https://www.scmp.com/rss/275129/feed Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE, was an eccentric British broadcaster and disc jockey best known for his BBC television show, Jim'll Fix It, and his extensive charity work. Born in October 1926, he became a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg in 1958 which led to work on Tyne Tees Television and finally, the BBC. He was both the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops. Over several decades, and until his death in 2011, he raised millions of pounds for charities and... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The BBC defended on Wednesday its handling of a DJ sacked years after he was the subject of a police investigation into allegations of sexual offences against a teenage boy. The controversy surrounding former radio host Scott Mills, 53, is the latest involving a high-profile presenter to roil the publicly funded broadcaster. London’s Metropolitan Police said this week that it questioned Mills in 2018 over allegations of “serious sexual offences” against a boy under the age of 16. The case was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3348708/bbc-defends-action-new-sex-abuse-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3348708/bbc-defends-action-new-sex-abuse-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:54:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The BBC’s top leader and head of its news division resigned over criticism of how the broadcaster edited US President Donald Trump’s speech before some of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The scandal leading to Sunday’s resignations is hardly the first controversy to hit Britain’s publicly funded broadcaster - or to topple one of its leaders. The editorially independent British Broadcasting Corporation was founded in 1922 to be impartial, act in the public interest and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332261/how-scandals-britains-bbc-have-rocked-its-leadership-over-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332261/how-scandals-britains-bbc-have-rocked-its-leadership-over-years?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:59:35 +0000 Former BBC anchor Huw Edwards, once one of the most trusted and recognisable faces on British television, on Monday avoided jail over indecent photographs of children, capping a stunning fall from grace. The 63-year-old presenter was instead handed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, meaning he will not serve any time in prison if he does not reoffend. Edwards guided Britons through some of their country’s most seismic events over the past two decades, including the death of Queen... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3278762/ex-bbc-anchor-huw-edwards-avoids-jail-over-repugnant-child-images-gets-suspended-sentence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3278762/ex-bbc-anchor-huw-edwards-avoids-jail-over-repugnant-child-images-gets-suspended-sentence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2024 12:16:37 +0000 In a hushed courtroom in the north of England in March, jurors in the trial of a former national radio disc jockey accused of molesting youngsters in the Philippines listened intently, as a prosecuting lawyer conjured up the monsters of their own childhoods. The crimes of some of Britain’s most notorious and reviled paedophiles – television presenters Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall, and pop star Gary Glitter – were paraded before the jury to remind them how they destroyed lives from behind a cloak... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3176820/online-child-sex-abuse-soars-during-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3176820/online-child-sex-abuse-soars-during-covid-19?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 08:45:16 +0000 A man who falsely accused British establishment figures of involvement in a murderous VIP paedophile ring, triggering a huge police investigation, has been jailed for 18 years. Carl Beech, 51, claimed that he had been sadistically raped and abused by several famous figures in the 1970s and 1980s, including former prime minister Edward Heath. The explosive allegations gripped British newspapers, politicians and the police. But his claims, which led to a £2 million (US$2.5 million) police inquiry,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3020315/uk-man-carl-beech-jailed-18-years-after-inventing-false-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3020315/uk-man-carl-beech-jailed-18-years-after-inventing-false-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Jul 2019 17:33:19 +0000 British police say they are investigating new sexual abuse allegations against disgraced publicist Max Clifford. Police said on Saturday they had received new information about possible offences committed by Clifford. Clifford, the king of tabloid kiss-and-tell scandals, was sentenced to eight years in jail on Friday for a string of sex assaults against teenagers. The 71-year-old, who masterminded countless sleazy celebrity stories and kept even more stars out of the headlines, thought he was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1502895/british-pr-king-max-clifford-given-8-year-jail-term-sex-assaults?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1502895/british-pr-king-max-clifford-given-8-year-jail-term-sex-assaults?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 May 2014 13:54:48 +0000 Max Clifford, Britain's top public relations guru, was found guilty yesterday of a string of sexual assaults in the first conviction stemming from a police investigation launched after the Jimmy Savile scandal. The publicist, known in Britain for handling high-profile celebrity scandals and representing television mogul Simon Cowell, was convicted of eight counts of indecent assault stemming from attacks on teenagers dating back more 40 years. Clifford had called the accusations "utterly untrue,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1499387/uk-public-relations-guru-max-clifford-convicted-sexual-assaults?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1499387/uk-public-relations-guru-max-clifford-convicted-sexual-assaults?