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BBC news executives asked to ‘step aside’
US lawmakers demand inquiry into David Petraeus affair
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Bus carrying Indian fishermen meets with accident in Pakistan
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BBC news executives asked to ‘step aside’
London, November 12 The famed broadcaster also faced fresh pressure after reports that its chief executive George Entwistle, who quit dramatically would receive a staggering payoff of £450,000, which Prime Minister David Cameron said was "hard to justify". BBC's director of news Helen Boaden and her deputy Steve Mitchell were asked to stand aside till an inquiry committee into Savile affair was completed, the broadcaster said. The suspension of two executives follows resignation of the company's director-general, leaving the broadcaster in chaos as it fights the fallout from allegations that its late star Savile was a serial sex offender and from a television report that wrongly implicated a Tory politician in child abuse. Reports said pressure was also mounting on BBC's chairman Chris Patten to quit as well as speculation that a number of senior figures at the BBC were set lose their jobs. The chain of resignations follows a report into a Newsnight broadcast on abuse claims, which said the BBC must resolve a "lack of clarity" in the chain of command. The quitting of the director-general with a fancy pay-off triggered off widespread protests, with the Prime Minister saying it was a matter for George Entwistle's conscience as to whether he expected the full payoff - a year's salary after just two months in the job. Culture secretary Maria Miller said: "The [BBC] Trust will need to justify this - it is accountable to licence fee payers in ensuring value for money, and we expect it to have considered that carefully." The opposition Labour Party asked for an urgent question in the House of Commons on the pay-out. Reports said the two executives had removed themselves from making decisions on some areas of BBC News output while a separate inquiry, by former head of Sky News Nick Pollard, was held into that decision. Ken MacQuarrie, director of BBC Scotland, in his report on the north Wales broadcast, said: "To address the lack of clarity around the editorial chain of command, a decision has been taken to re-establish a single management to deal with all output, Savile-related or otherwise. "Helen Boaden has decided that she is not in a position to undertake this responsibility until the Pollard review has concluded." He added: "Consideration is now being given to the extent to which individuals should be asked to account further for their actions and if appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken." The BBC said once the Pollard Review reports, Ms Boaden and Mr Mitchell "expect to then return to their positions". — PTI
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US lawmakers demand inquiry into David Petraeus affair
Washington, November 12 "It came like a lightning bolt," Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Dianne Feinstein said yesterday during Congressional hearings on the possible intelligence and security lapses surrounding the terror attack on US mission in Benghazi. "This is something that could have had an effect on national security," Feinstein said. "I think we should have been told." She said the committee would "absolutely" investigate why the FBI did not notify relevant officials sooner. The demand of an inquiry into the Petraeus episode came as law enforcement agencies identified Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, as the woman whose report of harassing e-mails eventually exposed an extramarital affair between Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, a former Army officer who wrote a biography of the retired four-star general, the Washington Post reported. The departure in disgrace of one of the administration's most respected and prominent figures comes as President Barack Obama is reorgansing his national-security team for a second term. Petraeus was to have been a primary candidate for a berth. The Petraeus affair overshelved the Congressional hearing with Representative Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, saying, "It just doesn't add up that you have this type of investigation. The FBI is investigating e-mails, the e-mails leading to the CIA director, taking four months to find out that the CIA director was involved." "I have real questions about this. I think a timeline has to be looked at and analysed to see what happened," King said on CNN's "State of the Union." The FBI investigation began after Kelley visited the bureau's Tampa office in early summer and provided investigators with harshly worded e-mails accusing her of seeking an intimate relationship with Petraeus. After Kelley turned over the e-mails, FBI investigators determined that they had come from Broadwell. An examination of Broadwell's accounts led to the discovery of exchanges between her and Petraeus - who used an address with a fictitious name, not his CIA or military account. — PTI |
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Bus carrying Indian fishermen meets with accident in Pakistan Lahore, November 12 The Lahore-bound bus collided with a speeding truck at Jehanian, located 330 km from the capital of Punjab province, an official of the Highway Police Patrol said. Four of the fishermen sustained minor injuries and police took them to a nearby hospital where they were provided first aid, he said. The fishermen had boarded the bus in Karachi yesterday after being freed from a jail in the southern port city. They were to be handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah land border crossing today. Following the accident, their repatriation was put off till tomorrow, officials said. Leading rights activist Ansar Burney, whose trust provided the bus that was transporting the fishermen, said arrangements were made to send them to Lahore in another vehicle. "We will try to organise their repatriation to India as soon as possible so that the fishermen can celebrate Diwali with their families," Burney told PTI. Pakistan and India arrest dozens of fishermen every year for violating their maritime boundaries. The fishermen sometimes languish in jail for months even after completing their prison terms. — PTI |
Greenpeace warns of ‘overfishing crisis’ in Indian Ocean Iran to test new air defence system Taiwan tests new anti-ship missile |
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