World news
BBC Apologises Over Edited Trump Speech After Two Bosses Resign
A growing furore around the issue prompted the dramatic resignations on Sunday of two of the broadcaster’s top brass and celebrations — as well as a rebuke — from the White House.
It has also reopened debate in the UK over the BBC, cherished by many but which has faced long-standing accusations of institutional bias, regularly from those on the political right and, more recently, from those on the left as well.
In a letter to MPs on Monday, BBC chairman Samir Shah said it accepted that the way Trump’s speech was edited in a flagship documentary “did give the impression of a direct call for violent action”.
“The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgment,” he added, vowing to reform oversight at the publicly funded broadcaster, among other things.
It came hours after director general Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness resigned amid the escalating backlash over the issue.
Trump promptly celebrated, accusing BBC journalists of being “corrupt” and “dishonest”.
His press secretary called the broadcaster “100-per cent fake news”.
But Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman pushed back on Monday.
“The BBC has a vital role in an age of disinformation,” he said, although he stressed, “It’s important that the BBC acts swiftly to maintain trust and correct mistakes quickly when they occur.”
The controversy comes as the government prepares to begin a politically sensitive review of the BBC’s charter, which outlines the corporation’s governance and funding framework.
The current charter ends in 2027.
The broadcaster, which has faced a prolonged period of stretched finances and cut hundreds of jobs in recent years, is funded by a licence fee paid by anyone who watches live TV in the UK.
Some have welcomed the resignations as a timely reckoning for the British institution, while others fear the influence of right-wing detractors, including in the United States.
Former BBC journalist Karen Fowler-Watt, head of the journalism department at City St George’s University in London, told AFP the institution was “now really in a situation of crisis”.
She noted it was “very difficult not to see this as a right-wing attack, given the media ecosystem in which we all now live”.
Former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson had threatened to stop paying his licence fee, while current Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch welcomed the resignations following a “catalogue of serious failures”.
But Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, urged Starmer to tell Trump to “keep his hands off” the BBC.
“It’s easy to see why Trump wants to destroy the world’s number one news source. We can’t let him,” he said.
On the streets of central London, Britons were both critical and sympathetic towards the broadcaster.
Jimmy, who works in construction and declined to give his surname, told AFP the BBC’s reputation had been “tarnished” and it had “shown that they’re not impartial”.
But a 78-year-old writer, Jennifer Kavanagh, said it has “always been attacked from the right and from the left”.
“They can never get it right,” said Kavanagh.
The crisis grew after the right-wing Daily Telegraph newspaper reported last week that impartiality concerns were raised in an internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former external standards adviser.
Among them was criticism over clips spliced together from sections of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, when he was accused of fomenting the mob attack on the US Capitol following the 2020 US presidential election.
The edit made it appear that Trump had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them and “fight like hell”.
In the original clip, however, the president urged the audience in the intervening period to walk with him and added, “And we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women”.
Earlier this year, the BBC apologised for “serious flaws” in the making of another documentary, about Gaza, which the UK’s media watchdog deemed “materially misleading”.
It also faced criticism for failing to pull a livestream of punk-rap duo Bob Vylan during this year’s Glastonbury festival after its frontman made anti-Israel comments.
The United States has seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, further escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large — the largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump said at the start of a roundtable with business leaders at the White House.
“And other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”
Trump did not immediately give further details on the incident.
His announcement came a day before Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was set to address the world from Oslo after coming out of hiding.
Trump’s administration has piled pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, deploying a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
The United States has also carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 alleged drug boats in the region, killing at least 87 people.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Trump told Politico on Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground invasion against Venezuela.
Maduro says the US is bent on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.
The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday after Maduro called for stepped-up military recruitment.
Holders Argentina and leading contenders Spain were handed kind draws for the 2026 World Cup in a star-studded ceremony on Friday, which saw US President Donald Trump receive FIFA’s new peace prize.
The event in Washington started the final countdown to the tournament, six months out from the first-ever 48-team World Cup, with much-fancied France among those receiving a harder task.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina will begin their defense of the trophy they won in Qatar in 2022 against Algeria, and will also face Austria and debutants Jordan in Group J.
Heavily-fancied Spain, the European champions, will kick off their campaign against first-time qualifiers Cape Verde before also taking on Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in Group H.
Thomas Tuchel’s England will hope to win Group L, which features beaten 2018 finalists Croatia as well as Ghana and Panama.
Two-time winners France, meanwhile, face awkward tests against Senegal and Erling Haaland’s Norway in Group I, which will be completed by an intercontinental play-off winner from either Iraq, Bolivia, or Suriname.
