Whistleblower found dead

Phone Hacking Scandal Whistleblower Found Dead – A former News of the World journalist who made phone-hacking allegations against the paper has been found dead. Sean Hoare told the New York Times the practice was far more extensive than the paper acknowledged when police first investigated hacking claims. [bbc]

The Sun Hacked – Hoax Story Reports Murdoch’s Death – News International websites for the Times and the Sun were taken down last night after hackers targeted the Sun’s web pages and redirected traffic to another page falsely reporting that Rupert Murdoch had been found dead. [guardian]

Metropolitan Police Lose Another Top Cop Amid Phone Hacking Skandaal – Assistant Commissioner John Yates has resigned, Scotland Yard said. The Met’s number two had been under pressure over his failure to fully investigate claims of phone hacking at the News of the World and the damage that has done to the force’s reputation. [mirror]

News Corp. Considers Replacing Murdoch – News Corp. is considering elevating Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey to chief executive officer to succeed Rupert Murdoch, people with knowledge of the situation said. A decision hasn’t been made and a move depends in part on Murdoch’s performance before the U.K. Parliament today, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Murdoch would remain chairman, the people said. [bloomberg]

Six Arrested For Renaming Mandela Drive [Photo] – Six men have been arrested for allegedly using stickers to rename Nelson Mandela Drive to Clive Derby-Lewis Street on directional boards in Pretoria, police said on Monday. Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said the six white men were caught on CCTV cameras along Nelson Mandela Drive in Sunnyside on Sunday night. [news24]

Dewani ‘Too Ill” For Extradition Hearing – Shrien Dewani (31), accused of organising his wife’s murder during their honeymoon in South Africa was deemed too ill to attend his extradition hearing at a court in London on Monday. He was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and was “simply unfit to stand trial”, his lawyer Claire Montgomery told Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London. [mail&guardian]

Idols Winner To Support James Blunt – 2010 Idols winner Elvis Blue has been chosen to support UK singer James Blunt’s SA tour. Blunt will visit SA in August as part of his Some Kind of Trouble World Tour. “Being able to do what I love is something I am very thankful for and being able to perform on the same stage with great, international artists makes me realise how truly privileged I am, ” Elvis said. [channel24]

Rory McIlroy Axes His Girlfriend – Now Tapping Tennis #1 – Rory McIlroy has terminally split with his long-time girlfriend Holly Sweeney and embarked on a relationship with world tennis No 1 Caroline Wozniacki. International Sports Management last night confirmed the end of the young golf star’s relationship with his former childhood sweetheart Holly Sweeney. [beltel]

Top Chinese Gymnast Found Begging In The Story – One of China’s most promising young gymnasts, who seemed destined for Olympic glory before his career ended in injury, has been found begging on the streets of Beijing, prompting criticism of the country’s Soviet-style sports system. [telegraph]

Global Debt Jitters Push Gold To New Record – Gold soared above $1600 for the first time yesterday as nervous investors piled into the safe-haven metal amid deepening debt worries in Europe and the US. The price jumped as high as $1607,45/oz in London as the precious metal extended its recent record-breaking surge. The gold price is now enjoying its longest winning streak in more than 90 years. [businessday]

US And Libya Hold Talks – US officials have met face-to-face with members of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime – but the two sides disagree about what they discussed. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli the talks had been held on Saturday. He refused to say exactly where they happened or which officials were involved, but said they had involved ways to repair ties between Tripoli and Washington. [skynews]

William Shatner Booted Off Google+ – Actor and musician William Shatner has apparently had his Google+ account beamed up for “violating standards”, according to a tweet posted earlier this morning. He who loves TechCrunch tweeted the following message to his followers: “My Google+ account was flagged for violating standards. Saying hello to everyone apparently is against the rules maybe I should say goodbye?” [techcrunch]

Ja Rule Goes To Jail For Two Years – Rapper and actor Ja Rule was sentenced Monday to more than two years in federal prison for failing to file income tax returns, and said a combination of youthful inexperience, bad advice and an inability to manage fame and fortune lead to his financial troubles. [cta]

Borders Book Store Liquidates – Borders Group Inc. said it would liquidate after the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain failed to receive any offers to save it. Borders, which employs about 10,700 people, scrapped a bankruptcy-court auction scheduled for Tuesday amid the dearth of bids. It said it would ask a judge Thursday to approve a sale to liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group. [wallstreetjournal]

Charlie Sheen Returns With New Sitcom – Yup, all those earlier reports you read about Charlie Sheen’s return to the small screen turned out to be mostly true. It was announced Monday morning that as TMZ and Radar previously reported, the actor will be working with Lionsgate and its subsidiary Debmar-Mercury to bring the sitcom “Anger Management” to television. [theclicker]

Ivanka Trump Has Baby Girl – Ivanka Trump gave birth to a baby girl Sunday morning. The Apprentice judge tweeted that she and hubby Jared Kushner “welcomed a beautiful and healthy little baby girl into the world” and felt “incredibly grateful and blessed.” “Thank you for all for your support and well wishes,” the first-time mom, 29, added. [usmagazine]

Cape Royale Hotel “30 Days Of Giveaways” Reaches Half-Way Mark! – Cape Royale Luxury Hotel and Spa is offering all Facebook members a chance to win prizes in their daily giveaways. Prizes include spa treatments and products, dinners, accommodation and even a helicopter flip! In order to enter the competition all you have to do is “like” their Facebook page and see what our daily competition entails.  [facebook]

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