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Retired police officers protest in Kwara, decry poor pensions

Ex-police personnel under the aegis of the Kwara State Chapter of Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria held a peaceful demonstration in Ilorin, on Monday, demanding that they be immediately exited from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

They said the scheme has been fraught with a number of challenges since its inception; hence, retired officers who fall in the category of the pension platform should be excused like those who rose to the position of Generals in the force.

In its stead, the protesters sought the establishment of a Police Pension Board with sole responsibility of overseeing the pension matters of the police as applicable in other security agencies.

The ex-Police officers who brandished placards with inscriptions such as “President, NASS and IGP should honourably exempt the police from the “CPS, Establish Police Pension Board to manage gratuity and pensions, “Mr President: Improve Police Welfare for effective service delivery”, If CPS is so good, why did AIGs, DIGs and Is exempt themselves from the scheme?”

The Chairman of the state chapter of ARPON, Yakubu Jimoh, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, who addressed his members during the peaceful demonstration to the Press Centre of the state Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ilorin, pleaded with  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently come to their aid.

He said the retired police officers should be removed from the contributory pension scheme, adding the force pension board should be established to manage the pension of the officers.

Jimoh stated that the report of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Services on the bill for the establishment of Police Pension Board, which was held in public hearing in November last year, should be released, notwithstanding that it was conducted eight months ago.

He also called on the federal government and the National Assembly to fast-track the legislative process for the disbursement of the N758 billion, a pension shortfall owed to security agencies. He noted that retired officers were informed that payment was scheduled for June 2025, but expressed concern about the delay in the disbursement.

He appealed to the National Assembly to expedite action on the payment so as to assuage the suffering of the retirees and improve the retirement welfare of both serving and retired officers.

In the letter of agitation made available to the press, Jimoh said, “Our exit being advocated should be outright removal from the scheme. Since the inception of the contributory pension scheme, it has been one problem or another.

“It is unfortunate that officials of the National Pension Commission/Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), who came to deliver a lecture on the workings of the scheme, do not reveal their bitter experiences in the hands of their host to their masters when they get back.

“We have always resented this contributory pension scheme, which provides gratuity and monthly pension, but it is just a pittance and not a living wage. We are all witnesses to the lamentations of the retired police officers on social media. Imagine Superintendent of Police being paid N2.4million as his gratuity after 35 years of meritorious service and a paltry N30,000 as monthly pension.

“This, to say the least, is responsible for corruption in the Police Force, as the officers want to make it by all means. From Commissioners of Police down the ladder are lamentations of woe. Only the Police “Generalismos”, retired Inspector Generals, Deputy Inspector Generals and Assistant Inspector Generals recently exited the scheme while this agitation was on. They are getting fat pension benefits as the case may be.

“Back to memory lane, when the Military was to exit this scheme, their senior officers did not discriminate. They pulled out all the other ranks. In the case of the Police, IGP Egbetokun was asking a Police lecture parade of Senior Officers and men in Kwara State, Where are you expecting to? Because of the regimentality of the job, the audience kept mute and watched in “admiration” of the Speaker/IGP.

“The answer from retirees since then has been that we want to exit to where the Police Generals had gone to. Those agencies that exited the scheme, such as the Military, DSS, take more pension compared to their counterparts, of the same rank in the Police.”

The Legal Adviser of ARPON, Adekunle Iwalaiye, said the retired officers deserve to be paid living pension away from the crumbs they receive monthly.

Iwalaiye, a retired Superintendent of Police, tasked the government to act on the demand of the retirees, considering the meritorious services they rendered to the country for 35 years.

“We are here to get across to the press so that our voices can be heard in respect of the pains retired Police Officers have been passing through under the current pension scheme. What we are saying is that retired Police Officers are human beings too, that we deserve a living wage, that we are Nigerians with flesh and blood flowing in our veins.

“The set of people you are seeing here are Nigerians who have used 35 years of our youthful age to serve this country in various capacities. Some of us carried bullet wounds and various degrees of wounds suffered in the cause of our service to this nation.

“And that for God being so merciful enough for us to retire well, we deserve a living pension, and our demand is just simple. The government should just do the needful by pulling us out of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the same way it has been done to some other security agencies in the country.

“It is disheartening for senior citizens to earn peanuts as monthly pension and even money that cannot get you anything as gratuity. Just imagine somebody, who retired after 35 years, being given less than N3million; the money cannot even buy a tricycle, assuming you want to go into a tricycle business.

“Somebody who retires, on a monthly basis, is being given less than N50,000 as pension that cannot even buy a bag of rice. Our wives and children are suffering. Most of our members are dying prematurely of all forms of illness. We can’t take care of our children, either.

