Category: News

Amazon is sending Prime class action settlement payments. Are you eligible?
Claim:

A class action settlement related to deceptive Amazon Prime practices began paying out to eligible customers in fall 2026.

Rating:

Context

Eligible Amazon Prime customers do not need to do anything to receive their payment. The FTC is also warning people that some scammers are exploiting the legitimate class action lawsuit to steal people’s personal information. The FTC said it will not call any eligible customers, nor will they demand money or promise a special prize.

Rumors are spreading online about supposed payouts from a class action lawsuit benefiting Amazon Prime subscribers.

Social media users on platforms like Reddit and Facebook shared screenshots of notifications about the lawsuit or receiving payment (screenshotted). Some online posters claimed they received payment, whereas others asked if the settlement was real.

Snopes readers also searched the website for information on the Amazon Prime lawsuit.

This is a legitimate settlement involving payouts to eligible Amazon Prime customers.

The Federal Trade Commission reached a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over allegations that the company “enrolled tens of millions of customers in Amazon Prime subscriptions without their knowledge or consent” and “made it difficult for customers to cancel their Amazon Prime subscriptions.” As part of the settlement, Amazon did not admit fault.

An official notice on the Federal Trade Commission website states that Amazon began sending payments in November 2025 and “will continue to send automatic refunds to eligible Prime customers through April 2027.”

Customers who received a previous payment of up to $51 may receive additional payments due to a revised settlement order. Eligible customers may receive up to $200 in total (so up to $149 if you received a $51 payment previously).

It is worth noting, however, that the FTC is also warning people that scammers are calling people and claiming to be part of the Amazon class action lawsuit payouts.

“The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. And no one from Amazon will ever ask you for money to get a refund,” the FTC website said. “Only scammers say they can get you special access or a guaranteed refund.”

Eligibility and payment process

According to the FTC, eligible claimants do not need to take any actions to receive a refund. Amazon will send automatic refund payments by mailed check, PayPal or Venmo, and all you need to do is accept the payment.

Here’s how to know if you’re eligible, per the FTC’s news release (emphasis theirs):
Who is eligible for a refund?

Under the revised settlement order, you are eligible for a refund if you meet all three requirements:

You are an Amazon Prime customer in the United States.

You signed up for an Amazon Prime subscription through a “challenged enrollment flow” or tried to cancel through the online cancellation flow but were unable to do so between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025.

You used no more than 20 Amazon Prime Benefits (including Prime Music or Prime Video products offered for free to Prime subscribers) in any 12-month period following Amazon Prime enrollment.

The “challenged enrollment flows” are universal Prime decision page, shipping selection page, single page checkout, or the Prime Video enrollment flow.

No action is needed to receive a refund. You do not have to file a claim, respond to a notice, or complete any forms. Amazon will send automatic payments to eligible customers.
Customers who have issues receiving payments or questions can reach out to admin@SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com or call 1-888-999-8094. The official website for notifications about this class action lawsuit is at www.SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com, per the FTC.

How to check if a class action lawsuit is legitimate

In the case of the Amazon settlement, the FTC’s news release on the federal agency’s official website — with a “.gov” domain — lends it legitimacy.

However, Snopes has previously verified class action lawsuits that are not brought by the government. In those cases, it’s worth checking the lawsuit’s case number in PACER, a public database for federal electronic court records, or CourtListener, a more user-friendly nonprofit repository that pulls information from PACER documents and other court records.

Even if the FTC did not make an announcement, for example, the screenshots of payments shared on social media include a case number for the Amazon settlement: 2:23-cv-01372.

Searching that case number in CourtListener returned two pages of results. On the second page, there’s a case called “In re: Amazon Return Policy Litigation.” That’s proof that a real lawsuit has been filed. The case page includes links to all the documents in the court docket for that particular case. A document titled, “Exhibit A – Amazon Settlement Agreement” states that a settlement was reached.
October 8, 2026
In New Book, Joe Biden’s National Security Aide Brett McGurk Describes Jeffrey Katzenberg & Steven Spielberg Advising POTUS On Major Gaza Speech

Brett McGurk‘s new book Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages offers an insider account of the diplomatic rollercoaster to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in the war in Gaza.

The book, published this week, also offers a glimpse at White House messaging about the conflict, including two figures the president turned to in delivering a key speech: Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg.

McGurk, who served as deputy assistant for national security affairs to Biden, wrote of the scene as they prepared the president for his address on May 31, 2024. While Katzenberg and Spielberg’s role have been reported before, McGurk gave a first-hand account in the room, for a speech focused on a proposal to end the fighting and to secure a release of the hostages.

By that point, the Gaza conflict had created divisions within the Democratic coalition, protests at college campuses and presidential appearances and concerns over its impact on the November elections. There was pressure from the campaign for the president to make an address on the crisis, per McGurk.

McGurk wrote of the rehearsal, “In the Map Room, Biden peered at two screens behind me. ‘Jeffrey, Steven, welcome,’ he said. I turned around to see Jeffery Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg on Zoom. They greeted Biden warmly, Spielberg saying this was the speech they wanted to hear.

