Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:14A Cambridge professor who's been the subject of media scrutiny
00:00:17scrutiny after claims of plagiarism plagiarism has resigned hours after
00:00:20after Cambridge University said it it would investigate his qualifications
00:00:23qualifications and honourary appointments. appointments. Professor Jason Arday
00:00:26Arday has been the subject of many many questions in the media in the
00:00:30the last few weeks. Our culture correspondent correspondent Noor Nanji joined me
00:00:33me earlier with more about what happened. happened. Well, I think it's fair
00:00:37fair to say this has been a very very messy and for some people, quite
00:00:40quite uncomfortable story. As you you say at the centre of this Professor
00:00:43Professor Jason Arday, a very prominent prominent Cambridge academic and
00:00:46and in fact the youngest ever black black professor at Cambridge when
00:00:50when he joined back in 2020 2023.
00:00:532023. Now he has been at the centre
00:00:55centre of this row over plagiarism plagiarism after another academic
00:00:58academic who we should say was sacked sacked for his views on black people.
00:01:03people. He was a professor at Cambridge, Cambridge, an academic at Cambridge.
00:01:05Cambridge. He was sacked in 2024
00:01:082024 but he then said that he had had questioned some of his stated
00:01:11stated achievements and also found found numerous instances in professor
00:01:15professor R. S work of plagiarism
00:01:17plagiarism and also questioned things things such as his running records
00:01:20records and so on. Now this storm storm has been going for some weeks,
00:01:23weeks, as you say, and it all came
00:01:24came to a head at around 6:00 yesterday
00:01:27yesterday evening when Cambridge Cambridge University issued this this statement saying that they were
00:01:31were launching a probe after new new information had come to light
00:01:35light about him and Jesus College, College, Cambridge, where he is a
00:01:38a fellow also said that they were were going to do the same. And very
00:01:41very shortly afterwards, just a couple couple of hours later, then we heard
00:01:44heard that professor R day was going going to be quitting. He wrote a
00:01:47a letter which was published on the the Good Law Project website and
00:01:50and in that letter he said that he he was quitting because he needed
00:01:54needed to put his well-being first first the well-being of his family.
00:01:57family. He also said that he had had been subjected to an unrelenting
00:02:00unrelenting level of public scrutiny scrutiny and personal attack, and
00:02:03and he said that he needed time to to heal. Now, he didn't address those
00:02:07those specific allegations around around plagiarism, but in recent
00:02:10recent days he has been defending defending himself, including on the the weekend when he did this interview
00:02:13interview with The Times, in which which he insisted he is not a liar,
00:02:16liar, he said that some errors in in his early academic work were due
00:02:20due to his autism, and he also told told The times that there was this
00:02:23this concerted campaign to unseat unseat him from Cambridge, which
00:02:26which he said was motivated by racism
00:02:29racism and nor. After this resignation, resignation, what are the consequences? consequences? Where does this go
00:02:32go from here? Well, look, I think think it's fair to say that this this has been quite a fraught debate.
00:02:36debate. There's been a lot of views views on either side, including in
00:02:40in the world of academia. And some some academics have been saying there
00:02:43there are now serious questions about about academic propriety that need
00:02:47need to be answered. Others have have been defending him and saying
00:02:49saying that perhaps he has a point. point. The way that he's been treated
00:02:52treated has been motivated by racism. racism. A lot of the papers have have also been leading on it today
00:02:56today and it is a big story over over here. I think there are questions
00:03:00questions for Cambridge University. University. We have put some questions questions to them. Of course, they
00:03:03they had this statement yesterday. yesterday. We haven't heard from from them since then. That obviously
00:03:06obviously predated his decision then then to resign and to quit. So we're
00:03:09we're waiting to see if they react react to that. And I think there there will be questions about the
00:03:13the screening that they do and how how something like this was allowed
00:03:16allowed to happen. We also don't don't know whether this probe that that they've launched is now going
00:03:20going to continue. Now that he has has resigned, presumably it will,
00:03:23will, but we'll waiting to hear about about that more broadly. I think think there are questions for academia,
00:03:27academia, and I think this debate debate will go on for a while. A
00:03:30A 97-year-old woman has successfully successfully broken her own world
00:03:33world record to become the oldest oldest woman to complete a wing walk.
