The outgoing boss of the British Broadcasting Corporation said he was "very proud" of the BBC's journalists, two days after he quit following accusations of bias and the threat of legal action from U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I'm very, very proud of our journalists in this building. They're doing work I think is incredibly important," Tim Davie said on Tuesday, the first time he has spoken publicly since announcing his resignation on Sunday.
"They're doing a wonderful job," he added.
Davie, who has been Director General since 2020, also tried to calm worries over the future of the broadcaster.
"The BBC is going to be thriving, and I support everyone on the team," he said.
The publicly-funded BBC Head of News Deborah Turness, also quit on Sunday, plunging it into its biggest crisis in decades and dominating the front of Britain's newspapers on Tuesday.
Public trust
Analysts say the resignations have exposed deep frictions over governance and editorial standards, raising questions about whether the BBC can maintain public trust.
Legal action
An internal memo by a former BBC adviser accused it of editorial failings on President Donald Trump, the Israel-Hamas war and transgender coverage.
Trump has now threatened legal action for the editing of a speech he made in 2021 on the day his supporters overran the Capitol.
His lawyers said that BBC must retract the "Panorama" documentary by 14 November or face a lawsuit for "no less" than $1 billion, according to a letter sent on Sunday.
BBC apologises
BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for the "error of judgment" in the edit included in a Panorama documentary aired shortly before the November 2024 U.S. presidential election.
In a letter to British lawmakers, Shah also rejected claims of systemic bias, saying surveys showed Britons trusted BBC News more than any other outlet.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the BBC was not "corrupt" or "institutionally biased" and stressed the need for it to maintain high standards.
The programme - produced by a third party - spliced together remarks delivered nearly an hour apart, omitting Trump's call for peaceful protest, creating the impression he urged violence.
The BBC, founded in 1922 and funded largely by a licence fee paid by all TV-owning households, is now without a permanent leader as it faces a review of its funding model.
The current 10-year charter expires in 2027. This is the Royal charter that is a constitutional document that guarentees the BBC's independence from the government.
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The Iran-U.S.-Israel conflict is intensifying, with fresh strikes near Tehran, European calls for restraint, and Iran threatening to target U.S. firms in the region, raising fears of a broader escalation across the Middle East.
Three Armenian citizens have been charged following an alleged attempt to attack Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at St Anna Cathedral in Yerevan on 29 March. Analysts say the incident reflects rising tensions between the government and the Church ahead of upcoming elections.
HHungary’s foreign minister has been drawn into controversy after an audio recording, released by an investigative outlet, appeared to show him discussing EU sanctions with his Russian counterpart days before an election that could shape Budapest’s relationship with Moscow, Reuters reports.
China and Kenya have agreed to revive a long-delayed railway project, signalling renewed momentum in infrastructure cooperation and a shift towards more sustainable financing models across Africa.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the U.S is in talks with the new Iranian regime. He said this in a post on his Truth Social account but warned that the U.S. will "Obliterate" Iran's electric and oil facilities if no deal is reached, especially regarding the Strait of Hormuz closure.
NASA is aiming to launch its Artemis 2 mission on Wednesday (1 April), sending astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, officials confirmed. According to the Space Administration, the launch window is due to open at 23:24 GMT, with additional opportunities to 6 April if delays occur.
The Iran-U.S.-Israel conflict is intensifying, with fresh strikes near Tehran, European calls for restraint, and Iran threatening to target U.S. firms in the region, raising fears of a broader escalation across the Middle East.
The war in Iran has rapidly upended regional security, triggering spillover across the Middle East and raising fears of wider economic disruption that could threaten globalisation.
The Israeli military said on Monday that Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, and an attack had also been launched from Yemen for the second time since the U.S.-Israeli war began on Tehran. It said two drones from Yemen were intercepted early 30 March but gave no further details.
A Russia-flagged tanker carrying about 700,000 barrels of crude has arrived in Cuba’s Matanzas Bay, marking the first major oil delivery to the island since the Trump administration cut off its fuel supplies.
China and Kenya have agreed to revive a long-delayed railway project, signalling renewed momentum in infrastructure cooperation and a shift towards more sustainable financing models across Africa.
HHungary’s foreign minister has been drawn into controversy after an audio recording, released by an investigative outlet, appeared to show him discussing EU sanctions with his Russian counterpart days before an election that could shape Budapest’s relationship with Moscow, Reuters reports.
The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre and to voice their support for Ukraine, amid tensions within the bloc over blocked EU aid.
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