“We have chosen not to be violent. We are not violent people. We have served this country diligently and we cannot be part of what will lead to breakdown of law and order,” he said (Punch)

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Minister vows APC will take over Enugu in 2027

The Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, has expressed confidence that the All Progressives Congress will take over Enugu State in the 2027 general elections.

Nnaji made this assertion while receiving over 500 defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance into the APC on Monday.

The minister condemned the Enugu State government’s indiscriminate demolition of markets and people’s shops without notice and compensation, saying it has inflicted untold hardship on traders, leading to the death of several traders in the last year.

“Enugu has never had it this bad, and as I stand today, I imagine how a people can survive without something like Ogige Nsukka market.

“Ogige Nsukka market has gone; they have bulldozed Ogige Nsukka to ashes, without any notice.

” Many of our people have died out of that singular act of government. If you come to Enugu too, Holy Ghost suffered the same fate, Garki and Abakpa suffered the same fate, and Ogurute market here in Igbo-Eze North LGA suffered the same fate, and I wonder how our people who are predominantly businessmen can survive without trading.”

Nnaji expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for appointing Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, who is from Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, as the Chief of Naval Staff.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu knows that we are here; he knows we are doing all these things for the state and for him and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“He knows and he has our support 101 per cent and he is behind us, we are APC,” Nnaji said.

The minister assured that the APC will do everything possible and within the law to displace the PDP government under Governor Peter Mbah in 2027.

“We are going to fight, we are going to do everything humanly possible and within the ambit of law to make sure that come 2027 our people will start rejoicing again,” Nnaji asserted.

The APC State Chairman, Ugochukwu Agballah, welcomed the defectors, describing the influx of new members as a “rainbow movement.”

“You know that in the last election, the Labour Party won in Igbo-Eze North, LP won the House of Assembly, won the House of Rep, won everything, but they were rigged out.

“Do you know why they were rigged out? It’s because they were in a one-man show. One-man-show parties don’t go far, politics is like a market, one person does not constitute the market,” Agballah said. (Punch)

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Your children are Nigerians, Falana corrects Badenoch on citizenship claim

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has faulted United Kingdom Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, over her claim that she cannot pass Nigerian citizenship to her children because of her gender.

During an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Badenoch asserted that she cannot pass on her Nigerian citizenship to her children because of her gender. She suggested that it is easier for Nigerians to acquire British citizenship than for foreigners to become Nigerians.

She said, “It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship. I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.

“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a relatively free period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”

Reacting in a statement issued on Monday, Falana described Badenoch’s statement as “a display of utter ignorance” and accused her of misinforming the British public to score political points.

Falana said, “In her desperate attempt to impress the British electorate, Kemi Badenoch keeps running down Nigeria.

“Contrary to her misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian. Her assertion that she cannot give Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman is not in consonance with Section 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution which provides that every person born in Nigeria after independence, either of whose parents or grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria, or any person born outside Nigeria to a Nigerian parent, is a citizen.

“Furthermore, by virtue of Section 42(2) of the Constitution, no citizen shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of circumstances of birth, gender, or class. Therefore, her two children are Nigerian citizens. The fact that she may not want them to claim it is irrelevant. For now, they are dual citizens of Britain and Nigeria.”

Falana also faulted her assertion that Nigerian citizenship is impossible for foreigners to obtain, noting that “Sections 26 and 27 of the Constitution clearly state that foreigners can acquire Nigerian citizenship through naturalisation or registration once they meet the legal conditions.”

He, however, acknowledged gaps in the law, saying that “A woman married to a Nigerian man can be registered as a citizen, but the same privilege is not extended to a man married to a Nigerian woman, which reflects the patriarchal nature of the law. This should be urgently amended.” (Punch)

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Ellen DeGeneres says she moved to Britain because of Trump

US TV star Ellen DeGeneres has made her first public appearance since moving to the UK, saying she decided to settle in England the day after Donald Trump was re-elected US president.

The comedian and host told a crowd in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, that life “is just better” in the UK.

Ellen said she and wife Portia de Rossi were considering getting married again in England after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage, and that America can still be “scary for people to be who they are”.

She also addressed allegations of a toxic workplace that led to the end of her long-running chat show in 2022, admitting she could be “very blunt”, but dismissed the stories as “clickbait”.

Ellen was one of the biggest names on US TV for 30 years, thanks to her daytime chat show, as well as for her self-titled 1990s sitcom, for hosting the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys, and for voicing Dory in Finding Nemo.

