GERMANY: The media is feasting on the news that Mr Michel Friedman, one of Germany's most prominent Jewish leaders, is being investigated over drugs charges.
Mr Friedman fled to Venice after police found cocaine in his Frankfurt home and asked for a hair sample to test for drug use.
Even before the test results are known, it's an extraordinary fall from grace for Mr Friedman (48), vice-president of the Central Committee of Jews in Germany.
Mr Friedman was born in Paris to Polish Jews who were saved by the businessman Oskar Schindler. He is best known as Germany's self-appointed moral inquisitor in his chat show Vorsicht! Friedman ("Danger! Friedman"). The popular show makes for compulsive viewing. In it, Mr Friedman attacks his guests with interview techniques which vary from ravenous bear to sadistic dentist.
His fall from grace began three years ago when the authorities received reports that he regularly ordered prostitutes using the pseudonym "Pinkel" (Lord Muck). When the prostitutes, mostly from eastern Europe, were arrested in a crackdown on human trafficking, several told investigators Mr Friedman had consumed cocaine in their presence and offered them the drug. The story exploded last week, Mr Friedman's show was cancelled and he dropped out of sight.
More than just a moral tale, however, the story breaks a taboo in the German media: criticising a Jewish leader.
