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CTV News
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Cartoon camp from down under returns to Edmonton after COVID-19 hiatus
Kids at the Cartoon Kingdom day camp practicing their skills on July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) Danny Cohen feels drawn to the northern hemisphere every summer. COVID-19 kept the cartoonist in Sydney, Australia for years before he could return with his day camp for kids, Cartoon Kingdom. He's the cartoon camp director currently on what he calls a 'mini world tour,' bringing his artistic programs to Winnipeg, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and then hopping across the pond to London. From now until July 25, Cohen is teaching 20 kids out of Crestwood Community hall. 'My job is to take [the kids] away from all the electronic stuff and go back to the old school style of art and drawing,' he said. 'And you know what? It's good.' Danny Cohen Danny Cohen is a professional cartoonist who spends his Australian winter in the northern hemisphere running summer camps. July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) It's winter back home in Australia and all the kids are in school, which makes the northern hemisphere the perfect location for Cohen for running his camps year-round. Cohen was the self-proclaimed 'naughty' kid in school who made a career out of his artwork. He does cartoons, caricatures, works parties and events. When he's not doing that, he's right here, teaching kids how to unlock their creativity. '[I] show kids how to become creative and convert their ideas … they're drawing cartoons, they're doing treasure hunts, they're doing shaving cream battles,' he said. The camp in Edmonton is running for five days for the first time since it was shut down in 2020. In that time, his students will throw boomerangs, draw Australian animals, have teddy bear picnics and more. And while numbers are down because of the hiatus, Cohen still remembers the parents and kids who came before the pandemic. 'I come by myself, I'm leaving at home, my wife and my children … and when I see familiar faces, my heart melts,' he said. 'That makes me want to come back again and again. It's the kids that make me come back.' Tre Kupczak Ainslie Tre Kupczak Ainslie is 13 now, but he was seven when he went to Cartoon Kingdom for the first time. This is his second time ever going because of COVID-19. July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) One of those pre-COVID kids, Tre Kupczak Ainslie, is 13 now. It's his second time coming to the camp in six years. 'It's fun to make new friends … you get to just have fun,' he said. He appreciates the cartooning style as somebody who doesn't draw a lot. Samina Kholmatova Samina Khomatova practices her cartooning at Cohen's day camp on July 23, 2025. (Amanda Anderson/CTV News Edmonton) It's Samina Kholmatova's first time at camp. The nine-year-old had friends who helped her decide to 'give it a go.' 'I learned lots of skills from Danny's teaching,' she said. Cohen has faith that word will get around and numbers will go back to normal as the camp starts running annually once again. 'I do these camps in 11 countries around the world, but I think Canada is my favourite,' he said. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson
The Sun
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
BBC faces fresh fury after news chief accused of ‘ignorant and dangerous' portrayal of Hamas
THE BBC's news chief was last night accused of an 'ignorant and dangerous' portrayal of Hamas. Deborah Turness said the group's politicians were separate to its military wing — despite the government insisting it was a single terrorist organisation. She came under renewed criticism following the scandal engulfing the broadcaster over its Gaza documentary that breached accuracy rules. The programme How To Survive A Warzone, made by an independent production company, failed to declare the child narrator Abdullah was the son of a senior Hamas official. Ms Turness, the CEO of BBC News, apologised publicly on Monday after an investigation held the corporation partly responsible for the oversight. Addressing the row in an all-staff call, the executive said: 'It's really important that we are clear that Abdullah's father was the deputy agricultural minister, and therefore was a member of the Hamas-run government, which is different to being part of the military wing of Hamas. 'Externally, it's often simplified that he was in Hamas and it's an important point of detail we need to continually remind people of the difference.' But, while previously differentiated, the UK government now says that 'Hamas is a complex but single terrorist organisation'. Tory Shadow Culture Secretary Stuart Andrew said Ms Turness's comment 'undermines any apologies made by the corporation'. Former head of BBC Television Danny Cohen said: 'This is staggering. It is both ignorant and dangerous and is further evidence of why so many British Jews do not feel they can trust the BBC.' Labour peer Lord Austin said: 'Deborah Turness presided over this mess and still tries to defend the BBC's colossal mistakes. Surely her position is untenable.' The BBC said: 'Deborah Turness was answering a question about how we described the father of the narrator in our Warzone film. She did not imply that Hamas are not a single terrorist organisation.'
