[🇺🇸] USA News/Views

[Saif]

Tensions flare between Musk, NASA over Moon mission

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lashed out at NASA’s acting administrator on Tuesday after the space agency chief invited other companies to enter the race to help get humans back on the Moon...

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Tensions flare between Musk, NASA over Moon mission
Agence France-Presse . Washington 22 October, 2025, 22:28

Elon Musk. | AFP file photo

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lashed out at NASA’s acting administrator on Tuesday after the space agency chief invited other companies to enter the race to help get humans back on the Moon.

‘Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!’ the billionaire entrepreneur said in a post on X, referring to Sean Duffy, who also serves as US transportation secretary.

On Monday, Duffy announced that NASA was seeking new bids to support its mission to return humans to the Moon, citing delays in the development of SpaceX’s Starship rocket amid a space race with China.

‘I love SpaceX. It’s an amazing company. The problem is, they’re behind. They pushed their timelines out and we’re in a race against China,’ Duffy said on Fox News.

The US space agency’s Artemis program hopes to return humans to the Moon as China forges ahead with a rival effort that is targeting 2030 at the latest for its first crewed mission.

After several postponements, NASA is now planning the Artemis 3 mission for mid-2027, but experts say SpaceX must still clear complex technical challenges before its rocket is ready.

Duffy later said on X that the United States is ‘in a race against China so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST.’

He mentioned potential bids from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, ‘and others.’

On X, Musk retorted, ‘SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry.

‘Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission. Mark my words,’ he said.

The tension is ratcheting up amid questions over who will become the permanent leader of NASA.

Trump had originally tapped businessman Jared Isaacman, a Musk associate, but the White House suddenly withdrew the nomination in May, just before Musk’s relationship with Trump soured.

Media reports suggest that Trump is again considering Isaacman, while Duffy is hoping to hold on to the NASA position.​

 

[Saif]

White House steps up attacks on CNN

The White House on Thursday intensified its attacks on CNN, the news network at the centre of a financial battle that president Donald Trump is tied up in politically and through family.

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White House steps up attacks on CNN
Agence France-Presse . Washington 13 December, 2025, 01:33

The White House on Thursday intensified its attacks on CNN, the news network at the centre of a financial battle that president Donald Trump is tied up in politically and through family.

Echoing the president’s frequent anti-media barbs, senior members of his administration lashed out.

‘CNN = Chicken News Network,’ White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X Thursday, calling CNN cowardly for not inviting Trump advisor Stephen Miller to be interviewed ‘presumably because they are scared Stephen will school them.’

Vice president JD Vance then shared the post, adding: ‘If CNN wants to be a real news network it should feature important voices from our administration.’

A CNN spokesperson said Miller would be welcome back on the channel, Fox News reported Thursday.

‘As a news organisation, we make editorial decisions about the stories we cover and when, and that depends on the news priorities of the day. We look forward to having Stephen on again in the future as the news warrants,’ the CNN spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The harshest attack on CNN from the Trump administration came from an official White House account called Rapid Response 47, which went after Kaitlan Collins, one of the network’s most prominent correspondents, saying she ‘is not a journalist. She is a mouthpiece for the Democrat Party.’

On Wednesday, the president confronted another CNN journalist similarly, and said ‘you know you work for the Democrats, don’t you? You are basically an arm of the Democrat Party.’

CNN has yet to comment publicly on those allegations. In the past, the network has responded to criticism of political bias by asserting that it is committed to objective journalism and fairness.

Founded in 1980 to provide global television news coverage, CNN is currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the media conglomerate at the heart of a bidding war between streaming giant Netflix and Paramount Skydance, the latter of which is led by CEO David Ellison, son of Trump ally Larry Ellison.

The president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has joined Paramount’s bid through his investment firm.

And Trump has already indicated he intends to get involved in the government’s decision to approve or block a sale, which would typically involve the Justice Department.

Under Paramount’s offer, CNN would fall into Ellison’s hands.

Under the Netflix deal, Warner Bros. Discovery would sell off CNN and other cable news properties separately before closing the sale of its studio and streaming operations.

The 79-year-old president said Wednesday he wants to ensure CNN gets new ownership as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery sale, seeming to favour a Paramount purchase.

‘I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN, which is a very dishonest group of people, I don’t think that should be allowed to continue. I think CNN should be sold along with everything else,’ Trump said.​

 

[Bilal9]

There has been a shooting on the Brown University campus, two people confirmed deceased.

Live updates: 2 dead, 9 wounded in Brown University shooting; manhunt underway for shooter

An active shooter was reported on or near the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the university’s public safety department said this afternoon.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Bilal9]

Person of interest in custody over Brown University deadly shooting, police say​

Nation Updated on Dec 14, 2025 8:02 AM EST — Published on Dec 14, 2025 7:19 AM EST
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Police in Rhode Island said early Sunday that they had a suspect in custody after a shooting that rocked the Brown University campus during final exams, leaving two people dead and nine others wounded.

