T.I. was back in federal custody Friday in Atlanta, having gone back behind bars less than a day after his Wednesday release from federal prison in Arkansas

T.I. was back in federal custody Friday in Atlanta, having gone back behind bars less than a day after his Wednesday release from federal prison in Arkansas.

Seems the Federal Bureau of Prisons had a problem with the luxury bus used by T.I., born Clifford Harris Jr., to get to the Atlanta halfway house where he was supposed to spend the final month of his 11-month probation-violation sentence.

"We are awaiting the opportunity to quickly resolve whatever the issue may be that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has with T.I.'s method of transportation -- bus -- from Arkansas to Atlanta, so that T.I. can return to the halfway house to complete the remaining days of his sentence," attorney Steve Sadow said in an email to Reuters. Tip's sentence is slated to end Sept. 29.

On Friday, the rapper was still being held in the medium-security U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' inmate locator. He went in Wednesday night.

Prisoners moving from a low-security facility to a halfway house are allowed to travel via private transportation, unescorted, according to TMZ. Team T.I. reportedly told authorities he'd be riding in a van of some sort, sources told the website, leaving out the minor details that it would be a high-end rap-star tour bus, which he boarded under the watchful lenses of VH1 cameras.

Sadow pointed out that prison officials watched his client board the bus, telling CNN there was no intent to mislead anyone about the ride. No drugs or alcohol were involved, he said.  T.I.'s wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, told TMZ that authorities "walked him over, took pics and told him good luck in life," and should have told them at the time to use a van instead, if the bus was a problem.

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Silvio Berlusconi has claimed he was just joking when he was recorded insulting Italy in an intercepted telephone conversation.

But it is the latest in a long line of gaffes, inappropriate quips, sexist jokes and schoolboy pranks which have earned the Italian prime minister notoriety since he burst onto the political scene nearly 20 years ago.
His sense of humour has often landed him in trouble, both at home and abroad.
Here are 10 of his most memorable foot-in-mouth moments:
Nov 2010: "As always, I work without interruption and if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it's better to like beautiful girls than to be gay," he told a meeting at a motorcycle industry show in Milan. Homosexual rights groups protested.
Oct 2010: A video emerged in the Italian media of Mr Berlusconi describing a fictional Jewish family agreeing to hide another Jew during the Holocaust, on condition that he pays 3,000 euros a day. He described a member of the family asking another: "Do you think we should tell him that Hitler is dead and the war is over?" Mr Berlusconi was strongly criticised by Jewish groups.

April 2009: The media tycoon yelled "Mr Obama!" during an offical photo call in Buckingham Palace during a meeting of G20 leaders. The Queen, looking irritated, turned round and asked: "Why does he have to shout?"
April 2009: During a visit to survivors of an earthquake in the central Abruzzo region, who were staying in emergency tents, Mr Berlusconi said: "They should see it like a weekend of camping."
Nov 2008: The Italian premier hailed Barack Obama as "handsome, young and also suntanned", after he was elected the United States' first black president.
June 2005: Mr Berlusconi bragged that he had used his charm to persuade Finland's president, Tarja Halonen, to give up her country's claim to host the new European Food Safety Authority. "I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time," he said. The Finnish ambassador to Rome protested.
Sept 2004: "Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini sent people on holiday in (internal) exile," Mr Berlusconi told The Spectator, replying "yes" when asked if he thought the World War Two dictator was "benign".
July 2003: "Mr Schulz, I know there is in Italy a man producing a film on the Nazi concentration camps. I would like to suggest you for the role of kapo. You'd be perfect," Mr Berlusconi told Martin Schulz, a Socialist German MEP, who was heckling him during his debut at the European Parliament. A kapo was a concentration camp inmate who was given privileges for supervising prisoner work gangs, often brutally.
Feb 2002: During a group photograph at an informal EU summit in Spain, the media tycoon raised two fingers behind the head of the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Pique, in the traditional Latin gesture for a cuckold.
Oct 2001: Mr Berlusconi sparked an outcry in the Muslim world when he said the West should be aware of its own "superiority".
"We should be conscious of the superiority of our civilisation, which consists of a value system that has given people widespread prosperity in those countries that embrace it, and guarantees respect for human rights and religion," he said. "This respect certainly does not exist in the Islamic countries."

 

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Seagal show accused of doing in a dog

Phoenix man named Jesus Llovera claims action movie figurine Steven Seagal, his pal Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and a heavily armed SWAT team ruthlessly shot to death his 11-month-old puppy - and 100 roosters - when they raided his home as part of the A&E reality show Steven Seagal Lawman.
Seagal has been deputized for the show, which tracks his and Arpaio's mission to have a good time busting bad guys.