“It was a reminder that while I saw this speech as a policy address with a functional aim, it had a political purpose, too,” McGurk wrote.

He added, “The speech was timed for Friday night in Israel, when much of the country shuts down, allowing time for us to shape its reception there and around the world. Notably, we did not inform Netanyahu that we were making the speech until shortly before Biden delivered it, as we knew the address would lock Netanyahu into the terms of the deal now on the table.

“Biden said he was ready.

“Katzenberg advised, ‘Remember, slow Joe, let the audience hear every word.’

“Biden smiled, ‘Slow Joe? Don’t let Jill hear that.’

“He read through the draft, pausing at times to ask questions about the text, which we addressed with rewrites.”

McGurk wrote that he found Biden “fully engaged, leaning forward on the podium.”

He wrote, “The moguls told him he looked strong, and he did. There was no sign of the Biden we’d all see on a debate stage with Trump only four weeks later.”

The latter was a reference to Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump. What followed were weeks of calls on Biden to drop out, coming from some elected Democrats and prominent donors, until he exited the race on July 19. Katzenberg had played a prominent role as a top adviser to Biden’s re-election campaign.

While the Biden speech focused on a peace proposal, as it turned out, it would take until the next year, a week before Trump returned to office, for a ceasefire agreement to be reached.

October 8, 2026
Ottawa to indefinitely extend MAID exclusion for people solely suffering from mental illness

Listen to this article

Estimated 5 minutes

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.

The federal government will introduce legislation this fall that will indefinitely extend the ban on access to a medically assisted death for people who are solely suffering from mental illness, Justice Minister Sean Fraser said on Wednesday.

“Canada has made a decision not to move forward with the expansion that is scheduled in the Criminal Code of medical assistance in dying in circumstances where mental illness is the sole basis,” he said in the foyer of the House of Commons.

Fraser said the government’s decision reflects the position expressed by a special parliamentary committee report released in June along with his own department’s probing of the issue.

“While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time,” he said.

WATCH | Justice minister on forthcoming MAID changes:

Ottawa ‘landed in the right place’ with changes to MAID: justice minister

Minister of Justice Sean Fraser says his perspective on the new legislation on medical assistance in dying (MAID) that will be tabled this fall comes from the experiences and conversations he’s had with people he knows. ‘These are not easy conversations, but my experience is not unique,’ he says, adding that he understands the reticence some people may have about the legislation.

Fraser said the promised legislation will also “open the door” for people to give advance consent for their own medically assisted death in circumstances where the illness they are suffering from will eventually eliminate their capacity to make that decision.

The minister explained that while the details of advance consent will be worked out in House of Commons committees, it will require a person’s illness to be incurable and result in intolerable suffering.

2 key reasons for MAID exclusion

Fraser said there are two significant points motivating his government to indefinitely extend the current prohibition on receiving MAID for people who only have a mental illness.

He said there are “very real concerns about people who live in communities with inadequate access to mental health services.”

The second reason was the lack of consensus over when a mental illness is incurable, along with other issues raised in the June report.

WATCH | Review urges indefinite exclusion for mental illness:

MAID should ‘indefinitely exclude’ people with mental illness, review urges

A newly tabled parliamentary report urges the Canadian government to amend the criminal code to indefinitely exclude people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness from Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). The decision now lies with Justice Minister Sean Fraser.

The government passed MAID legislation in 2016. But the Superior Court of Quebec struck the law down in 2019 because it was limited to those whose deaths were “reasonably foreseeable.”

Bill C-7, which passed Parliament in March 2021, removed that requirement, in line with the court’s ruling. The legislation also temporarily pushed back the expansion of MAID to cases involving only mental illness to March 2023.

That was further delayed to 2024 and again to March 2027.

Fraser says Conservative bill isn’t enough

Fraser said that he was announcing the legislation before it was ready, in part, to explain why his government will not be voting for a Conservative private member’s bill, C-218, which is up for a vote in the House later in the day.

Fraser thanked Conservative MP Tamara Jansen for introducing the bill but said it fell short in two areas. The first area was the bill’s use of the term “mental disorders,” which the minister said could be interpreted to include neurologically degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.

Under existing MAID legislation, people with neurologically degenerative diseases can recieve a medically assisted death.

He also pointed to the fact that C-218 does not address advance consent.

“This second issue is extremely important to communities of people who’ve been diagnosed with very, very serious illnesses [that] may cause them to lose capacity subsequently,” he said.

Accusations of political games

After Fraser’s announcement, Jansen accused the minister of playing games “hours before” the House of Commons was set to vote on her bill.

“We have no idea what his bill’s going to say. He’s telling us all sorts of things, he hasn’t even seen the bill himself,” she said. “I find it incredibly negligent. He had the entire summer to put this together.”

Jansen asked Liberal MPs to consider voting for her bill regardless, “because people’s lives are at risk, very vulnerable Canadians,” and said Fraser was attempting to sink C-218 based on a promised “phantom bill.”

She said the Conservatives have been clear that they are open to changing the bill’s wording in order to get it passed.

