The leadership of CBS News was facing accusations of political meddling on Monday over a last-minute decision to not air a report on the notorious Salvadoran prison where US President Donald Trump has sent deported migrants.CBS had been due to air the investigation late Sunday about alleged abuses at the CECOT center in El Salvador on its flagship “60 Minutes” program, seen by many as one of the most prestigious and hard-hitting institutions in US journalism.But the broadcaster quietly announced hours before showtime that the segment would “air in a future broadcast,” replacing it with a piece on the sherpas working on Mount Everest.A 13-minute video about CECOT bearing the “60 Minutes” logo was widely circulated on social media platforms X and Reddit late on Monday after the segment was reportedly aired on Canadian station Global TV.The segment being circulated, titled “Inside Cecot” and viewed by AFP, featured Sharyn Alfonsi as correspondent and listed Oriana Zill de Granados as producer.AFP has contacted Global TV’s parent company Corus Entertainment for comment.CBS, which was purchased by the Trump-linked Ellison family earlier this year, said that the prison report needed “additional reporting.”Multiple US media outlets quoted the “60 Minutes” correspondent who oversaw the report as saying it had been pulled for political reasons.”Pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one,” Alfonsi said in a note to CBS staff that was first leaked by The Wall Street Journal.CECOT is a huge, maximum security facility touted by El Salvador’s right-wing President Nayib Bukele as the centerpiece of his attempt to rid the Central American country of narco-gangs.Human rights activists say inmates there are treated brutally.The facility has been at the center of a major US legal case since March, when the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan and other migrants there despite a judge’s order that they be returned to the United States.Several deportees who have since been released have described repeated abuse at the facility. – CBS owners close to Trump -CBS’s decision to shelve a high-profile story on the Trump administration comes as the broadcaster’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, is in a multi-billion-dollar bidding war with Netflix to buy Warner Bros Discovery.Trump has made clear he is taking a keen interest in the merger, which will likely need regulatory approval.Paramount was purchased by the Ellison family earlier this year. Larry Ellison is one of the world’s richest people and a major Trump donor.The Republican president has frequently criticized “60 Minutes” and sued CBS in 2024 over his claim that the news program had edited an interview with Democrat Kamala Harris in order to help her.Paramount chief David Ellison — son of Larry Ellison — brought in Bari Weiss as a new editor in chief this October, leading to expectations that she would steer the renowned broadcaster to be more friendly to Trump.In her note to colleagues, Alfonsi said the CECOT segment had been cleared by corporate lawyers before being “spiked.””If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”Weiss told The New York Times in a statement that she would be “airing this important piece when it’s ready.””Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom.”The executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Tanya Simon, told fellow employees that she had resisted Weiss’s order, but “ultimately had to comply.””We pushed back, we defended our story, but she wanted changes,” Simon was quoted as saying by The Washington Post in a transcript of the producer’s private meeting with colleagues.

The US economy is expected to post another solid economic growth reading Tuesday, but the much-delayed figures likely will not settle debate on the labor market, AI and other variables.Forecasters expect Tuesday’s third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report to show 3.2 percent growth, according to consensus estimates from MarketWatch and Trading Economics.That represents a bit of a moderation from the 3.8 percent second-quarter gain following a first-quarter with negative growth. Tuesday’s release comes nearly two months after it was originally scheduled due to the US government shutdown.The report reflects a much improved US macroeconomic outlook compared with earlier in 2025, when worries about President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy changes weighed on sentiment. But by the latter stages of 2025, Trump’s administration had negotiated agreements with China and other major economies that prevented enactment of the most onerous tariffs. Meanwhile, an AI investment boom by Chat GPT-maker OpenAI, Google and other tech giants continued to pick up momentum, keeping the US stock market near record levels.Pantheon Macroeconomics estimates that US growth in the third quarter came in at a “brisk-looking” 3.5 percent that nonetheless “will overstate the economy’s true condition,” the research firm said in a note.A slowing job market and muted retail sales trends are among the factors consistent with “steady but unspectacular GDP growth” looking ahead to 2026, said Pantheon, which predicted the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates further in the new year.”The risks remain skewed towards a faster cadence or larger decline in rates,” said Pantheon, pointing to the Fed’s impending leadership change with the 2026 departure of Chair Jerome Powell.