After her talk show was cancelled, she went on a “final stand-up tour” in the US in 2024 then bought a house in the Cotswolds, a historic and picturesque area mainly spanning parts of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

On Sunday at the Everyman theatre in nearby Cheltenham, she was in conversation with broadcaster Richard Bacon, who asked whether reports that she moved because of Donald Trump were correct. “Yes,” she replied.

The 67-year-old said she and De Rossi had initially planned to spend three or four months a year in the UK and bought what they thought would be “a part-time house”.

“We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in’,” she said. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here’.”

Ellen has been giving glimpses of her new rural life on social media, in videos showing her farm animals including sheep – although they have now been sold after they kept escaping.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “We’re just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture – everything you see is charming and it’s just a simpler way of life.

“It’s clean. Everything here is just better – the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.

“We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.”

On her last tour, she joked that she had been “kicked out of show business twice” – the first time being when she came out as gay in 1997.

That effectively led to the end of her sitcom after advertisers pulled out and the network stopped promoting it, she told the Cheltenham crowd on Sunday.

Bacon asked whether her visibility had encouraged other people to come out. “I would say no,” she replied. “I imagined a lot of people coming out like meerkats poking out of a hole and going back in again. ‘How’s she doing? OK, no, no.'”

But it is “a really hard decision” that doesn’t suit everyone, she continued, and said things are better today “in some ways” but not others.

“If it was [better], all these other people that are actors and actresses that I know they’re gay, they’d be out, but they’re not, because it’s still a problem. People are still scared.”

Ellen also referenced a recent move by the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse the reversal of a Supreme Court case allowing same-sex marriage. At least nine state legislatures have introduced bills to do the same.

“The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage,” she said. “They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”

Later, in response to an audience question, she added: “I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences.

“So until we’re there, I think there’s a hard place to say we have huge progress.”

However, the younger generation are “more comfortable with it” and are “just kind of fluid”, she added. “So I think the younger generation is going to show us the way.”

After some former workers on her talk show made allegations of a toxic workplace culture, the star – who ended every episode by telling viewers to “be kind to one another” – was dubbed as “mean” in the media.

Following the scandal three producers were sacked amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment, and the final season of the show opened with Ellen giving an on-air apology.

She addressed that in her 2024 tour and the accompanying Netflix stand-up special.

“No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, ‘She’s mean’, and it’s like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or ‘poor me’ or complaining? But I wanted to address it.

“It’s as simple as, I’m a direct person, and I’m very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that… I’m mean?” (BBC)

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Saudi Arabia’s ‘Sleeping Prince’ dies after 20 years in coma

Prince Al Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal, known to millions as Saudi Arabia’s “Sleeping Prince”, has died after spending 20 years in a coma, his family announced on Saturday.

The prince, a nephew of billionaire Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, had been in a coma since being admitted to hospital following a car accident in 2005.

A family statement posted on X expressed “profound sadness and sorrow” over the death of the prince. It said his funeral will take place in Riyadh on Sunday.

Over the years, he became a symbol of hope and endurance, with many across the Arab world keeping him in their prayers and wishing for his recovery.

Videos and photographs of Prince Al Waleed connected to a life-support machine have been shared by members of his family over the years. One showed him covered with a Saudi Arabian flag with the words “Our Country is in Our Hearts”.

In a video shared by his family five years ago, he was seen moving his fingers, giving hope to wellwishers who had hoped to see him make a full recovery. (National)

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Donald Trump files suit against Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones over Wall Street Journal’s Jeffrey Epstein story

Donald Trump has followed through on his threat to sue Rupert Murdoch and his media companies over the Wall Street Journal‘s report on a bawdy letter in his name that was included in an album given to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.

A defamation lawsuit (read it here) was filed in a Florida federal court Friday seeing damages “not less than $10 billion” and a jury trial. It names Murdoch, Journal publisher Dow Jones, parent company News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson and the reporters on the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.

Trump confirmed the filing in a Truth Social post, writing in part, “This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media.”

He added, “I hope Rupert and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case.”

The WSJ story published on Thursday included Trump’s denials that he ever wrote the letter, as well as his legal threat.

A spokesperson for the Journal said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

The WSJ report centered on a birthday album that was given to Epstein in 2003, featured collected letters from some of his friends. Among the letters was one bearing Trump’s name that “contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker,” the Journal reported, adding that a “pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.”

The letter text included an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, according to the Journal, that concluded with the line, “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

In the president’s lawsuit, he claimed that the reporters “falsely pass off as fact that President Trump, in 2003, wrote, drew, and signed this letter. And on the other hand, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo failed to attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained. The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists. Defendants concocted this story to malign President Trump’s character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light.”

