Hacking MPs Recall News International's James Murdoch

James Murdoch is to face more questions from MPs investigating the News of the World (NoW) phone-hacking scandal.









James Murdoch was questioned by MPs for nearly three hours in July.

The Commons culture committee has recalled News International's chairman to give evidence. The company said Mr Murdoch would be "happy to appear".

It comes after MPs heard conflicting evidence over how much Mr Murdoch knew about the practice at the NoW.

Separately, it has emerged the mother of a 7/7 bombing victim is to pursue a civil case against News International.

The case of Sheila Henry, whose son, Christian Small, was killed in the 2005 Russell Square explosion, will be one of six test cases for civil damages claims against News Group Newspapers over phone-hacking claims.

'Happy to appear'

It is not known when Mr Murdoch will appear before the culture committee.

John Whittingdale, its chairman, said the committee wanted to first hear evidence from other witnesses, including former senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton and Mark Lewis, the lawyer representing alleged phone-hacking victims.

A spokesman for News Corp, the parent company of News International, said: "James Murdoch is happy to appear in front of the committee again to answer any further questions members might have."

Earlier this month, former NoW legal manager Tom Crone told MPs he was "certain" he told Mr Murdoch about an email which indicated phone hacking at the paper went beyond one rogue reporter.

Mr Crone said "it was the reason that we had to settle" a case. Former editor Colin Myler also told the committee the email was discussed.

Mr Murdoch, however, has insisted he was not told about the email.

In July, he and his father - Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp - faced nearly three hours in front of the parliamentary committee, answering questions about what they had done to unravel the scandal at the News of the World.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Vos has been considering applications from a number of alleged phone-hacking victims to decide whose will be heard as test cases in the new year.

Earlier, he added that of Sheila Henry to a list including actor Jude Law, MP Chris Bryant, interior designer Kelly Hoppen, sports agent Sky Andrew and ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne.

Other developments to emerge from the High Court hearing include:

* The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose phone was allegedly hacked, have not issued proceedings.

* Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes issued proceedings against the NoW.

* Mr Justice Vos, himself, was told the Daily Star had linked him to hacking, but he said he had not been provided with any evidence. "I rarely leave or receive voicemail messages in any case," he told the court.

* New and significant information has been found at News International.

Scotland Yard is currently investigating claims that reporters hacked into the messages of celebrities and public figures between 2005 and 2006.

Shafilea Ahmed's Parents Charged With Her Murder

The parents of Cheshire schoolgirl Shafilea Ahmed, the suspected victim of a so-called honour killing, have been charged with her murder.














A coroner ruled that Shafilea Ahmed was unlawfully killed.

The 17-year-old was last seen in Warrington in September 2003.

Her decomposed remains were found on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria in February 2004.

Iftikhar Ahmed, 51, and Farzana Ahmed, 48, of Liverpool Road in Great Sankey, Warrington, have always denied any involvement in their daughter's death.

The couple appeared at Halton Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, and were remanded in custody.

They are now due to appear before Manchester Crown Court on Friday.

Mr and Mrs Ahmed were initially arrested on suspicion of kidnapping their daughter in December 2003. In June 2004 they were released without charge when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ruled there was insufficient evidence against them.

They were arrested on suspicion of her murder in 2010 and released on police bail.

The CPS authorised Cheshire police to charge the couple on Wednesday.



The CPS authorised Cheshire police to charge Shafilea's parents.

Two post-mortem examinations failed to determine how Ms Ahmed died but a verdict of unlawful killing was recorded at her inquest in 2008.

The inquest heard she was a bright and intelligent young woman who wanted to go to university and become a lawyer.

Pathologists said she was most likely strangled or suffocated and South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith said he believed she was probably murdered.

The teenager went missing on 11 September 2003 and was reported missing by a teacher a week later.

Her body was discovered by workmen and she was identified by her jewellery and dental records.

