Syria: Fighting between Druze and Bedouin tribes in Sweida continues
18/07/2025
Deportation dossiers: Trump's AI-driven war on immigrants and freedom of speech
18/07/2025
Tour de France: Pogacar's solo masterclass seals stage 12 victory
18/07/2025
UK lowers voting age from 18 to 16 in historic electoral reform
18/07/2025
Tomorrowland festival begins days after fire destroyed main stage
18/07/2025
Syria accuses Israel of trying to destabilise country through airstrikes
17/07/2025
Taipei holds annual air raid drill to prepare for Chinese attack
Asia / Pacific
17/07/2025
Church attack will weigh 'terribly' on Gaza's Catholic community
Middle East
17/07/2025
Death toll from south Syria violence rises to 594: monitor
Middle East
17/07/2025
Syrian Bedouin fighters mount new offensive in Sweida against Druze fighters despite truce
Middle East
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LeMonde
10 minutes ago
- LeMonde
NPR editor-in-chief announces resignation after Trump funding cuts
The editor-in-chief of the United States' National Public Radio (NPR) announced her resignation on Tuesday, July 22, soon after the Republican-controlled Congress voted to cut millions in funding for the public broadcaster. In an email sent to employees on Tuesday, which was seen by AFP, NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said Edith Chapin had informed her of her intention to leave before the funding cuts were formally made. Backed by US President Donald Trump, who regularly accuses media that is critical of him of being biased, Congress last week approved $1.1 billion in cuts to funds allocated for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The CPB provides a minority share of the budgets for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network of television stations. The funding cuts would impact about 1,500 local radio and television stations across the country, from New York to Alaska, over two years. "This isn't an easy note to write," Chapin said in a note included in Maher's email to all NPR staff. "Two years with two big executive jobs has been a comprehensive assignment." She added that she would "reset after a few months of a career break." Maher praised Chapin's "enormous contribution" to the company, and said details of the transition would be worked out in due course. Chapin said she would remain in her job "for a while." The editor-in-chief's departure comes as Trump has sought to slash public funding for news organizations at home and abroad, seeking to shut down outlets including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In a statement last week, rights group Reporters Without Borders said Trump's administration was "increasingly hostile towards the press, both mimicking and inspiring authoritarian and quasi-authoritarian regimes around the world." Trump regularly accuses news media that criticizes him, including NPR, of having a "liberal" bias.
AFP
an hour ago
- AFP
Fake Jimmy Kimmel monologue spreads after Stephen Colbert show cancellation
"I'm not afraid of Trump's threats," Kimmel appears to say in the video, which shows him speaking before cutting between clips of Trump and Colbert. "Worst case, they'll just fire me," the voice says. "After Stephen got fired, CBS actually said it was to cut costs and had nothing to do with anyone else. Oh my god, Mr. President, the thing you care about most every day is a late-night host rambling at 1 am. I'm so touched; I almost want to send you an autographed photo of myself." : "I used to think the biggest risk of being a late-night host was telling a bad joke and being met with silence from the audience. Turns out, I was wrong. The real risk is suddenly realizing the guy next door telling jokes just got fired, and now you're the next turkey waiting for slaughter." The video spread across X, and after CBS announced July 17, 2025 that "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would end in 2026. "Jimmy Kimmel throws it down for Stephen Colbert and the freedom of speech," one Threads post . Image Screenshot from Threads taken July 21, 2025 The cancellation of Colbert's show came shortly after the comedian parent company Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump -- who had sued on allegations that CBS News' program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris -- as "a big fat bribe." CBS said the move was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," but the company has been widely accused of seeking to curry favor with Trump as Paramount seeks federal approval to close a merger with the entertainment company Skydance. Some Democrats and the have called for investigations. In his , Colbert disputed his network's logic and attacked the US leader. , meanwhile, responded to the show's termination with glee, writing on his Truth Social platform July 18 (archived here): "I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next." On July 22, he added (archived here): "The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes ... It's really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!" The video of Kimmel responding that he is "not afraid of Trump's threats" and poking fun at the president is not authentic, however. A spokesperson for ABC, which hosts the comedian's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, told