Jansen’s bill was defeated 187 to 141 on Wednesday afternoon, with the Conservatives, NDP and the Green Party’s Elizabeth May voting for the bill and Bloc Québécois and most Liberals voting against.

Two Liberal MPs — Marilyn Gladu, who left the Conservatives earlier this year, and Kent MacDonald — voted in favour.

If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to look for help:

October 8, 2026
Should kids living with obesity be on GLP-1s? New global guidance says yes — in some cases

The first-ever international guidelines on managing childhood obesity from the World Health Organization (WHO) are raising the profile of GLP-1 treatments for kids and teens — but with strict criteria and a high degree of caution.

The new global guidance, released on Wednesday, recommends a broad range of interventions to manage diet, boost physical activity and change behaviours for the rising number of global youth living with obesity. And in certain cases, for some older children and teenagers, that could also mean medication or bariatric surgery.

The WHO doesn’t recommend medical treatment, surgery or weight-loss devices for children up to the age of nine, the organization notes.

For older youth from the age of 10 to 19, medical treatments may be considered only when a supervised lifestyle program hasn’t achieved results, the guidance states, while bariatric surgery should only be an option under strict conditions for youth living with severe obesity.

“The foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery, but access to comprehensive support that enables healthy eating, physical activity and sustainable behaviour change,” said Dr. Luz María De Regil, the WHO’s director of the department of nutrition and food safety.

WATCH | Cheaper GLP-1 drugs arrive in Canada:

Cheaper GLP-1s arrive in Canada: Are they safe?

A generic version of semaglutide, more commonly known by the brand name Ozempic, is now available in Canada as patent protections expire. For The National, CBC’s Christine Birak breaks down the key details about the drug’s safety, production and cost. [CORRECTION (June 4, 2026): The world map at 1:38 in this story shows a demarcation between Morocco and Western Sahara. In fact, the boundaries between the two are disputed.]

London, Ont.-based pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Marina Ybarra welcomed the organization’s cautious acknowledgement of medications as one avenue to tackle obesity.

Here in Canada, two GLP-1s are approved for weight management for youth aged 12 and up, but young patients typically have to pay for the drugs through their parents’ insurance or out of pocket, said Ybarra, who works with Western University and leads the London Health Sciences Centre Children’s Hospital pediatric weight management clinic.

“The news about WHO encouraging GLP-1 as a possible treatment for children living with obesity — I think it’s very good news,” she said.

“Because maybe that will help us to get funding through the public system in Canada for children living with obesity. That’s my biggest hope.”

170 million youth living with obesity

The WHO’s new guidance is meant to tackle skyrocketing rates of obesity among global youth.

Roughly 170 million children and teens around the world between the ages of five to 19 were living with obesity in 2024, the WHO noted. Obesity prevalence in this age group has also quadrupled since 1990, rising from two to eight per cent.

The global recommendations echo recent Canadian guidance to manage obesity in children. That long-awaited 2025 update also called for behavioural and psychological support and, in some cases, additional medical or surgical interventions.

But Canadian physicians recommend only using GLP-1s to manage obesity in children after the age of 12, two years above the WHO’s cutoff due, and don’t stipulate that medical intervention should only be tried after lifestyle changes.

“There is no evidence to support a stepwise approach whereby pharmacologic and surgical interventions should be offered only if behavioural and psychological interventions prove ineffective,” reads the guidance published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

“Using shared decision-making with families, health care providers should consider all intervention options.”

The WHO, in contrast, focused on the “practicality and universality” of diet, physical activity and behavioural changes as the pillars of obesity management, and it stressed the need for “structured long-term follow-up” in cases where patients use medication alongside other lifestyle interventions.

WATCH | Weight comes back quickly after stopping GLP-1s, study shows:

Weight comes back quickly after quitting GLP-1 drugs: study

People who abandon popular GLP-1 weight loss medications like Ozempic put weight back on quickly, researchers say. A new report found people who quit programs regained just under one pound per month, and were projected to return to their original weight within nearly two years.

Caution around GLP-1 use among children

GLP-1s and other similar medications — known by household brand names like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Wegovy and Zepbound — have exploded in popularity among adults to treat obesity and diabetes, and for general weight loss, even without a clear medical need.

The drugs work by mimicking the body’s glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone, which helps manage appetite, slow digestion and regulate blood sugar.

Ybarra stressed the medications are now an effective tool for many young patients with obesity, helping to both reduce weight and improve quality of life.

While some children and teens face similar side effects to older patients, including nausea and other gastrointestinal issues, “we didn’t see many of the severe complications that were seen in the adult population,” Ybarra noted.

Younger and younger patients are also trying this growing class of drugs.

One U.S. study, published in the medical journal Pediatrics in September, revealed a 310-fold increase in GLP-1 prescriptions for children ages eight to 11, shooting up from 0.03 per cent to more than nine per cent between 2019 and 2026 — though overall use in this younger group remains rare.

Still, the WHO stressed the need for caution regarding GLP-1 use among children and teens, given limited research and the potential for misuse among certain groups, such as athletes or patients with eating disorders.

