Controversies & Scandals

KUALA LUMPUR: A Chinese daily’s report on the alleged auction of a Vietnamese woman at a market in Rawang, which created an international stir, appears to be false. Police have ascertained that the report was based on hearsay and two sources quoted in the report yesterday denied that they had spoken to the reporter. Selangor CID chief Datuk Hadi Ho Abdullah said police, accompanied by the reporter...

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A daily newspaper fired its courthouse reporter after he posted anonymous opinions on the public forum portion of the publication's Web site, including comments critical of his own employer, the reporter said. Justin Quinn said he was fired last month from the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, where he had worked for more than six years. He declined to discuss the content of his...

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Times suspended an Internet blog written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter because the paper says he posted items using assumed names. The newspaper is still investigating the postings on its online Golden State blog by Michael Hiltzik, a Times spokeswoman said. "Hiltzik admitted Thursday that he posted items on the paper's website, and on other websites, under...

Maputo, Mozambique, 04/15 - The Maputo City Court has sentenced Osvaldo Tembe, a former Mozambican journalist with the weekly "Zambeze" newspaper, to eight months in jail for blackmail and extortion. National news agency, AIM reported Friday that Tembe was expelled from Zambeze in mid-March, after the paper`s management accused him of receiving money in exchange for suppressing a story. Tembe...

A Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court granted ad-interim relief to the Chief Editor of `Deshonnati’ a local Marathi daily, in the case of allegedly abetting suicide of one of his staff members. While, granting protection against arrest to Prakash Pohare, Justice Bhushan Gavai issued notice to state government and directed Sonegaon police not to arrest him till April 18. On April 7, police...

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) A TV reporter in Fukuoka Prefecture who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of raping a high school girl in November has admitted raping other women, police said Monday. Hiroyuki Kitamura, 29, a reporter at RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corp. and a resident of the city of Fukuoka, was arrested Sunday along with Toshio Tashima, 39, a gas station employee residing in Onojo, Fukuoka...

Police arrested a TV reporter and a gas station attendant in Fukuoka Prefecture on Sunday on suspicion of gang-raping a high school student last November, local police said. The suspects are identified as Hiroyuki Kitamura, 29, a reporter at RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corp., and Toshio Tashima, 39. They both have admitted to the allegations, according to the police. "If the suspicions are true...

Paris - A CNN journalist in Paris on Wednesday described as "regrettable" a comparison made by the US chain's anchor between jobs protests in Paris and the Tiananmen Square uprising in Beijing. "Unfortunately I have to say that this reference to Tiananmen was regrettable," said Chris Burns during a reception with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. "It was one small comment by a...

The Associated Press has confirmed using a Raw Story report as the basis for a Mar. 14 article detailing a change to national security clearance policies but has refused to issue credit for the piece. Their article, "Security Clearance Rules May Impede Gays," signaled an apparent Bush Administration attempt to tighten security clearances with regard to gay Americans. It attributed the discovery of...

(Comtex Community Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)BRUSSELS, Mar 27, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A Belgian journalist armed with a pistol and plastic explosives came within striking distance of French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during last week's summit of European Union in Brussels. The operation was filmed and was aired on Monday night in the website of news magazine...