The 2026 tournament will be held across the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, with 16 more teams added to the global showpiece, up from the 32 nations involved in Qatar in 2022.
That means a total of 104 matches, compared to 64 games last time.
While the US will host the majority of matches, including the final at MetLife Stadium outside New York, three of the 16 venues will be in Mexico and two in Canada.
“We’ve worked closely with those two countries, and the coordination and friendship and relationship have been outstanding,” Trump said at the Kennedy Center after receiving his prize from FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
“It is truly one of the great honors of my life. It is such an honor to be with Gianni. He has done such an incredible job,” he added.
“The world is a safer place now. The United States a year ago was not going too well, but now it is the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
Trump seized the limelight, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum were also in attendance.
While snow fell outside amid freezing temperatures in the US capital, some of the biggest stars in the American sport and entertainment world appeared on stage inside.
The event was co-hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and American actor and comedian Kevin Hart, and featured performances by the Village People, Robbie Williams, and Andrea Bocelli.
NFL legend Tom Brady, ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky, and former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal were among the stars helping to conduct the draw.
Elsewhere in the draw, co-hosts Mexico will take on South Africa in Group A in the opening game of the tournament at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil and surprise 2022 semi-finalists Morocco came out together in Group C, which also features Scotland and Haiti.
Germany’s opponents in Group E will be the Ivory Coast, Ecuador, and Caribbean minnows Curacao, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal will face Uzbekistan, Colombia, and a play-off winner.
Co-hosts the United States got a manageable draw, with Paraguay, Australia, and a European play-off winner in Group D.
The top two teams in each group advance to the last 32, joined by the eight best third-placed teams.
“It will be the greatest World Cup ever, the greatest event that humanity has ever seen. We have three beautiful countries, 16 wonderful host cities, 48 excellent teams who will compete in 104 matches to become the one and only world champion,” Infantino said.
“This is like 104 Super Bowls in one month — this is the magnitude of what we are organizing,” he added of the tournament.
Six finals berths are still to be decided in the playoffs to take place in March.
Because of the complexity, teams will only learn the full details of their match venues and kick-off times on Saturday, a day after the draw.
2026 World Cup Groups
Below are the 12 groups for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026:
Group A
Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, a qualifier
Group B
Canada, a qualifier, Qatar, and Switzerland
Group C
Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D
United States, Paraguay, Australia, a qualifier
Group E
Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F
Netherlands, Japan, a qualifier, Tunisia
Group G
Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H
Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I
France, Senegal, qualifier, Norway
Group J
Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K
Portugal, a qualifier, Uzbekistan, and Colombia
Group L
England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
US President Donald Trump says he believes Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end the Ukraine war despite inconclusive talks in Moscow, as US officials prepare for a follow-up meeting with Kyiv’s top negotiator.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner huddled into the early hours with Putin in the Kremlin but reached no breakthrough on halting Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
The Kremlin said afterward it found parts of the US plan to end the war unacceptable, even though the proposal includes Ukraine ceding parts of the eastern Donbas region it still holds nearly four years after Russia’s invasion.
“I can tell you that they had a reasonably good meeting with President Putin,” Trump says about the talks, adding that the talks were “very good.”
Trump says it is too soon to tell what will happen “because it does take two to tango.”
Pressed on whether Witkoff and Kushner got any sense that Putin genuinely wants to halt Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion, Trump replies: “He would like to end the war. That was their impression.”
<im
-
Entertainment4 years agoBBNaija: “Shameful For A Married Woman” – Boma, Tega Doing ‘Stuff’ Under Duvet Sparks Outrage (See Video)
-
Entertainment4 years agoSinger, Oxlade In Big Mess After His Sex Tape With A Strange Lady Surfaces Online (Watch Video)
-
Entertainment5 years agoBBNaija: Kiddwaya Sucks Erica’s Boobs, Licks Dorathy’s Neck In Truth Or Dare Game (Video)
-
Entertainment3 years agoI’m Not Ashamed Of My Leaked Nude Photos, Ifunanya Confesses (See Photos)
-
Crime5 months agoNDLEA intercepts Saudi, UK-bound cocaine in lipsticks
-
Entertainment5 years agoI’m Not Sick But Only Lost Some Weight – Kiss Daniel
-
Crime7 months agoNDLEA seizes N3.4bn worth of opioids in Lagos, PH, uncovers drugs in chocolate tins
-
Entertainment5 years agoHow Women Should Act During Sex – Actress, Blessing Okoro Reveals (Vdeo)