Reporter Sues Over 'Mock Kidnapping' at Gunpoint

Some practical joke: A pair of reporters kidnapped a prominent Kyrgyzstan journalist and put a gun to her head before revealing it was all just for laughs, the BBC reports. Now Nazira Aytbekova is filing charges against the reporters, saying they held her at gunpoint and made her strip to her underwear. "They took off the sack from my head and said: 'Sing!' I refused," says Aytbekova. "They told me to dance and somebody was standing behind me and constantly poked the gun at my head."

Next they ordered her to speak her "last words," promised to shoot her, and finally admitted they were reporters at a newspaper that publishes a column on practical jokes. The newspaper's vice president has since apologized and fired the reporters, saying that "our editorial team would never condone such outrageous stunts." But Aytbekova—describing herself as "shaken and humiliated"—promises to press on with criminal charges. (More Kyrgyzstan stories.)