Spectator
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
This report confirms what we knew. The BBC has an Israel problem
The BBC has not had a 'good war' since 7 October. Whether it is the smug anti-Israel tone of its reporters, or its use of casualty numbers and narratives dished out by a terror group, it has been pretty shameful stuff. And I say that as someone who generally has a lot of time for the corporation. Today, things reached a new low. We finally got the full report into the documentary 'Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone'. The show was broadcast on BBC Two and iPlayer in February before being pulled. It emerged that the 13-year-old narrator just happened to be the son of the deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas government, something the audience were never told. The investigation, carried out by Peter Johnston, Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews, found that 'regardless of how the significance or otherwise of the narrator's father's position was judged, the audience should have been informed about this'. You reckon? The BBC insists that it was not told who the narrator's father was, although three people at HOYO Films, the independent production company who made the documentary, knew. Worse, it seems that nobody at the Beeb was that interested in finding out. As the report puts it, the BBC team was not 'sufficiently proactive'. That is pathetic, at best, and deliberately negligent at worse. Given we know that Hamas, a proscribed terror organisation, runs all aspects of the Gaza Strip, why did nobody think to check what connections this child had? The answer is obvious. Why question anything too much if it makes Israel look bad? While the BBC insists that nobody subject to financial sanctions received money as part of the production process, the narrator was paid £795 for his time. So, money did go to a Hamas minister's family and it's hard to believe it stayed in this child's piggy bank. I wonder how much concrete for a terror tunnel you can get for £795 these days. Maybe you can get it cheap via the UN. The report also found no evidence 'to support a suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme in any way'. Terrorist organisations are, of course, well known for their lack of influence on family members and so even in something scripted, as this narrator's contribution was, this seems a nonsensical argument. It seems to me that terrorists don't need to be explicit to influence someone's behaviour, especially if it is a close family member. Commenting on the latest scandal engulfing his ex-employer, former director of BBC Television Danny Cohen said: The serious journalistic failings of this documentary have severely damaged public trust in the BBC. This is not an isolated incident but part of a pattern of systemic bias in the BBC's coverage of the war. Cohen is right. This is far from the only such incident during this terrible war. Remember when correspondent Jon Donnison announced live on air that it was 'hard to see' that anyone but the IDF could have bombed a hospital in Gaza? It subsequently emerged that that the missile had been fired from inside Gaza i.e. it had been fired by Hamas or another terror group in the territory. That was 10 days after Hamas conducted its massacre. We've also had Jeremy Bowen suggest that a hoard of weapons found by the IDF in a hospital might have simply been the armoury of the site's security team, not terrorists using civilian infrastructure to hide their arms. It's all so ridiculous that it would be laughable if it were not so dangerous. Cohen believes that 'the BBC's failure to recognise this [pattern] and take real action is a serious leadership failure,' adding that 'statements from the BBC that it takes antisemitism seriously have become utterly meaningless'. It is hard to disagree. The BBC leadership will no doubt continue to highlight that the only breach of its editorial guidelines found was not declaring who the narrator was, as if that is not serious enough. The fact that this report found no impartiality issues will be of no comfort to most of the UK's Jewish population, who have felt let down by the national broadcaster for almost two years – including during its nonsensical coverage of Glastonbury recently. In its response to today's report, the BBC also flags that it and other journalistic organisations are not allowed into Gaza. That's a serious issue, one worthy of separate discussion and that I have mixed feelings about. However, in this instance it is a deflection that has nothing to do with the sheer incompetence by the corporation in this and other instances. Just because you cannot go into a complex, dangerous warzone, it doesn't mean you need to regurgitate propaganda put out by terrorists or hide key facts from your viewers. After this latest fiasco, the BBC needs to take a good hard look at itself. But it probably won't.
Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Times letters: BBC coverage of Glastonbury hate chants
Write to letters@ Sir, What a great many of us really find 'appalling', to use the prime minister's word to describe the nonsense spouted at a music festival by a band very few had previously heard of and even fewer will remember next week, is that he is more outspoken in his condemnation of this futile and forgettable puerility than he has ever been about the Israeli regime's killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, including those desperately queueing for BryantLondon N16 Sir, I confess to being baffled by the criticism of the BBC for continuing to broadcast Bob Vylan at Glastonbury when the band's singer started to lead a chant of 'death to the IDF' ('BBC 'should have pulled coverage of hate chants' ', news, Jun 30). When a newsworthy event (as this clearly was) occurs during a live broadcast, surely cutting the feed is the last thing a broadcaster should do? It can hardly be interpreted as some form of SaundersLondon NW8 Sir, The call for the deaths of IDF soldiers is to be condemned — it was shameful and inexcusable. However, it was also almost to be expected given the continuing killing of Gazans by Israel, which is just as inexcusable. In his comment article ('A broadcasting failure that spread despair — and fear', Jun 30), Danny Cohen blames the BBC and the organisers of Glastonbury but omits to mention the continuing attacks on Gaza. We need to get things in WattPontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf Sir, It is outrageous for anyone to suggest that the BBC should censor events as they happen. The event was broadcast live; taking it off air would have given even more publicity to this evil rant. The BBC should not, under any circumstances, be a party to censorship; the honesty of its output would never be trusted again if it TrendallOverton, Hants Sir, Bobby Vylan must be thrilled that not only was his venomous chanting on stage featured on the BBC but also on the front page of several national newspapers. As a friend of many Jewish people I am horrified that this publicity was given to DavidsonLondon W4 Sir, Surely the blame for inciting violence lies squarely with the performers; the BBC and Glastonbury Festival organisers should not be held responsible for lyrics. A heavy penalty or custody might make performers think twice about what messages they intend putting HardenPenrith, Cumbria Sir, If the politicians scrambling to condemn a minor pop group at Glastonbury had stayed their outrage for a few minutes they would have seen, in the same news broadcast, the bodies of children being brought out of the rubble in Gaza, killed by . . . the CotterillSprotbrough, S Yorks Sir, The BBC has always been one of the best things about living in Britain. However, after the toxic racist-antisemitic chanting at Glastonbury, surely, at the very least, the corporation should lose its monopoly of broadcasting live from the music festival, given that it is clearly incapable of exercising that right DavisRotherfield, E Sussex Sir, Martha's Rule has become a very important factor in the improvement of NHS medical care ('Martha's Rule helps hospitals to save 129 lives in six months', Jun 30). The parents of Bethan James are also making a hugely important contribution to patient safety. It is of considerable concern that there were 2,389 calls for second opinions in the first six months of Martha's Rule and 465 led to a change in care, possibly saving life. Why were all these first opinions (more than two a day) so flawed? This is not a trivial issue: lives were saved that would otherwise have been lost. Clearly there is a systemic problem here, just as there appears to be with maternity services. As a consultant surgeon with 50 years of experience, I would suggest two reasons: first, there is a lack of continuity of care because junior doctors are bound by the European Working Time Directive to work no more than 48 hours a week. Second, the British Medical Association has become obsessed with political issues and has totally lost the plot with respect to improving medical practice and saving lives. We in the medical profession should be very grateful to the Mills and James families for striving to improve medical care in the Allum FRCSConsultant orthopaedic surgeon, Farnham Common, Bucks Sir, Further to the letters (Jun 28) from Dr Jane Philip and Catherine Sedgwick, at present it is up to general practices to triage patients for the physician associate. There appear to be no rules governing this. I have seen some anxious patients after the physician associate made an incorrect diagnosis, gave a wrong interpretation of facts or missed a serious problem, and did not ask for help from a doctor. As physician associates do not have a medical background I have seen unnecessary expensive tests ordered. None of these physician associates have had a medical school interview to assess whether they are suitable to work as a doctor, ie a character Rosemary Alexander MRCPLocum NHS GP and private doctor, London NW9 Sir, Helen Millichap, the new national lead for violence against women and girls, is welcome proof that the government is determined to meet its pledge of halving violence against women by 2030 ('Meet the Met officer leading