Paper says Rivera lied about location

Paper says Riveralied about location
NEW YORK -- Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who couldn't bear being away from the action in Afghanistan, was hundreds of miles from the site of a friendly fire happening he reported on, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Rivera reported in a Dec. 6 piece that he became emotional and choked up while standing on the "hallowed ground" in Afghanistan where "friendly fire took so many of our, our men and the mujahedeen yesterday." Rivera even said he had recited the Lord's Prayer.
But Rivera admitted he was several hundred miles from the site -- outside Kandahar -- where three Americans were killed Dec. 5 by an errant U.S. bomb.
In an interview Tuesday, Rivera said he had confused the Kandahar deaths with another friendly fire action that cost several Afghan lives in Tora Bora. But, according to The Sun, Pentagon information shows the Tora Bora matter occurred at least three days after Rivera's Dec. 6 report.
Bob Steele, director of the ethics program at the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based, Poynter Institute, said: "I believe that Geraldo Rivera and Fox News owe their viewers a substantive explanation of what this means, journalistically and ethically. If he did this in a way that violates journalistic standards, he is disrespectful not only to his profession, but to the families of those Americans who died."
Fox News spokesman Rob Zimmerman said he had "no information" on whether the network was reviewing the matter. Later, Zimmerman told The Sun it had a vendetta against the channel and hung up the phone.
Collins to marry man32 years younger
LONDON -- Joan Collins plans to marry her boyfriend, 32 years her junior, at a ceremony in London early next year.
The 68-year-old actress will wed Peruvian-born Percy Gibson, a 36-year-old theater company manager, Collins' spokeswoman Stella Wilson said Tuesday. The marriage will be her fifth.
"They are to marry in London in February, but they have not yet finalized a venue or an exact date. They are both very happy and are very in love with each other," Wilson said.
The couple met when Collins appeared in a touring production of the play "Love Letters" in the United States. She described falling in love with Gibson, who helped edit her new novel, "Star Quality," as "like being struck by a thunderbolt."
This year, the actress said: "Percy is such a special human being. I think this person is more in tune with me than anybody I've ever met. I feel more myself with Percy Gibson than I ever have with anyone."
Gibson is the same age as Collins' son, artist Sacha Newley, who recently said his mother's beau is "polite, gracious and well-mannered" -- but the fact that they are the same age is "kinda weird."
"I've always prepared for the extraordinary, and she never disappoints," Newley added.
The glamorous former "Dynasty" star recently garnered headlines when she wore a saucy black dress for her role in the farce "Over the Moon in London."
Sex Pistols weighanti-queen repeat
LONDON -- Twenty-five years after making their mark as the official scourge of royalty, the British punk band the Sex Pistols may regroup to mark the Queen's golden jubilee.
The gig would take place June 3 when Queen Elizabeth will celebrate 50 years on the throne. Promoter John Giddings said the decision depends on whether band members can free up their schedules to perform on that date.
The controversial band, featuring Johnny Rotten and the late Sid Vicious, released their anti-royal single "God Save the Queen" in June 1977 at the same time that Her Majesty celebrated her silver jubilee.
The single, whose cover bore an illustration of the Queen with a safety pin in her nose, rocketed to number one, although banned from British airwaves. The band was arrested as they performed on a Thames riverboat on the Queen's 25th anniversary celebration.
"The good thing about the Pistols now," Giddings said, "is that they can really play."
Today's Birthdays
Movie director George Roy Hill is 79. Rock musician Peter Criss (Kiss) is 56. Actor John Spencer is 55. Actress Jenny Agutter is 49. Actor Michael Badalucco is 47. Actress Blanche Baker is 45. Rock singer Billy Bragg is 44. Country singer Kris Tyler is 37. Rock singer Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes) is 35.