Voice of America to resume airing after court halts Trump's dismantling of broadcaster
Voice of America (VoA), the US-taxpayer funded news service for overseas listeners, could be back on the air as soon as next week, after a federal appeals court granted a temporary stay on an executive order dismantling the broadcaster.
VoA was effectively shut down after Trump signed an order on 14 March dismantling or shrinking seven agencies including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
The USAGM is an independent government agency that oversees VoA and distributes congressionally appropriated funds to several non-profit broadcasters which provide news and information in almost 50 languages in countries with limited or no access to independent media sources.
After nearly every affected network sued, US district judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, granted a preliminary injunction in late April, ruling that the executive order was arbitrary and likely exceeded the president's authority.
The Department of Justice appealed. On Thursday, a Washington DC federal appeals court, which included two Trump appointees, partly upheld the lower court ruling that will enable VoA to resume broadcasting while the appeal plays out.
VoA staff can begin a 'phased return' to the office and resume programming next week, according to an email from the justice department shared with the Washington Post. Some VoA and USAGM staff have had access to their government email accounts restored.
But the latest court ruling was bad news for the other publicly funded broadcasters.
The Trump administration's freeze on congressionally approved funds for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks will remain in place while the lawsuit makes its way through the court.
While VoA is a federal entity, the other broadcasters are private non-profit organizations. The funding freeze has already forced them to make staffing cuts and reduce content.
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The USAGA had, until now, enjoyed bipartisan support, due to the vital role VoA and the other foreign-news broadcasters play in advancing democracy and US interests by reaching about 360 million people in countries that have little to no independent press.
The Guardian has contacted both the USAGA and VoA for comment.
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Channel 4
an hour ago
- Channel 4
Orbán: Is MAGA hero and EU's longest serving leader in trouble?
'We will open several bottles of champagne if Trump is back,' said Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán , last October. As the pro- Trump American conservative gathering CPAC starts in Budapest this week, there will be plenty of corks popping. Orbán is a hero for the populist right and the MAGA faithful. For them, his 15 years in power are a playbook for what America could and should be by the end of Trump's second term. Yet are the good times coming to an end for Orbán? Economically and politically, the EU's longest serving leader looks to be on the ropes. Hungary's economy hardly grew last year and it is not looking much better this year. Inflation is above four percent, higher than the EU average. Orbán is trailing his rival ahead of elections due next year. 'He's down in the polls, the economy is not so great, and he might take desperate steps to remain in power,' says Tamás Bodoky, the editor-in-chief of Átlátszó, an independent media group. Those 'desperate steps' are clear. On 15 March, Orbán delivered a stinging speech against his opponents, calling them 'stink bugs' and saying Hungary needed a spring clean. He said: 'We are dismantling the financial machine that has used corrupt dollars to buy politicians, judges, journalists, bogus civil society organisations and political activists. We will disperse the entire shadow army.' Since then, Orbán has banned Pride in Budapest and also introduced a new transparency law that would allow the government to blacklist organisations that receive foreign funding, deeming them a 'threat' to national sovereignty. The European Union has condemned both policies, with Michael McGrath, the EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law, saying: 'The commission is unwavering in its commitment to uphold democracy and the rule of law across the EU. We will act decisively and without hesitation whenever necessary to protect these fundamental principles.' 'The public debate is very polarised all over the world. This is what happened in America last year during the elections. The public debate is polarised in England too. Politics is polarised everywhere.' – János Lázár I head to an outside town hall led by government minister, János Lázár. It's quite the scene. While many are cheering him on, there are plenty of heckles, angry questions, and a troublemaker playing the trumpet right in the face of the minister. For Orbán's supporters, this is their response to accusations that the government has rolled back democratic rights. 'This is the living proof that in the heart of Hungary there is democracy indeed,' says one woman. 'It's a little bit difficult today,' says Lázár as he finally talks to me after taking questions for three hours. I put to him that some of that anger from the people comes from his boss, Mr Orbán, calling his opponents 'stink bugs'. 