AFP July 21 that the supposed monologue is fake and did not happen. A representative for Kimmel also confirmed July 21 that the speech is fake. Kimmel did offer an expression of support for Colbert on his Instagram story, and he later took a dig at Trump by sharing a photo of his family holding anti-Trump protest signs chived here). But the comedian has not hosted his show since Colbert's cancellation (archived here). Kimmel stepped away for a summer holiday, saying during his June 19 episode that it would be his last show until September. Guest hosts, including actor Diego Luna and country music artist Jelly Roll, have filled in on the show in his stead. Reverse image searches traced the fake video shared online to a TikTok account that marked it with the platform's disclaimer saying: "Creator labelled as AI-generated." Image Screenshot from TikTok taken July 21, 2025, with elements outlined by AFP The voice-cloning detection tool within the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, assessed video's audio as "likely AI-generated." AFP has debunked other AI-generated content here.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Trump claims Obama 'coup' as Epstein questions mount
The accusations, delivered in the Oval Office, followed a surprise announcement that Trump's Department of Justice would question an imprisoned, key former assistant to Epstein. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on X that disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein's alleged pedophile scheme, would be queried for new information. "No lead is off-limits," Blanche said. However, the show of transparency appeared to be part of a concerted effort by the White House and Trump's allies to quell speculation about the convicted sex offender, who was long rumored to be a pedophile pimp to the powerful and who committed suicide in his prison cell in 2019. While meeting with the Philippines' president in the White House, Trump dismissed the Epstein case as "a witch hunt." "The witch hunt that you should be talking about is, they caught President Obama, absolutely cold," he said, launching into a meandering series of unsubstantiated accusations around Obama trying to "steal" the 2016 election, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. "Obama was leading a coup," Trump said. An Obama spokesman called the claim "outrageous." The coup accusation centers on claims that fly in the face of multiple high-level official probes by the US government. However, it resonates with Trump's far-right base -- in part thanks to blanket coverage by the popular Fox News network. Trump's attacks on Obama are "part of a larger strategy of distraction, but they also serve another function: to cast the president as a victim of Democratic treachery," said Todd Belt, at GW University's Graduate School of Political Management. Obama's spokesman echoed this, saying Trump engaged in a "ridiculous and weak attempt at distraction." In another ploy to bury the Epstein controversy, Speaker Mike Johnson, a key Trump Republican loyalist, said he would shut down the House of Representatives until September. This was to avoid what he called "political games" over attempts by mostly Democrats to force votes on exposing more about the Epstein case. Entangled in conspiracy theory Epstein was awaiting trial on trafficking charges when he was found hanged in his New York cell. Authorities declared it a suicide but the death super-charged fears, especially on the far-right, that a "deep state" cover-up is in place to prevent the names of Epstein's clients from being made known. Trump's attempts to stop Epstein speculation clash with the fact that his own supporters are the ones who have most pushed conspiracy theories -- and believed that Trump would resolve the mysteries. They were outraged when Trump's FBI and Justice Department said on July 7 that the death was confirmed a suicide and that Epstein never blackmailed prominent figures or even had a client list. Trump tried numerous measures to placate his base, including ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to try to obtain release of grand jury testimony in Epstein's aborted New York case. But the issue flamed up again last week when The Wall Street Journal reported that it had seen a birthday greeting penned in 2003 by Trump to Epstein on his 50th birthday. The letter reportedly featured a hand-drawn naked woman, with Trump's signature forming her pubic hair, and reference to their shared "wonderful secret." Trump insists he did not send the letter and has filed a lawsuit against the Journal. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing but was close friends with Epstein for years and was photographed attending parties with him. Among the other celebrities with connections to Epstein was Britain's Prince Andrew, who settled a US civil case in February 2022 brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17. Giuffre committed suicide at her home in Australia in April. Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate who has been convicted. She is appealing her sentence before the Supreme Court. David Oscar Markus, Maxwell's lawyer, confirmed on X that he was in discussions about her meeting with government representatives.