The WHO’s new guidelines note that overall evidence linked to various medication treatments for childhood obesity, including GLP-1s and other drugs such as metformin or sibutramine, was “generally of low quality due to short term follow-up and evaluation, and [due to] the small numbers of studies and participants.”

Ybarra agreed there’s a lack of long-term data for the use of GLP-1s among youth, given how new these drugs are for younger patients.

“The data we have though, it’s very reassuring and helpful — in terms of there’s more benefits than risks.”

WATCH | GLP-1s and cancer prevention:

GLP-1s and cancer prevention: What’s known and what isn’t

Early studies suggest GLP-1s, such as Ozempic, could help reduce the risk of some cancers, but scientists say there are still more questions than answers and more long-term studies are needed to really understand the potential.

Drug trials underway for younger kids

As for the line in the sand regarding children under 10 avoiding GLP-1s, the WHO’s María De Regil stressed in a Tuesday news conference that the agency “recommends prioritizing other interventions in this age group.”

“However, it is clear that the research is going in this area,” she said. “Some national pediatric associations may recommend it.”

Denmark’s Novo Nordisk and U.S.-based Eli Lilly are among the drug makers currently trialling pediatric obesity medications for kids as young as six, though María De Regil wouldn’t speculate on how any of those ongoing trials might change the WHO’s recommendations.

Major questions still remain about how children should safely use these types of drugs, and for how long, stressed María De Regil.

“We realize that this is a rapidly evolving field,” she said.

October 8, 2026
Coco Gauff says online racist abuse was ‘draining’ after China Open exit

Coco Gauff admits the racism she suffered during the China Open exhausted her after the US tennis star missed out on the quarterfinals.

Published On 7 Oct 2026

Coco Gauff says online racist abuse has left her feeling exhausted as she lost to Elise Mertens in the China Open.

The world number four, a Black American, turned in an uncharacteristically listless performance in Beijing on Wednesday, double-faulting eight times as she went down 6-3, 6-3 to her Belgian opponent.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

Gauff, 22, was playing a day after she called out the “insane” amount of abuse she had received on the internet following her win over Chinese teenager Sun Xinran in the previous round.

“It has been kind of draining. I’m not going to lie,” Gauff said of the impact of the online comments.

“But I just turn off my phone and move on. There’s nothing you can do.”

Asked about the match, she said: “I think I just didn’t play well. I think I wasn’t moving well.

“There were a lot of things I didn’t do well. I thought Elise played well on the bigger points.”

During her previous match in Beijing, against Sun, Gauff requested a video review over flickering LED lights on the stadium’s advertising hoardings.

The move prompted some boos from the crowd. The umpire agreed to have the point replayed, and Gauff went on to win 7-5, 6-1.

Early on Tuesday, Gauff wrote on X: “Hey everyone, you can dislike me or disagree about what happened without being racist.”

She was responding to a post that contained a racial slur.

“The amount of racist comments and messages I’ve received in the last few hours is insane,” she wrote.

Belgian Elise Mertens, right, shakes hands with American Coco Gauff after their singles match [Pedro Pardo/AFP]

Gauff also clarified that she challenged the point before Sun had returned the ball, when she noticed the lights flicker for a second time.

Asked about the incident, a spokesperson for the Women’s Tennis Association, the global governing body, said it was “appalled by the racial abuse directed at Coco Gauff” and that it was “in contact with her to offer our full support”.

It added in a statement to the AFP news agency that there was “no place for racism, discrimination, or abuse in tennis”, and that it was “seeking action” against the abusive content.

Gauff, who won the Beijing title in 2024 and made the semifinals last year, was popular among fans during the tournament.

A group of supporters in the largely empty stadium tried to encourage her into a comeback on Wednesday.

Mertens was undeterred as she punched her ticket for a quarterfinal clash against Iga Swiatek.

The world number 19 called Gauff an “incredible player”, adding: “I knew it was going to be a very tough match.”

She dedicated her win to her coach, who is also her boyfriend.

Earlier, Swiatek swept aside American teenager Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes.

“I had it under control from the beginning,” said the Polish world number nine. “I feel like I’m improving every day.”

China’s Zheng Qinwen is due to face 118th-ranked Alina Charaeva later on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, the sixth seed, will play American Ann Li.

October 8, 2026
Why Paramount-Warner merger has sparked fears about press freedom

Paramount Skydance has completed its takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, bringing CNN and CBS News under the same corporate ownership, in a deal that has raised concerns about editorial independence and freedom of speech.

The acquisition, worth about $110bn including debt, combines two of Hollywood’s biggest studios after months of legal challenges lodged by state attorneys general and unions.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The new company, Skydance Corporation, brings together HBO, CBS, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Comedy Central, DC Studios and Food Network, alongside streaming services Paramount plus and HBO Max.

But its control of two major US news organisations has drawn particular scrutiny. David Ellison, Skydance’s chairman and chief executive, has promised to preserve their editorial independence, but his father, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison is a major financial backer of the deal, and has previously donated funds to US President Donald Trump and Israel.

Asked about the takeover on Tuesday, Trump welcomed it. “They’re terrific people, and it’s going to be a great company,” he said.

Why was the merger challenged?