Moat's Brother Tells Of Plea

The brother of gunman Raoul Moat appealed to police to be allowed to talk to him in the hours before he shot himself in Rothbury in Northumberland.















Moat went on the run in July 2010 after shooting and seriously injuring his former partner Sam Stobbart, murdering her boyfriend Chris Brown, and blinding PC David Rathband.

Angus Moat told the inquest into his brother's death that he telephoned the police because he thought he might be able to "talk Raoul down".

He told the court in Newcastle: "I was completely appalled by his actions. But I didn't want him to die."

The 41-year-old tax inspector said he had not spoken to his brother for at least seven years and described their family as "very fragmented".

"Raoul thought everybody in his own family would be against him and I wanted to show him that was not the case," he told the jury.

"I thought if I could speak to him it could change the way he was feeling and the way he would act."

Police officers assessing potential helpers, or third party intermediaries, had told him by phone that his presence could put the police negotiators at risk.

Mr Moat acknowledged the police had a better idea than he did of "all the emotional triggers" affecting his brother's behaviour.

Much of the evidence on the second day of the inquest focused on who should have been involved in the negotiations to try to prevent Moat from shooting himself or others.

Security Tight As Terrorist Trial Begins In Northern Ireland

Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- One of Northern Ireland's biggest terrorist trials in decades started Tuesday at Belfast Crown Court amid tight security.











Police walk into the front of Belfast Court on September 6, 2011, ahead of the trial of 14 alleged paramilitary members.

Fourteen alleged members of the pro-British or loyalist paramilitary group known as the Ulster Volunteer Force are accused of a total of 97 offenses. The men range in age from 32 to 46.

Nine defendants are charged with murder in the October 2000 slaying of rival paramilitary leader Tommy English. The 40-year-old Ulster Defence Association member was gunned down in front of his wife and young children on Halloween night during a bloody feud between the rival groups.

The Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association were responsible for the killings of hundreds of people during the conflict between pro-British and pro-Irish forces in Northern Ireland over a 30-year period known as the Troubles. Most of their victims were Catholic civilians. The groups have remained active since the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998.

Two brothers -- David and Robert Stewart -- are giving evidence against their alleged former colleagues in the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Stewarts admitted to their part in English's killing and agreed to testify to get a reduced sentence.

One of the accused is Mark Haddock, 42, named as a police agent in a 2007 report on the Ulster Volunteer Force by former Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan. O'Loan said an Ulster Volunteer Force gang based in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast had been involved in up to 15 murders and that the Northern Ireland police special branch unit had allowed informers within the Mount Vernon group to act with impunity.

At trial, Haddock is sitting separately from the 13 other defendants, surrounded by prison officers for his own safety. Two of his co-defendants were previously charged with trying to kill Haddock in 2006, but murder charges were dropped when he refused to give evidence. A prosecutor opened the case Tuesday, saying Haddock had ordered English's murder.

Robert Stewart, 37, then started testifying Tuesday. He also said Haddock ordered the killing and told the gunman to try to avoid shooting the rest of English's family.

Supporters of the accused men staged a protest outside the court against the use of "supergrasses," or slang for informers. The term was first used in Northern Ireland in the 1980s when a number of terrorist suspects were convicted on the evidence of former comrades.

The trial is being held under 2005 legislation introduced by the United Kingdom -- the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act -- which allows a suspect to enter a written agreement to give evidence against other alleged criminals.

Victims' relatives are being given protection from supporters of the Ulster Volunteer Force attending the trial at Laganside courts in Belfast. Families are able to watch proceedings by video link in a separate, secure venue. Large numbers of police officers are inside and outside the court complex.

The trial could last three months and will be one of the most expensive ever in Northern Ireland. Police fear there could be unrest in Protestant/loyalist districts as the trial progresses.

James Murdoch 'Was Told Of Phone-Hacking Email'

News of the World's former legal manager, Tom Crone, contradicts News Corp executive's evidence to select committee.