Col. Oscar Perez, chief of the Providence police, confirmed at a news conference that the detained suspect was in their 30s. Perez did not say where the suspect was arrested or whether the suspect was connected to the university.

LIVE UPDATES: Deadly shooting at Brown University

The shooting erupted in the engineering building of the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island, during final exams. Hundreds of police officers had scoured the Brown University campus along with nearby neighborhoods and pored over video in pursuit of a shooter who opened fire in a classroom.

Providence leaders warned that residents will notice a heavier police presence on Sunday. Many local businesses announced they would remain closed and expressed shock and heartbreak as the community continued to process the news of the shooting.

“Everybody’s reeling, and we have a lot of recovery ahead of us,” said Brown University President Christina Paxson said at the news conference.

Surveillance video released by police showed the suspect, dressed in black, calmly walking away from the scene. His face was not visible and investigators said it wasn’t clear whether the suspect is a student.

The suspect was last seen leaving the engineering building and some witnesses told police the suspect may have been wearing a camouflage mask, Providence Police Deputy Chief Timothy O’Hara said.

Earlier, Paxson said she was told 10 people who were shot were students. Another person was injured by fragments from the shooting but it was not clear if the victim was a student, she said.

WATCH: Trump calls deadly shooting at Brown University ‘a terrible thing’ and ‘a shame’

The search for the shooter paralyzed the campus, the nearby neighborhoods filled with stately brick homes and the downtown in Rhode Island’s capital city. Streets normally bustling with activity on weekends were eerily quiet.

Students sheltered in place for hours into the night. Officers in tactical gear led students out of some campus buildings and into a fitness center where they waited. Others arrived at the shelter on buses without jackets or any belongings.

Mayor advised people to stay home​

Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom. Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said.

He encouraged people living near the campus to stay inside or not return home until a shelter-in-place order was lifted.

“The Brown community’s heart is breaking and Providence’s heart is breaking along with it,” Smiley said.

Hours before the press conference, authorities said they believed the shooter used a handgun, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S.

Nine people with gunshot wounds were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where one was in critical condition. Six required intensive care but were not getting worse and two were stable, hospital spokesperson Kelly Brennan said.

Exams were underway during shooting​

Engineering design exams were underway when the shooting occurred in the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices, according to the university’s website.

Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the building’s lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops coming from the east side. Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and ran to a nearby building where she sheltered for several hours.

Former ‘Survivor’ contestant just left the building​

Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.

The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.

Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm directly across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside.

“I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as armed officers surrounded his dorm.

Students hid under desks​

Students in a nearby lab turned off the lights and hid under desks after receiving an alert about the shooting, said Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering who was about a block away from the scene.

Mari Camara, 20, a junior from New York City, was coming out of the library and rushed inside a taqueria to seek shelter. She spent more than three hours there, texting friends while police searched the campus.

“Everyone is the same as me, shocked and terrified that something like this happened,” she said.

Brown, the seventh oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students. Tuition, housing and other fees run to nearly $100,000 per year, according to the university.

Associated Press journalists Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Seung Min Kim in Washington, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, Martha Bellisle in Seattle and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

 

[Saif]

BBC says will fight Trump’s $10b defamation lawsuit

The BBC said on Tuesday it would fight a $10-billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump against the British broadcaster over a documentary that edited his 2021 speech ahead of the US Capitol riot.

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BBC says will fight Trump’s $10b defamation lawsuit
Agence France – Presse . London, United Kingdom 16 December, 2025, 18:52

Donald Trump | AFP photo

The BBC said on Tuesday it would fight a $10-billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump against the British broadcaster over a documentary that edited his 2021 speech ahead of the US Capitol riot.

‘As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case,’ a BBC spokesperson said in a statement sent to AFP, adding the company would not be making ‘further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.’

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, seeks ‘damages in an amount not less than $5,000,000,000’ for each of two counts against the British broadcaster, for alleged defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

The video that triggered the lawsuit spliced together two separate sections of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021 in a way that made it appear he explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.

The lawsuit comes as the UK government on Tuesday launched the politically sensitive review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, which outlines the corporation’s funding and governance and needs to be renewed in 2027.

As part of the review, it launched a public consultation on issues including the role of ‘accuracy’ in the BBC’s mission and contentious reforms to the corporation’s funding model, which currently relies on a mandatory fee for anyone in the country who watches television.

Minister Stephen Kinnock stressed after the lawsuit was filed that the UK government ‘is a massive supporter of the BBC’.

The BBC has ‘been very clear that there is no case to answer in terms of Mr Trump’s accusation on the broader point of libel or defamation. I think it’s right the BBC stands firm on that point,’ Kinnock told Sky News on Tuesday.

