الكاتب: kafej

Today we launch a new show – The World with me, Yalda Hakim.

From Monday to Thursday, between 9pm and 10pm, we’ll be sharing with you the most important stories of our times – exploring not just the headlines of the day but also what’s happening behind them.

And what a time to be launching our programme. This is a moment of conflict, division, polarisation, and distrust. At times, it feels as if the idea of truth itself is vanishing.

I hope that we can, together, rise above all of that.

We recognise that the stories we tell usually have more than one perspective… and that ultimately there are humans on every side.

We hope to be a place where it’s possible to have debate and disagreement, without being disagreeable ourselves.

We will hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity. Our job is not to tell you what to think, but to try to share the stories that matter most – in all their complexity. And trust you, the viewer, to decide for yourself.

We invite you to join us in trying to make sense of our world – a world of unspeakable horrors but also of unbelievable courage.

A world that often comes in shades of grey – but also sometimes black and white.

A world of technologies and inventions that could propel us to new heights of progress – or condemn us to apocalypse.

This show will take the time to dive deep into the events and forces that are shaping our world – affecting all of our lives and the future of our loved ones.

I’ll be doing this by talking to world leaders, asking tough questions and holding them to account. But also, we’ll be hearing from ordinary people – giving voice to those who too often are voiceless.

I want this show to be a conversation and to inspire dialogue. We’ll be having discussions that you might have with friends or family at the dinner table.

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Each night we’ll have a panel to get into the topics of the day – to understand them, to debate them, and to put on the table all the perspectives we need to hear.

Of course, I’ll be helped by the world-class journalists we have at Sky bringing me their original journalism from both live in the studio and wherever they might be in the world.

I can’t wait for the first show. There’s a lot to talk about. We’ll see you tonight at 9pm.

Ian Bailey, the British journalist sentenced in his absence for the murder of a French film producer in Ireland, has died of a suspected heart attack aged 66, according to his solicitor.

Bailey was given a 25-year sentence in 2019 after a court in Paris found him guilty of killing Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork in 1996.

The 39-year-old, who was married to celebrated French filmmaker Daniel Toscan du Plantier – who worked with the likes of Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman – was found bludgeoned to death outside her holiday home near the coastal village of Schull on 23 December.

Bailey, who lived a few miles away and was the first reporter on the scene, covered her death as a journalist before being first questioned over her death in February 1997.

He became the key suspect because of scratches on his arms, which he said he got while cutting down a Christmas tree, an alleged history of domestic violence, and a local resident’s report of seeing a man resembling his description on a bridge near the murder scene.

Read more: Why murder of French film producer is shrouded in mystery

But no forensic evidence ever linked him to the crime and he was never charged with the murder by Irish police.

In 2020, the Irish courts blocked his extradition to France – where the law allows suspects to be tried for murdering French citizens abroad – for the third time.

When Bailey was convicted, he had no legal representation for the case, did not attend court and described the whole situation as farcical.

He always maintained his innocence, continued to live in West Cork, and died in the coastal town of Bantry, where Irish media said he was living.

His solicitor Frank Buttimer, who has known Bailey since March 1997, said he was “very upset” to hear of his death.

“I knew Ian was very unwell, we were in communication in the past five days, but I didn’t know he was terminally unwell,” he said.

“He had a very severe heart condition, a very bad heart condition, and had cardiac events prior to Christmas.

“He was a candidate for surgical intervention but wasn’t well enough, so he was trying to become well enough.”

Bailey, who was born in Manchester, worked as a journalist in England before moving to West Cork in the mid-1990s where he also turned his hand to poetry, gardening and running a pizza stall with his former partner.