'The public debate is very polarised all over the world. This is what happened in America last year during the elections. The public debate is polarised in England too. Politics is polarised everywhere.' He does admit some blame. 'The government has a serious responsibility when it comes to how the public feels. But there will be a very strong election campaign and very strong speeches in Hungary for the next ten months.' Many groups across the country now fear for their future because of the potential transparency law. Átlátszó is one of the few independent media organisations in a country where, since 2010, Orbán has successfully consolidated power, packing the courts with loyalists and taking control of much of the media market. Bodoky says Átlátszó is being targeted because they have exposed government corruption. 'He's constantly fighting a war against real or imaginary enemies, but what is really new is that he wants to crack down on Hungarian citizens based on perceived non-patriotism or treachery.' I ask him what the transparency law would mean for Átlátszó? 'It would mean, most probably, that we go out of business.' The proposed law is not just a threat to journalists. I travel outside Budapest to Debrecen, Hungary's second largest city and a conservative bastion. But right in the centre is a liberal island; a community space run by Ágnes Molnár . Here, there's a bar, offices, a bicycle repair shop, and when I visit, a group of women cooking outside. They're preparing meals to hand out to those in need in the city. They say that in the last few years, more and more people are queuing up for their services. And yet, they all still worship Orbán. Who do they blame for the fact they are in need? A woman lists them off: 'They blame the Ukraine war, gay people, migrants, and Brussels'. It's clear that Hungarians are bombarded with a certain message. Across the country, on billboards and bus stops, there are countless posters displaying the images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy , EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , and Manfred Weber, the head of the European People's Party in the EU Parliament. The words read: 'Let's not allow them to decide above our heads'. Hungarians are being asked to vote in a referendum on whether they want Ukraine to join the EU. Brussels is seen as trouble by Orbán. Molnár's community hub receives some money from the EU and that makes them a target. 'We are definitely on the list,' she says when referring to who the government might come after if the transparency law passes. 'Of course, we won't give up. We want to save this space.' 'He's constantly fighting a war against real or imaginary enemies, but what is really new is that he wants to crack down on Hungarian citizens based on perceived non-patriotism or treachery.' – Tamás Bodoky At the bar, I sat down with Boglárka 'Bogi' Fábián. She lives here in Debrecen, but regularly attends weekly demonstrations in the capital, Budapest, against the Pride ban. 'It's definitely less safe, as a lesbian,' she tells me. 'I keep it on the downlow. There is a saying there is no rest for the wicked. There is no rest for the gays, but we are definitely not wicked.' The LGBTQ community has constantly been attacked by the Fidesz government for years, slowly chipping away at their rights. Bogi uses the boiling frog analogy. 'When you cook a frog, you start warming the frog up, slowly,' Bogi says. 'Right now, it's boiling, it's boiling hot.' That steady approach by Orbán, where he has consolidated power over the past 15 years, has been commented on before. In their book 'How Democracies Die', Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt talk about how 'the erosion of democracy takes place piecemeal, often in baby steps. Each individual step seems minor – none appears to truly threaten democracy… Many of them are adopted under the guise of pursuing some legitimate – even laudable – public objective, such as combating corruption, 'cleaning up' elections, improving the quality of democracy, or enhancing national security.' Many see parallels between what Orbán has done and what Trump is trying to do in the United States. But if the Democrats across the Atlantic are struggling for a leader, there is a clear opposition figure here in Hungary. Péter Magyar, once a member of Orbán's Fidesz party, is an MEP and the leader of the centre-right Tisza party and is ahead by 43 percent to 36 percent among decided voters, according to a poll by the Publicus think tank. 'They (the people) are completely fed up with the lies, with the propaganda, with the corruption.' – Péter Magyar He's recently been marching across the country meeting voters, a clever way to reach out to people given the media landscape is so dominated by Orbán. As he treks across the vast, flat fields of Hungary, people join from all over, getting out of their cars and following him on his walk. I ask one woman whether she thinks Magyar can win. 'Of course, that's why I am here. He must, because if not, Hungary is over.' 'It's over,' I ask? 'It's totally over, yes. All of my children want to go out of the country and I don't want this.' When I finally make it to Magyar, the rain starts pouring down but he remains undeterred. 'They (the people) are completely fed up with the lies, with the propaganda, with the corruption,' he says. But when I ask him whether he'll roll back all the laws and changes under Orbán, he says that he will keep some of the good decisions, such as 'the family policy, the tax policy, the fence at the southern border of Hungary against illegal migration'. That sounds like he's not exactly the liberal change many in the country want, I ask. 'I think it's not important my personal stance. I don't care about ideologies. We don't have time.' The Fidesz party knows the next parliamentary vote will be a tough one. Will Orbán's recent policy moves ensure victory – or simply backfire? Populists across Europe and beyond will be watching. Watch more here: 'Vance is the future of MAGA', says close friend EU chief launches unprecedented public attack on Viktor Orban – yet they still need each other US Republicans and Hungary's Orban 'obstacles' to Ukraine fight with Russia