The Journal reported that it was Ghislaine Maxwell who collected the letters from Trump and dozens of Epstein’s other associates. The story described the letter as one “bearing Trump’s name.”

Trump’s lawsuit stated that the letter “does not explain whether Defendants have obtained a copy of the letter, have seen it, have had it described to them, or any other circumstances that would otherwise lend credibility to the Article.”

The lawsuit claimed that Murdoch and Thomson “authorized the publication of the Article after President Trump put them both on notice that the letter was fake and nonexistent.” In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump wrote that he “told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story.”

To prevail in a defamation case, Trump would have to show not only that the article’s statements were false, but that they were done with malice or reckless disregard for the truth. He claimed in the lawsuit that the defendants acted with “actual malice, oppression and fraud in that they were aware at the time of the falsity of the publication and thus, made said publications in bad faith, out of disdain and ill-will directed towards Plaintiff without any regard for the truth.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier on Friday, “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!” (Deadline)

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‘Barbie’ animated feature in works from Illumination and Mattel Studios

Two years after the record-setting release of Barbie, the feminist live-action take on Mattel’s iconic doll that became a cultural phenomenon, Illumination and Mattel Studios have finalized a deal to develop a new Barbie movie that will be the first in animation for theaters, sources tell Deadline.

Reps for Illumination, Universal, and Mattel declined to comment. Not yet dated, we’re told the film will be released by Universal Pictures, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Illumination. No word yet on the plot of this Barbie or creatives attached.

Transcending all expectations as it grossed over $1.44 billion worldwide, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, starring Margot Robbie, impacted culture like few other films in recent memory. Propelled to the highest heights in part by the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, where audiences paired Barbie with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in a double-feature event, the film was the highest grossing of 2023 and has solidified its place in history as one the highest-grossing films of all time, along with the highest-grossing for a female director. That pic was released by Warner Bros., rather than Universal, and is the highest-grossing in the studio’s history. The film’s award run culminated in eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, with Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” winning Best Original Song.

Since 1959, Barbie has held down its place as the the global category leader in Dolls, with more than 100 sold every minute. Barbie is also the #1 Girls/Dolls toy brand on social media.  

Mattel officially combined its film and television units to form Mattel Studios last month, as we told you first. The studio has two films slated for release in 2026: a live-action Masters of the Universe, to be released by Amazon MGM Studios, and a live-action Matchbox produced alongside Skydance and Apple. Earlier this month, we broke the news that Jon M. Chu has been enlisted to direct a live-action Hot Wheels movie for Warner Bros, with Mattel Studios and Bad Robot producing. The company also recently announced feature adaptations of the toy brands Whac-A-Mole and View-Master and is developing additional projects based on IP including American Girl, Bob the Builder, Magic 8 Ball, Major Matt Mason, Polly Pocket, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Thomas & Friends, UNO and Wishbone.

Chris Meledandri’s animation powerhouse Illumination has two films coming up for release through Universal: a sequel to box office smash The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 3, 2026) with Nintendo and Minions 3 (July 1, 2026). (Deadline)

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Arsenal complete £48.5m signing of Madueke from Chelsea

Arsenal have completed the signing of England winger Noni Madueke from Chelsea for an initial fee of £48.5m.

The 23-year-old was part of Chelsea’s squad at the Club World Cup in the United States but left the camp before last Sunday’s 3-0 win against Paris St-Germain in the final to finalise his move to Mikel Arteta’s side.

Madueke has signed a five-year contract at Emirates Stadium, with his fee rising to just over £50m with add-ons.

“Humbled and blessed to be here. Thank you to everyone that made this possible,” he wrote on Instagram.

“I can’t wait to get on the pitch and start to repay the faith shown in me. It’s going to be so special.”

He made 92 appearances for Chelsea after joining from PSV Eindhoven for £30m in January 2023 and scored 20 goals, helping them win the Conference League last season.

He was part of Crystal Palace and then Tottenham’s academy before spending four-and-a-half years in the Netherlands, where he won the Dutch Cup.

Madueke made his England senior debut in August 2024 and set up Harry Kane’s winner as Thomas Tuchel’s side defeated Andorra 1-0 in World Cup qualification last month.

Arteta told Arsenal’s website, external: “Noni is an exciting and powerful young player, with his performances and numbers in recent seasons being of consistently high quality.

“He is one of the most talented wide forward players in the Premier League.

“At just 23, Noni already brings experience of club and international football, and he knows the Premier League very well.

