SORDID

Report: News Corp. Hacked Gov't

As Murdoch heir ekes by in BSkyB vote.

Talk about a doozy of a day for News Corp. The Guardian reported Tuesday that the computer of Britain’s former secretary to Northern Ireland may have been hacked—meaning that News International’s mushrooming scandal could extend to national security secrets. Metropolitan police reportedly told Peter Hain and other senior civil servants from Northern Ireland that they may have been victims as well. Meanwhile, Parliament’s Leveson inquiry continued Tuesday as Guardian investigative reporter Nick Davies testified that News of the World’s private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, was a “brilliant blagger,” but that despite Mulcaire’s prison stint for his alleged role in the hacking, Davies said Mulcaire acted “as a facilitator.” At the same time, Rupert Murdoch’s son and heir apparent, James, was reappointed to the BSkyB board, but investors holding nearly a quarter of the shares refused to back him—a devastating blow to his future at the broadcasting company.