Arpaio, who was at Llovera's house to arrest him on cockfighting charges, says there was no puppycide

 

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Actor Seagal sued over dog killed in filming

AN Arizona man is planning to sue action star Steven Seagal, claiming his dog was killed in a raid on his home that was videotaped for the reality series Steven Seagal: Lawman.

Steven Seagal: Lawman follows the actor - a veteran of 1980s and 1990s action films such as Above the Law and Hard to Kill - as he performs his duties as a reserve deputy sheriff, TMZ reported today.

Jesus Sanchez Llovera alleges in a notice of claim that his 11-month-old puppy was shot and killed during a March 9 raid on his home in Laveen, Arizona - southwest of Phoenix - by Seagal and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department (MCSD).

The MCSD reportedly raided Mr Llovera's home because they believed he was running an illegal cockfighting farm. Mr Llovera said he only raises the birds "for show" and the raid was "unfounded".


He said Seagal arrived at his home in a tank, backed up by a MCSD Tactical Operations Unit in riot gear. In addition to the puppy, he said more than 100 of his roosters were killed and "substantial damage" was done to his home.

He is asking for $US100,000 in damages and a formal written apology from Seagal to Mr Llovera's children "for the death of their 11-month old puppy, a beloved family pet".

Controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is also named in the notice of claim, which is the first step toward a lawsuit.

 

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Twenty people escape fire at Branson's holiday home

Twenty people have escaped unhurt from a fire that broke out at Sir Richard Branson's luxury home in the Caribbean.

British actress Kate Winslet was among those staying on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands when a tropical storm broke out and lightning hit the house, said Sir Richard.

The Virgin Group boss, who was staying at a nearby property, said the fire had "completely destroyed" the building.

He said all 20 people in the house managed to escape without injury.

Sir Richard's 90-year-old mother Eve and his 29-year-old daughter Holly were also staying at the property, named the Great House, when the blaze broke out in the early hours of Monday.

"We had a really bad tropical storm with winds up to 90mph," said Sir Richard, who was staying at a nearby property with his wife Joan and son Sam, 25, at the time.

"A big lightning storm came around 04:00 and hit the house.

"My son Sam rushed to the house and helped get everyone out.

"Kate Winslet, her boyfriend and her family were there and Holly and some of her friends were also staying. My mother was there and they managed to get her out and she is fine.

"The main house is completely destroyed and the fire is not yet completely out. My office was based in the house and I have lost thousands of photographs which is very sad."


Each bedroom at the Great House has its own balcony, four-poster bed and en-suite bathroom
Winslet, 35, who won an Oscar for her role in the 2008 movie The Reader, has a daughter Mia, 10, and a son, Joe, seven.

Sir Richard, 60, bought Necker Island in the early 1980s and began building the eight-bedroom Great House in 1982.

It was expected to be the venue for the marriage of Holly and shipbroker Freddie Andrews later this year and is used by Branson and his friends, as well as being hired out.

"It's very much the Dunkirk Spirit here," said Sir Richard.

"We want to rebuild the house as soon as we can."

 

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James Murdoch has admitted that News International paid “hush money” to a phone hacking victim, despite telling MPs that they didn't try to buy his silence.

Mr Murdoch conceded that Gordon Taylor, chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association, was paid around £700,000 in 2008 in return for signing a confidentiality agreement.
However, the chairman of News International continued to deny he authorised the payment after being warned the case could expose further phone hacking at the News of The World if it became public.
The admission that money was paid to ensure Mr Taylor’s silence is likely to exacerbate claims that News International tried to cover up the scale of phone hacking at the News of the World. Mr Murdoch also admitted that News International paid a convicted criminal almost £250,000 after his employment was terminated.
Clive Goodman was given £90,503 in April 2007, three months after he was jailed for his part in tapping the phones of the Royal family. He was later given a further £153,000 and £13,000 for legal fees. Tom Watson, one of the members of the culture, media and sport select committee, said MPs were “genuinely shocked” by the scale of the payment to Goodman.
In July, when Mr Murdoch appeared alongside his father Rupert before MPs he strongly denied that News International had increased the size of the payment to Mr Taylor to maintain silence.

 

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Gerard Depardieu, has enraged fellow plane passengers after relieving himself in the middle of the aisle on an Air France flight.

One of France's best-known actors, Gerard Depardieu, has enraged fellow plane passengers after relieving himself in the middle of the aisle on an Air France flight.

