Free Republic

A record number of people have complained after a French TV presenter posted a spoof ad on a gay dating website and made fun of people who responded live on air. Cyril Hanouna used a feminine tone of voice and tricked those he spoke to into revealing their sexual fantasies. One of the victims was left in a "state of appalling distress", LGBT campaigners said. They accused the presenter of homophobia. Nearly 20,000 complaints about the segment on Mr Hanouna's nightly show Touche pas à mon poste (TPMP - "Don't touch my TV" in English) had been made to the...

A disabled CBeebies presenter has been the victim of a disturbing campaign after parents complained that she was scaring toddlers. They claimed that host Cerrie Burnell - who was born with one arm - is not suitable to appear on the digital children's channel. Miss Burnell and co-presenter Alex Winters took over the popular Do and Discover slot and The Bedtime Hour programme last month. But the decision to hire her has prompted a flurry of complaints to the BBC and on parenting message boards, with some of the posts on the CBeebies website becoming so vicious that they had...

LONDON (AFP) - Straight-talking former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton accused a top BBC presenter of being leftwing and "a superior Brit" in a colourful on-air spat Thursday. The controversial ex-diplomat, who left the UN post in January, made the comments after fiercely defending the United States' role in Iraq and saying that force should be used against Iran if necessary. BBC presenter John Humphrys, the main anchor on the broadcaster's flagship Today radio programme, raised Bolton's hackles by asking if the US administration was not a "busted flush" after Iraq. "You're absolutely wrong ... The people...

Another Saudi face: TV presenter is beaten up by husband By Robin Gedye (Filed: 16/04/2004) A Saudi television presenter who was beaten unconscious by her husband has allowed pictures of her severely battered face to be published in an attempt to highlight the abuse of women in the kingdom. Rania al-Baz, who works for Saudi Arabia's state television's Channel One, is having a series of operations for 13 fractures to her face. She said she wanted to break the taboo on domestic violence. "I want to use what happened to me to draw attention to the plight of women in...