Newspapers, Tabloid | featured news

James Murdoch has severed all ties with News Corp's British newspaper business, which is at the centre of multiple investigations over phone and computer hacking and bribery, according to regulatory filings.

James Murdoch, the executive at the epicenter of the phone hacking scandal at his father's British newspapers, is stepping down as executive chairman of News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper arm, the company announced Wednesday.

The officer leading a police investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers said on Monday that reporters and editors at The Sun tabloid had over the years paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for information not only to police officers but also to a “network of corrupted officials” in the military and the government.

Phone-hacking was widespread at Piers Morgan's Daily Mirror, a former columnist at the tabloid said on Wednesday, as an official inquiry unearthed further evidence of the illegal practice in the British press.

Seven public figures have settled their claims against News of the World publisher News Group over phone hacking, News International says. They include former Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten, TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson and celebrities Abi Titmuss and Calum Best. The others were theatrical agent Michelle Milburn, Paul Dadge, who helped survivors of the 7/7 bombings, and former Army officer James Hewitt.

The phone hacking scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch's News Corp threatened to spread to other titles on Friday, as sources said a journalist at the Sun newspaper had been arrested over allegations of police bribery.

A high-profile parliamentary panel investigating phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid released embarrassing new evidence Tuesday that the practice of intercepting voice mail had been widely discussed at the newspaper, contradicting assertions by its owners and editors.

British news organizations identified a man taken into custody as Stuart Kuttner, who resigned as managing editor of the News of the World in 2009.

British lawmakers said on Friday it was likely News Corp's James Murdoch would be recalled to clarify details about evidence on phone hacking he gave to a parliamentary committee, following claims his testimony was "mistaken."

The British judge leading the government-backed probe into illegal eavesdropping by journalists will start ordering people to testify and hand over documents "as soon as possible," he said Thursday, as the inquiry launched.