The BBC apologised on Monday for editing a speech that gave the impression US President Donald Trump made “a direct call for violent action” just before the 2021 US Capitol assault, calling it “an error of judgment”.

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.

Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday called his imprisonment a “nightmare” as prosecutors requested the former French president be released from jail pending an appeals trial over Libyan funding.

A lower court in September found the right-winger — who was head of state from 2007 to 2012 — guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Moamer Kadhafi’s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected, and sentenced him to five years behind bars.

The 70-year-old entered jail on October 21, becoming the first former head of a European Union state to be incarcerated, and his lawyers swiftly sought his release.

The Paris Appeals Court opened the hearing on Monday, and was expected to make a decision during the day that could see Sarkozy released immediately.

The former leader appeared via video call from prison, wearing a dark blue jacket and flanked by lawyers, saying being incarcerated was “gruelling”.

“It’s hard, very hard, certainly for any prisoner. I would even say it’s gruelling,” he said, however adding that prison staff had made “this nightmare… bearable”.

Prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted.

“The risks of collusion and pressure on witnesses justify the request for release under judicial supervision,” he said.

In the courtroom showing their support were his wife, the singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of the former president’s sons.

The lower court in late September ordered Sarkozy to go to jail, even if he appealed, due to the “exceptional gravity” of the conviction.

But the appeals case means that Sarkozy is now presumed innocent again, and the court will therefore be evaluating his need for pre-trial detention.

Under French law, he can only be kept behind bars if no other way can be found to safeguard evidence, prevent witness tampering, stop him from escaping or reoffending, or to protect him.

Otherwise, Sarkozy will be allowed out under judicial control, and perhaps put under house arrest with an electronic ankle tag.

The appeals trial is due to take place in March.

Nancy Pelosi, a towering figure in US politics and the first woman to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives, announced on Thursday that she will step down at the next election.

“I will not be seeking reelection to Congress,” said the 85-year-old Democrat who has been one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest opponents.

In a video targeted at her hometown constituents in San Francisco, Pelosi said that she would serve her final year “with a grateful heart.”

Pelosi — whose term ends in January 2027 — was the first woman to lead a major political party in the US Congress.

Despite entering political office later in life, she quickly rose through the ranks to become a darling of liberal West Coast politics and, eventually, one of the most powerful women in US history.

She is in her 19th term and has represented her San Francisco-area district for 38 years. But her fame centers especially on her renowned skills at the national level, leading her party for two decades.

As House speaker for eight years, she was second in line to the presidency, after the vice president, including during Trump’s chaotic first term.

She was revered for her ability to corral her often fractious caucus through difficult votes, including Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act and Joe Biden’s infrastructure programs.

Republicans painted her as the driving force behind a liberal elite that had turned its back on American values and was undermining the social fabric.

Trump especially made her a target, repeatedly insulting her as “crazy Nancy.” Pelosi never shrank from direct confrontations with the Republican leader, including demonstratively ripping up a copy of his State of the Union speech on live television.

Rumors of her departure had been swirling for weeks on Capitol Hill, but she deflected questions over her political future, insisting that she was focused on a redistricting reform initiative in California that passed on Tuesday.

“I say to my colleagues in the House all the time, no matter what title they have bestowed upon me — speaker, leader, whip — there has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say, I speak for the people of San Francisco,” Pelosi said.

“I have truly loved serving as your voice,” she said. “As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power.”