UK's BBC appoints Rhodri Talfan Davies as interim director general

UK’s BBC said its Director-General Tim Davie would stand down on April 2 and would be replaced by Rhodri Talfan Davies, current director of nations, on an interim basis until a permanent leader was appointed.

Davie resigned from the broadcaster in November following criticism of its news service centred on the misleading editing of a video clip of U.S. President Donald Trump.

BBC seeks to have Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit dismissed

The BBC will file a motion to dismiss U.S. President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over its editing of a speech that made it appear he had directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Court documents published showed the broadcaster would argue that the court in Florida lacked personal jurisdiction in the case because it did not broadcast the programme in Florida, and that the president could not prove damages because he was re-elected after it aired.

Trump said UK’s publicly owned broadcaster defamed him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021, speech, including one section where he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another where he said “fight like hell.” It omitted a section in which he called for peaceful protest.

Trump’s lawsuit alleges the BBC violated a Florida law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. He is seeking at least $5 billion in damages for each of the lawsuit’s two counts.