- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
- China economy hopes boost global equities
- Ubisoft shares sink after 'Assassin's Creed' delay
- German economy to shrink again in 2024: think tanks
- Hong Kong's New World Development replaces CEO Adrian Cheng
- Swiss central bank cuts rate again amid strong franc worries
- Germany's BASF to focus on 'core units' in major overhaul
- China admits economy facing new 'problems', vows to fix property sector
- Stock markets boosted by China hopes, tech rally
- Bangladesh revolution sparks new hopes among Rohingya
Murdoch media empire succession drama plays out in US tribunal
A US tribunal began picking over the bitter spat between media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his children Monday in a case that could determine the fate of his empire, including the influential right-wing Fox News.
The hearings in Nevada are playing out behind closed doors despite a bid by an alliance of media outlets, including the New York Times, which first reported details of the judicial battle, for access to proceedings.
Murdoch, 93, is in the eye of a legal storm as several of his children seek to block him changing the terms of a family trust to ensure his favored son Lachlan gains control of his sprawling media assets after his death.
It's a plot worthy of the hit fictional TV series "Succession," in part inspired by the Murdoch family, in which a billionaire mogul fights his children over his empire's future.
In Nevada, Murdoch's children James, Prudence and Elisabeth are bitterly opposing changes that would dilute their formerly equal eventual control of Murdoch's companies.
Amid a heavy security presence, Murdoch, who wore a blue spotted tie and held hands with his new wife Elena Zhukova, 67, smiled and shook his head as he entered the colonnaded tribunal, TV images showed.
- Family feud sensation -
Observers warn the legal battle will have profound consequences for Murdoch's empire -- which transformed tabloid newspapers, cable TV and satellite broadcasting across multiple countries, but also faces accusations of stoking populism across the English-speaking world.
Critics credit Brexit in Britain and the rise of former US president Donald Trump at least partly to Murdoch and his outlets.
Lachlan is reportedly more aligned with his father's deeply conservative worldview, and took the reins of News Corp and Fox Corporation in the fall of 2023.
His three siblings are said to be more politically centrist.
In a sign of the schism, James, who stood down from News Corp in 2020, has come out in support of Democrat Kamala Harris, facing off against Republican Trump in this year's presidential election.
Rupert Murdoch's lawyers argue he "is trying to protect James, Elisabeth and Prudence by ensuring that they won't be able to moderate Fox's politics or disrupt its operations with constant fights over leadership," according to the New York Times, which accessed court documents.
In a preliminary ruling, the probate tribunal did not oppose a change to the trust in Lachlan's favor, but will nonetheless hear arguments from all sides this week. It will then make recommendations.
News Corp, with revenues of $10 billion in 2023, is a dominating force in publishing through HarperCollins, in US newspapers with the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, and in Britain's cutthroat print market with The Sun and The Times.
Fox Corporation is the parent company of Fox News.
Following the 2020 election, the conservative TV network agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million after the voting machine company sued it for airing false claims that it rigged the vote against Trump.
D.Philippon--CPN