00:03:37walk. Betty Bromage started fundraising fundraising fundraising by completing
00:03:41completing the stunts a decade ago.
00:03:42ago. Our reporter Steve Knibbs has
00:03:45has more. Betty's back 97 years young
00:03:50young and taking to the skies again.
00:03:52again. I just get bored with life.
00:03:55life. Otherwise when you get old old you can't go here. You can't
00:03:58can't do this. You can't drive, you you can't see. I can't see very well.
00:04:02well. And I get a bit frustrated.
00:04:05frustrated. Up in the air. Betty's Betty's at home in her element on
00:04:08on the ground, her friends and neighbours neighbours from her retirement village
00:04:11village in Cheltenham watch on nervously.
00:04:16nervously. Betty. Betty started all
00:04:18all this ten years ago at the age age of 87. She's since abseiled down
00:04:22down a tower in Cheltenham and took took on a zipwire in Snowdonia and
00:04:25and today she pushed the envelope envelope even further, asking the
00:04:29the pilot to throw in a barrel roll.
00:04:32roll. Oh Lord, my God. All of this this was done to raise money for
00:04:36for the stroke unit in Cheltenham. Cheltenham. They helped Betty when
00:04:39when she had a stroke last year. year. So kind to me and straight
00:04:42straight away the treatment I got
00:04:46got it affects my words. I go to to say a word and it doesn't always
00:04:50always come out. But the rest of of me I'm fit as a fiddle. Well,
00:04:54Well, for a 97 year. Old. Today, Today, the staff sent her a good
00:04:57good luck message. Grateful for the
00:05:00the support. Thank you Betty from
00:05:03from the. Team. Just amazing that that she's doing this for us. We're
00:05:07We're so grateful. And to, you know, know, go up and wing well can take
00:05:10take on such a daring and incredible incredible challenge and to support
00:05:14support our stroke services team. team. It's just amazing. We're so so grateful. We really appreciate
00:05:17appreciate what she's doing. Back Back on the ground. Betty took it
00:05:21it all in her stride with confirmation confirmation that she broke her own
00:05:24own world record yet again as the
00:05:27the oldest female wing, Walker. Officially.
00:05:29Officially. Amazing. I was a trained trained children's nurse and I went
00:05:33went to work in Doctor Barnardo's Barnardo's home in Bristol and above
00:05:36above my bed it said we passed through through this world, but once any
00:05:39any good we can do any kindness we
00:05:42we can show. Do it now. Do not defer defer or neglect it. You're not pass
00:05:45pass this way again. In two and a a half years' time. Betty has promised
00:05:49promised to take to the skies again again when she turns 100 to become
00:05:53become a magnificent centenarian centenarian on a flying machine.
00:05:55machine. Steve Knibbs, BBC News Renkum.
00:06:01Renkum. A brilliant way of staying staying youthful. All our stories
00:06:04stories are on the BBC News website.
00:06:06website. You're watching BBC News.
00:06:19News. MUSIC
00:06:19MUSIC
00:06:23Grand Central Station is one of my
00:06:26my favourite New York City structures. structures. It's a glorious reminder
00:06:29reminder of the golden age of American
00:06:31American railroads. It also provides provides the setting for some early
00:06:35early scenes in what many people
00:06:37people regard as one of the greatest greatest American thrillers of all
00:06:41all time. The picture North by Northwest
00:06:44Northwest an American thriller, yes, yes, but directed by a British filmmaker,
00:06:48filmmaker, the master of suspense
00:06:50suspense Alfred Hitchcock. Top US
00:06:54US film critic Bilge Ebiri told me
00:06:56me he's such an ardent fan of North North by Northwest that he's seen
00:06:59seen the film at least 50 times.
00:07:02times. Do you know this man? Look
00:07:13Look North by Northwest from 1959,
00:07:151959, the pinnacle of Hitchcock's Hitchcock's American filmmaking career.
