That's one thing Norway moved off the front pages.
"Mother of another slain girl may have been hacked by paper; UK tabloid gave her cellphone for use in crusade" July 29, 2011|By Anthony Faiola, Washington Post
LONDON - Even in the worst of times, Sara Payne was a defender of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. She thought she had good reason.
After her 8-year-old daughter was killed by a convicted pedophile living a few miles away, Payne credited the feisty tabloid with helping her campaign for a new British law giving parents the right to know if anyone with regular access to their children is a sex offender.
But in a case generating a fresh uproar in Britain over the nefarious methods of News of the World, Payne acknowledged yesterday that she might have been among the thousands of British citizens targeted by the paper in a widespread campaign of illegal phone hacking. What’s more, the paper’s editors reportedly had given her the cellphone as a gift so that she could more easily communicate with her growing legion of supporters nationwide.
You should look a gift horse in the ass.
The revelations again put Murdoch’s News Corp. under a blinding spotlight at a time when some politicians here are calling for the company’s vast British media holdings to be broken up....
Even if they are not, WHO WILL EVER BELIEVE THEM?
It also dealt another blow to Scotland Yard....
(See previous comment)
More than anything, though, Payne’s involvement in the scandal robs News Corp. of one of its most sympathetic voices....
Yeah, POOR SCUM!
Payne’s targeting could spell fresh trouble for Rebekah Brooks, who resigned as head of News Corp.’s British operations this month and is facing criminal charges tied to the hacking scandal. When serving as the editor of News of the World in the early 2000s, Brooks closely directed the paper’s coverage of Payne’s crusade. She has denied any knowledge of illegal newsgathering at News of the World.
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Yeah, now it IS NOT EVEN SPYING!
In a statement, Brooks denied reports that she had given the targeted phone to Payne, saying it was not a personal gift but instead presented to her on behalf of the paper. Brooks said the allegations were “abhorrent and particularly upsetting as Sara Payne is a dear friend.’’
The news came just as the independent inquiry into the scandal officially launched yesterday, with Lord Justice Brian Henry Levenson, who is leading the investigation, saying it could take 12 months or longer to complete.
Related: FBI Saves Fox
Hearings would begin this fall, with the mandate of the inquiry now broadened to explore illicit activities among not only newspapers, but also television and social media in Britain....
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Whack!
"Murdoch told to clarify his testimony" July 30, 2011|Associated Press
LONDON - British lawmakers demanded yesterday that James Murdoch clarify why testimony he gave to a parliamentary committee probing the phone hacking scandal conflicted with a statement from two former executives.
Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., and his father, tycoon Rupert Murdoch, testified on July 19 about the widening allegations of phone tapping and bribery at the Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid.
The Culture, Media, and Sport Committee said yesterday that it now wanted more information from the younger Murdoch because his testimony was disputed by former News of the World editor Colin Myler and Tom Crone, former lawyer for News Corp.’s British unit, News International.
The two men contradicted Murdoch’s claim that he was not aware of an e-mail containing information about hacked voicemails.
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I'm surprised they didn't say lie this time.
Related:
“Murdoch said he didn't see what the Palestinians' problem was and James said it was that they were kicked out of their f---ing homes and had nowhere to f---ing live,” said the account in The Guardian."
Fair or not, that is why I think James is being hassled. The old man doesn't look good, and the controllers of the world media can't take a chance on a voice like that.
Whack!
"News Corp. papers sought to delete e-mails" August 02, 2011|By Associated Press
LONDON - Internal e-mails at the publisher’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid have come under close scrutiny, as lawmakers and police try to get to the bottom of accusations that journalists there hacked into the phones of celebrities, politicians, and homicide victims. There were also allegations that reporters paid police for information. The scandal forced Murdoch to close the tabloid and brought him and his son to London to be questioned before lawmakers.
News International said yesterday it “keeps backups of its core systems’’ and is working with police to restore them.
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Related: Ex-News of the World editor arrested
The Fall of Another English Empire
Hacking storm stirs review at tabloid
Britain holds vigilante hacker suspect
Whack!
"Hacker group posts data stolen from 70 police websites in US" by Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press / August 7, 2011
LONDON - The group known as Anonymous said yesterday that it has hacked into 70 mostly rural law enforcement websites in the United States, a data breach that one local police chief said had leaked information about an ongoing investigation.
The loose-knit international hacking collective posted a cache of data to the Web early yesterday, including e-mails stolen from officers, tips that appeared to come from members of the public, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information....
Another INTELLIGENCE OPERATION!
The e-mails were mainly from sheriffs’ offices in places such as Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi. Most, if not all, of their websites were either unavailable or had been wiped clean of content.
Anonymous said in a statement that it was leaking “a massive amount of confidential information that is sure to [embarrass], discredit and incriminate police officers across the US.’’ The group added that it hoped the disclosures would “demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using their own words’’ and “disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorize communities.’’
That's pretty charged language.
******************************
Although the hackers said the attack occurred days ago, many sheriffs seemed to first learn of its scope only when contacted....
What if they gave a leak and nobody....
Anonymous has been targeted by law enforcement after a string of high-profile data thefts and denial of service attacks - operations that block websites by flooding them with traffic.
Last month the FBI and British and Dutch officials made 21 arrests, many of them related to the group’s attacks on Internet payment provider PayPal Inc., which has been targeted over its refusal to process donations to WikiLeaks.
Earlier, 19-year-old Ryan Cleary was charged with attacks on Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency and various UK music sites. More recently, Jake Davis, alleged to be a spokesman for Anonymous known as “Topiary,’’ was arrested on Britain’s remote Shetland Islands by Scotland Yard’s e-crime unit.
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Also see:
"British authorities said yesterday that they had seized the largest shipment of illicit hard drugs in the country’s history and that the seizure had led to the arrests of six people suspected of working with an international narcotics ring....
--more--"
Briton says he was Beefeater whistle-blower
I'm feeling like I need a gin.
UK denies breaking a vow to trim DNA database
Lucas loses ‘Star Wars’ helmet battle in UK
Look, I love that stuff as much as the next guy but not in my news section.
"Riot breaks out over police shooting" Associated Press / August 7, 2011
LONDON - The north London neighborhood of Tottenham exploded in anger last night after a young man was shot to death by police. Two patrol cars, a building, and a double-decker bus were torched as rioters clashed with officers in front of the Tottenham Police Station, where people had gathered to demand justice for the death of a 29-year-old killed in an apparent gunfight. In Tottenham, shop windows were smashed as residents looted the stores, pushing shopping carts full of stolen goods down the street."
Update: London Violence Spreads Into 2nd Night