Trump, 79, had said the lawsuit was imminent, claiming the BBC had ‘put words in my mouth’, even positing that ‘they used AI or something.’

The documentary at issue aired last year before the 2024 election, on the BBC’s ‘Panorama’ flagship current affairs program.

‘The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election,’ a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement to AFP.

‘The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda,’ the statement added.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, whose audience extends well beyond the United Kingdom, faced a period of turmoil last month after a media report brought renewed attention to the edited clip.

The scandal led the BBC director general, Tim Davie, and the organisation’s top news executive, Deborah Turness, to resign.

Trump’s lawsuit says the edited speech in the documentary was ‘fabricated and aired by the Defendants one week before the 2024 Presidential Election in a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.’

The BBC has denied Trump’s claims of legal defamation, though BBC chairman Samir Shah has sent Trump a letter of apology.

Shah also told a UK parliamentary committee last month the broadcaster should have acted sooner to acknowledge its mistake after the error was disclosed in a memo, which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The BBC lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions Trump has taken against media companies in recent years, several of which have led to multi-million-dollar settlements.​

 

[Saif]

CNN’s future unclear as Trump applies pressure

CNN is heading into an uncertain future with its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery destined for a takeover..

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CNN’s future unclear as Trump applies pressure
Agence France-Presse . New York 18 December, 2025, 23:39

CNN is heading into an uncertain future with its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery destined for a takeover — and US president Donald Trump hoping the change will allow him to influence the iconic news network’s programming.

WBD has urged shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, in favour of a deal offered by streaming giant Netflix.

Paramount’s CEO David Ellison — whose father is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a close Trump ally — has assured the US president that he would retool CNN’s editorial stance and line-up if his bid were successful, The Wall Street Journal reported.

That could put on-air talent such as Kaitlan Collins and Jake Tapper, who have both drawn Trump’s ire, in jeopardy.

And Trump appears ready to use the situation to his advantage, saying openly that he will be involved in the government’s decision on an eventual deal, instead of leaving it to the Justice Department.

‘I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN, which is a very dishonest group of people, I don’t think that should be allowed to continue,’ Trump told business leaders last week at the White House.

‘I think CNN should be sold along with everything else.’

Trump has long had a hostile relationship with CNN and other major news organisations, branding them ‘fake news’ and attacking them repeatedly on social media.

His insistence that CNN end up in friendly hands appears to favour the Paramount bid — even though the Netflix deal would also involve selling off the news network to an as-yet-unknown buyer.

Ellison’s group obtained regulatory approval in July for a merger between Paramount and Skydance after committing to modify the editorial direction of CBS network.

‘President Trump has publicly put a bullseye on the television news network,’ University of Maryland broadcast journalism professor Mark Feldstein said.

‘I think this is a very perilous time for CNN both politically and economically,’ he said.

‘Paramount’s craven tilt to the right would clearly pose a threat to CNN’s editorial independence, but it’s not clear that the news network would be much better off if Netflix buys Warner Brothers and leaves CNN out of the deal, either.’

CNN is popular with left-leaning viewers but is regularly watched by 20 per cent of Republicans, according to a Pew Research study.

Under Netflix’s deal, WBD would likely spin off CNN and its other television networks into a separate company called Discovery Global.

CNN would thus wind up part of a highly-indebted public company with weak growth prospects and still on cable television, which has been losing millions of subscribers in the United States each year.

In that context, it would be tough for Discovery Global to justify investing money in CNN because it will need to focus on its overall bottom line, said Madison and Wall consulting firm chief executive Brian Wieser.

Under the leadership of former New York Times and BBC head Mark Thompson, CNN is undergoing a major strategic reorientation to reduce its dependence on traditional television audiences.

In October, it launched a subscription service (at $6.99 per month) that includes streaming access to most programmes as well as the CNN.com website, which introduced a paywall nearly a year ago.

Thompson said recently that a study commissioned by CNN showed that some 18 million Americans who had ditched cable television since the coronavirus pandemic would be ‘very interested’ in paying for standalone subscriptions.

‘To continue to keep CNN strong in the future,’ the executive argued, ‘we better get after our audiences where they currently are.’

Fox News, CNBC, Newsmax and even NBC News have attempted streaming-only products, but all of them are add-ons.

Once the leading all-news network, CNN now attracts fewer than 5,00,000 viewers on average per day — far behind rivals MSNBC and Fox News, but also the home improvement channel HGTV—but maintains it is still profitable.

CNN nevertheless ‘still holds an important place within the broader news media landscape, especially given its brand power and global reach,’ said University of Pennsylvania media policy professor Victor Pickard.

For Wieser, ‘the best thing for CNN would be to sell it separately. But the problem is there’s almost no way that will happen without the Trump administration involving itself.’​