheinbaum has repeatedly defended the name Gulf of Mexico, saying its use dates to 1607 and is recognized by the United Nations.
She has also mentioned that, according to the constitution of Apatzingán, the antecedent to Mexico’s first constitution, the North American territory was previously identified as “Mexican America”. Sheinbaum has used the example to poke fun at Trump and underscore the international implications of changing the Gulf’s name.
In that sense, Sheinbaum said on Thursday that the Mexican government would ask Google to make “Mexican America” pop up on the map when searched.
This is not the first time Mexicans and Americans have disagreed on the names of key geographic areas, such as the border river between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. Mexico calls it Rio Bravo and for the United States it is the Rio Grande.
This week, the White House barred Associated Press reporters from several events, including some in the Oval Office, saying it was because of the news agency’s policy on the name. AP is using “Gulf of Mexico” but also acknowledging Trump’s renaming of it as well, to ensure that names of geographical features are recognizable around the world.

 


New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting

Updated 05 May 2025
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New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting

  • The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2024 in 15 categories, along with eight arts categories including books, music and theater

NEW YORK: The New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and the New Yorker three on Monday for journalism in 2024 that touched on topics like the fentanyl crisis, the US military and last summer’s assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.
The Pulitzers’ prestigious public service medal went to ProPublica for the second straight year. Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser, Cassandra Jaramillo and Stacy Kranitz were honored for reporting on pregnant women who died after doctors delayed urgent care in states with strict abortion laws.
The Washington Post won for “urgent and illuminating” breaking news coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. The Pultizers honored Ann Telnaes, who quit the Post in January after the news outlet refused to run her editorial cartoon lampooning tech chiefs — including Post owner Jeff Bezos — cozying up to Trump.
The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2024 in 15 categories, along with eight arts categories including books, music and theater. The public service winner receives a gold medal. All other winners receive $15,000.
The Times’ Azam Ahmed and Christina Goldbaum and contributing writer Matthieu Aikins won an explanatory reporting prize for examining US policy failures in Afghanistan. The newspaper’s Doug Mills won in breaking news photography for his images of the assassination attempt. Declan Walsh and the Times’ staff won for an investigation into the Sudan conflict. Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher won in local reporting, an award shared by the Times and The Baltimore Banner, for reporting on that city’s fentanyl crisis.
The New Yorker’s Mosab Abu Toha won for his commentaries on Gaza. The magazine also won for its “In the Dark” podcast about the killing of Iraqi civilians by the US military and in feature photography for Moises Saman’s pictures of the Sednaya prison in Syria.
 

 


BBC to investigate Arabic service over allegations of antisemitism

Updated 05 May 2025
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BBC to investigate Arabic service over allegations of antisemitism

  • The Telegraph reported last week that freelance contributors had made antisemitic comments or expressed support for Hamas

LONDON: The BBC is preparing to launch an independent investigation into its Arabic-language service following allegations that it has featured contributors accused of antisemitic remarks and support for Hamas.

BBC Chairman Dr. Samir Shah confirmed over the weekend that the corporation would appoint an external figure to lead a review into the broadcaster’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict and examine the issues raised by a recent report in The Telegraph.

“The Arabic service, we are looking at it, we’ve been examining it,” Shah told Times Radio. “I think this whole business of how we’ve covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we’re going to identify … we’re going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.”

According to BBC sources cited by UK media, the review will be “independent and published in full” and presented to the BBC board as part of a broader evaluation of its Middle East reporting.

Shah, who became chairman of the BBC in March 2024, said the corporation must remain vigilant regarding bias but maintained that the BBC continues to be a trusted source for impartial news.

The announcement follows a report by The Telegraph that some contributors to BBC Arabic had made antisemitic comments or expressed support for Hamas, a group proscribed as a terrorist organization by the UK, US, EU, and others, including Saudi Arabia.

One contributor, Gaza-based journalist Samer Elzaenen, reportedly posted in 2011 that Jews should be burned “as Hitler did.” Another, Ahmed Qannan, allegedly praised a 2022 shooter who killed five people in Israel and expressed hope that victims of a 2023 synagogue shooting would die.

The BBC has said that neither contributor is a member of staff but did not deny their appearances on air. Both are understood to be freelance contributors.

The broadcaster is also facing criticism over a recent documentary on the war in Gaza, after it was revealed that the narrator was the son of a Hamas government minister — information that was not disclosed in the film. The BBC said it was unaware of the familial connection at the time of production.

The documentary has since been removed from its on-demand platform pending a separate review.

The incident has reignited debate over the BBC’s editorial stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, with critics on both sides accusing it of bias. Hundreds of media figures have defended the film, arguing that a narrator’s family connections should not disqualify them from participating or undermine their testimony and criticizing the BBC for pulling an “essential piece of journalism” that offers “a rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians.”

The BBC, which has been marred by controversy since conflict broke out between Hamas and Israel in October 2023, has also faced political pressure over its decision not to label Hamas a terrorist organization in its reporting.

Defending the approach, Shah told Times Radio the BBC board had agreed to use the term only when it is attributed to a source, consistent with the broadcaster’s editorial guidelines.