A passenger on the flight told French radio station Europe 1: "You could see that he had been drinking, but there were no comments. The hostess was shocked but there was no argument, nothing."

The plane was preparing for take-off when Depardieu (star of ‘Green Card’ and the Asterix series) reportedly tried to get out of his seat to go to the toilet. When he was refused access to the bathroom and told to sit down, he urinated in the aisle in front of shocked passengers.

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Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at claims that "80%" of BBC Two's Top Gear is 'faked.

There are claims - made by a former Top Gear driver - that most of the driving on the BBC Two show is actually done by professional drivers and not the presenters of the show. The driver claimed that a sequence in 2008 showing Clarkson test driving a Lamborghini Murielago in the rain was actually the work of someone else. The former employee also accused the BBC of knowing deceiving viewers by editing together footage of professional drivers alongside that of the hosts.

The BBC confirmed that professional drivers are used on Top Gear but only for "pick up shots". Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at the claims that "80%" of Top Gear is faked and is quoted in The Mirror as saying "Any claims that I fake Top Gear road tests are utter rubbish. When I say I’m driving at 207mph, it’s because I’m driving at 207mph. If the director chooses later in the day to get a shot of the speedo reading 207mph, then good for him.”

Top Gear is one of BBC Two's most popular shows with ratings topping 7 million viewers on occasions. The series has been remade in Australia and also America where it airs on the History channel.

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Shane takes beauty regime too far

Elizabeth Hurley is finding Shane Warne's preened new image "a little tiresome".

The 46-year-old model-and-actress - whose cricketer lover has stepped out looking wrinkle-free and considerably slimmer in recent weeks - is reportedly concerned the Australian sportsman has taken his new beauty regime a little far.

An insider told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "It's not Elizabeth who has been telling him to diet and look after himself more - it's all down to Shane. Shane's been asking Liz about age-defying procedures like fillers and Botox and she's found it all rather bizarre.

"She loves the fact he's dropped some pounds but now it's all getting a little crazy and she's wondering what he's going to do next.

"Liz doesn't want to lose the man she's fallen in love with but all the girly chat is getting a little tiresome. Her friends are finding it all highly amusing."

Despite her worries over Shane's new look, Elizabeth is still said to be "head over heels" in love with the former cricketer.

The source added: "Liz is still head over heels about Shane. She just wants him to calm down a little."

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After Shane dropped more than two stone in recent months, the brunette beauty took to twitter to joke that it was down to her "evil regime".

She tweeted: "I've decided to take full responsibility for SW's remarkable weight loss & will be publishing my secret, possibly evil, regime shortly (sic)."

 

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Heston Blumenthal, the Michelin-starred chef, has split from his wife and is now dating a glamourous American cookery book author.

The Blumenthals appeared to have all the key ingredients for the perfect marriage.
They met when they were young and built a successful business together.
She described him as her soul mate and he described her as the reason for his success
But after 20 years of marriage, Heston Blumenthal has left his wife and is now reported to be dating Suzanne Pirret, an American cookery book author, who says her favourite things are “food and sex”.
The chef, who has three Michelin stars, has three teenage children with Zanna, and had previously paid tribute to for the sacrifices she made while he worked on building his multi-million pound restaurant business.

But, having survived the arduous commitment of turning the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, into one of the world’s leading restaurants, they last night admitted that the stress had taken its toll on their relationship.
The chef, 45, has moved out of the family home in Buckinghamshire and is now dating Miss Pirret, 45, who is America’s equivalent of Nigella Lawson having been described as a “goddess” for writing The Pleasure Is All Mine: Selfish Food for Modern Life.
She has previously worked as a pastry chef at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen, and has made no secret of her interests in life.
“Food and sex. Two of my favourite things, and the most powerful of all human drives,” she has said.
“Best one after the other in either order, I’m not picky.”
It is understood that the Blumenthals’ marriage had been under strain for several months and that the chef’s wife was aware of his relationship with Miss Pirret.
“Over the course of their marriage, they have built an extremely successful business, but one which has unfortunately taken its toll on their relationship,” a spokesman for the couple said last night.
“They remain good friends and devoted parents of their three children who are their main focus.”
They met as teenagers when Zanna, whose real name is Susanna, was working as a nurse and Heston was a credit controller.
“It sounds corny, but I knew from the outset that I’d found my soul mate,” Mrs Blumenthal, 47, said in a magazine interview four years ago.
“There was a deep connection between us and even though we were just teenagers, we knew we had found something special.
“We had very little money, but for my birthday, he took me for dinner at the best restaurant in London at the time, La Tante Claire.
“It was the first time I’d experienced fine dining and it blew me away, so food became our shared passion.”
“Zanna is the reason for my success because she has supported me every step of the way,’ he said in the same interview.
“She’s sacrificed so much and has never complained.”
Having scraped enough money to buy the 450-year-old Fat Duck in 1995, they turned it into a three-Michelin-starred restaurant.
Since then they expanded the empire to include Dinner, a critically acclaimed restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, west London.
Blumenthal has a £1 million deal with Channel Four and stars in adverts for a supermarket chain.
He now joins the ranks of high-profile chefs who have experienced marital difficulties.
All four of the late Keith Floyd’s marriages ended in divorce, and Marco Pierre White, has been married three times, only recently reconciled with his current wife after abandoning divorce proceedings.
Rick Stein, 64, was married for more than 30 years, but separated in 2002 after his wife, Jill, discovered he was having an affair with a woman 20 years his junior.
Tom Aikens, another acclaimed chef, whose first marriage broke down after seven years, separated from his second wife, Miranda Quarry, last year.