The takeover faced initial opposition from Hollywood workers, politicians and state prosecutors concerned about the mounting concentration of power in an industry already dominated by a handful of companies.

Netflix initially reached an agreement to buy part of Warner Bros Discovery. Paramount then launched a competing bid, prompting a bidding war before Netflix walked away.

A California-led coalition of 12 state attorneys general sued to block the deal, saying that it would reduce competition and raise prices. The Writers Guild of America brought a separate challenge.

Both cases were settled in September when Paramount agreed to commitments relating to film production, support for displaced workers and protections for the news networks, including the creation of a new editorial independence board.

But the settlement did not end opposition to the deal. “This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech and cost people their jobs,” actor and activist Mark Ruffalo has said.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren linked the takeover to Trump’s efforts to restrict media access. “As Trump tries to ban CNN from the White House, it would be a massive mistake to cave on the Paramount merger,” she said, referring to the US president’s so-far thwarted attempt last month to bar reporters from several news organisations, including CNN, from accessing the White House.

Can an editorial independence board protect CNN and CBS?

One condition of the settlement requires Skydance to establish a “News Editorial Independence Board” within 180 days of completing the takeover.

The five-member body is to include active or retired journalists with at least 10 years of experience. It is intended to establish editorial principles and address disputes involving the news networks and corporate management.

However, its members will be appointed by, and will report to, Skydance’s board of directors, which Ellison chairs. Two members can belong to the same political party, and there is no requirement to publish its findings.

The condition has left critics with a multitude of questions, including: How can a member of an independent editorial board be a member of a political party? How can there be scrutiny if its findings are not public? How can it be independent if it is appointed by a board of directors, themselves appointed by the CEO of the company?

Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said, “A Paramount-appointed editorial independence board for CNN and CBS is worthless. The fish rots from the head, and this particular fish is headed by a compromised oligarch with a history of throwing journalists under the bus to advance his business interests.”

Stern also questioned whether government enforcement of the settlement could itself threaten press freedom. “The editorial board creates the same First Amendment problems it’s supposed to solve – the government meddling in the news.”

The First Amendment provides constitutional protection for freedom of speech and the press.

Ellison argues that the two networks will continue to operate independently. “We’re going to make sure that CNN and CBS News are completely editorially independent,” he said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Skydance announced that Mark Thompson would remain CNN’s chairman and editor-in-chief, while Bari Weiss will continue as CBS News’s editor-in-chief, easing previous fears that Weiss would immediately take charge of both networks.

Why are there fears for editorial independence?

The takeover gives the Ellison family control of CNN less than a month before the November 3 US midterm elections, and follows Trump’s repeated attacks on the network as it seeks to hold the US president to account.

Shortly after Paramount launched its bid in December, Trump accused CNN of spreading “poison and lies” and said it was “imperative” that it be sold, while the Trump administration has moved to bar CNN from reporting in certain areas of the White House.

Ellison donated roughly $45m to a political nonprofit group supporting Trump’s election efforts in 2024, while he donated $16.6m to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a charity supporting Israeli soldiers – its largest single donation at the time.

Earlier this year, the White House criticised CNN’s coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

Sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates also hold indirect financial interests in the combined company. They have no voting stakes, although their involvement adds another layer of scrutiny over its funding.

Concerns about the future for editorial integrity, however, intensified after Skydance acquired Paramount in 2025, and layoffs followed, alongside the closure of CBS News Radio and changes to CBS News flagship investigative programme 60 Minutes.

High-profile firings enacted under CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison included correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, as well as 60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon.

The programme’s September season premiere attracted about 21 percent fewer viewers than a year earlier.

In 2025, Paramount also agreed to pay Trump $16m to settle a lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

In a June 2 letter, nine advocacy groups, including Reporters Without Borders, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Committee for the First Amendment, warned that CNN could face similar upheaval and firings.

“Bari Weiss’ shameless actions fulfil the Ellisons’ commitment to President Trump to remake CBS to his liking,” they alleged, referring to the firings and changes at 60 Minutes.

“Larry Ellison has reportedly promised to do the same at CNN if allowed to take control through the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Not because it makes any business sense, but because they seek to control the public discourse.”

The groups described the proposed takeover as an “existential threat to the free press, independent media, and free speech in this country and beyond”.

October 8, 2026
Ex-German spy chief arrested: A history of spooks working for enemy powers

Germany’s former spy chief, August Hanning, has been arrested on suspicion of passing state secrets to a foreign intelligence service.

Hanning, 80, headed up the Federal Intelligence Service, known by its German acronym BND, from 1998 to 2005.

A federal prosecutor’s statement said it strongly suspected him of “treasonous espionage, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason” through contact with foreign intelligence services since 2010, while working as a private consultant. He is accused of obtaining around 2,000 sensitive documents from a former bureau chief who has also been arrested.

But he isn’t the only high-ranking intelligence officer to have been discovered to have worked for foreign governments over the years.

Here are some of the highlights.

1940s to 1960s – Kim Philby and the ‘Cambridge Five’

Kim Philby was a British intelligence officer who secretly spent decades working for the Soviet Union during World War II and the early Cold War years.