- Consumer caution? -The US central bank on December 10 announced an interest rate cut for the third straight meeting. While inflation remains well above the Fed’s two percent target, Powell and other policymakers have described the weakening employment market as the greater concern at the moment.The Fed’s median 2026 GDP forecast is 2.3 percent, up from 1.7 percent projected in 2025, according to a summary of the central bank’s outlook.White House officials have said Trump could nominate Powell’s successor in January.Polling shows declining support for Trump as consumer prices have stayed at an elevated level.But Kevin Hassett, a White House economic advisor considered the favorite for the Fed post, told Fox News over the weekend that consumers would soon see better times. “I think that the American people are going to see it in their wallets… they’re going to see that President Trump’s policies are making them better,” said Hassett, who mentioned an expected boost from higher tax refunds in 2026.But Pantheon argued the economic benefit from tax refunds may be contained, noting that “the relatively low level of consumer confidence suggests many households will save a high share of the windfall.”A December 18 outlook piece from S&P Global Ratings said AI investment would likely buoy the economy but could be offset by political uncertainty under Trump.”US trade policy uncertainty has settled down, but not US policy drama overall,” S&P said. “Statutory US tariff rates may not move much in 2026, but uncertainty around laws, norms, investment rules, military actions and geopolitics more generally will remain elevated,” S&P said. “This uncertainty will likely dampen investment and discretionary consumption.”

Vince Zampella, the acclaimed co-creator of video gaming juggernaut “Call of Duty,” has died in a car crash, gaming giant Electronic Arts confirmed on Monday. He was 55.The developer and executive died on Sunday while driving his Ferrari on a scenic road north of Los Angeles, according to local broadcaster NBC4. “For unknown reasons, the vehicle veered off the roadway, struck a concrete barrier, and became fully engulfed,” the California Highway Patrol said in a statement, without identifying the two victims in the crash.The CHP added that both the driver and a passenger who was ejected from the vehicle succumbed to their injuries. Witnesses posted video of the mangled cherry-red Ferarri, engulfed in flames, on the mountain road. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.His studios created some of the world’s best-selling video games, and Zampella was considered an innovator in first-person military shooter style games. This year, when his “Battlefield 6” video game set a new sales record for the franchise, Zampella expressed gratitude, saying “we never take moments like this for granted” — despite a long career of success in gaming. The mass-combat game has won over 100 million players in the past two decades, in its various iterations. And yet, that number isn’t a first. To this day, “Call of Duty” boasts more than 100 milion active players, monthly.”You have that dream of the game being popular, but I don’t think you’re ever ready for that level of success,” Zampella told gaming site IGN in a 2016 interview.- Profound, far-reaching -Zampella was best known for co-creating the “Call of Duty” franchise and founding Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind “Titanfall,” “Apex Legends,” and the “Star Wars Jedi” games.After starting out in the 1990s as a designer on shooter games, he co-founded Infinity Ward in 2002 and helped launch “Call of Duty” in 2003. Activision later acquired his studio.He left Activision under contentious circumstances and established Respawn in 2010, which Electronic Arts acquired in 2017.At EA, he eventually took charge of revitalizing the “Battlefield” franchise, cementing his reputation as one of the most influential figures in modern first-person shooter games.”This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work,” Electronic Arts said in a statement.”Vince’s influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching,” the company said, adding that “his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment.”A statement by Respawn, posted on the “Battlefield” X account, praised Zampella “for how he showed up every day, trusting his teams, encouraging bold ideas, and believing in Battlefield and the people building it.”Zampella “championed what he believed was right for the people behind those studios and our players because it mattered.””It was a bold, transgressive method of storytelling, of a moment in time that was political, that was violent and that was impactful,” Washington Post video game reporter Gene Park told NBC4.”He really knew how to create stories and create experiences, that really hit at the heart of human experience — whether it was terror, dread, heroism. I think he was really able to kindof encapsulate that through the designs of the video games that he made,” Park said.