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:35:38 +0000 Late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, branded one of Britain’s worst sex offenders, said he brushed off women who accused him of assault “like midges” and claimed they were trying to make money by selling stories about him, it emerged on Tuesday. Savile’s comments were revealed in the newly-released transcript of an interview with police in October 2009, two years before he died at the age of 84. Detectives brought him in for questioning over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a number of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1332872/jimmy-savile-brushed-accusatory-women-midges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1332872/jimmy-savile-brushed-accusatory-women-midges?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:31:07 +0000 British police on Thursday arrested a 82-year-old man as part of the investigation into widespread sexual abuses launched following the Jimmy Savile scandal. Metropolitan Police said officers from Operation Yewtree, established last year following a slew of abuse claims against late BBC presenter Savile, had detained a man from Berkshire, south England, on suspicion of sexual offences. Police stressed that the arrest was not connected to the specific allegations made against Savile and added... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1202390/british-police-arrest-11th-man-savile-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1202390/british-police-arrest-11th-man-savile-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2013 02:00:21 +0000 ound 50 victims of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile are set to seek damages from the late broadcaster’s estate and from organisations including the BBC and Britain’s health service, their lawyer said on Saturday. A report by British police on Friday said Savile “groomed the nation” over six decades, hiding behind his fame to assault girls, boys and adult women on BBC premises and in schools and hospitals. Liz Dux, a lawyer representing more than 50 of Savile’s victims, said that because Savile had... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1126553/british-star-saviles-victims-set-seek-damages-lawyer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1126553/british-star-saviles-victims-set-seek-damages-lawyer?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jan 2013 12:42:32 +0000 Beijing Book Fair gets under way The annual Beijing Book Fair opens, featuring 500,000 titles by over 650 publishers. More than 3,500 bookstores and government buying agencies from home and abroad will attend the fair. According to the organiser, 2,350 exhibition booths at the China International Exhibition Centre have been reserved. For the first time, the fair will provide retail services and sell used books at a discount.   Carrie Lam heads for Shenzhen talks Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1125036/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1125036/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 An official report has strongly criticised the BBC's handling of allegations of child sex abuse against late presenter Jimmy Savile but cleared the corporation of a cover-up. The report sparked the resignation of the BBC's deputy director of news, Stephen Mitchell, and led to the editor and deputy editor of the programme at the centre of the scandal being replaced. Savile, who died last year at the age of 84, was one of the BBC's top television and radio presenters. The allegations against him... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1108650/report-slams-bbcs-handling-jimmy-savile-child-sex-allegations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1108650/report-slams-bbcs-handling-jimmy-savile-child-sex-allegations?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The BBC appointed a former journalist who runs the Royal Opera House to lead the broadcaster yesterday after sex abuse scandals that shook public trust in one of Britain's most treasured institutions. Tony Hall, a former head of BBC news division, was named weeks after the hapless George Entwistle resigned from the job - in a secret, emergency process aimed at restoring stability to the crisis-hit broadcaster. He is due to take up his post in early March 2013. This comes as commercial television... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1088700/scandal-hit-bbc-appoints-tony-hall-new-director-general?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1088700/scandal-hit-bbc-appoints-tony-hall-new-director-general?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The BBC will pay a former British politician £185,000 (HK$2.23 million) in damages over a news report that led to him being falsely accused of child sex abuse. "The BBC has agreed terms with Lord McAlpine to settle his claim of libel against the corporation," said a BBC statement on Thursday. "The settlement is comprehensive and reflects the gravity of the allegations that were wrongly made." The statement confirmed that Alistair McAlpine, who was Conservative Party treasurer under former prime... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1084128/bbc-pays-hk223m-alistair-mcalpine-over-defamation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1084128/bbc-pays-hk223m-alistair-mcalpine-over-defamation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A legal letter sent on behalf of Mark Thompson, the former director general of the BBC, seems to contradict his assertions that he learned of accusations of sexual abuse against longtime host Jimmy Savile only after leaving the corporation's top job. In the letter, sent 10 days before Thompson left the BBC in September, lawyers representing him and another executive threatened to sue The Sunday Times of London over contentions in an article it was preparing that they had been involved in killing... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1084127/legal-letter-raises-doubts-over-ex-bbc-chief-thompsons-denial-savile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1084127/legal-letter-raises-doubts-over-ex-bbc-chief-thompsons-denial-savile?