 

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Senior Tories have voiced fears that Boris Johnson may have damaged his campaign to be re-elected London mayor next year after delaying his return to Britain from a family holiday in North America.

Tory MPs criticised Johnson after he was heckled in Battersea on Tuesday by local residents who shouted that he should have come back sooner.

A woman told Johnson he should resign because he is racist. The mayor responded by turning to a man who had challenged him on Mark Duggan to say: "It is time that people who are engaged in looting and violence stopped hearing economic and sociological justifications for what they..."

As the man asked whether his remarks were aimed at him, Johnson walked away from the crowd. "Why are you here now?" another man shouted. The man added: "Three days too late." Tory MPs were scathing. "Boris should have come back from his holiday earlier, he should have come back as soon as Tottenham erupted," a senior MP said. "It is fine that the prime minister did not come back until it was clear that London was burning.

"People have been talking about whether this is a [Hurricane] Katrina moment. It is not David Cameron's Katrina moment. But I would not be surprised if it becomes Boris Johnson's Katrina moment. I hope that this does not damage his re-election chances. But I fear it will.

"Boris's only advantage at the moment is that Ken Livingstone has gone completely over the top and blamed government cuts for causing the riots. Every London Labour MP has been measured."

Theresa May, the home secretary who cut short her holiday, also faced criticism for a highly cautious interview on Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday. Tim Montgomerie, the founder of the ConservativeHome website, tweeted: "I don't think a single @ConHome contributor thinks Theresa May got response right earlier. Cameron will need to show much more steel."

May later faced criticism from Labour after she quietly abandoned Johnson while he was being harangued by the crowd in Battersea. Labour MP Tom Watson tweeted: "It's the way the home secretary sneaks off at about one minute 55 seconds that says it all."

But a Tory MP said: "Theresa May is a consistent performer. She is a no-nonsense politician who is as tough as old boots."

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Boris Johnson heckled in Clapham Junction over London riots

Boris has now returned, and addressed people on the streets of Clapham. But he struggled. Almost drowned out by heckling, he defended his own response and that of the police to Monday night’s riots.

Amid calls of “Why are you here now? Why weren’t you here earlier?” and “You talk about robust policing. What does that actually mean?” Boris didn’t really have a clear message, saying at one point:

I think it is time that people engaged in violence and looting stopped using economic and sociological justifications.

“Economic and sociological justifications”? Hardly the kind of reassuring words many Londoners were hoping to hear.

At the moment, however, Boris is being rescued by equally vociferous criticism of Ken’s reaction, which has been called overly-partisan and point-scoring. But if Ken starts to sound like the voice of Londonders while Boris struggles to connect, it could be a problem for the mayor.

One final point however: Boris’ aides are banking on a poll boost in early summer 2012 as London prepares for the Olympics. They will have to hope it does not end up being too little, too late.

 

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Sofia Vergara's Drug Addict Brother Deported

Just goes to show you that even the rich, famous and stunningly beautiful have problems like the rest of us. Sofia Vergara, the Colombian beauty who plays Ed O'Neil's trophy wife Gloria, on ABC's hit comedy Modern Family, has had to deal with some very painful episodes involving her younger brother Julio.

According to Star magazine, Julio Vergara has been arrested 30 times over the last 10 years -- primarily on drug related offenses. Of her younger brother's drug affliction, Vergara, who moved to Florida from her native Colombia in 1994, recently told Parada magazine that "to see somebody dying, little by little, over 10 years -- that is the worst punishment."


