Ombudsman Archives - Occasional Digest

SPORT

British Champions Day: Ombudsman, Delacroix, Calandagan to meet at Ascot

Three of the world’s top-rated racehorses – Ombudsman, Delacroix and Calandagan – will meet in a blockbuster Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

Ombudsman, number one in the rankings, swooped late to beat Delacroix (rated joint sixth) in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes before the tables were turned in the Juddmonte International – and the pair now meet for a third time.

King George winner Calandagan, who is joint ninth in the global rankings, joins them, along with last year’s Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics who races for the first time in a year.

The Champion Stakes (16:05 BST) headlines five top-level Group One contests on a seven-race card on Qipco British Champions Day – the country’s richest raceday with a total of £4.35m prize money on offer.

Ombudsman’s stablemate Field Of Gold will run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for trainer John Gosden, whose strong hand on the day also features Gold Cup victor Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup.

Owners Godolphin ran a pacemaker to assist Ombudsman in the Juddmonte at York and do so again in the £1.3m Champion Stakes, with Devil’s Advocate supplemented at a cost of £75,000.

French challenger First Look is another supplementary entry while other leading contenders include Dante and Great Voltigeur winner Pride Of Arras and Almaqam, who beat Ombudsman earlier in the season.

Source link

POLITICS

Paramount names CBS News ombudsman, a former conservative think tank chief

Sep 9, 2025 Politics Desk

Paramount has named Kenneth R. Weinstein, former head of a conservative-leaning Washington think tank, to be ombudsman for CBS News, fulfilling a condition of winning the Trump administration’s approval for an $8-billion merger.

The company announced Monday “that complaints from consumers, employees and others” about CBS News stories will go to Weinstein, who will help determine if remedial action is necessary.

Weinstein, who served as president and chief executive of the Hudson Institute, will report to Jeff Shell, who is president of Paramount under new owner and CEO David Ellison.

Weinstein will address complaints about news coverage in consultation with Shell, CBS President and CEO George Cheeks and CBS News Executive Editor Tom Cibrowski.

Paramount buyer Skydance Media agreed to appoint an ombudsman in order to get regulatory clearance for its acquisition of the media company, which closed in August.

The Federal Communications Commission said Skydance agreed to commit to “viewpoint diversity, nondiscrimination and enhanced localism” in its news coverage when the agency announced its approval of the deal.

“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement at the time of the approval. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”

Under Skydance’s ownership, CBS News has already shown a willingness to respond to Trump White House beefs with its coverage. On Friday the division announced a new policy for its Washington public affairs program “Face the Nation,” which will no longer edit taped interviews.

The policy shift came after U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem complained that her Aug. 31 “Face the Nation” interview, which was trimmed for time, deleted harsh allegations against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly deported to his native El Salvador. He was returned to the U.S., where he faces deportation efforts.

In addition to his work at the Hudson Institute, where he still holds a chair, Weinstein served on multiple advisory boards including the United States Agency for Global Media when it was known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The agency, currently headed on an interim basis by Kari Lake, oversees the funding for government-run media outlets such as Voice of America.

Weinstein also holds a doctorate in government from Harvard University and has taught political theory at Georgetown University and Claremont McKenna College.

“I’ve known [Weinstein] for many years and have respect for his integrity, sound judgment and thoughtful approach to complex issues,” Shell said in a statement. “Ken brings not only a wealth of experience in media and beyond but also a calm measured perspective that makes him exceptionally well-suited to serve as our Ombudsman.”

Source link

NEWS TODAY

New water ombudsman will tackle leaks and incorrect bills

Jul 20, 2025 News Desk

Lucy Hooker

Business reporter

Getty Images Young woman in a purple hoodie leans over a kitchen sink, holding a glass under a mixer tap. She looks slightly concerned at the lack of water flow from the tap. There is another tap in the foreground.

A new ombudsman will tackle leaky pipes, incorrect bills and other issues people have with water companies, the government has annnounced.

The new consumer champion is being launched as part of wider plans to overhaul the industry, due to be announced later, following public outcry over rising bills and an increase in sewage discharges into UK waterways.

The way the sector is regulated is expected to change significantly, especially after the Water Commission gives its review of the industry on Monday.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has already vowed to halve the number of times water firms discharge sewage by 2030 – the first time the government has set a clear target for pollution spills.

He used an interview on the BBC on Sunday to pave the way for far-reaching reforms, describing the sector as “broken” and its regulator as “clearly failing”.

Reed said voters could hold him accountable if there had not been improvements in water quality come the next election.

But he stopped short of saying whether Ofwat might be axed altogether – something that could be recommended by the Water Commission in its Monday report.

Former Undertones frontman, Feargal Sharkey, a leading campaigner for cleaner waterways, said he feared the report would not be radical enough to solve the problems facing the sector and would turn out to be a disappointing “flat pancake”.

The latest announcement means the water industry will have a consumer watchdog that will serve as a single point of contact for consumers with complaints, bringing it in line with other utilities.

The plan will also see an expanded role for the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), the public body that currently takes on complaints.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was unable to put a timescale on the plans for a new ombudsman, but said it would have legal powers to protect customers who are in dispute with their water company.

The state of the UK’s waterways and the role of the private companies managing the nation’s water supply has been the subject of fierce public debate, with widespread calls for the government to take a greater role and bring in tougher regulations.

The sector requires vast infrastructure updates in the face of a growing population and the impact of more extreme weather as the result of climate change.

Water firms have faced criticism for under-investing in the systems they manage, all while paying out millions to executives and shareholders.

Meanwhile, the number of times water companies discharged sewage into England’s waterways rose to a record of 2,801 instances, Environment Agency data published on Friday showed.

Reed said he had spoken to people “up and down the country” who were “furious about the state of our water”.

A survey by the CCW in May found trust in water companies had declined, with just 35% of respondents saying they felt satisfied with what their provider was doing to protect the environment.

A record £104bn is due to be invested in the water sector over the next five years to improve its infrastructure.

As a result, consumer bills are expected to rise on average by £123 annually – though for Southern Water customers this could be as much as £224.

Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, welcomed the plan to create a new ombudsman in principle, but said it would only play a small part in solving the water industry’s long-term problems.

“We all want the water system to improve, and honesty about the scale of the challenge is essential,” she said.

Atkins added that the government needed to explain where investment would come from and how reforming or replacing Ofwat would succeed in cleaning up rivers and lakes.

Liberal Democrats environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: “To effectively tackle the sewage scandal, we need fundamental change, not another layer of bureaucracy.”

But he added that a new ombudsman may provide a means of redress for consumers “who for too long have been forced to foot the bill for failing water companies”.

Source link

British Champions Day: Ombudsman, Delacroix, Calandagan to meet at Ascot

Paramount names CBS News ombudsman, a former conservative think tank chief

New water ombudsman will tackle leaks and incorrect bills

You missed

Kawhi Leonard finishes with 30 points in Clippers’ win over Portland

Argentina’s Milei celebrates as early results show election win | Donald Trump

India and China resume direct flights after 5 years

Geordie Shore star Aaron Chalmers’ ex Talia shares post about ‘endless tears’ as son is admitted to hospital again

Occasional Digest