23/05/2026

SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2026

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Late Show host Stephen Colbert bows out

British climber summits Everest for 20th time

KATHMANDU: British climber Kenton Cool reached the top of Mount Everest for the 20th time yesterday, extending his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak by a non-Nepali. More than 600 climbers have reached the peak since the spring season summits kicked off this month, taking advantage of a brief spell of good weather and typically calmer winds. “It was reported that he summited Mt Everest early today,” said Khim Lal Gautam, a government official at the base camp. Mountain guide Cool, 52, first climbed Everest in 2004 and has since had an expedition almost every year, taking clients up the 8,849m peak. His 15th summit in 2021 tied him with American Dave Hahn for the most ascents by a non-Nepali climber, and his effort the following year gave him a solo title. Cool was once told he would not be able to walk unaided again after a rock-climbing accident in 1996 that broke both his heel bones. He told AFP in a 2022 interview after his 16th ascent that his Everest record was “not that amazing” in the context of achievements by Nepali climbers. At least seven Nepali climbers have more than 20 summits under their belt. “I’m really surprised by the interest ... considering that so many of the Sherpas have so many more ascents,” he said then. Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, 56, dubbed the “Everest Man”, broke his own world record with a 32nd summit of Everest on Sunday. Lhakpa Sherpa, 52, also broke her own women’s record with her 11th summit the same day. – AFP Baby Shark crosses one billion streams on Spotify SEOUL: The English version of Baby Shark , the hugely popular children’s song from South Korean educational brand The Pinkfong Company, has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, the company said yesterday. With the feat, the track became the first character intellectual property and children’s song to reach the milestone. Most other tracks with more than one billion streams on the global music streaming platform are hit songs by global artistes, such as Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, BTS and Blackpink, according to the company. Baby Shark , known for its catchy “Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo” refrain, is a children’s song beloved by young audiences for its simple melody and easy-to-follow chorus. A video based on the song Baby Shark Dance has amassed 16.9 billion views on YouTube, maintaining its status as the most viewed video on the platform globally for 65 consecutive months. The song was played 137 million times on Spotify over the past one year alone, which translates to an average of about 400,000 daily streams, or roughly five streams per second worldwide. “Over the past month, the top countries listening to the track include the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, along with Mexico, Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Turkiye and Indonesia,” the company said. “Its balanced consumption across Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania once again demonstrates its global appeal beyond language and borders.” The song previously debuted at No. 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, remaining on the chart for 20 weeks. – Bernama

o Cancellation linked to White House pressure

of the “wormhole” destroying Colbert’s show. He has told Colbert’s fans to cancel their subscriptions to CBS’ digital platform. Trump has repeatedly attacked media and press freedom since returning to office, using lawsuits and regulatory threats to retaliate for unflattering news coverage and jokes. Colbert has been coy about his next steps but announced he will be a writer on a future Lord of the Rings movie. Rival late-night hosts all aired re-runs on Thursday out of respect for Colbert’s swansong, which had an afterparty themed Fired and festive! – AFP

A huge crowd formed around the storied Manhattan theatre cheering every celebrity arrival and trying to listen through the stage door. Late-night hosts on the main networks have drawn Trump’s ire for their barbs against him and alleged liberal bias. Colbert’s fellow funnyman Jimmy Kimmel was briefly taken off the air last September by his network ABC after complaints about a remark he made over the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “You know, actually, one of these holes opened at my show last year, but it went away after about three days,” Kimmel said

NEW YORK: Paul McCartney led an all-star lineup for the final episode of The Late Show as frontman Stephen Colbert bowed out after broadcaster CBS cancelled his show as it courted President Donald Trump. But one A-lister who eluded the comic to the end was the pope, whom Colbert, a devout Catholic, had long touted as his dream guest. “The pope, who was definitely my guest tonight, has cancelled,” Colbert joked, blaming a dispute over hotdogs before McCartney appeared to rapturous cheers. The show, which Colbert has hosted since 2015, was axed after he mocked the broadcaster for a US$16 million (RM63.4 million) settlement with Trump for allegedly “maliciously” editing an interview with his Democratic election rival Kamala Harris. Colbert called it a “big fat bribe”. CBS has insisted the decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , the ratings leader in the time slot, was purely financial – and that it was a coincidence the move came as CBS parent company Paramount lobbied for government approval of its US$8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media. Around that time, CBS brought in Bari Weiss, a right-wing journalist without significant TV experience, to run its news division. In the weeks leading to Thursday’s curtain call, 62-year-old Colbert has at times cut a subdued figure, lacking some of his usual cheerful flair. On Thursday, he told the audience that “we were here to field the news with you, and I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt it”. Colbert did not mention Trump directly on Thursday, instead using a recurring CGI wormhole gag as a metaphor for the president’s impact on US public life. McCartney sang Beatles mega-hit Hello, Goodbye to the capacity crowd at New York’s Ed Sullivan theatre, where the Beatles performed in 1964 when they made their US debut. “We thought America was just the land of the free, the greatest democracy. Was. Still is hopefully,” he said, wagging his finger at Colbert. There were cameos from actors Tim Meadows, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds and Bryan Cranston. “It was amazing. No, he didn’t cry... he somehow kept his composure through it all,” audience member Koenraad Smits, 31, told AFP after the taping finished.

Colbert has hosted the show since 2015. – REUTERSPIC

A protester making a sign outside the Ed Sullivan Theater on Thursday. – REUTERSPIC

Cuba president responds to US indictment MEXICO CITY: Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel has responded to the indictment of former president and revolutionary leader Raul Castro by President Donald Trump over the deaths of three US citizens in 1996. dossier they use to justify military aggression. “The US lies and distorts the events surrounding the downing of the planes belonging to the narco-terrorist organisation Brothers to the Rescue in 1996,”President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X.

publicised extrajudicial executions against civilian vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific,” Diaz-Canel said. The indictment against the 94-year-old Castro comes during the anniversary of the US protectorate established under the Platt Amendment, which the US government and the Cuban diaspora in North America describe as Cuban Independence Day. To commemorate the date, the Trump administration released a statement claiming that over the past seven decades, the Cuban government has strangled the country’s economy and repressed its people, pushing the state toward collapse. On social media, Diaz-Canel criticised Trump’s message, arguing that it dismissed the economic sanctions imposed on the island and its people since the 1960s. – Bernama

The US Department of Justice announced a superseding indictment charging Castro with the murder of four people, including three US citizens. Fidel Castro’s younger brother and successor is accused of taking part in the shooting down of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft on Feb 24, 1996. The charges were unveiled at a critical moment amid escalating economic aggression and military threats carried out by the US government against Cuba. “This is a political manoeuvre, devoid of legal foundation, aimed at padding the fabricated

The Cuban government has maintained that its actions were legitimate and intended to safeguard Cuban airspace. It has also been argued that Brothers to the Rescue founder Jose Basulto was an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and part of an anti-Castro group involved in acts of violence in Cuba. “It knows full well, given the abundance of documentary evidence, that no imprudent action was taken nor was international law violated, as US military forces have indeed been doing with their coldly calculated and openly