Sun newspaper 'will continue' says Rupert Murdoch

 News International owner Rupert Murdoch has said he is committed to publishing the Sun newspaper, following the arrest of five of its employees. They were among eight people arrested over alleged corrupt payments to police and public servants. A Surrey Police officer, a member of the armed forces and a Ministry of Defence employee were also arrested. Sun editor Dominic Mohan said he was "shocked" by the arrests but pledged to continue to lead the paper. The BBC understands picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker, reporter John Sturgis and associate editor Geoff Webster were arrested as part of the Operation Elveden probe into payments to police. The arrests marked a widening out of the operation to include the investigation of...

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Rupert Murdoch flies into London as five Sun journalists arrested over alleged corruption

 The journalists, including The Sun’s deputy editor, were detained at dawn as part of the Metropolitan police investigation into corruption of public officials. A serving officer with the Armed forces and his wife, who is a Ministry of Defence official, were also arrested at an address in Wiltshire. It is the first time the Armed Forces have been drawn into the widespread police inquiry launched following phone hacking revelations at The Sun’s now defunct sister title The News of the World. One source suggested Mr Murdoch’s decision to come to the UK was in order to reassure news international staff about the tycoon’s support for a newspaper that he is said to cherish above all others in his media empire. The latest arrests follow the detention just a fortnight ago of four senior Sun...

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Posted in: Rupert Murdoch flies into London as five Sun journalists arrested over alleged corruption

ruling on how much money will be confiscated from the ringleader of an international drugs gang that was based in Wiltshire is due next week.

 Police believe David Barnes made as much as £29m from illegal activities and want to seize it under the Proceeds of Crime Act.Barnes, 42, of Berkshire, was convicted of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and jailed for 12 years in 2010.He appeared at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday, surrounded by armed police.During the trial, Bristol Crown Court heard Barnes and seven other gang members were caught after 10 tonnes of skunk cannabis was found at a farm in Wanborough near Swindon in April 2009.The gang had smuggled the cannabis into the UK among shipments of flowers such as tulips and chrysanthemums.Ten tonnes of skunk cannabis was found at a farm in Wanborough near SwindonIt was then driven in lorries to Wiltshire.Wiltshire Police said...

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Posted in: ruling on how much money will be confiscated from the ringleader of an international drugs gang that was based in Wiltshire is due next week.

Four members of a criminal gang have been jailed for their role in one of the biggest alcohol smuggling frauds ever uncovered in Britain.

The complex scam was worth an estimated £50 million a year in unpaid duty and VAT and allowed the men to buy fast cars and luxury homes, investigators said.They used their positions and contacts in the drinks trade to conceal dozens of truckloads of alcohol being moved into Britain without paying tax or duties in a scam known as diversion fraud. Alcohol smugglers: Gary Clarke and Kevin Burrage were convicted of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue last month while Michael Turner and Davinder Dhaliwal pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the same charges and fraudulent evasion of excise duty Gang ringleader Kevin Burrage, 49, and Gary Clarke, 55, were convicted of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue last month following a three-month...

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Posted in: Four members of a criminal gang have been jailed for their role in one of the biggest alcohol smuggling frauds ever uncovered in Britain.

Senior Sun journalists arrested in police payments probe

 Five Sun newspaper journalists have been arrested as part of Operation Elveden, the police inquiry into alleged inappropriate payments to public servants. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian The Sun has been plunged into crisis following the arrest of five of its most senior journalists, including the deputy editor, over allegations of inappropriate payments to police and public officials. The five Sun journalists are understood to be: deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and reporter John Sturgis. The Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan, said: "I'm as shocked as anyone by today's arrests but am determined to lead the Sun through these difficult times. I have a brilliant staff and we have a duty to...

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German nationals face death penalty over drug smuggling charges in Malaysia

 A district court near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport charged the three men on January 13 with drug trafficking, said a customs official who declined to be named. Airport officials arrested the men arriving from Istanbul on January 1 after finding 10.2 kilogrammes of methamphetamine hidden in the bags they were carrying, the official said on Wednesday. He said no plea had been recorded from the three pending the case's transfer to a high court once a chemist report on the drugs is ready. The two Germans have parents from Afghanistan but were born in Germany, while the Moroccan has lived in Germany for 15 years, the official said. Authorities in the Southeast Asian country went on "red alert" late last year following a surge in arrests and drug seizures, tightening passenger and...

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Times of London Dragged Into UK's Hacking Scandal - Another Rupert Murdoch newspaper being probed, says lawmaker

 Police are investigating alleged email interception by Rupert Murdoch's Times of London, a British lawmaker said today—dragging Britain's oldest national newspaper into the broadening scandal over press wrongdoing. Labour Party legislator Tom Watson, who helped lift the lid on tabloid phone hacking, released a letter from police confirming they were investigating alleged email hacking by the Times. The 226-year-old Times has acknowledged that a former reporter tried to intercept emails in 2009 to unmask an anonymous policeman who blogged as NightJack. Editor James Harding told Britain's media ethics inquiry last month that the reporter had acted on his own and had been reprimanded. The paper later published the blogger's name, but Harding insisted it had been obtained by legal means....

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Posted in: Times of London