UPDATE

Rupert Murdoch Summonsed to Parliament

After demurring, agrees to appear.

Parliament won’t have to ask the wizard of Oz three times. After declining an initial “invitation” to appear before the body’s media committee, Murdoch says he will comply with a summons to appear on Thursday. Because he and his son James, who has also been summonsed and will appear, are not British citizens, the summons is not compulsory, and initial reports suggested that Murdoch would play harder to get: he said he wasn’t available, but said he would give evidence to an inquiry being led by a judge that the government has announced. Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of the News of the World and now a News International executive, has also agreed to appear. MPs expressed frustration, saying they wanted to hear from all three.