He was recruited by Soviet Intelligence while studying at Cambridge University in the 1930s. He was the most prominent member of the “Cambridge Five” – a spy ring that gave away British secrets to the Soviet Union.

During the war, he joined MI6, where he rose to head its counter-Soviet division, and was later posted to Washington, DC. This gave him access to sensitive information through his close links to the CIA and FBI.

His tip-offs to his Soviet handlers are believed to have scuppered many Western operations and revealed the identities of agents. This included information operations to overthrow Albania’s communist leader Enver Hoxha as part of Western efforts to stop the spread of communism.

Philby came under suspicion in 1951 and was forced out of MI6 when Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, two other members of the Cambridge Five, defected to the Soviet Union. Philby was suspected of having warned them that British intelligence officers were close to uncovering their identities as double agents for the Soviet Union, before being formally cleared of the allegations in 1955.

Then, in 1963, aware that the net was closing in on him because of his own involvement with Soviet intelligence, he fled to Russia, where he lived with his wife since 1971, Rufina Pukhova, until his death in 1988. Overall, he provided state secrets, the identities of agents, minutes from cabinet meetings, atomic research, diplomatic and military intelligence, and information about counter-intelligence operations to the Soviet Union for nearly 20 years.

Philby is regarded as the most damaging spy in British history.

According to the UK’s National Archives, one of the agents he unmasked to the Soviet Union was Constantin Volkov, a Soviet intelligence officer posted to Turkiye who wanted to defect to the UK in 1945. Volkov and his wife were seized and executed in Moscow as a result. The information he provided to the Soviet Union about a joint CIA-MI6 operation in communist Albania in the late 1940s and early 1950s resulted in the execution of hundreds of anti-communist agents.

Kim Philby, British intelligence agent, laughs with reporters during a 1955 news conference after being formally cleared of tipping off fellow double agents Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean [File: Getty Images]

1970s and 1980s – Oleg Gordievsky

Oleg Gordievsky was a KGB colonel who spied for British intelligence for more than a decade.

He was the son of an officer in the NKVD, which was the Soviet secret police and the direct predecessor to the KGB.

But he was recruited by MI6 in the early 1970s after becoming disillusioned by the Soviet crushing of mass protests during the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the building of the Berlin Wall.

While working for the KGB, he was stationed in Copenhagen and later in London, where he became KGB station chief in 1985.

The intelligence he provided to the British is thought to have revealed the KGB’s deep concerns that NATO’s 1983 Able Archer exercise might be cover for a real nuclear strike. This was invaluable for helping the West understand Soviet fears and to de-escalate.

Gordievsky came under suspicion and was recalled to Moscow in 1985. He was drugged and interrogated but had not yet been charged when MI6 ran a daring operation to rescue him and smuggle him out of Russia in the boot of a car across the Finnish border.

Russia sentenced Gordievsky to death in absentia.

He lived in the UK under protection until his death in 2025.

Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB Colonel-turned-British spy, is seen here wearing a disguise at the Marlborough Hotel in London, on October 16, 1990 [File: David Levenson/Getty Images]

1980s and 1990s – Robert Hanssen

Robert Hanssen was a high-ranking agent at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who spied for the Soviet Union and later for Russian intelligence services between 1979 and 2001.

Hanssen initially studied dentistry at Northwestern University before switching courses and receiving a degree in accounting and information systems. He worked as a police officer in Chicago before joining the FBI in 1976.

He approached Soviet military intelligence in 1979, eventually working with the KGB and its successor, the SVR. He operated using the alias “Ramon Garcia”.

Hanssen never met his handlers in person, instead using “dead drops” when he would leave classified documents in prearranged outdoor locations, including parks, wooded areas, under bridges and on street corners in the Washington, DC area, in exchange for cash or diamonds.

He handed over thousands of pages of classified material, including details about US nuclear war plans and the identities of Russian officials working for the US. At least two of those sources, including Dmitri Polyakov and Valery Marynov were executed.

The arrest in 1994 of Aldrich Ames, another US spy caught working for Russian intelligence, eventually led to his arrest in February 2001.

He pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and died in prison in 2023.

An undated FBI-issued photograph of Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent deemed a traitor by the government and considered one of the most damaging spies in US history [File: FBI/Handout HK/SVReuters]

2000s – Alexander Yuk Ching Ma

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma is a former CIA officer who was caught spying for China.

He worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989 and became a US citizen, living in Honolulu.

In March 2001, officers of China’s Shanghai State Security Bureau asked him to arrange a meeting with a now-deceased former CIA officer who served from 1967 to 1983. The two met in a Hong Kong hotel room for three days. In exchange for $50,000, they provided classified information to China.

The FBI became aware of his ties to Chinese intelligence and hired him as a contract linguist in its Honolulu office so that his activities could be monitored.

He was arrested in a sting after admitting to an undercover FBI employee that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to Chinese intelligence.

Ma pleaded guilty in May 2024 and is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.

October 8, 2026
In New Book, Joe Biden’s National Security Aide Brett McGurk Describes Jeffrey Katzenberg & Steven Spielberg Advising POTUS On Major Gaza Speech

Brett McGurk‘s new book Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages offers an insider account of the diplomatic rollercoaster to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in the war in Gaza.