the war on violence against women', Jun 30). Millichap's aim to develop intelligence-led tactics to target domestic abusers as well as rapists and stalkers is timely: many senior police are concerned that after a few years in the post, many of their officers are suffering from 'domestic abuse fatigue'. On average every officer will be called out once a day to a 'domestic' and too often these end up with a victim refusing to report their abuser, or to leave or prosecute them. This discourages the police, who seek a just outcome. To address this 'fatigue' we are collaborating with Thames Valley police and its landmark Behavioural Science Unit to train 48 officers in handling domestic abuse victims. The latter may give confused and confusing testimonies, and it may take time to follow through with a prosecution, but victims who have a positive encounter with the police gain the courage and confidence to act. Police, too, need to gain confidence and recognise that as first responders they can be OdoneCEO, Fair Hearing Sir, Fraser Nelson succinctly points out the problems with the Department for Work and Pensions arrangements for claims for sickness benefit ('How Kendall can stop this national sickness', Jun 28). Part of these problems appear to relate to a feeling of fear of telling the claimant that they are not entitled to the benefit. Some years ago I went for an interview for the job of becoming an assessor, and I failed to get the job. When I inquired why I had not been taken on, I was told that my answer to the question of 'What would you say to a candidate, whom you had seen marching easily up the hill on your way here, when he claimed he could not walk?' had counted against me. I had suggested a further medical assessment but the correct answer, so I was told, was that you believe exactly what the candidate tells you. It would seem that little has changed over the Englehart MRCPBrentford, Middx Sir, When our prime minister explains the shambles over welfare legislation by his being distracted by foreign affairs, he displays a misunderstanding of his role ('Starmer's first year is worst start ever for a PM, says polling guru', Jun 30). He is not supposed to be seeing to everything himself but setting the overall direction of his government and trusting the ministers he has chosen to get on with business in their allotted areas. If, while he is quite properly fronting up government efforts in one direction, a minister in another area messes up, then his responsibility is to replace that minister with someone more CoghlinDitchling, E Sussex Sir, Joanna Williams states the heart of the Church of England's problem ('Only turning to God can make CofE relevant', comment, Jun 30). If Jesus did not die on a Roman cross and rise from the dead three days later, according to the remarkably well-attested biblical accounts, then there is no Christian gospel to save anyone; there is no hope. This is the primary message and must be at the forefront of the Church of England's mission. Where it is at the forefront, churches (in my experience) are growing, and even having to fit in more Sunday services to accommodate the MonroChair of trustees, Gafcon International; London EC1 Sir, Trevor Phillips compares the present government with 'a liberal pressure group, adrift from its roots, blown hither and thither by the breeze of fashionable opinion' ('How Keir's feeble grip on power got weaker', Jun 30). As Joanna Williams points out in the same edition, much the same can be said about Church of England ElliotBurford, Oxon Sir, Both the England Cricket Board (ECB) and Sports Medicine Australia have published guidelines for play in hot conditions. The two documents could not be more different. The Australian one gives specific guidance as to what constitutes low, medium, high and extreme risk conditions based on temperature and humidity forecasts given by the national meteorological office, and offers guidance on how to cope with such conditions. In contrast the ECB document is wishy-washy, leaving it up to the match organisers/officials to decide whether the conditions warrant special playing conditions, even though they have had no specific training in assessing extreme VlietstraCricket umpire; Fleet, Hants Sir, You mention the mission to make crosswords an Olympic sport ('Cryptic fans square off for first world title', news, Jun 29). Although this idea might surprise many, it should be seen in context. From 1912 to 1948 art competitions were included in the Olympic Games, and included architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. More recently chess was an exhibition event at the 2000 à BrassardSports historian, London SW7 Sir, While I agree with Emma Duncan's recommendation to replace your Birkin with a sturdy Waitrose bag for life (Notebook, Jun 30), I've seen an even stronger recommendation of their utility. Their robustness makes them not only the carrier bag of choice for rough sleepers but also for shoplifters nipping into Sainsbury's on Kilburn High Road to raid the wine and spirits aisle then leg it with their booty secure. Both Hermès and Waitrose bags may denote an ability to circumvent the penalties of SmithLondon NW6 Write to letters@
Spectator
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
How did the BBC end up broadcasting Bob Vylan?