Phone hacking: the News of the World's former legal manager has claimed he told James Murdoch about an email suggesting hacking extended beyond one rogue reporter.

James Murdoch knew about an explosive email that would have proved that phone hacking at the News of the World was not confined to "one rogue reporter", MPs have been told.

The former legal manager at the now-defunct tabloid, Tom Crone, openly contradicted evidence given by Murdoch to a parliamentary committee in July by telling the same committee today that he was "certain" he told the News International chief of the existence of this email during a meeting in 2008.

According to Crone, the meeting lasted 15 minutes and was also attended by the then News of the World editor, Colin Myler, who concurred with the former legal affairs manager's versions of events.

Murdoch immediately dismissed Crone's claims in a robust statement.

He said he stood by his original testimony to the select committee and had not been aware that phone hacking extended beyond the former royal editor Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, both of whom had been convicted and jailed in relation to phone-hacking charges more than a year earlier.

"Neither Mr Myler nor Mr Crone told me that wrongdoing extended beyond Mr Goodman or Mr Mulcaire," said Murdoch.

He added: "As I said in my testimony, there was nothing discussed in the meeting that led me to believe that a further investigation was necessary."

The continuing war of words between Murdoch and his two former executives almost certainly means he will be recalled to appear before the committee for a more forensic scrutiny of his original evidence.

The culture, media and sport committee was today taking evidence from Crone and Myler and two other former News International executives as part of its investigation into allegations of "cover-up" of the scale of phone hacking at the Sunday paper.

Crone said it was made clear to Murdoch during the 15-minute meeting what the email "was about" and "what it meant".

He said the email was documentary evidence that at least one other reporter was aware of phone hacking and that this was why they needed to settle out of court with the former Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor, who had taken civil action against the publisher in relation to the alleged interception of his voicemails by the paper.

The email only emerged during the process of discovery by Taylor's lawyers. "Up to then there was no evidence that News of the World were implicated. The first I saw of that was that was the 'for Neville' email which reached us in spring 2008. We went to see Mr Murdoch and it was explained to him what this document was and what it meant," said Crone.

It was at that meeting that Murdoch authorised Crone to reach a settlement with Taylor, who was eventually paid £425,000, the committee heard.

Crone also insisted that there was no "cover-up" by the company, as the email had been provided to them by the Metropolitan police after it was seized from private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed with Goodman in 2007 for hacking into the phone messages of members of the royal household.

A confidentiality clause included in the settlement was insisted upon by Taylor's lawyers to avoid sensitive information about his personal life becoming public, said Crone.

He said the size of the payout to Taylor was "good legal management" designed to avert further litigation from other public figures who had been named in Glenn Mulcaire's court case and was not about buying his silence.

In a bruising clash with committee member Tom Watson – the Labour MP who has led the charge over phone hacking – Crone denied that Murdoch demanded a confidentiality clause and authorised the large financial settlement in order to prevent the exposure of "widespread criminality" at the News of the World.

The former legal manager said his priority was to avoid cases being launched by four other individuals whose phones Mulcaire had admitted hacking.

"The imperative or the priority at the time was to settle this case, get rid of it, contain the situation as far as four other litigants were concerned and get on with our business," said Crone.

Crone also said that the former editor of the paper, Andy Coulson, was keen to keep Goodman employed even if he was convicted and jailed for phone-hacking offences.

And MPs were told that Goodman received a payout of about £240,000 despite being found guilty and being jailed for the offences in 2007 because of a "sense of family" towards staffat News International.

The former head of legal affairs at News International, Jon Chapman, said the former chief executive of the company, Les Hinton, had "wanted to do it on compassionate grounds because of the Goodman family".

Chapman separately admitted that Rupert Murdoch had got it wrong when he said legal firm Harbottle & Lewis had made a "major mistake" when it did not report any evidence of illegal activities at the News of the World. However, he defended his former paymaster by saying he had not been properly briefed on Harbottle & Lewis's review of internal emails.