The union said that it was considering whether or not it should report the Top Gear presenter for comments he made on The One Show. Clarkson said, while referring to striking workers, that he personally would have them all shot at and would take them outside before executing them while their families watched.

Thus far, the BBC has received over 4,600 complaints. It has apologised for the comments made by one of its most controversial stars. Clarkson’s comments, which were made on The One Show, sparked responses that were posted on Twitter. Discussing the strikes, which are mainly over pension changes, Clarkson also asked how public sector workers dare campaign when they are the only ones lucky enough to receive a pension when they retire while others have to work and save whatever they earn.

Some of Clarkson’s remarks, made in a rather lighthearted tone, were met with laughter from the studio audience. He also received a positive response when he compared the strikes to being back in the 1970s. It was added that this somehow made him feel at home.

Dave Prentis, Unison’s general secretary, said that Clarkson’s comments were completely outrageous, and must not be tolerated.

Following Indonesia are the US, Canada, India, and also Australia. They are are seen as being among the next best countries for supporting new businesses. On the other hand though, Colombia, Russia, Egypt, and Turkey are regarded as being the least entrepreneur-friendly.

The survey was conducted for the BBC’s Extreme World programme, which found wide variations in perceptions with regards to how much the different cultures offer help to those just starting up in their countries.

The results are taken from a survey that asked over 24,000 people scattered across 24 countries their feelings on how they were treated overseas and in thier homelands. The participants were asked whether or not innovation was highly valued by those in their country and whether or not it was hard for them to start a business, whether or not they were highly valued, and whether or not people with brilliant ideas are able to execute them while putting them into practice.

Collecting all the answers together as single indexes, Indonesia came out and sealed its place as the most favourable country for entrepreneurs. As mentioned, US, Canada, and Australia were also up near the top.

At the other end of the spectrum, and completely unexpected to be in such a position, was Italy – which finished in the company of nations such as Russia, where corruption is rife and a series of backhanders are required to even get a start.

The news comes after the two supermarkets have been fighting it out for months to be the nation’s cheapest retailer. Asda started the so-called price war by promising to be cheaper on a basket of goods than all of the other ‘big four’ supermarkets.

Rivals Tesco them counter-attacked by promising shoppers they would refund twice the difference of any item found for less at Asda. This move, however, left Tesco with red faces after customers rose to the challenge, forcing the supermarket to give away hundreds of pounds-worth of shopping vouchers.

Watchdog launched their investigation after receiving a letter from a member of the public who complained that two five-packs of Alpen cereal bars at Tesco were cheaper than the 10-bar value pack. The programme proved this claim to be true, but also found dozens of items on Asda’s rollback list that were more expensive rather than cheaper than the original price.

Thompson was forced to make the apology to the corporation’s regulator a month ago over his choice to stand alongside a group of media players that signed the document that calls on ministers to prevent Murdoch’s News Corporation buying out BskyB for 8bn pounds. It is believed that he did this due to Sir Michael Lyons, who heads the BBC Trust, expressing concern about whether Thompson should have involved himself in such matters.

Today, the director-general acknowledged that he should have not taken such actions without informing the chairman and expressed his regret to those pulling the strings at Britain’s largest broadcaster. Rounding off a stormy weekend for the organisation, that saw many of its journalists participating in 48-hour strikes, it was reported that Lyons made colleagues make no further comments on the matter.

The letter that Thompson signed was sent directly to business secretary Vince Cable and contained a warning that the proposed takeover would have serious consequences for the plurality of the UK’s media while also leaving competitors unable to compete when considering the sheer size of News Corporation and Sky combined.

Others that signed the letter included Andrew Miller, who is chief executive of the Guardian Media Group; chief executive of tabloid Daily Mirror’s publisher Trinity Mirror and Murdoch MacLennan, who is the current chief executive of the Telegraph Media group that publishes the Daily Telegraph. Elsewhere in TV, Channel 4 also voiced their concerns by appearing on the letter as well as chiefs of telecoms giants BT.

Jeremy Clarkson, who presents the show along with Richard Hammond and James May, made the news official during an interview with community service Witney TV in his local Oxfordshire.

Clarkson claimed that he felt that the Stig had been hurtful, citing hours spent together as perhaps little more than a pretense to the upcoming autobiography of Ben Collins, 33, who has been officially named as the Stig.

In what had become a case of national interest, the bosses of Top Gear at the BBC has sought to have an injunction on Collins releasing the book, and making his identity pubic, as they argued that his contracted clearly said that his anonymity was part of the show’s conditions. The Stig, who grew to celebrity status among fans of the series, had already developed a considerable fan base but his access to advertising and corporate revenue was limited by keeping his true identity secret. So much so that he was paid a fraction of what Clarkson earn each week from appearances and endorsements, the book one of his view ways to expand.

The unveiling of the Bristol-based Collins, puts an end to seven years of gossip and speculation over who the Stig actually was, with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton jokingly unmasked on the show. Clarkson has said there is a long list of applicants for the job, adding that he was too old for the position.

Paramedics were called to the scene at around 7.45am on Monday morning where they unsuccessfully attempted to revive the television host. Digby had been garnering a reputation in the industry and was building on his successful role of host of To Buy or Not To Buy at the time of his passing. Paramedics will carry out a thorough post mortem that is expected to confirm reports that the cause of death was suffocation brought on by the deliberate restriction of Digby’s oxygen supply in an apparent act of sexual gratification. Police have described the incident as a solo sex game going wrong.