Until last weekend, Bob Vylan were not a household name. I admit that I had never heard of the rap group before. If you'd have asked me, I'd have said he's a very famous folk-rock star whose name has been misspelt on the publicity material for Glastonbury. But that really doesn't matter – because I'm not producing the BBC television coverage of the festival. And whoever was in charge on Saturday should have made it their mission to know everything about all the acts that were going to be featured. Too many managers shy away from hard decisions, such as calling out poor behaviour and challenging sub-par performance BBC editors and managers at Glastonbury should have done assiduous homework on Bob Vylan's previous performances and public statements and assessed the risks of transmitting the act 'live'. Had they decided that the risks were manageable, they should have had a clear understanding of what lines could not be crossed and what they would do if they were crossed, or about to be crossed. The events that followed – when the band's singer led the crowd in chants of 'death, death to the IDF' (Israel Defence Forces), and made other deeply anti-Semitic and offensive comments – have once again torn a hole in the BBC's reputation. Some have claimed that what happened was another example of the corporation's bias against Israel and its blinkered approach to anti-Jewish hate. Writing in the Telegraph, Danny Cohen, a former director of BBC Television, says: 'The BBC has repeatedly shown itself unable to get its own house in order on anti-Semitism, whether that be the racism broadcast live this weekend from Glastonbury, the consistent Jew-hate and bias from reporters on BBC Arabic or the debacle of the Gaza documentary that the corporation was forced to pull because, amongst other things, a payment had been made to the family of a Hamas official.' Like Cohen, I am Jewish and worked at the BBC for many years (in the News division). However, I don't share his view of systemic bias. There have certainly been missteps and, on occasion, appalling lapses of judgement (such as the lack of background checks before the Gaza documentary was shown) but the problems owe more to the absence of clear, firm and effective decision-making, supervision and oversight. The management flaws have been heightened over the past 20 months as BBC staff grapple with the complexities of covering the Israel-Gaza conflict – but they are also at the root of most other crises that have faced the BBC, from Martin Bashir's Diana interview to the Jimmy Savile scandal; from Gary Lineker's tweets to the crimes of Huw Edwards. My experience of 31 years at the BBC, first as a trainee, then as a producer and reporter, and finally as a home affairs correspondent covering security, terrorism, crime, policing, justice and immigration was that too many managers shied away from hard decisions, such as calling out poor behaviour and challenging sub-par performance. Difficult conversations were put off and mediocrity was tolerated. Staff were sometimes moved into roles they weren't equipped for and, inexplicably, people were promoted because they were good in management meetings, despite being lousy at their job. Of course, I worked with some brilliant BBC editors and chiefs, people who made bold decisions, nurtured talent and took responsibility rather than sitting on the fence. But the kind of blurry thinking and fuzzy decision-making that results in the live streaming of a band spewing race hatred and violence at the UK's biggest music festival highlights a deep management malaise within the corporation. Will the BBC address its inadequacies? Its latest statement suggests not. Although the organisation condemned Bob Vylan's 'anti-Semitic sentiments' and expressed 'regret' for not pulling the live stream during the gig, it referred to the need to refresh staff guidelines. 'In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air.' The BBC already has a mountain of official advice – and, just six days ago, it issued a new edition of its key document, the Editorial Guidelines, the first update for six years. The new guidelines don't come into effect until September – but they could not be clearer about broadcasting 'extreme' material. 'Where output includes views which might incite hatred we must have editorial justification and must include appropriate challenge and/or other context,' it says. In all, there are 11 warnings about incitement. There is also a section on 'live' broadcasts. 'We need to assess the risks when producing and broadcasting live output and take any appropriate steps to mitigate them. Considerations include: how live output might be monitored; whether material that has the potential to cause offence is appropriately scheduled; and whether there is sufficient senior editorial support available during transmission. If problems occur in live output, they should be dealt with promptly and sensitively.' The BBC's promise to 'look' at the guidance again is a smokescreen. Saturday at Glastonbury was a failure to adhere to the (extensive) existing guidance, to apply common-sense and make the right decisions. In other words, the people in charge got it wrong. I don't want a witch-hunt, but I do think those who made the mistakes should be held to account for them. Only rarely, in my three decades at the BBC, was appropriate action taken over serious editorial or management failings. That must change. Otherwise the blunders will continue and public support for the corporation, with the licence fee under review, will wither away.
