BBC director general George Entwistle is confronted by demonstrators as he departs after appearing before a parliamentary hearing in London.
BBC director general George Entwistle is confronted by demonstrators as he departs after appearing before a parliamentary hearing in London.
BBC director general George Entwistle is confronted by demonstrators as he departs after appearing before a parliamentary hearing in London.
BBC director general George Entwistle is confronted by demonstrators as he departs after appearing before a parliamentary hearing in London.

BBC chief says Savile abuse claims a 'grave matter' for broadcaster


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LONDON // The BBC chief says allegations about decades of sexual abuse by its longtime TV host Jimmy Savile - and the broadcaster's failure to stop him - constitute a "very grave" crisis for the organisation.

George Entwistle, the director general, told British parliamentarians yesterday that it is too early to say whether sexual abuse was endemic within Britain's publicly funded national broadcaster in previous decades.

But, he said, "there's no question in my mind that what we now know happened is a very, very grave matter indeed".

Mr Entwistle said the BBC was investigating historical allegations of sexual abuse or harassment against "between eight and 10" past and present employees.

His testimony before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee comes a day after the BBC aired a powerful TV documentary about the corporation's role in the expanding sex abuse scandal around Savile, who died a year ago at age 84.

Since Savile's death, scores of women and several men have come forward to say the entertainer - a host of music and children's programmes - abused them when they were children or teenagers. Police have identified more than 200 potential victims.

The BBC, one of the world's largest and most respected broadcasters, is under fire for failing to stop the abuse and for pulling a Newsnight expose on Savile from TV schedules at the last minute in December.

The sex allegations were later aired on the rival ITV network.

The head of the BBC's Newsnight programme, Peter Rippon, has left his job pending an investigation of his decision to scrap the Savile story.

The BBC documentary on Monday night, which was watched by more than 5 million people, presented the unusual spectacle of BBC journalists grilling their own bosses about why the piece had been dropped.

Mr Entwistle has been in the BBC's top job for just a month after years in senior news and current affairs roles.

The committee may also want to question his predecessor, Mark Thompson, who led the organisation at the time the Newsnight report was withdrawn.

Few public figures have had as spectacular a fall from grace as Savile, who was knighted for his charity fund-raising and praised on his death as a popular if eccentric entertainer.

Since the ITV report earlier this month, his family has removed and destroyed his gravestone, and two charities named after him have announced they will close.

Schools and hospitals associated with Savile's charity work stand accused of letting him abuse young people during visits.

State prosecutors have acknowledged that they investigated four abuse allegations against Savile in 2009 but did not press charges.

"There is no question that what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved ... will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us," Mr Entwistle told the MPs. "This is a gravely serious matter and one cannot look back at it with anything other than horror."

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

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Sole survivors
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  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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New Zealand win by 47 runs

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