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Harris set to launch historic digital ad campaign as election approaches

Harris has expanded her lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump by an additional 1 percentage point, bringing her total advantage to 4 percent. (AFP/File)
Harris has expanded her lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump by an additional 1 percentage point, bringing her total advantage to 4 percent. (AFP/File)
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Updated 02 September 2024

Harris set to launch historic digital ad campaign as election approaches

Harris set to launch historic digital ad campaign as election approaches
  • Democratic presidential candidate plans to spend $370 million in the next 2 months in largest ad campaign ever

LONDON: Kamala Harris is gearing up to launch the largest digital ad campaign in American political history, according to a report by the Financial Times on Sunday.

The Democratic presidential candidate has earmarked $370 million for advertising in the crucial period between early September and the US election in November.

Of this, $170 million is allocated for television ads across the nation, including key battleground states, while a significant $200 million is dedicated to digital advertising.

Harris campaign representatives confirmed on Sunday that they are “on pace to spend more on digital persuasion media than any political organization ever.

“These reservations are centered around early investments in the most sought out publishers and platforms like Hulu, Roku, YouTube, Paramount, Spotify and Pandora.”

“In making these early reservations, the campaign has secured the most premium inventory, locked in significantly more efficient pricing, and reserved before Trump and his allied groups had a chance to,” they said.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Thursday, Harris has expanded her lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump by an additional 1 percentage point, bringing her total advantage to 4 percent.

Harris also leads in four out of seven battleground states, buoyed by a significant increase in enthusiasm among Democratic voters in recent weeks.

Jen O’Malley Dillon, the chair of Harris’ campaign, described the ad buy as part of a broader strategy to gain a “strategic advantage” on both the airwaves and online battlefronts, with plans to also purchase ad slots on Fox News.

Earlier in August, the Harris campaign announced a “significant eight-figure investment” in national TV placements, noting that these spots are less likely to be crowded with back-to-back political ads, a common issue as election day nears.

These latest reservations come on top of an already massive $150 million ad blitz across seven swing states, underscoring the campaign’s commitment to securing every possible voter in the upcoming election.


Israeli journalist arrested over post praising death of 5 IDF soldiers in Gaza

Israeli journalist arrested over post praising death of 5 IDF soldiers in Gaza
Updated 47 sec ago

Israeli journalist arrested over post praising death of 5 IDF soldiers in Gaza

Israeli journalist arrested over post praising death of 5 IDF soldiers in Gaza
  • Israel Frey, who frequently posts his criticism of the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza, is being held in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Frey’s arrest

LONDON: An Israeli court on Thursday extended the detention of journalist Israel Frey over a post on X that hailed “the world is a better place” following the death of five soldiers in an explosion in Gaza.

Frey, who frequently posts his criticism of the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza, is being held in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court over charges of inciting and supporting terrorism.

“The world is better this morning without five young people who participated in one of the cruelest crimes against humanity,” the Israeli journalist said, referring to five Israeli soldiers who were killed by an explosive device during their fight with the militant group Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.

He added: “Sadly, for the boy in Gaza now being operated on without anesthesia, the girl starving to death and the family huddling in a tent under bombardment — this is not enough.

“This is a call to every Israeli mother: Do not be the next to receive your son in a coffin as a war criminal. Refuse.”

Frey was previously questioned over his critical posts in the past. In March, he was interrogated on suspicion of inciting terrorism over a few pro-Palestinian posts.

“A Palestinian who hurts an IDF soldier or a settler in the apartheid territories is not a terrorist. And it’s not a terror attack. He’s a hero fighting against an occupier for justice, liberation and freedom,” he once wrote.

In December 2022, he was questioned over posts in which he said that “targeting security forces is not terrorism” and called a Palestinian who was planning an attack a “hero.”

Frey fled into hiding on Oct. 16, 2023, about a week into the Gaza war, after his home was attacked by a far-right Israeli mob when he expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Frey told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Thursday that he will not be “bowing his head” to his persecution, adding that “we have already caused enough suffering, blood and tears. Liberate Gaza. Enough.”

According to Israeli media reports, Judge Ravit Peleg Bar Dayan ruled that Frey’s remarks “offend public sensibilities and are deeply disturbing,” asking, “How can the deaths of young soldiers, who fell in the line of duty defending their homeland, possibly be considered good?”

She added that extending Frey’s detention was necessary due to “investigative actions susceptible to obstruction,” as she denied bail to Frey.

In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Frey’s arrest and said his detention “underscores authorities’ growing intolerance of freedom of expression since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.”

CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah called for Frey’s immediate release along with “all detained Palestinian journalists” and for an end to the “ongoing crackdown on the press and dissenting voices.”


Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police

Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police
Updated 11 July 2025

Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police

Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account: police
  • TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels
  • Pakistani women have found both audience and income on the app, which is rare in the country

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan police on Friday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her account on popular video-sharing app TikTok.

In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces.

“The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said.

According to a police report shared with AFP, investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor.” He was subsequently arrested.

The victim’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” according to police in the city of Rawalpindi, where the attack happened, next to the capital Islamabad.

Last month, a 17-year-old girl and TikTok influencer with hundreds of thousands of online followers was killed at home by a man whose advances she had refused.

Sana Yousaf had racked up more than a million followers on social media accounts including TikTok, where she shared videos of her favorite cafes, skincare products, and traditional outfits.

TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels.

Women have found both audience and income on the app, which is rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of the women participate in the formal economy.

However, only 30 percent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone compared to twice as many men (58 percent), the largest gap in the world, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2025.

Pakistani telecommunications authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what it calls “immoral behavior,” amid backlash against LGBTQ and sexual content.

In southwestern Balochistan, where tribal law governs many rural areas, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter earlier this year over TikTok videos that he said compromised her “honor.”


Iran says 12 journalists killed in Israeli strikes during war

Iran says 12 journalists killed in Israeli strikes during war
Updated 10 July 2025

Iran says 12 journalists killed in Israeli strikes during war

Iran says 12 journalists killed in Israeli strikes during war
  • The organization accused Israel of deliberately targeting media infrastructure

TEHRAN: Iran said Thursday that at least a dozen journalists and media workers were killed in Israeli strikes during the two countries’ recent war, according to state media.
The media arm of the Basij paramilitary forces — a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — said the death toll among media workers had risen to 12 following the identification of two additional individuals, the IRNA news agency reported.
The organization accused Israel of deliberately targeting media infrastructure “to silence the voice of truth” and suppress the “media of the Resistance Front” — a reference to Iran and allied groups opposed to Israel.
The announcement comes as casualty figures from the war have continued to rise, even after the end of the 12-day conflict, which began on June 13 with a surprise Israeli attack and saw an unprecedented bombing campaign that hit Iranian military facilities, nuclear sites and residential areas.
During the conflict, Israel also attacked the Iranian state broadcasting service in northern Tehran.
The Israeli campaign killed senior military commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of civilians, with the total death toll currently at 1,060, according to Iranian officials.
Retaliatory Iranian drone and missile barrages killed at least 28 people in Israel during the war, according to official figures.


Sudanese novelist Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration

Sudanese novelist Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration
Updated 10 July 2025

Sudanese novelist Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration

Sudanese novelist Leila Aboulela awarded PEN Pinter prize for her work on migration
  • Acclaimed novelist recognized for exploring themes of faith, migration and Muslim women’s lives

LONDON: Sudanese author Leila Aboulela has been named the winner of the 2025 PEN Pinter Prize, honoring her literary contributions that explore themes of faith, migration and the lives of Muslim women in displacement.

The award was announced at English PEN’s annual summer party on Wednesday at the October Gallery in London.

Judges praised the author for her “nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: Faith, migration and displacement,” calling her work “a balm, a shelter and an inspiration.”

Aboulela, who grew up in Khartoum and has lived in Aberdeen, Scotland since 1990, is known for her six novels including “Minaret,” “The Translator,” a New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year, and “Lyrics Alley,” as well as two short story collections.

Her latest collection “Elsewhere, Home” won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award.

Aboulela’s latest novel “River Spirit,” which was published in 2023, portrays the period leading up to the British conquest of Sudan in 1898, shedding light on the complex human dimensions of the conflict between Britain and Sudan, Christianity and Islam, and the dynamics of colonizer versus colonized.

On receiving the award, she said: “For someone like me, a Muslim Sudanese immigrant who writes from a religious perspective, probing the limits of secular tolerance, this recognition feels truly significant. It brings expansion and depth to the meaning of freedom of expression and whose stories get heard.”

She will officially receive the award at a ceremony at the British Library on Oct. 10, where she will also announce the recipient of the accompanying Writer of Courage award.

This year’s judging panel included poet and author Mona Arshi, novelist Nadifa Mohamed, and English PEN chair Ruth Borthwick, who praised Aboulela’s work for its literary depth and social relevance.

“Leila Aboulela’s writing is extraordinary in its range and sensibility,” Borthwick said. “From jewel-like short stories to tender novels, she tells us rarely heard stories that make us think anew about who lives in our neighborhoods and communities, and how they navigate their lives.”

Arshi said that the author “offers us nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: Faith, migration, and displacement,” while Mohamed praised Aboulela’s work for centring “the lives and decisions of Muslim women.”

 “Her work is marked by a commitment to make the lives and decisions of Muslim women central, and to examine their struggles and pleasures with dignity,” Mohamed said.

The PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 in memory of Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. Previous winners include Arundhati Roy in 2024 and Michael Rosen in 2023.


X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigns after two years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform

X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigns after two years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform
Updated 10 July 2025

X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigns after two years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform

X CEO Linda Yaccarino resigns after two years at the helm of Elon Musk’s social media platform
  • Yaccarino announced her resignation in a post, saying “the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter”
  • Elon Musk hired Yaccarino, a veteran ad executive, in May 2023 after buying Twitter for $44 billion

X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she’s stepping down after two bumpy years running Elon Musk’s social media platform.
Yaccarino posted a positive message Wednesday about her tenure at the company formerly known as Twitter and said “the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with” Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, maker of the chatbot Grok. She did not say why she is leaving.
Musk responded to Yaccarino’s announcement with his own 5-word statement on X: “Thank you for your contributions.”
“The only thing that’s surprising about Linda Yaccarino’s resignation is that it didn’t come sooner,” said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. “It was clear from the start that she was being set up to fail by a limited scope as the company’s chief executive.”
In reality, Proulx added, Musk “is and always has been at the helm of X. And that made Linda X’s CEO in title only, which is a very tough position to be in, especially for someone of Linda’s talents.”
Musk hired Yaccarino, a veteran ad executive, in May 2023 after buying Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and cutting most of its staff. He said at the time that Yaccarino’s role would be focused mainly on running the company’s business operations, leaving him to focus on product design and new technology. Before announcing her hiring, Musk said whoever took over as the company’s CEO ” must like pain a lot.”
In accepting the job, Yaccarino was taking on the challenge of getting big brands back to advertising on the social media platform after months of upheaval following Musk’s takeover. She also had to work in a supporting role to Musk’s outsized persona on and off of X as he loosened content moderation rules in the name of free speech and restored accounts previously banned by the social media platform.
“Being the CEO of X was always going to be a tough job, and Yaccarino lasted in the role longer than many expected. Faced with a mercurial owner who never fully stepped away from the helm and continued to use the platform as his personal megaphone, Yaccarino had to try to run the business while also regularly putting out fires,” said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg.
Yaccarino’s future at X became unclear earlier this year after Musk merged the social media platform with his artificial intelligence company, xAI. And the advertising issues have not subsided. Since Musk’s takeover, a number of companies had pulled back on ad spending — the platform’s chief source of revenue — over concerns that Musk’s thinning of content restrictions was enabling hateful and toxic speech to flourish.
Most recently, an update to Grok led to a flood of antisemitic commentary from the chatbot this week that included praise of Adolf Hitler.
“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,” the Grok account posted on X early Wednesday, without being more specific.
Some experts have tied Grok’s behavior to Musk’s deliberate efforts to mold Grok as an alternative to chatbots he considers too “woke,” such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. In late June, he invited X users to help train the chatbot on their commentary in a way that invited a flood of racist responses and conspiracy theories.
“Please reply to this post with divisive facts for @Grok training,” Musk said in the June 21 post. “By this I mean things that are politically incorrect, but nonetheless factually true.”
A similar instruction was later baked into Grok’s “prompts” that instruct it on how to respond, which told the chatbot to “not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated.” That part of the instructions was later deleted.
“To me, this has all the fingerprints of Elon’s involvement,” said Talia Ringer, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Yaccarino has not publicly commented on the latest hate speech controversy. She has, at times, ardently defended Musk’s approach, including in a lawsuit against liberal advocacy group Media Matters for America over a report that claimed leading advertisers’ posts on X were appearing alongside neo-Nazi and white nationalist content. The report led some advertisers to pause their activity on X.
A federal judge last year dismissed X’s lawsuit against another nonprofit, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has documented the increase in hate speech on the site since it was acquired by Musk.
X is also in an ongoing legal dispute with major advertisers — including CVS, Mars, Lego, Nestle, Shell and Tyson Foods — over what it has alleged was a “massive advertiser boycott” that deprived the company of billions of dollars in revenue and violated antitrust laws.
Enberg said that, “to a degree, Yaccarino accomplished what she was hired to do.” Emarketer expects X’s ad business to return to growth in 2025 after more than halving between 2022 and 2023 following Musk’s takeover.
But, she added, “the reasons for X’s ad recovery are complicated, and Yaccarino was unable to restore the platform’s reputation among advertisers.”
Analysts have said that some advertisers may have returned to X to avoid alienating Trump supporters during the height of Musk’s affiliation with the president and his base. Legal threats may have also played a part — whether from X or from the Federal Trade Commission, which is investigating Media Matters over its reporting that hateful content has increased on X since Musk took over, resulting in an advertiser exodus. Media Matters has in turn sued the FTC, claiming it seeks to punish protected speech.