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Former radio DJ Dave Lee Travis was arrested yesterday as part of the police investigation set up in the wake of allegations against his BBC colleague Jimmy Savile, British media reported. Police said a man in his 60s was being held on suspicion of sexual offences, the fourth arrest in connection with the Savile investigation. He was not officially named by police. British media said a neighbour of Travis, 67, had visited his wife at their home in Bedfordshire, southeast England, to lend her... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1083494/former-bbc-dj-dave-lee-travis-held-part-jimmy-savile-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1083494/former-bbc-dj-dave-lee-travis-held-part-jimmy-savile-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 They are words that the BBC isn’t accustomed to hearing about itself: “shoddy journalism” on one of its premier investigative programmes, “unacceptable mistakes” by senior staff, a director general with “the leadership qualities of Winnie the Pooh”. The august British broadcaster, one of the world’s biggest media brands, is battling mounting criticism and outright ridicule as it scrambles to contain its worst crisis in years. Public faith in “the Beeb” has plunged as the result of one programme... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1082017/bbc-faces-credibility-crisis-over-botched-paedophile-probes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1082017/bbc-faces-credibility-crisis-over-botched-paedophile-probes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:08:19 +0000 The BBC showed "basic" journalistic failures in a news report in which it wrongly accused a senior politician of child abuse, an internal investigation has found. The findings were announced after the BBC's acting director-general, Tim Davie, pledged to "get a grip" of the deepening crisis at the world's largest publicly-funded broadcaster as two more top news executives stood aside. The investigation into the allegations that a former Conservative party treasurer, Alistair McAlpine, had abused... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1081784/bbc-showed-basic-failings-abuse-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1081784/bbc-showed-basic-failings-abuse-story?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A media organisation has to produce accurate, reliable and balanced journalism if it is to be trusted by its audience. The BBC's credibility has been damaged by its failure to check the correctness of one report and unexplained dropping of another. Rightly, its director general, George Entwistle, as well as its news director and deputy director have resigned. Chris Patten, the head of its governing body, has called for a radical overhaul. The pledge has to be followed to the letter to try to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1081153/bbc-needs-urgent-shake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1081153/bbc-needs-urgent-shake?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 We would avoid investing in countries that do not welcome us. There are other places to invest Lou Jiwei, chief executive of China's sovereign wealth fund, which is to focus more on Asia   If you moaned about it, you were told not to say those awful things about Jimmy Deborah Cogger, whose complaints of being sexually abused by British TV host Jimmy Savile were ignored   It shocks me how people continue in this type of reckless behaviour … and don't seem to think there's going to be a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1080161/who-said-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1080161/who-said-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 George Entwistle came to the top job at the BBC with 23 years of hands-on experience at the corporation, but it was his ignorance of what was happening below him that caused his downfall after just 54 days. The 50-year-old did not have an easy time as director-general, taking office just two weeks before the scandal broke over Jimmy Savile, the late BBC star accused of sexually abusing hundreds of children over 40 years. Entwistle was then dealt a second blow on Friday when the broadcaster's... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1080212/bbc-boss-entwistle-finished-he-really-got-started?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1080212/bbc-boss-entwistle-finished-he-really-got-started?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Alistair McAlpine, who was treasurer and deputy chairman of Britain's Conservative Party under former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, yesterday denied internet rumours that he had been part of a paedophile ring. "Ill or uninformed commentators have been using blogs and other internet media outlets to accuse me," McAlpine said, talking of a "media frenzy". He said he "must publicly tackle these slurs and set the record straight". McAlpine, who held the post of Tory treasurer from 1975 to 1990,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1079071/alistair-mcalpine-senior-conservative-party-figure-denies-sex-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1079071/alistair-mcalpine-senior-conservative-party-figure-denies-sex-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that accusations of paedophilia against senior Conservative politicians risk creating a "witch hunt", particularly against gay people. Cameron made his comments after being confronted on television with a piece of paper listing names circulating on the internet of Tory politicians possibly involved in child sex-abuse allegations. It was accidentally briefly flashed on air. Speaking on ITV1's This Morning, Cameron appealed to anybody with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1078254/britains-david-cameron-warns-witch-hunt-over-sex-abuse-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1078254/britains-david-cameron-warns-witch-hunt-over-sex-abuse-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 British interior minister Theresa May launched a new police probe into allegations of abuse in children’s homes across north Wales after claims that a senior politician was involved in a paedophile ring. Keith Bristow, director-general of the National Crime Agency, will review the original police investigations, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, and examine any fresh allegations. The original police work saw seven former care workers convicted. Meanwhile, Downing Street named High Court judge... