TV Rating Wars

You can't make this up. A popular MP in Brazil who hosts a TV crime show has been accused of ordering the murder of several drug traffickers in order to eliminate rivals and to boost ratings. Police became suspicious when his camera crews displayed an uncanny knack for being the first on the scene.

Wallace Souza, the host of daily crime programme Canal Livre, used the popularity of his show to win three elections as an MP from Manaus, the capital of Brazil's largely lawless Amazonas state. The police suspect that his son, Rafael, may have been involved in many of those murders. Rafael has been jailed on charges of homicide, drug trafficking and illegal gun possession.

Souza remains free because of legislative immunity that prevents him from being arrested as long as he is a lawmaker.