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Global economy's 'sugar rush' defies trade drama
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Explosive report claims crippling drug habit was real reason for Elon Musk's DOGE downfall
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Those around him claim that his consumption blurred the lines between medicinal and recreational, with Musk allegedly having taken drugs at private gathering across the US and in at least one foreign country, according to the NYT report. Musk has claimed in interviews that he only takes 'a small amount' of ketamine and that 'I really don't like doing illegal drugs', but his erratic behaviors, including making an apparent Nazi salute at Trump's election day event, seemingly suggest otherwise. It is unclear if Musk was taking drugs when Trump put him in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Musk and the White House for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Musk's aerospace firm SpaceX, which is a large government contractor, requires its workforce to be drug free and randomly administers drug test. The tech billionaire, however, would receive 'advance warning' of those tests, insiders with knowledge of the testing process told the newspaper. It is unclear if Musk was forced to undergo drug testing by the White House. In addition to his alleged drug habit, Musk's stint at DOGE was intertwined with private legal battles involving his ex-partners and children. Claire Boucher, known professionally as Grimes, is understood to be fighting with Musk over his public flaunting of their five-year-old son X, which she alleges violates the pair's custody agreement. He also was accused of fathering a secret 14th child with conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair. Musk has allegedly denied confirm paternity of the child. Musk in recent weeks had shown growing disillusionment with the obstacles faced by DOGE even as it cut a brutal swath through the US bureaucracy. He leaves far short of his original goal of saving $2 trillion dollars, with calculations suggesting he saved just one thousandth of that - despite tens of thousands of people losing their jobs. Musk will now focus on his Space X and Tesla businesses, as well as his goal of colonizing Mars. Trump hailed Musk as 'terrific' as he announced that they would hold a joint press conference on Friday as the SpaceX founder leaves DOGE. 'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,' Trump said on his Truth Social network on Thursday. But the warm words could not hide the open frustrations that Musk, had expressed in recent weeks about his controversial cost-cutting role. Musk was the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 election campaign and the pair bonded over right-wing politics and a desire to root out what they believed was a wasteful 'deep state '. He quickly became Trump's so-called First Buddy and was constantly at his side. The tycoon appeared with his young son X on his shoulders during his first press conference in the Oval Office. He attended cabinet meetings. He and Trump rode on Air Force One and Marine One together and they watched UFC fights together. But the tech tycoon was frequently exhibiting wild behaviors. He brandished a chainsaw at a conservative event, boasting of how easy it was to save money, and separately made what appeared to be a Nazi salute. But Trump himself remained publicly loyal to the man he called a 'genius.' One day, the president even turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla dealership after protesters targeted Musk's electric car business. Yet Musk struggled to get a grip on the realities of politics. He is understood to have insulted cabinet members during meetings and get into 'fights' with his opponents, according to the report. The impact on Musk's businesses also began to hit home with a series of Space X launches ended in fiery failures and Tesla shares dropping drastically. Musk started musing about stepping back earlier this year, saying that 'DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism' that would carry on without him. He finally showed the first signs of distance from Trump himself, saying he was 'disappointed' in Trump's recent mega spending bill. Musk also said he would pull back from spending time on politics. The end came in a post by Musk on Wednesday on the X network, which he bought and then turned into a MAGA campaign platform. 'As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,' Musk tweeted. 'The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.'