The Emmy-winning Pepsi spokesmodel thinks that her other brother, Rafael's shooting death on the streets of Bogata is what precipitated Julio's dalliance -- and subsequent addictions -- with drugs. She tried to help him, got him to go to college in Michigan, but he was never quite able to get his act together.

The taboid reports that after his latest arrest for pot possesion in April, Julio was deported to Colombia after being handed over to Immigration and Customs officials by a Miami judge who decided that he should no longer have the priveledge of remaining stateside.

His big sister maintains that she'll fight to get him back here and to help him all she can.

Sofia Vergara's mother, sister and 19 year-old son, Manolo, all live in the U.S.

 

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Singer Kem ‘Shares His Life’ And Past Struggles With Addiction

With a pair of gold albums and a list of Grammy nominations under his belt, it’s surely safe to say that R&B crooner Kem has found success. Kemistry, his debut album on Motown Records, earned tremendous praise with its single “Love Calls.” His sophomore effort, Album II, sold over 500,000 copies nationwide and hit the top of Billboard’s R&B charts in 2005. In 2010, Kem released Intimacy: Album III. After selling 74,000 copies in its first week in the United States, it debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. But prior to his ascent, the Detroit native’s life was plagued by hardships. In addition to being homeless, he also faced drug and alcohol addiction. Fortunately, he made an escape.

Kem shared his story at the opening ceremony of the 17th annual National Association of Drug Courts Professionals’ training conference on July 18 at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel, located in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Drug courts are alternatives to the traditional court system, wherein eligible persons are sent there and are provided with intensive treatment and other services that help them stay clean and sober. Throughout the country, 75 percent of Drug Court graduates remain arrest-free for at least two years after leaving the program, and Drug Courts are six times more likely to keep offenders in treatment long enough for them to recover.





The NNPA spoke to Kem following his speech at the opening ceremony and discussed with him his thoughts on Drug Courts, his personal struggles and his career.

NNPA: You shared a lot about your hardships prior to your breakout in the music industry. When did you finally get a breakthrough?

Kem: My last drink and drug was July 23, 1990. I was sleeping outside on the streets of Detroit and I was trying to get back into a treatment center that had discharged me for using while I was in their program previously. As we say in recovery circles, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was in my early 20s and I could no longer continue the life I was living. Then, I surrendered. I gave up on my ideas on how to change my life and that made me open to allowing someone else to come in and show me how to live.

NNPA: You know about the struggles that people with drug addiction experience. Why do you believe the Drug Court system is vital in this country?

Kem: Drug Courts are important because they give an addict an option. It gives them support—and not just support to stay out of jail, but support to live. It restores them and gives them life. It helps them build lives for themselves and their kids as opposed to going to jail where the chances are greater for them to continue to repeat the same thing that planted them in jail in the first place. I think it’s a good alternative and it costs less money. You’ve got to love that! [Laughs].

NNPA: Explain how you try to convey your messages of encouragement to your audiences and fans.

Kem: My faith is my foundation. The principles that I’ve used to maintain my recovery are principles that anybody can use to overcome anything that they are dealing with in their lives. So, if you listen to my records you hear that in my music. When I’m on stage I talk about it. Myself and everyone who works on my behalf looks at [our job] as a ministry. We want to uplift people—we don’t just want to entertain you. Now, we want you to be entertained, but we want to add something of value to your lives. It’s very important that we do that and I try to do that in everything I do.

NNPA: Your last album was quite a success. What’s up next for you?

Kem: We’re out on the road doing shows. We’re just keeping it pushing and being creative. I’m trying to be a good steward in all that God has given me. Hopefully he’s pleased with what we’re doing—at least some of the things. [Laughs].

 

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Scottish first minister has met with media mogul or his News International executives 25 times since taking office

Alex Salmond has been accused of trying to "seduce" Rupert Murdoch and News International after it emerged that he offered the media baron a series of gifts and has met him or his executives 25 times since becoming Scotland's first minister.

Labour's Scottish leader, Iain Gray, said Salmond was guilty of "highly questionable behaviour", adding: "What is now clear is Alex Salmond has waged a four-year campaign since he became first minister to seduce Rupert Murdoch and News International, which has included gifts.

"It has been a top priority and he has spent more of his media time in the last year with News International than any other party leader in Britain."

