BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The Hungarian service of Radio Free Europe, Szabad Európa, ceased its operations on Friday after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced it would no longer fund the pro-democracy news outlet.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the U.S. government, was first established during the Cold War to provide news and information to people living within the Soviet Union and behind the Iron Curtain. Its programs are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The Hungarian service was terminated in 1993 but reintroduced in 2020 after the United States Agency for Global Media, an independent federal agency, and the U.S. Congress approved its relaunching in response to Hungary’s steep decline in media freedom under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

In a statement on Thursday announcing the end of its operations, Szabad Európa wrote that it had “worked with dedication to provide the best of journalism and objective information to Hungarian readers.”

“We thank you for the trust, interest and support we have received from our audience,” the statement reads, adding that its articles will still be available online.

The shuttering of Szabad Európa came as the Trump administration has made major cuts to international broadcasters like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America, as well as domestic public broadcasters PBS and NPR.

Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate whom Trump named a senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, informed Congress in a letter earlier this month that the agency would no longer fund Szabad Európa, writing that its operations in Hungary were “not aligned with U.S. national interests” and that they “undermined” Trump’s foreign policy.

In a post on X two days later — the day Trump hosted Orbán for talks in the White House — Lake wrote that “The Globalists are more than welcome to hate our ally Viktor Orbán.”

“What they are not entitled to is the use of YOUR money to destabilize the Hungarian regime via taxpayer-funded programming on Szabad Európa. We’re putting a stop to that,” she wrote. Orbán responded to her post with gratitude, writing, “Thank you!”

Since returning to power in 2010, Orbán, a Trump ally, has overseen the construction of a massive pro-government media machine in Hungary while numerous independent newspapers and outlets have been shuttered or brought under the control of figures with close government ties.

According to press watchdog Reporters Without Borders, Orbán has used media buyouts by government-connected oligarchs to build “a true media empire subject to his party’s orders.” The group estimates that such buyouts have given Orbán’s party control of some 80% of Hungary’s media market resources. In 2021, it put Orbán on its list of media “predators,” the first European Union leader to earn the distinction.

Earlier this year, Orbán’s party introduced legislation that would blacklist and fine critical media outlets that receive funding or grants from abroad.

JERUSALEM, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinian villagers, activists and journalists on Saturday who had gathered during an attempt to harvest olives near a settler outpost in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, witnesses said.

Two Reuters employees – a journalist and a security adviser accompanying her – were among those injured in the attack by the men who wielded sticks and clubs and hurled large rocks, in an area close to the Palestinian village of Beita.

The area, lying south of the West Bank city of Nablus, has in past years been a flashpoint for settler attacks, which increased across the West Bank after the war in Gaza began two years ago. Such attacks have escalated during this year’s olive harvest, which began in October.

As the number of such attacks has climbed, Israeli and other activists have often joined Palestinians to support them and their right to harvest their olive groves, while also documenting any violence. Activists or local Palestinians often inform journalists of harvesting plans, so they can attend to report, particularly in flashpoint areas, such as outposts.

Settler outposts, which can include a collection of caravans or sturdier structures, do not have approval by the Israeli authorities. Palestinians and most nations regard any settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.

The Israel Defense Forces said they had dispatched soldiers to the scene after receiving what they described as reports of a confrontation.

Witnesses said they saw no Israeli soldiers at the scene.

“The IDF condemns any act of violence and will continue to operate to maintain security and order in the area,” the military said in a statement to Reuters, adding that police would conduct any further review of the incident.

The police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A spokesperson for Israel’s Shomron Regional Council which represents the settlements in the area did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Saturday, about 30 villagers and activists, plus about 10 journalists, had gathered for the harvest when dozens of men descended from the outpost on a hill and launched an attack, beating people with sticks and repeatedly striking Reuters photographer Raneen Sawafta as she tried to protect herself, witnesses said.

Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli rights activist who witnessed the incident, said about 50 masked settlers were involved, saying those who attacked Sawafta “beat her up without mercy, continuing to stone her while she was on the ground and then continuing to attack everyone who was coming to her help.”

He said the settlers shouted in Hebrew, including comments such as “Go from there.”

Sawafta was accompanied by Reuters security adviser Grant Bowden who was beaten as he tried to protect her. Her camera equipment was smashed.

Both wore helmets and had clear “Press” labels on their protective jackets. Sawafta’s helmet had a large dent after the attack. An ambulance took them both for medical checks and treatment at a hospital in the Palestinian city of Nablus.

Several other people were also injured in the incident.

“We call upon Israeli authorities to investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable – and to ensure that journalists can work freely and without harm,” Reuters said in a statement.

Israeli settlers carried out at least 264 attacks in the West Bank against Palestinians in October, the biggest monthly total since U.N. officials began tracking such incidents in 2006, according to a U.N. report released on Friday.

Israeli rights groups say such incidents are rarely investigated by the Israeli authorities and perpetrators are rarely held to account.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh, Maayan Lubell and Emily Rose in Jerusalem; Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Diane Craft)

NEW YORK (AP) — Two major news agencies demanded that Israel explain what happened during a strike on a hospital in Gaza last month that killed five journalists, calling for concrete actions and accountability to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Reuters and The Associated Press — through their top editors, Alessandra Galloni and Julie Pace — urged the Israeli government to “explain the deaths of these journalists and to take every step to protect those who continue to cover this conflict.” Their statement came on the one-month anniversary of the strike.

Killed in the strikes were five journalists, including visual journalist Mariam Dagga, who worked for AP and other news organizations; Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri; and Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist whose work had been published by Reuters. Seventeen others were killed in the strike.

“We renew our demand for a clear account from the Israeli authorities and urge the government to uphold its obligations to ensure press freedom and protection,” the statement from the AP and Reuters said. “We remain devastated and outraged by their deaths.”

The journalists died at the Nasser Hospital, which the agencies pointed out is a location protected under international law and “widely known to be crucial for news coverage out of Gaza.”

“An incident of this gravity requires a prompt and clear explanation, followed by accountability and concrete actions to ensure such attacks are never repeated,” the statement said.

The two agencies wrote a joint letter immediately after the attack, but that Israel has not responded. The Israeli military said it launched an investigation into the incident.

The Gaza war has been deadly for those covering it. Nearly 200 journalists and media workers have been killed in the region since the attacks by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Comparatively, 18 journalists have been killed so far in Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the CPJ.

AP reporting on the attack on the hospital raised serious questions about Israel’s rationale for the strikes and the way they were carried out.

The agencies’ statement was issued a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly during its annual leaders’ meeting.

Dagga, 33, was among the war’s victims. She and the four other reporters were killed when Israeli forces struck Nasser Hospital in the Gaza town of Khan Younis, along with 17 other people.

The Israeli military said it targeted what it believed was a Hamas surveillance camera in the hospital attack, without providing evidence, and that the journalists weren’t the targets. The prime minister called the attack a ‘“mishap.’’