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The newspaper the News of the World was closed by Rupert Murdoch after 168 years as a response to revelations of phone hacking — breaking into telephone voicemail messages. Police were said to have 4,000 names that might have been targeted. There was public outcry after it was said that the phones of Milly Dowler, the murdered teenager; and of relatives of the Soham murder victims as well as of dead British soldiers and of those who died in the bombings on 7 July 2005, had been hacked. Police were also said to have been paid by journalists for telephone numbers of members of the royal family. Gordon Brown complained that when he was in office, the Sunday Times had used ‘known criminals’ to find out his bank details and that the Sun had improperly discovered the medical condition of his son Fraser.
Andy Coulson, who edited the News of the World from 2003 to 2007, was arrested and released on bail. David Cameron defended having employed him as his director of communications: ‘I think he did his job for me in a very effective way. He became a friend and he is a friend.’ Mr Cameron said that there would be two inquiries: one led by a judge into phone hacking at the News of the World, another into the ethics and culture of the press. He said that the Press Complaints Commission would be scrapped. Rebekah Brooks did not resign as chief executive of News International; Rupert Murdoch flew into London and supported her. News Corporation’s application to take over BSkyB was referred by Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, to the Competition Commission, after News Corporation withdrew an offer to sell or separate off Sky News as part of its bid. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats supported a Labour motion in the Commons calling on News Corporation to drop the bid.
Southern Cross, the company with 752 homes where 31,000 old people live, is to close, but Paul Burstow, the care services minister, said: ‘No one will find themselves homeless or without care.’ Unemployment fell 26,000 in the three months to May to 2.45 million. The rate of inflation fell unexpectedly from 4.5 per cent to 4.2 per cent, by the Consumer Prices Index, and from 5.2 to 5 per cent by the Retail Prices Index; but the price of food rose by 1.3 per cent in a month. The UK Payments Council said that in the absence of alternatives, ‘retaining the cheque is a better approach’ than abolishing it in 2018. A British lottery ticket won £161 million, Europe’s biggest ever prize. The Earl of Harewood died, aged 88. There were riots in Belfast. Smokers at Boat of Garten in the Cairngorms were asked to make other arrangements after a family of blue tits nested in a metal bin for cigarette ends.
Abroad
Shares fell in Europe as fears grew that Spain and Portugal might become incapable of paying their debts. The International Monetary Fund called for ‘decisive implementation’ of spending cuts by Italy. Moody’s, the rating agency, reduced Ireland’s debt rating to junk status. Thousands fled the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri after attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram killed 40. Southern Sudan celebrated independence. The South Korean football league introduced lie detectors to counter corruption among players.
Kenya was reluctant to open another refugee camp for those fleeing drought in Somalia, lest their presence became permanent. Hundreds more migrants from Libya reached the Italian island of Lampedusa, which has seen 41,000 arrivals from North Africa this year. Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, said: ‘We are receiving emissaries who are telling us: “Gaddafi is prepared to leave”.’ The British Foreign Office said that the Libyan ruler must step down before negotiations start. Starbucks began a campaign to increase its sales outside America from 20 per cent to 50 per cent.
Ahmad Wali Karzai, the half-brother of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and the leading figure in Kandahar, was shot dead at his home. The United States said it was suspending $800 million in aid to Pakistan because of ‘difficulties’ in its relationship with the country. Three US drone attacks in Pakistan’s north-west tribal areas killed 30 in a day. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence visited Washington. Crowds attacked the US and French embassies in Damascus after diplomats had visited Hama, where government forces have suppressed protests. Betty Ford died, aged 93. CSH
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