“Having seen the quality of Noni’s performances up close in recent seasons, we’re really excited he is joining us. His arrival will really improve our squad.”

News of Arsenal’s interest in the Chelsea winger had prompted a backlash from a section of the Gunners supporters earlier this month.

A petition, titled #NoToMadueke, was signed more than 5,000 times and murals outside the club’s Emirates Stadium were vandalised with ‘Arteta out’.

Madueke becomes Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer and second from Chelsea following the arrival of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Midfielders Christian Norgaard from Brentford and Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad have also joined while the club are also close to signing striker Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting and Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera. (BBC)

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Three killed in explosion at Los Angeles police training facility

Three officers were killed in an explosion at a law enforcement training facility in East Los Angeles, officials say.

The blast occurred at around 07:30 local time (15:30 BST) on Friday at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training facility, which houses the Sheriff’s department’s special enforcement bureau and arson explosives detail, including the bomb squad.

The exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but Sheriff Robert Luna of the LASD described it as “an isolated incident”. There were no additional injuries.

The three officers killed in the blast were “fantastic experts” and veterans of the department, each serving between 19 to 33 years, the sheriff said.

Authorities have not released the names of the deceased officers, citing the need to notify their families first. All three were assigned to the sheriff department’s arson explosives detail.

Friday’s incident represents the department’s largest loss of life in a single incident since its founding in 1857, Sheriff Luna said.

“We have to go back and investigate what happened from the very beginning,” he said. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting with the investigation.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi called the incident “horrific” and said federal agents had been deployed on the scene and “working to learn more”.

Authorities say the explosion took place in the parking lot of the facility’s special enforcement bureau.

US media, citing sources, report that officers were handling an unexploded ordnance recovered from a recent bomb disposal call when it detonated.

The bomb squad typically picks up potential explosives across the region daily, but it’s a situation that’s always fraught with danger because it’s hard to assess the stability of materials and their age, the Los Angeles Times reported citing law enforcement sources.

The area surrounding the facility was evacuated and has since been sealed off as investigators continue to work at the scene.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed about the explosion and he is “closely monitoring the situation”, his office said in a statement on X.

Newsom’s office added that state assistance has also been offered to help respond to the incident.

Kathryn Barger, Chief of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, wrote in a statement that she is “closely tracking the situation as we learn more about what occurred and the condition of those affected”.

“My heart is heavy, and my thoughts are with the brave men and women of the Sheriff’s Department during this difficult time,” she said. (BBC)

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Colbert says The Late Show will end after 33 years

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026 after 33 years on air, the CBS television network announced in a surprise statement on Thursday.

The move “is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night [television]” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters”, CBS said.

Colbert broke the news at a taping of the show, earlier on Thursday evening, triggering a chorus of boos from the live studio audience.

“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners,” he said, adding: “And of course, I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.”

The move brings a close to the more than three-decade old programme, leaving the network without a late-night comedy talk show for the first time since 1993.

Colbert, who took over the CBS programme from David Letterman in 2015, has become one of US President Donald Trump’s staunchest critics on late-night TV.

The presenter was informed of the decision to cancel his show on Wednesday night, he told the audience during his Thursday monologue.

“Yeah, I share your feeling,” he said as the crowd in the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York shouted “no” and booed.

“It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away,” he continued. “It is a fantastic job. I wish somebody else was getting it.”

The announcement comes two weeks after CBS parent company Paramount settled a lawsuit with Trump stemming from a CBS interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris.

The Late Show was created by CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, in 1993 as a competitor to NBC’s own talk show. It came after a dispute between hosts David Letterman and Jay Leno over who should succeed Johnny Carson on the wildly-popular Tonight Show.

Before taking over the job at The Late Show, Colbert had been the host of “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central – a programme which skewered US conservative politics and culture.

The announcement of the ending of the programme came amid talks between Paramount and Skydance Media to merge the two companies, a move that would require approval from the US federal government.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff posted on X on Thursday that he had finished taping an interview with Colbert just before the cancellation was announced.

He questioned whether the announcement was tied to the $16m (£12m) settlement the network agreed to pay to Trump, writing: “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserved to know”.

Another US senator, Elizabeth Warren, echoed those sentiments, posting on X: “America deserves to know if his show was cancelled for political reasons.”

The settlement came after Trump sued CBS last October alleging the network had deceptively edited an interview that aired on its 60 Minutes news programme with his presidential election rival Kamala Harris, to “tip the scales in favour of the Democratic party”.

Paramount said it would pay to settle the suit, but with the money allocated to Trump’s future presidential library, not paid to him “directly or indirectly”. (BBC)