In the latest set of ministerial disclosures in the News of the World hacking scandal, the Scottish government revealed that Salmond had met or spoken to Murdoch senior four times and his son James once since becoming first minister. The latest meeting with Murdoch senior was in June in London, shortly before the hacking scandal erupted.

Salmond's officials insisted the latest contacts with the Murdochs, including a private meeting with James Murdoch in London in January, were "perfectly proper and reasonable". They discussed BSkyB's investments in Scotland, where it employs 6,000 people and is one of Scotland's largest private employers.

Salmond's spokesmen did not deny that the first minister also discussed the significant political support for the SNP from the Sun and News of the World's Scottish editions in the run up to Salmond's landslide victory in the Holyrood elections in May. The titles are now Scotland's highest-selling papers.

Amongst 25 meetings with NI and News Corp executives since June 2007, Salmond met editors and executives from the Sun, NoW, Times, Sunday Times and Sky, including Rebekah Brooks in 2008when she was editor of the Sun. The frequency of those meetings increased sharply this year, before the Sun and NoW announced they were backing the SNP in March.

Pressed several times on whether the tabloids' editorial backing for the SNP was discussed at either meeting with the Murdochs, Salmond's spokesman said: "All I can say is, not to my knowledge."

He insisted that Salmond's lobbying of the Murdochs was to press for increasing BSkyB investment and jobs, and to highlight his government's transport investments. This year the broadcaster has added a further 150 jobs in Scotland.

 

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Piers Morgan is facing calls to return to the UK to answer questions about phone hacking

Piers Morgan is facing calls to return to the UK to answer questions about phone hacking as the controversy over how much he knew about the practice showed no signs of abating.

John Whittingdale, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons culture, media and sport committee, said it was right that the former Daily Mirror editor should return from the United States, where he hosts a CNN chatshow.

Whittingdale said: "Therese Coffey [a Tory member of the committee] said he should come back to this country to answer questions and I think that is absolutely right. He certainly should."

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, said Morgan had questions to answer, citing a column he wrote five years ago in which he wrote that he had once been played a message left on a mobile phone belonging to Heather Mills.

Harman said: "Hacking is a criminal offence and … every allegation has got to be thoroughly investigated by the police. We started off with just the News of the World … it's clearly been much more widespread than people have been prepared to admit."

Morgan, who edited the Daily Mirror for nearly 10 years until 2004, said in a Daily Mail column in 2006 that he had heard the message, which was left by Sir Paul McCartney on Mills's phone after the couple had an argument. He said the former Beatle sounded "lonely, miserable and desperate".

Mills told the BBC's Newsnight this week that a senior journalist on a paper owned by Trinity Mirror, the Daily Mirror's parent company, conceded to her in 2001 that he had obtained information about an apology left by McCartney by listening to her phone messages.

According to Mills, the journalist rang her and "started quoting verbatim the messages from my machine".

She said she challenged him, saying: "You've obviously hacked my phone and if you do anything with this story … I'll go to the police."

Mills said he responded: "OK, OK, yeah, we did hear it on your voice messages, I won't run it."

Morgan has consistently denied he has ever hacked a phone, ordered any of his journalists to do so, or published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone.

He issued a statement through CNN, for whom he records Tonight with Piers Morgan, in response to Mills's claims pointing out that a high-court judge had described her as a unreliable witness.

"No doubt everyone will take this and other instances of somewhat extravagant claims by Ms Mills into account in assessing what credibility and platform her assertions are given," he said.

Morgan used Twitter to ridicule the prominence of the story on Thursday, posting: "Morning all, lovely day in LA. Anything going on back home in UK? Seems a bit quiet over there … so heart-warming that everyone in UK's missing me so much they want me to come home."

Trinity Mirror, which also owns the Sunday Mirror and the People, said on Thursday: "All our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC code of conduct and we have seen no evidence to suggest otherwise."

Meanwhile the FBI is widening its investigation of News Corporation's activities within the US to look at whether allegations of computer hacking by one of its subsidiaries was an isolated case or part of a "larger pattern of behaviour", Time magazine is reporting.

Time suggests that the FBI inquiry has been extended from a relatively narrow look at alleged malpractices by News Corp in America into a more general inquiry into whether the company used possibly illegal strongarm tactics to browbeat rival firms, following allegations of computer hacking made by retail advertising company Floorgraphics.

In a civil lawsuit against News Corp in 2004 Floorgraphics told a court that its website had been breached 11 times over four months without authorisation. The source of the alleged hacking was traced back to an IP address registered to News America in Connecticut.