The book, published this week, also offers a glimpse at White House messaging about the conflict, including two figures the president turned to in delivering a key speech: Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg.

McGurk, who served as deputy assistant for national security affairs to Biden, wrote of the scene as they prepared the president for his address on May 31, 2024. While Katzenberg and Spielberg’s role have been reported before, McGurk gave a first-hand account in the room, for a speech focused on a proposal to end the fighting and to secure a release of the hostages.

By that point, the Gaza conflict had created divisions within the Democratic coalition, protests at college campuses and presidential appearances and concerns over its impact on the November elections. There was pressure from the campaign for the president to make an address on the crisis, per McGurk.

McGurk wrote of the rehearsal, “In the Map Room, Biden peered at two screens behind me. ‘Jeffrey, Steven, welcome,’ he said. I turned around to see Jeffery Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg on Zoom. They greeted Biden warmly, Spielberg saying this was the speech they wanted to hear.

“It was a reminder that while I saw this speech as a policy address with a functional aim, it had a political purpose, too,” McGurk wrote.

He added, “The speech was timed for Friday night in Israel, when much of the country shuts down, allowing time for us to shape its reception there and around the world. Notably, we did not inform Netanyahu that we were making the speech until shortly before Biden delivered it, as we knew the address would lock Netanyahu into the terms of the deal now on the table.

“Biden said he was ready.

“Katzenberg advised, ‘Remember, slow Joe, let the audience hear every word.’

“Biden smiled, ‘Slow Joe? Don’t let Jill hear that.’

“He read through the draft, pausing at times to ask questions about the text, which we addressed with rewrites.”

McGurk wrote that he found Biden “fully engaged, leaning forward on the podium.”

He wrote, “The moguls told him he looked strong, and he did. There was no sign of the Biden we’d all see on a debate stage with Trump only four weeks later.”

The latter was a reference to Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump. What followed were weeks of calls on Biden to drop out, coming from some elected Democrats and prominent donors, until he exited the race on July 19. Katzenberg had played a prominent role as a top adviser to Biden’s re-election campaign.

While the Biden speech focused on a peace proposal, as it turned out, it would take until the next year, a week before Trump returned to office, for a ceasefire agreement to be reached.

October 8, 2026
Are US stores selling 3D-printed meat?

Claim:

Retail stores in the U.S. are selling 3D-printed meat, as of September.

Rating:

Context

A company called Steakholder Foods has launched a line of products under the brand name Perfecta. While the meat is 3D-printed, it is made from a formulation of plant material like other plant-based meats are. It is not made from cultured animal cells, which is often what people refer to when they mention “lab-grown meat.” It is not clear which grocery stores or retailers are selling Perfecta-branded food, though the company has said its products have reached shelves in certain Northeastern U.S retail locations.

Between September and October, social media users claimed that 3D-printed, lab-grown meat had started being sold in U.S. stores from early September.

For example, one Facebook post (archived) claims the 3D-printed meat “has federal clearance” but will not have a “lab-grown meat” label on its packaging. The post reads, in part:

The first 3D printed ‘meat’ has federal clearance and is about to be sold in the United States.

Packaging will not say ‘lab-grown meat’ because there is not a law that requires the packaging to say it was printed.

3D-printed plant-based food is already on shelves in the U.S.

Federal labels for cell-grown chicken and pork fat must be pre-approved and have used the words “cell-cultivated.”

The printed food was in stores on September 3 of this year.

The company Steakholder Foods put its Perfecta line into Northeast supermarkets.

The rumor has appeared elsewhere on Facebook (archived) and on Instagram (archived). Numerous Snopes readers also emailed us to ask if the story is true.

In short, on Sept. 3, Israeli company Steakholder Foods, which specializes in making 3D-printing technology for plant-based meats, announced the launch of its 3D-printed, plant-based meat products in Northeastern U.S. retailers under the brand name Perfecta. Therefore, the claim is true.

Steakholder Foods’ news release says its “Premium Plant-Based Meat” products were launched at retail locations in the Northeastern United States on Sept. 3, “marking the brand’s first commercial placement on U.S. store shelves.”

According to the webpage, the launch “focuses on building awareness and consumer trial throughout the Northeast U.S. market while establishing a foundation for broader expansion across additional regions.”

It is not clear which grocery stores or retailers have started selling or stocking the products.

Snopes reached out to the company via a contact form on its website for more information. We will update this article if we hear back.

According to Steakholder Foods, the company uses plant-based ingredients and cultivates cells to create what ultimately becomes the 3D-printed meat.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service do regulate “lab-grown” meat and require a label for such products. However, this regulation is specifically for food made with cultured animal cells, not for food made with other kinds of cells, which is what Perfecta products consist of.

Snopes reached out to both the FDA via contact form and the FSIS via email to confirm that there are not similar kinds of regulations for food made with other cultured cells, such as plant cells. Additionally, we asked both agencies to confirm if Perfecta products had received federal approval, as the above Facebook post states. We will update this story if we receive responses.