00:07:18career. Listen to me. I had nothing nothing to do with it. And also I
00:07:21I think it's kind of the pinnacle pinnacle of a particular kind of
00:07:25of studio filmmaking that Hollywood Hollywood specialised in. Eddy Wax Wax automatically means a rise in
00:07:28in sales. North by northwest follows follows an ad executive named Roger
00:07:32Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant,
00:07:35Grant, who is mistaken for a spy
00:07:39spy by some nefarious figures. And And they're convinced that he's this
00:07:43this other person and they try to
00:07:45to kill him and he winds up going
00:07:50going on this cross-country adventure adventure trying both to prove his
00:07:53his innocence and also to flee from
00:07:55from the authorities. North by northwest northwest had a huge impact on me
00:07:58me because in some way it treats treats a lot of Hitchcock's deeper
00:08:02deeper themes about guilt and accusation,
00:08:05accusation, while also framing it
00:08:08it within this incredibly exciting, exciting, delightful, charming adventure
00:08:12adventure plot. Well, here we are
00:08:15are again. Yes. One of the most famous
00:08:18famous sequences in this film is
00:08:19is the crop duster sequence. It occurs occurs about halfway through the
00:08:23the film. Cary Grant's character character has been told that he's
00:08:26he's going to meet somebody out in in the middle of nowhere on this
00:08:29this highway road. There's nobody nobody around for miles and miles
00:08:33miles of flat, blank expanse. And
00:08:35And then, of course, he sees this
00:08:38this little plane appearing in the the distance, you know, dusting crops
00:08:42crops and you realise that the plane
00:08:43plane is there to kill them. They
00:08:50They start to fire at him and he
00:08:51he runs away. It's an incredible
00:08:55incredible sequence when I think
00:08:56think about what makes American cinema
00:09:00cinema so special I have to think think about the Hollywood system
00:09:03system and the kinds of films it it made possible, the kind of scale
00:09:06scale it made possible, the kind kind of stardom, the kind of charm
00:09:10charm it made possible. And to me,
00:09:14me, North by Northwest really kind kind of stands at the very top of
00:09:17of that. You know, it is Hollywood
00:09:20Hollywood firing on all cylinders, cylinders, maybe for one of the very
00:09:24very last times. It's a great example
00:09:28example of a studio film. It's a a great example of a master filmmaker
00:09:32filmmaker at the height of his powers powers in the studio system, working
00:09:35working with one of the great stars stars of the studio system to create
00:09:39create something so beautiful and
00:09:42and so magnificent, right as the the studio system is essentially
00:09:45essentially about to collapse. But But the thing that they create together
00:09:49together becomes this work that is is so influential and that winds
00:09:52winds up influencing all the filmmakers filmmakers that come after not just
00:09:56just American filmmakers from all all over the world. But if we ever
00:09:59ever get out of this alive, let's let's go back to New York on the
00:10:01the train together. All right. Is
00:10:04Is that a proposition?
00:13:50MUSIC
00:13:54For me, trust is about presence.
00:13:56presence. About fostering. Relationships Relationships all around the world
00:14:00world over years. It's about patience,
00:14:03patience, not rushing to be the first. first. But striving to get it right.
00:14:06right. To get to the truth. We can't can't just ask the questions. We
00:14:10We have to question the answers. answers. Debate, debate, debate.
00:14:14debate. We have to create a space space for opposing voices to be heard.
00:14:17heard. And challenged. We fight every
00:14:19every day. To earn your trust and and we never take it for
00:14:27Never take it for granted. We capture the story, fact. Check the the story. Break the story. We explore
00:14:31explore the story. So you can trust
00:14:32trust us to tell it.
00:15:10Live from London. This is BBC
00:15:12News. Ukraine carries out strikes
00:15:14strikes on oil refineries as Kyiv Kyiv continues to target Russian
00:15:18Russian energy infrastructure. We'll We'll take a look at the impact of
00:15:20of the war on the Russian economy. economy. More Ukrainians are killed
00:15:23killed as Russia attacks apartment
00:15:26apartment blocks and railway infrastructures. infrastructures. The Confederation Confederation of African Football
00:15:29Football will meet in the next few few hours. It follows Fifa president
00:15:33president Gianni Infantino's apology apology over the now abandoned proposal
00:15:37proposal to sell shares in the World World Cup to private investors. We'll
00:15:39We'll take you live to Morocco, Iran
00:15:42Iran says a deal with Oman on a shipping shipping route through the Strait
00:15:45Strait of Hormuz is now in its final
00:15:49final stages and with progressive progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed El-Sayed victory in Michigan's Senate
00:15:53Senate primary will also take a look look at what this means for the Democrats
00:15:57Democrats ahead of the mid-terms.