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Murdoch hacking scandal: the facts they wish you didnt know

The UK ruling class is in disarray. Its web of corruption, bribery and lies are exposed—and it just keeps getting worse. Simon Basketter looks at the key things we’ve learnt this week

David Cameron has had more than 26 meetings with senior figures from Rupert Murdoch’s media empire since becoming prime minister. (For a full list of Cameron’s dinners with the media and his guests at Chequers, his private residence, go to wwww.socialistworker.co.uk)

Andy Coulson was Cameron’s guest at Chequers in March—two months after disgraced Coulson resigned over phone hacking allegations.

Rebekah Brooks was invited to Chequers twice last year, and James Murdoch once.

Brooks urged Cameron to scrap plans to give the job of Director of Communications to a senior BBC journalist.

Cameron was told it should go to someone who was "acceptable" to News International. Coulson got the job.

The Metropolitan Police employed Neil Wallis, former News of the World executive editor, during the phone hacking inquiry.

He "earned" £1,000 a day to advise Sir Paul Stephenson, ex-commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and senior officer John Yates from October 2009 to September 2010.

Stephenson spent five weeks recuperating from an operation at a luxurious health spa in Hertfordshire in January, at the expense of Outside Organisation—a PR firm managed by Neil Wallis. Wallis was arrested last week.

News International offered Stephenson hospitality on 15 occasions between April 2007 and March 2010—he accepted 14 times. In one instance, he met senior executives three times in one week.

Stephenson and the Metropolitan Police’s director of public affairs, Dick Fedorico, twice tried to convince the Guardian newspaper that Nick Davies’s stories about phone hacking were "over-egged and incorrect".

At meetings in December 2009 and February 2010, the Met’s representatives failed to mention that they were employing Wallis.

John Yates was in charge of carrying out "due diligence" on Wallis before the Met hired him to give PR advice.

"Wolfman" Wallis was reporting back to News International while he was working for the police on the hacking case.

Andy Hayman, chief of the Met’s counter-terrorism unit who ran the

investigation, attended four dinners, lunches and receptions with News of the World editors. This includes a dinner on April 25 2006, while his officers were gathering evidence in the case.

Hayman left the Met in December 2007 and was soon hired to write a column for the Times, a News International paper.

Hayman had his phone hacked by News International. But he was happy to bug prison visits between Babar Ahmad, who was unjustly accused of acts of terrorism, and his local MP Sadiq Khan.

Executives and others at News International enjoy close relationships with Scotland Yard’s top officials.

Since the hacking scandal began in 2006, Yates and others regularly dined with editors from News International papers.

Stephenson dined with company executives and editors 18 times during the investigation—including on eight occasions with Wallis while he was still working at the News of the World.

The MP who questioned Brooks and James Murdoch this week when they appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport committee has close links with News Corporation.

John Whittingdale, the committee’s Tory chair, is an old friend of Les Hinton, who resigned from News Corp on Friday night, and has dined with Brooks.

Brooks is to receive a £3.5 million severance package after resigning from News International.

Two of the company’s senior lawyers, Tom Crone and Jon Chapman, will receive an estimated £1.5 million each. Colin Myler, the final editor of the News of the World, is understood to be in line for

£2 million.

Rebekah Brooks’s PR firm, Bell Pottinger, has previously represented the Bahraini government, Trafigura—the oil company which was fined $1 million for dumping toxic waste in the Ivory Coast—and Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator.

Yates is accused of securing Neil Wallis’ daughter a job at the Met.

Yates, Hayman and Fedorico are all being investigated by the IPCC over their links with Wallis.

Brooks reduced Gordon Brown to tears when she called to say that the Sun was to run a front page of private details of his baby son’s medical condition.

He omitted to say that afterwards he and his wife attended Brooks’ wedding, organised her birthday party and had her over to Chequers.

Piers Morgan, now a CNN broadcaster but formerly editor of the News of the World and the Daily Mirror, was aware of phone hacking during his time in charge of the Mirror.

According to Morgan’s autobiography, "Apparently if you don’t change the standard security code that every phone comes with, then anyone can call your number and, if you don’t answer, tap in the standard four digit code to hear all your messages."

In the US, outcry at possible hacking of 9/11 victims’ phones has led the FBI to launch an investigation.

News Corp donated $1 million to the US bosses’ organisation, the Chamber of Commerce, last summer. Shortly afterwards, the chamber launched a high-profile campaign to alter the foreign corrupt practices act—the same law that could potentially be brought to bear on News Corp now.

The who’s who of the phone hacking scandal

David Cameron: prime minister of Britain.

