The BBC’s Web site said its director of news, Helen Boaden, and her deputy, Stephen Mitchell, had “stepped aside,” the latest moves since a flagship current affairs program, “Newsnight,” wrongly implicated a former Conservative Party politician, Alistair McAlpine, in accusations of sexual abuse at a children’s home in North Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.
A separate internal inquiry is investigating an earlier incident one year ago when “Newsnight” canceled a program concerning allegations of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile, a longtime BBC television host who died last year at age 84.
WASHINGTON MONTHLY: Conservative changes of heart might speed prison reform…
Skeptics might conclude that conservatives are only rethinking criminal justice because lockups have become too expensive. But whether prison costs too much depends on what you think of incarceration’s benefits. Change is coming to criminal justice because an alliance of evangelicals and libertarians have put those benefits on trial. Discovering that the nation’s prison growth is morally objectionable by their own, conservative standards, they are beginning to attack it—and may succeed where liberals, working the issue on their own, have, so far, failed.
SPIEGEL: Former Obama staffer says president has mandate to break gridlock and raise taxes…
What he really ran on was refocusing the country on investing in the middle class, and that required higher taxes and fairer taxes on the wealthy. A majority of Americans and clearly a strong majority in the Electoral College voted for that. So I think he has the leverage and the clout to proceed with demanding that the Republicans accept that.
CNN: North Korea still working on missile program…
Undeterred by the embarrassment of a failed rocket launch earlier this year, North Korea appears to be pressing ahead with the development of long-range missiles, according to an analysis of satellite images by a U.S. academic website.
Drawing on commercial satellite imagery, the website 38 North suggests that the reclusive North Korean regime has carried out at least two tests of large rocket motors at the Sohae Satellite Launch Station on the country’s west coast since April.
JAPAN TIMES: Japan sees Subaru sales down in China…
The president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the maker of Subaru cars, said Tuesday its auto sales in China will remain sluggish for some time amid the anti-Japan sentiment.
“The situation (in China) is quite severe. . . . I am sure (sales) will recover in the future, but it’s going to be hard for the time being,” Yasuyuki Yoshinaga told a news conference as the automaker announced the launch in Japan of its fully remodeled Forester sport utility vehicle.
NATION PAKISTAN: Prime Minister believes the country needs a softer image portrayed…
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that our true face is not being shown to the world which is a peaceful and loving nation.
“In fact‚ we do possess the values of help‚ sympathy and love and we hold on to these values‚” said the PM.
He said that while addressing a collective wedding ceremony, organized by the Ameer Begum Welfare Trust here. The premier lauded the trust for its service to the society. He said “the trust is a beacon for us today.”
The prime minister said “we can remove most of the illnesses that beset us today through our values.”