Official police reports undertaken after the initial post mortem were inconclusive say officers, who have advised that the tragedy is still being considered as unexplained and that a full inquest will take place in due course. Police did acknowledge that there were no other people involved in the death, and dismissed suicide suggestions. The incident has chilling echoes of the David Carradine death last June, also apparently from auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Mr Digby came from a wealthy property development family and he had a considerable portfolio. He also won directing awards at the Melbourne Film Festival in addition to receiving a junior Bafta. Digby also fronted numerous other popular TV shows including Buy It, Sell It, Bank It, Living in the Sun, House Swap, That Gay Show and Double Agents.

The broadcaster will allegedly close half of its online services, close to radio stations altogether and reduce greatly the massive spending on US imports for the UK television market. According to the director general for the BBC, Mark Thompson, the company has simply become too large and therefore must reduce its size in order to provide commercial rivals the chance to operate. The BBC is funded by an annual licence fee of £3.6 billion.

Among the widespread changes will be the closure of the Asian Network and 6 Music digital radio stations. The BBC also aims to implement a broadcasting rights spending cap for sporting events at around £300 million, or 8.5 percent. Thompson will also oversee the closure of Blast! and BBC Switch which will see ITV and Channel Four left as the major players in the lucrative teenage demographic. The station targeted towards 16 – 35 year olds, BBC Three, will remain untouched.

The proposals will be presented to the BBC Trust, the organisation’s governing body, with confirmation expected as early as next month. The report has been authored by John Tate, the BBC head of policy and strategy. Tate is a former leader of the policy unit for the Conservative Party and co-author of their 2005 party manifesto with David Cameron. The report hopes to provide the increasingly likely Tory government with information enough to show that the BBC is both understanding of its market influence and capable of stand-alone operation.

Rebecca Adlington is calling for the BBC to act more responsibly in respect to its stars.

In recent communications with the BBC Trust, the double Olympic gold medallist claimed that Frankie Boyle, the perpetrator of the rude humour concerning the swimmer’s appearance, had been let off with barely a slap on the wrist.

Mock The Week, the popular satirical BBC gameshow, was where the gags had been made. Boyle had compared Miss Adlington to someone looking at themselves in the back of a metal spoon.

The joke spurred 75 immediate public complaints.

The Editorial Standards Committee of the BBC Trust had ruled last month that the comments had been unjustified, adding that they had been deemed offensive and unacceptable for airing.

But the Olympic swimmer asked for further explanation as to why the national broadcaster had not punished Boyle more severely, such as giving him a temporary ban from their shows.

Kay Adlington, Rebecca’s mother, recently told reporters that the BBC’s soft stance just perpetuated the pain that her daughter has suffered until now and which does have a long lasting effect. She added the comments will affect her self-confidence.

Kay Adlington said that it was a shame, since the recent actions just appear to serve the purpose of keeping both the programme and comedian in the public eye at the expense of her daughter.

Through the entire process and in line with his usual ‘asshole’ self who needs to antagonise others in order to be funny, Boyle has refused to apologise.

Since then, Boyle has left Mock The Week and has branded the BBC a dull network only presenting cooking and property shows.

The BBC Trust claimed to have received Adlington’s letter and said it will consider it, adding that the committee had no plans to review the decision.

People have complained that BBC Alba, the Gaelic language channel, is glorifying child murders by turning it into entertainment, while the parent of a Moors victim claimed the drama would bring back chilling memories.

Ian Brady – The Right to Die is BBC Alba’s first of a series of five docudramas looking into the worst 20th century murderers in Scotland.

The programme features actors to play out the horrible incidents of four of the five children abducted and murdered by Brady and Myra Hindley. The series of crimes happened in Manchester in the 1960s.

Brady is also portrayed as a teenager living in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, killing a rat with a knife.

The 75-year-old mother of murder victim Keith Bennett, the only Moors casualty whose remains have yet to be found, said she hopes they will depict Brady as the horrible monster he truly is. Winnie Johnson added that she would be very upset to see a youngster portraying her son Keith and seeing his last moments before being kidnapped by the two monsters.

She said that whenever a programme features her son and the murders, it churns up awful memories and she cannot sleep.

The director of watchdog group Mediawatch UK, Vivienne Pattison, complained that Mrs Johnson should have been informed beforehand and that not doing so was crazy.

Pattison added that it’s strange that this sort of crime can become a form of entertainment.

She said that this show cannot contribute to the debate concerning child killers since everything is known about these people.

Mothers Against Murders and Aggression spokeswoman Lynn Costello said making parents relive the events could prove to be dangerous.

BBC Alba Producer Patsi McKenzie insisted she had attempted to contact Mrs Johnson although she didn’t want to doggedly pursue her.

The CBeebies TV show Something Special changed one line; instead of the age old “couldn’t put Humpty together again”, now kids watching the program will learn “made Humpty happy again”.

The broadcaster defended its decision to end the nursery rhyme in a more positive note by explaining it was altered purely for creative reasons and not as an attempt to cushion the lives of little ones.

But the nursery rhyme is one that all of Britain learns while growing up, and it is part of eth nation’s cultural heritage.

Tom Harris, Labour MP for Glasgow South, said he occasionally watches the show with his kids and added that normally, everyone including children would find the ending of Humpty a sad thing. It’s part of life. According to Mr Harris, this move on the part of the BBC is a type of over protection. He added that adults are mismanaging this issue.

The MP also talked about another BBC alteration. He said he saw that the network changed Little Miss Muffet: she befriends the spider instead of running away.

Writer and language expert Lynne Truss, author of ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’, said the network is trying to shield young ones from feeling normal emotions.

The writer said that when she was a child, she was afraid of such things but she soon realised they didn’t hurt her. Nick Seaton, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education agrees with Miss Truss, adding that nursery rhymes are a gentle way to introduce children to the harsh realities of life.

The famous nursery rhyme is believed to date back to 1648, which would have been used as a cannon recited at the siege of Colchester .