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1076811/new-probes-uk-childrens-homes-sex-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1076811/new-probes-uk-childrens-homes-sex-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Nov 2012 02:01:15 +0000 Franklin Lam Fan-keung The property market analyst-turned-Executive Council member found himself in hot water after selling two of his 27 luxury apartments weeks before the government announced a buyer's stamp duty, intended to cool the sizzling housing market. Lam vigorously denied any wrongdoing, but that has not stopped some critics from calling for a full investigation and his resignation.   Li Jialin The chairman of VST Holdings, a mainland-based distributor of information technology... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1074990/bad-week-november-4-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1074990/bad-week-november-4-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A BBC news programme has aired a report in which two men claimed they had been abused by a top politician, setting off intense speculation on the internet as to his identity. The report on Newsnight did not name the man but said he was a leading Conservative politician from Margaret Thatcher's time as prime minister, from 1979 to 1990. The claims centred around abuse at children's homes in north Wales, which was the subject of an inquiry in 2000. Steve Meesham, who claimed he was repeatedly... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1074925/unnamed-thatcher-era-conservative-politician-accused-child-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1074925/unnamed-thatcher-era-conservative-politician-accused-child-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The child abuse scandal consuming the legacy of the late entertainer Jimmy Savile has netted its second celebrity arrest as police swooped on British comedian Freddie Starr. Scotland Yard said late on Thursday that a man in his 60s from the English county of Warwickshire had been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and released on bail. It did not name the suspect, but most British media identified him as Starr. Police said yesterday that the suspect had been released on bail. They refused... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1074747/freddie-starr-2nd-british-celebrity-arrested-savile-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1074747/freddie-starr-2nd-british-celebrity-arrested-savile-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 One-time British pop star Gary Glitter was arrested yesterday as part of an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, the corporation said. It was the first arrest to be reported in a scandal that has already damaged the reputation of the publicly funded BBC and the legacy of Savile, a former DJ who was one of the broadcaster's top show hosts and a dedicated charity fundraiser. The head of the BBC's governing body said yesterday that the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1072147/gary-glitter-held-savile-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1072147/gary-glitter-held-savile-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The media cherishes its role of holding people accountable. Its credibility, therefore, depends on keeping its own house in order. The tabloid phone-hacking scandal in Britain is an egregious failure. A crisis at the BBC, a British institution respected globally, is equally unedifying. Late last year, two BBC television divisions found themselves working on separate programmes on eccentric DJ and children's entertainer Jimmy Savile following his death. One celebrated his life and extensive... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1071403/media-must-practice-what-it-preaches-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1071403/media-must-practice-what-it-preaches-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Number of victims in Savile abuse case soars LONDON - Police investigating alleged sexual abuse of young girls by the former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile said they were pursuing over 400 lines of inquiry involving some 300 victims. "It's quite staggering," said inquiry leader, Commander Peter Spindler. He said all bar two of the potential victims were women and the vast majority of alleged offences involved Savile, who died last year. Police had spoken to 130 victims to date and recorded 114... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1069802/briefs-october-26-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1069802/briefs-october-26-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 BBC Trust chairman Chris Patten yesterday reaffirmed the broadcaster's independence after the British government told it to get a grip over the Jimmy Savile child sex abuse scandal. Patten was involved in a testy exchange of letters with Britain's culture minister, who expressed concern about the handling of the issue by the world's largest public broadcaster. The BBC is under fire for scrapping an investigation into Savile on its current affairs Newsnight show last year. Culture Secretary Maria... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1069043/bbc-trust-chief-chris-patten-reaffirms-autonomy-amid-jimmy-savile-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1069043/bbc-trust-chief-chris-patten-reaffirms-autonomy-amid-jimmy-savile-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The New York Times' public editor has questioned whether the newspaper's incoming chief executive, the former BBC head Mark Thompson, is fit to serve as the company's top official, as a scandal rocks Britain's most prestigious broadcaster. "How likely is it that [Thompson] knew nothing?" Margaret Sullivan asked in a blog post on Tuesday. "His integrity and decision-making are bound to affect The Times and its journalism - profoundly. "It's worth considering now whether he is the right person for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1069045/row-casts-shadow-over-nyts-new-boss?