TV News LIES

The Writers Guild of America is urging New York state prosecutors to open an investigation into CBS’s abrupt decision to cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” shortly after its host criticized the network’s recent settlement with President Donald Trump.

Colbert on Tuesday called the $16 million settlement “a big fat bribe,” given that Trump oversees the Federal Communications Commission. The owners of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, need that agency to approve a merger that would reportedly personally benefit them.

CBS and Paramount agreed to settle with Trump earlier this month over a lawsuit he brought against the long-running news program “60 Minutes,” instead of demanding the case go to trial — even though Trump’s claim had little to stand on.

“Given Paramount’s recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that ‘The Late Show’s’ cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration as the company looks for merger approval,” the Writers Guild of America’s East and West branches said in a joint statement issued Friday. (HuffPost’s unionized staff are part of the Writers Guild of America East.)

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Consumers who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace will likely face double-digit rate hikes next year.

Insurers plan a median premium increase of 15% for 2026 plans, which would be the largest ACA insurance price hike since 2018, according to a Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker analysis published on July 18.

And many working-age consumers who get their health insurance through the workplace won't be spared, either. Benefits consultant Mercer said more than half of big employers expect to shift a larger share of insurance costs to employees and their families next year by raising deductibles, copays, or out-of-pocket requirements.

KFF said the ACA insurer cited factors such as medical cost inflation, the expiration of tax credits instituted during former President Joe Biden's administration that made plans cheaper, and tariffs on prescription drugs and medical device imports.

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An Israeli shell slammed into the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest, according to church officials. The late Pope Francis, who died in April, had regularly spoken to the priest about the situation in the war-ravaged territory.

The church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the casualties.

The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel issued a rare apology and said it was investigating.

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attack.

In a telegram of condolences for the victims, Leo expressed “his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and enduring peace in the region.” The pope said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack,” and expressed his closeness to the wounded priest, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, and the entire parish.

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The House could vote on final passage of the Trump administration's rescission package, which claws back $9 billion in funds allocated for public media and foreign aid, as early as Thursday evening.

The Senate approved the measure in the small hours of Thursday morning. The House approved an earlier version last month, but must vote to adopt the Senate changes.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting stands to lose $1.1 billion meant to fund it through the next two years, while the bill also cuts $7.9 billion in other programs. CPB acts as a conduit for federal money to NPR, PBS and their member stations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting stands to lose $1.1 billion meant to fund it through the next two years, while the bill also cuts $7.9 billion in other programs. CPB acts as a conduit for federal money to NPR, PBS and their member stations.

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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been cancelled and will end in May, with network CBS announcing it will retire the Late Show entirely after a 33-year run.

Colbert, who has hosted the talkshow since 2015, announced the news during Thursday night’s taping, telling the audience he had only been told the news the previous night.

As the audience booed, he said, “Yeah, I share your feelings.

“It’s not just the end of the show, it is the end of the Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced, this is all just going away,” Colbert said.

He said he was “grateful” to the viewers and the show’s 200-strong crew.

“Let me tell you, it is a fantastic job,” he added. “I wish someone else was getting it. And it is a job I am looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months.”

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People across all 50 US states on Thursday are joining marches and rallies at more than 1,500 sites to protest against the Trump administration and honor the legacy of the late congressman John Lewis, an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience.

The “Good Trouble Lives On” day of action coincides with the fifth anniversary of Lewis’s death. Lewis was a longtime congressman from Georgia who participated in iconic civil rights actions, including the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 when police attacked Lewis and other protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

People across all 50 US states on Thursday are joining marches and rallies at more than 1,500 sites to protest against the Trump administration and honor the legacy of the late congressman John Lewis, an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience.

The “Good Trouble Lives On” day of action coincides with the fifth anniversary of Lewis’s death. Lewis was a longtime congressman from Georgia who participated in iconic civil rights actions, including the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 when police attacked Lewis and other protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Lewis implored people to participate in “good trouble, necessary trouble” to advance their causes, and this call serves as the underpinning for the 17 July actions. Dozens of advocacy and civil rights organizations signed on as partners for the event.

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Coca-Cola offers no confirmation of recipe change, saying corn syrup is safe and widely used in US drinks.

The Coca-Cola company has defended its use of corn syrup after Donald Trump’s claim Wednesday that he had apparently convinced the brand to switch to using sugar cane in its US drinks, as it does in Mexico and the UK.

“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola,” Trump said in a social media post late Tuesday.

“This will be a very good move by them – You’ll see. It’s just better!”

Initially, the drinks giant responded with a neutral statement of appreciation for “President Trump’s enthusiasm” for Coke, and a vague message about “new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range” to come.

On Thursday, however, the soft drinks company released an additional statement making positive claims about high-fructose corn syrup, a product that some blame for soaring US obesity rates and which has become a target of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s “Make America healthy again” movement.

TVNL Comment: Is there anything Trump won't lie about?

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The White House on Thursday confirmed that what appears to be a recurring bruise on Trump’s hand is indeed the result of a medical condition.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during her regular briefing that after a “thorough evaluation,” the president has been found to have “chronic venous insufficiency,” which she stressed was “a benign and common condition,” especially in people over the age of 70.

In addition to bruising, Leavitt said Trump also has experienced swelling in his lower legs.

She added that Trump, 79, shows no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease, and that an echocardiogram showed “no signs of heart failure.”

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