Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc. said late on Saturday it was ousting media tycoon Conrad Black as its chairman and suing him and one of his top deputies for more than $200 million. The lawsuit filed by a special committee of the company's independent board members charged that Black and Hollinger Inc. -- a Toronto-based holding company through which he controls Hollinger International -- together with former president and chief operating officer David Radler, collected unjustified and excessive management fees and altered company books and records to conceal their actions. Hollinger International, which owns the...

<p>Conrad Black has no intention of making good on his pledge to begin paying back millions in fees to Hollinger International, The Post has learned.</p> <p>Black, the ousted head of newspaper giant Hollinger, has indicated to the company that he will not make a payment of $850,000 that is due Jan. 19, according to sources familiar with the matter.</p>

A unit of Hollinger International made bonus payments totalling $3 million (U.S.) in December, 2000, to Conrad M. Black, Hollinger's chairman and now former chief executive officer, and two of its other top executives, wiring the money to the Caribbean unit of a Canadian bank. The complex transaction, recorded in documents described by people close to the company, sheds light on at least one way Hollinger paid Black, through a transfer that also could have reduced taxes on his compensation. Other recent payments by the company to Black and other top executives were also made through wire transfers to the...

Dark times surround Conrad Black, business newsmaker of the year TORONTO (CP) - His biggest news may still lie ahead of him, but Conrad Black has been anointed by newspaper and broadcast editors as the first notable to be named The Canadian Press business newsmaker of the year. Unfortunately for the hard-pressed media magnate who for a time dealt with Canadian newspapers like Monopoly-game properties, the honour carries no cash - and no "get out of jail free" card. Black, 59, dominated voting for business newsmaker of 2003 in a survey of newspaper editors and broadcasters by CP and Broadcast...

<p>The FBI and U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago have launched an investigation into alleged financial shenanigans at ousted newspaper baron Conrad Black's Hollinger International, sources told The Post.</p> <p>The criminal probe takes the scandal in a new direction and raises the possibility that Black and his cohorts could eventually face criminal charges for their role in Hollinger's ongoing financial scandal.</p>

<p>By R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.</p> <p>"Hit 'em when they're down," is our motto. "Pile on," is our hearty exhortation. Who are we? We are the noble souls of the press. We are the self-described heroes, who write "history's first draft" as daily journalism is called. Yes, perhaps old Henry Ford had something when he described history as "bunk."</p>

Harrods owner Mohammed Fayed is preparing a bid for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers. He is assembling a team of senior newspaper executives to work on an offer. Fayed is believed to have contacted Lazards, the investment bank hired by Hollinger International - the Telegraphs' parent company - which is carrying out a strategic review that is likely to lead to a sale. Fayed has also met Richard Desmond, owner of Express Newspapers and one of the favourites to buy the Telegraphs should they be put up for sale. Desmond and Hollinger each own half of the West Ferry...

MICHAEL HOWARD attended a secret lunch with Richard Desmond, owner of the Express group and favourite to buy the troubled Daily Telegraph, to try to secure a promise that the newspaper will continue to support the Tories. The meeting took place only hours after it was announced that Lord Black of Crossharbour was stepping down as chief executive of Hollinger International, the Telegraph’s parent group, over allegations of millions of pounds of unauthorised payments. Monday’s lunch took place at the Westminster home of Lord Ashcroft, the former Tory treasurer, and the party’s wealthiest supporter, who is a long-standing friend of...

JERUSALEM POST OWNERS RESIGN; FACE CORRUPTION CHARGES Post To Be Sold, Management Reshuffled Jerusalem Post Publisher Tom Rose, Editor Bret Stephens To Be Replaced By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer New York-----November 17........ Under heavy pressure from investors, Conrad Black will step down as chief executive of Hollinger International Inc., publisher of the Jerusalem Post and Chicago Sun-Times, and the company may be sold after an internal investigation found that fees had been improperly paid to Black and other senior executives. Several other executives are also leaving Hollinger as part of a management shakeup the company announced early Monday. David...

A powerful cross-party group of peers will seek today to begin a national debate on whether Britain should stay in the European Union by demanding a parliamentary investigation into the economic benefits of membership. Their action reflects a growing feeling in the House of Lords that withdrawal from the EU might be preferable to signing up to a new European constitution that would erode British sovereignty. It is also evidence of frustration among sceptical peers over the Government's refusal to grant a referendum on the constitution and their determination to pressure Tony Blair into granting one. The peers who want...

Conrad Black says that Tony Blair is acting in the national interest by being George W. Bush’s principal ally The President of the United States said on the evening of 11 September 2001 that his country had been attacked by terrorists and was at war with terrorism, that his government would make no distinction between terrorists and countries that supported terrorists, and that it would judge all countries by their actions whether they were friends or foes in that war. There is not the slightest doubt that Iraq is an international terrorist-supporting state. It continues to shelter and support terrorist...