Based on how the product boxes appear on the website, there does not appear to be any text identifying the food as 3D-printed or made with cultured cells. The boxes do clearly identify the meat as “premium plant meat” and “plant-based.”

Manufacturers of plant-based meat products usually have to process their ingredient mixes in a way that allows them to mimic the texture of conventional meat. According to the Good Food Institute’s Asia-Pacific website, the most common processing method requires putting shear stress on the ingredients to align them into a meat-like texture. There are several other methods of processing plant-based meats, including 3D-printing.

For further reading, Snopes previously fact-checked a claim that a plant-based meat manufacturer was 3D-printing meat products in the Netherlands in 2024.

October 8, 2026
Do photos show gold statue of naked Trump at European Parliament?

Claim:

Photos authentically show a gold-covered statue depicting a naked U.S. President Donald Trump on display at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in early October.

Rating:

Several photos are circulating online purportedly showing a gold-covered statue depicting a naked U.S. President Donald Trump on display at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in early October.

For example, a popular Facebook page that shared one picture of the alleged sculpture wrote (archived):

NEWS: A 2.5-meter-tall statue depicting a naked, gold-covered Donald Trump has been unveiled inside the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The satirical sculpture, titled “Orange Plague” and also called “King of Injustice,” shows Trump sitting on the shoulders of another man while holding an enormous golf club. It is reportedly covered in 23-karat gold.

Other photographs of the artwork are also circulating on X (archived) and Instagram (archived).

In short, the photos are authentic and the statue is real. Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt created the piece and named it “The Orange Plague.” On Oct. 7, a spokesperson for the European Parliament’s press service confirmed via email that, as of this writing, it is on display at the parliament’s Winston Churchill building in Strasbourg, France. Galschiøt said via email that it is set be taken down on Oct. 8.

The sculpture in the pictures shared online matches the piece that can be seen in photos that Galschiøt and reputable news agency Reuters have published. The photographs spreading online also show no signs of being digitally edited or created. Therefore, those photos are authentic and do truly show a naked statue of Trump on display at the European Parliament.

Snopes contacted the White House for comment and for Trump’s take on Galschiøt’s work. We will update this article if we receive a response.

Why Galschiøt created the statue

On his website, Galschiøt describes “The Orange Plague” as “a satirical out-cry against Trump and the U.S. assault on the green transition and the rule-based world order.”

The artwork is 2.6 meters (approximately 8 feet, 5 inches) tall, made of copper and covered in 23 carat leaf gold, according to the sculptor. Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emporer’s New Clothes” tale — in which an emperor parades naked in front of his subjects because he believes he is wearing the finest clothes — inspired Galschiøt to depict Trump as naked.

“The illusion — sustained by fear and flattery — endures until a child cries out, ‘He’s not wearing any clothes’ — and the emperor becomes a figure of ridicule,” Galschiøt’s website says. The page adds that the gold on the sculpture also plays on this illusion, “Like Andersen’s emperor, he [Trump] believes the gold makes him great. It merely makes his nakedness shine brighter.”

Speaking via email on Oct. 7, Galschiøt said he initially approached left-wing Danish politician and European legislator Per Clausen MEP about displaying “The Orange Plague” at the European Parliament. The sculptor added that he was “astonished” the exhibition actually happened.

Galschiøt said he thought the European Parliament was the right place to display the piece because “it fits right into the discussion about whether the superpowers should have the right to bully smaller nations, and here Europe is the key player in standing up to them.”

When asked whether the artist had heard any reaction to the sculpture from Trump or the White House, Galschiøt said he had not heard from the U.S. president but also had not “had time to look” for reactions to his work.

On Oct. 7, a spokesperson for Clausen said via email that the pair had been discussing displaying the statue at the European Parliament for a couple of years. The politician reportedly said of the sculpture:

I know some people think we shouldn’t provoke Trump and therefore shouldn’t exhibit a sculpture like this. To them, I have to say two things: First, we cannot accept living in fear and self-censorship. Second, if someone is so thin-skinned that they cannot handle this sculpture being exhibited in the European Parliament, then they have no business on the world stage.

A European Parliament press service spokesperson said the office could not comment on individual cases but that, in general, its lawmakers, known as MEPs (Members of the European Parliament), could sponsor “two cultural events or exhibitions per parliamentary term.” The spokesperson said:

The rules in place foresee that cultural events and exhibitions shall under no circumstances be offensive or of an inflammatory nature or contradictory to the values on which the Union is founded or likely to give rise to disturbances in the designated exhibition areas.

The spokesperson said all sponsored events must be approved in advance by the College of Quaestors, a political body “responsible for administrative and financial matters directly concerning Members and their working conditions.”

A spokesperson for Clausen said the politician sponsored “The Orange Plague” exhibition at the European Parliament.

Before visiting Strasbourg, the piece was previously on display at the United Nations COP30 climate conference in Brazil. According to Galschiøt’s website, the artwork is also set to be on display at the COP31 climate conference in Turkey in November.

For further reading, Snopes has previously investigated other golden Trump sculptures, and statues the Trump administration coated in gold.

October 8, 2026