China: How a fake network pushes pro-China propaganda

A sprawling network of more than 350 fake social media profiles is pushing pro-China narratives and attempting to discredit those seen as opponents of China's government, according to a new study.

The aim is to delegitimise the West and boost China's influence and image overseas, the report by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) suggests.

The study, shared with the BBC, found that the network of fake profiles circulated garish cartoons depicting, among others, exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of China.

Read more at: How a fake network pushes pro-China propaganda - BBC News

Eurovision: Boycott Israel's 'artwashed' Eurovision 2019, pro-Palestinian activists say - by Rami Ayyub

As Tel Aviv gears up to host the Eurovision Song Contest, pro-Palestinian activists are urging performers to pull out of this year’s competition - while the 2018 Israeli winner said she didn’t believe in boycotts.

The call by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement is part of a broader campaign to pressure governments, companies, performers and academics to disengage from Israel.

The movement sees Eurovision “as artwashing - whitewashing through arts” of what it calls Israel’s decades-old regime of military occupation and colonialism, its co-founder Omar Barghouti told Reuters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

“We take this Eurovision issue very seriously,” he said. “We are very conscious of how the Israeli government is dying to have such a mega cultural event.”

Israel was chosen to host the 42-nation contest after local singer Netta Barzilai won last year in Portugal with “Toy”, propelling her to international stardom. The winning country customarily hosts the following year.

On Tuesday the BDS appeal received support from British celebrities including fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, actresses Julie Christie and Maxine Peake and singer Peter Gabriel.

They were among 50 signatories of a letter to left-leaning newspaper The Guardian calling on the BBC to “press for Eurovision to be relocated to a country where crimes against that freedom are not being committed.”

Note EU-Digest: It seems that given the fact that Britain is at the verge of falling apart as a result of the political chaos in the country with Brexit, the fact that the Eurovision is held in Tel Aviv, or not, should be the last thing on the minds of the British public at large.

Read more at: Boycott Israel's 'artwashed' Eurovision 2019, pro-Palestinian activists say | Reuters

Movies and TV - Britain: Why Is God Still Absent from Downton Abbey? - by Todd Dorman

The record-breaking Downton Abbey spans a deliciously long stretch of time. The show includes the wreck of the Titanic, in which the Crawley family loses its heir, the lead-up to World War I, the War itself, its aftermath, and now, in Season 3 (or "soon in Season 3," depending on where in the world you live and/or how good you are at locating British Broadcasting Corporation web feeds) the advent of the roaring 20's. The show's writer and primary creative force, Julian Fellowes, is a practicing Catholic.

The show is set in an old abbey. The family who own Downton, especially the older generations who have the most to lose by losing the house, are obsessed not only with the house itself, but also with its history.

Also they employ a vicar. So how is it that God is a peripheral presence at best? 

To be fair, there have been a few mentions of God. During Season One there was a perfunctory scene set in a church, but it was basically about architecture. At the beginning of Season Two, the evil footman Thomas asked God's forgiveness for sticking his hand out of the trenches to be properly shot so he could return home with a medical discharge.

To be fairer still, Season Two included two moments of devout prayer: Lady Mary praying at her bedside when her beloved Matthew goes missing at the front, and two servants interceding for Matthew and another missing footman during the same period.

By some measures, this would be a watershed on a hit show—two scenes in which people sincerely pray! But in Downton, these events were so late in coming that they did more to point out a missed opportunity than to fill it.

Of course, any writer must choose which parts of his characters' lives to show and which to omit. We don't see Crawleys meeting with accountants, getting haircuts, or buying shoes—presumably because such events aren't very interesting (though I would be interested to see Maggie Smith's supremely witty Dowager Countess doing any of the three). Watching people go to church may not be much of a thrill either.

But what about the time- and genre-tested possibilities of a wily local vicar? In the poor man's one speaking scene (with Maggie Smith), he barely got a word in edgewise. How much deeper and more fun the show might be with a vicar—or some person of visible faith—who could match the Countess' wit and gravitas.

When he was appointed vice president of the Catholic Association of Performing Arts last year, Fellowes hinted that faith would enter Downton's central storyline in the near future.

Last year he also revealed that Downton Abbey's history is, in his conceit, similar to that of Highclere Castle, the house in which the show is filmed. This would mean that Downton was a convent or monastery before King Henry VIII appropriated it from the Catholic Church and either sold it or gave it to the Crawleys during the Reformation—or else the king let it pass to another family into which the Crawleys later married.

Note EU-Digest: God isn't  absent in Downton Abbey. Christianity is not about how often you mention the name of Christ or go to Church, or as the writer of the above report, Mr. Dorman notes "that there should be a character in the script displaying visible faith".

The subtle mentioning of God by the Downton Abbey creators in some of the scenes shows that they basically applied a Biblical approach in making sure that Christ was not overlooked in this production intended for a global and varied audience, including both believers and non-believers.

Watching Downton Abbey the viewer does not come away with the feeling that the Crawley family is composed of a bunch of agnostics. Overall this a positive development when watching most of today's TV Drama's and Sitcoms.

Read more: Why Is God Still Absent from Downton Abbey? | Christianity Today