State of the Saudi media sector and investment opportunities it offers

Updated 04 May 2025
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State of the Saudi media sector and investment opportunities it offers

RIYADH: The General Authority for Media Regulation has released a report, “The State of the Saudi Media Sector and Investment Opportunities for 2024,” which provides an overview of the media landscape in the Kingdom and highlights the significant transformations the sector is undergoing to keep pace with Saudi Vision 2030.

The report reflects promising investment opportunities, in addition to the technical and regulatory shifts that support the growth and sustainability of the sector. It also illustrates the magnitude of the boom in the Saudi media sector, which has achieved remarkable development driven by digital transformation and technological advance, improving the efficiency of media content and enhancing its global competitiveness.

The media authority’s estimates in the report indicate that the contribution of the media sector to the direct and indirect gross domestic product increased to 0.57 per cent in 2024, amounting to SAR16 billion ($4.26 billion), compared with 0.52 per cent in 2023.

The authority continues to work towards achieving its ambitious goals of raising this percentage to 0.8 percent by 2030. In terms of investment in human capital, job growth reached 67,000 jobs, with a rate of 22 percent by the end of 2024, with the aim of reaching 160,000 jobs by 2030.

The report also identified six key transformations in the media industry in the Kingdom, including the increasing demand for local content, developing media infrastructure, adopting modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality, improving the regulatory environment, supporting national talents and competencies, and expanding investment opportunities.

The report confirms that the Kingdom has become a prominent destination for media investment, providing a flexible regulatory environment and mega-projects aimed at enhancing the media industry.

It also addressed the opportunities available to investors in content production, the development of electronic games, investment in media infrastructure, and international partnerships in the Saudi media market. In addition, the continued innovation and adoption of modern technologies to enhance the competitiveness of Saudi media globally is a crucial factor because the sector has elements that make it one of the main drivers of economic and cultural development in the Kingdom.

The report details the opportunities and challenges in the sector and covers the five media divisions supervised by the General Authority for Media Regulation: publishing; audio; visual; advertising; and games sectors.

The authority, through the report, hopes to improve understanding of the local media landscape and provide clear and accurate data to media entities and local and international investors, to highlight the promising opportunities in the sector.

The report is a comprehensive reference for the state of media in the Kingdom and is provides a guide for local and international investors and researchers in the sector. The authority urges interested partis to view the report on its website at https://gmedia.gov.sa/ar/media-status-report


Algerian TV channel suspended for racism against African migrants

Echorouk News TV. (X @echoroukonline)
Updated 03 May 2025
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Algerian TV channel suspended for racism against African migrants

  • Since the start of April, Algeria has expelled some 5,000 Africans to neighbouring Niger, according to state television. About half were from Niger

ALGIERS: Algerian authorities on Friday suspended broadcasts by a television news channel for 10 days after it used a racist word on social media to describe African migrants.
Echorouk News TV used the derogatory word in a Facebook post after police raids in which migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were detained.
The ANIRA broadcasting authority called the publication "extremely serious".
The report contained "a racist and discriminatory term, an attack on human dignity, conveying hate speech against a category of people because of their race," said ANIRA which demanded that the channel's management make an official apology.
Tens of thousands of undocumented African migrants have used Algeria as a staging post to attempt to get to Europe. Many have sought jobs in the North African country.
Since the start of April, Algeria has expelled some 5,000 Africans to neighbouring Niger, according to state television. About half were from Niger.
 

 


Eurovision lifts ban on Palestinian flags as scrutiny of Israel’s participation grows

Updated 02 May 2025
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Eurovision lifts ban on Palestinian flags as scrutiny of Israel’s participation grows

  • Fans will now be allowed to bring and display any flag that does not contain racist content, hate symbols
  • Iceland, Spain and Slovenia have all raised concerns about Israel’s participation at this year’s contest

LONDON: Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest have lifted a ban on Palestinian flags for audience members, but maintained restrictions for participating artists, as pressure over Israel’s inclusion in this year’s event increased.

The change, confirmed by Danish broadcaster DR, marks a shift from the European Broadcasting Union’s longstanding rule prohibiting flags from non-competing countries and territories. That policy led to Palestinian flags being banned in previous years.

According to updated guidelines obtained by DR, fans will now be allowed to bring and display any flag that does not contain “racist and/or discriminatory content,” or symbols thought to incite hatred, violence, or linked to banned organizations.

In a statement to CNN, the EBU said the update seeks to “strike a balance to ensure that our audiences and artists can express their enthusiasm and identities,” while offering greater clarity for national delegations.

However, the relaxed policy applies only to the audience. Participating artists will still be restricted to displaying official national flags in all official Eurovision spaces, including the stage, green room, and Eurovision Village. Artists may show only the flag of the country they represent.

The revised policy comes amid growing criticism of Israel’s participation in this year’s contest to be held in Basel, Switzerland, with semifinals on May 13 and 15 and the final on May 17.

Officials in countries including Slovenia, Spain and Iceland have questioned Israel’s inclusion.

Icelandic Foreign Minister Porgerour Katrin Gunnarsdottir told a local outlet she found it “strange and actually unnatural that Israel is allowed to participate,” accusing the country of committing “war crimes” and “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza.

Despite these objections, the EBU has confirmed that Israel’s entry meets the competition’s rules. As with last year, large-scale protests are expected in Basel against Israel’s participation.

Despite pressure from pro-Israel organizations, Swiss authorities said demonstrations are permitted in principle, including those opposing Israel’s presence, provided they comply with public safety regulations.