Colbert says CBS is ending ‘The Late Show’

CBS is axing “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in May 2026, the host told an audience at a taping Thursday.

The announcement came two days after Colbert spoke out against CBS Global settling with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” story.

“I am offended,” Colbert said in his monologue Monday night. “I don’t know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”

He said the technical name in legal circles for the deal was “big fat bribe.”

The news of the show being canceled also was announced in a news release sent from CBS with a link to a clip of Colbert’s announcement on Instagram.

The comedian and TV personality began by telling the audience he was sharing something he learned the night before, that “next year will be our last season. The network will be ending ‘The Late Show’ in May. ... It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”

The most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert as winning his time slot, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes. It also said his late-night show was the only one to gain viewers this year.

White House: Trump won’t recommend special counsel

President Donald Trump will not recommend a special counsel in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, a White House spokeswoman said Thursday, turning aside calls for further action in an inquiry that has roiled the Justice Department and angered supporters who had been expecting a treasure trove of documents from the case.

The rejection of a special counsel is part of an effort by the White House to turn the page from continued outrage from corners of Trump’s base over the Justice Department’s refusal last week to release additional records from the investigation into Epstein, a well-connected and wealthy financier who killed himself in jail in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Officials also said Epstein did not maintain a much-hyped “client list” and said the evidence was clear he had died by suicide despite conspiracy theories to the contrary.

U.S. says it destroyed 500 metric tons of expired food aid

The State Department says its destruction of 500 metric tons of emergency food aid that was stored in a warehouse in the Middle East was required because it had expired and that the move will not affect the distribution of similar assistance moving forward.

The high-energy biscuits — used primarily to provide immediate nutritional needs for children in crisis situations — had been stored in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to respond to emergencies and could no longer be safely sent to potential recipients, so it was destroyed, department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters Thursday.

The issue, first reported by The Atlantic, has been raised repeatedly in congressional hearings this week, with Democratic lawmakers accusing the Trump administration of creating a crisis and ignoring urgent humanitarian needs by suspending most foreign assistance in its first month in office.

Severe weather triggers state of emergency

North Carolina can seek federal funding to help its overloaded response efforts to Tropical Storm Chantal, which killed at least six people and left damage from flooding in its wake, as Gov. Josh Stein announced a state of emergency Thursday.

A one-two punch from Chantal followed by severe weather in the state’s center has “overwhelmed the response and recovery efforts of local governments,” according to Stein’s executive order.

Some rivers reached record-breaking levels from the storm, including the Eno River in Durham, one of several cities where some residents lost access to safe drinking water because of damage to the water system. In some places, the storm dumped as much as 9 to 12 inches of rain, according to the governor’s office.

American extradited from France pleads guilty to sex assault

An American extradited from France to face charges that he sexually assaulted a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 — and later sent her a Facebook message that said “So I raped you” — pleaded guilty Thursday.

Ian Cleary, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault more than a decade after Shannon Keeler says he sneaked into her first-year dorm at Gettysburg College on the eve of winter break and assaulted her. Cleary’s guilty plea was the first time she’d seen him since the assault.

Judge Kevin Hess set an Oct. 20 sentencing date. The two sides proposed a four- to eight-year sentence, which the judge can accept or not.

Britain will lower its voting age to 16 to help participation

Britain will lower the voting age from 18 to 16 by the next national election as part of measures to increase democratic participation, the government announced Thursday.

The center-left Labour Party pledged before it was elected in July 2024 to lower the voting age for elections to Britain’s Parliament. Scotland and Wales already let 16- and 17-year-olds vote in local and regional elections.

U.K. signs treaty on defense, migration, trade with Germany

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed a landmark treaty on Thursday that pledges to tighten defense ties, as European nations try to protect Ukraine, and themselves, from an aggressive Russia in the face of wavering support from President Donald Trump’s U.S.-focused administration.

Merz said it was “a historic day for German-British relations” as he signed an agreement that also commits the two countries to boost investment and strengthen law-enforcement cooperation against criminal people-smuggling gangs using the English Channel.

The treaty builds on a defense pact the U.K. and Germany signed last year committing to closer cooperation against the growing threat from Russia.

— Denver Post wire services