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1069045/row-casts-shadow-over-nyts-new-boss?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The head of the BBC denied on Tuesday helping to cover up sexual abuse by one of its former stars but accepted the British broadcaster had been damaged by a scandal that has shaken public trust in a national institution. George Entwistle, who was announced as the 90-year-old media organisation’s new boss in August, told hostile lawmakers that failures at the BBC had allowed Jimmy Savile, once one of Britain’s top TV presenters, to prey on young girls for years. He added he could not rule out... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1068489/bbc-chief-denies-cover-over-sexual-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1068489/bbc-chief-denies-cover-over-sexual-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:58:37 +0000 The head of the BBC yesterday denied helping to cover up a sex scandal involving one of its former stars, but accepted the British broadcaster had been damaged by a crisis that has shaken public trust in the national institution. George Entwistle, who took charge at the 90-year-old media organisation in August, told hostile lawmakers that failures at the BBC had allowed Jimmy Savile, once one of Britain's top television presenters, to prey on young girls for years. He added he could not rule out... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1068128/bbc-chief-denies-pulling-newsnight-show-cover-savile-sex-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1068128/bbc-chief-denies-pulling-newsnight-show-cover-savile-sex-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 BBC reporters put their own bosses in the hot seat over their role in an expanding paedophile scandal, airing footage from a previously-unseen expose of one of the BBC’s most popular entertainers and quizzing senior management about why they canned the bombshell programme. Monday night’s powerful but often awkward broadcast centred on revelations that late children’s television star Jimmy Savile was one of the country’s most prolific predators, suspected of sexually assaulting more than 200... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067977/bbc-airs-unseen-expose-its-disgraced-star?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067977/bbc-airs-unseen-expose-its-disgraced-star?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:20:05 +0000 Pressure mounted on BBC chief George Entwistle as he prepared to face lawmakers today after British Prime Minister David Cameron said the broadcaster had serious questions to answer. Cameron's intervention came as Peter Rippon, editor of the BBC's flagship Newsnight show, stepped aside after admitting he had given an "inaccurate" account of why the broadcaster had axed its own exposé of the alleged abuse of under-age girls by late BBC disc-jockey and television-show host Jimmy Savile. "These are... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067623/bbc-cover-row-after-axing-newsnights-jimmy-savile-expose?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067623/bbc-cover-row-after-axing-newsnights-jimmy-savile-expose?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The editor of the BBC’s flagship TV news show stepped aside on Monday after the publicly funded broadcaster said his explanation for pulling an expose into alleged sexual abuse by one of its former presenters was “inaccurate or incomplete”. The BBC is facing a growing crisis over claims that its bosses covered up allegations against Jimmy Savile, one of its top presenters during the 1970s and 1980s who died last year. Peter Rippon, editor of “Newsnight”, had said he had shelved a documentary... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067311/bbc-editor-steps-aside-over-savile-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067311/bbc-editor-steps-aside-over-savile-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2012 11:08:51 +0000 Unfolding claims of sexual abuse against late BBC star Jimmy Savile have plunged Britain’s national broadcaster into its biggest crisis for 50 years, a senior reporter has warned. Veteran BBC foreign editor John Simpson explained in an interview with the channel’s Panorama programme to be aired Monday that the scandal had left the broadcaster in a “very dangerous” position. The BBC is fending off reports that it pulled an investigation into Savile’s behaviour because it would have clashed with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067051/jimmy-savile-scandal-worst-bbc-crisis-50-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1067051/jimmy-savile-scandal-worst-bbc-crisis-50-years?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2012 02:10:44 +0000 Scotland Yard has launched a formal criminal investigation into the Jimmy Savile child sex abuse scandal as police confirmed they had identified more than 200 potential victims of the late BBC presenter. The London Metropolitan police (known as the Met) said its criminal investigation would examine allegations of sexual abuse involving living people, and it was examining 400 lines of inquiry involving Savile. The Met police launched Operation Yewtree, its assessment of allegations involving... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1065446/police-launch-criminal-probe-jimmy-savile-sex-abuse-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1065446/police-launch-criminal-probe-jimmy-savile-sex-abuse-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Apple set to reveal mini iPad, says blog NEW YORK - Apple is expected to take the wraps off its highly anticipated mini iPad at an October 23 invitation-only event, reported tech blog AllThingsD, citing sources familiar with the company. The event would come before Microsoft unveils its latest operating system, Windows 8, and its new Surface tablet on October 26. Speculation has been rife that Apple was planning a smaller version of its popular iPad to take on cheaper competing devices. The new... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1059768/briefs-october-13-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1059768/briefs-october-13-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000