Rupert Murdoch: overlord of News International and News Corp.

Andy Coulson: editor of News of the World during phone hacking (2003-2007). Director of communications for David Cameron (2007-January 2011).

Rebekah Brooks: worked for Murdoch since 1997. News of the World editor (2000-2003). Sun editor (2003-2009). News International chief executive until July 2011, when she resigned because of the phone hacking scandal.

Neil Wallis: worked for News International from 1986, rising to become deputy editor of the Sun (1993-2003), deputy editor of News of the World (2003-2007), executive editor of the paper (2007-2009). Fellow journalists knew him as "the wolfman".

Sir Paul Stephenson: cop since 1975. Rose through the ranks to commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2009. Resigned last week over scandal.

John Yates: assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police and was appointed head of Specialist Operations on 9 April 2009. Was top terror cop when police killed Jean Charles De Menezes. Resigned Monday.

Andy Hayman: assistant commissioner for specialist operations, Metropolitan Police (2005–2007).

James Murdoch: son of Rupert. Assumed heir to the empire pre-hacking scandal. Represents News Corp’s interests at BSkyB.

Les Hinton: one of Rupert Murdoch’s closest business associates and head of News International at the height of the News of the World’s phone hacking. Resigned on Friday as chief executive of Dow Jones in New York.

 

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Former City Slicker reporter offers evidence for public inquiry, alleging phone hacking was widespread at Mirror and People

Phone hacking was not confined to the News of the World but was widespread at other newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, a former Mirror reporter has claimed.

James Hipwell, who worked as a financial journalist under the editorship of Piers Morgan, said the practice was "seen as a bit of a wheeze" and offered to give evidence to the public inquiry into hacking ordered by David Cameron.

Hacking also took place at other titles in the newspaper group, including the People, he alleged.

"You know what people around you are doing," he told the Independent. "They would call a celebrity with one phone and when it was answered they would then hang up.

"By that stage, the other phone would be into [the celebrity's] voicemail and they would key in the code, 9999 or 0000. I saw that a lot."

He added: "It was seen as a bit of a wheeze – something that was slightly underhand but something many of them did. What a laugh.

"After they'd hacked into someone's mobile, they'd delete the message so another paper couldn't get the story. There was great hilarity about it."

Piers Morgan, a former editor of the Mirror, and the News of the World, has strenuously denied any link to the phone-hacking scandal.

Hipwell said he had chosen to speak out as he was sick of all the "lies".

The death of phone-hacking whistleblower Sean Hoare fuelled his decision to talk about what went on, he said, condemning the way the former News of the World journalist had been treated as "disgraceful".

Trinity Mirror denied its journalists had broken the law. A spokesman said: "Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) code of conduct."

Trinity Mirror added that Hipwell's claims were "totally unsubstantiated".

Hipwell was jailed for six months in February 2006 for pocketing nearly £41,000 by repeatedly purchasing low-priced stocks, recommending them to readers in the Mirror's City Slickers column and then quickly selling them as values soared.

 

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Piers is in a piss storm of woe over the phone hacking scandal that may make CNN wish they could fold him into an airmail envelope and mail him back to whence he came

Piers is in a piss storm of woe over the phone hacking scandal that may make CNN wish they could fold him into an airmail envelope and mail him back to whence he came. From the Guardian UK:

Phone hacking also rife under Piers Morgan at Mirror, claims ex-reporter

Oh dear. Perhaps it's all an innocent misunderstanding, but it appears many more worms will be emerging from the woodwork before this clusterphuck has run its course. If we can't send him back to Britain, is there someplace else we can send him?

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Amy Winehouse, the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead Saturday in her London home

Amy Winehouse, the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead Saturday in her London home, police said. She was 27.


Winehouse shot to fame with the album "Back to Black," whose blend of jazz, soul, rock and classic pop was a global hit. It won five Grammys and made Winehouse — with her black beehive hairdo and old-fashioned sailor tattoos — one of music's most recognizable stars.


Police confirmed that a 27-year-old female was pronounced dead at the home in Camden Square northern London; the cause of death was not immediately known. London Ambulance Services said Winehouse had died before the two ambulance crews it sent arrived at the scene.

"I didn't go out looking to be famous," Winehouse told the Associated Press when "Back to Black" was released. "I'm just a musician."

But in the end, the music was overshadowed by fame, and by Winehouse's demons. Tabloids lapped up the erratic stage appearances, drunken fights, stints in hospital and rehab clinics. Performances became shambling, stumbling train wrecks, watched around the world on the Internet.

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