The scandal that refuses to go away. The ongoing Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking and bribery at News of The World and News International netted another stay in jail for Rebekah Brooks this morning. This time however, she was joined in finger prints and mug shots by husband Charlie Brooks, noted Horse trainer and author as he was taken in as a possible accessory.

Also involved in the early morning roundup were former Head of Security at News International Mark Hanna and three others, as yet unidentified but only referred to as "men in their late 30's and 40's".

The ongoing Inquiry and seemingly endless revelations about corruption, cover-up and bribery having to do with the phone hacking scandal is now taking on a more serious tone, as was revealed in a BBC Radio 4 Interview today on the PM program. The possibilities of life in prison could await Brooks, although it would seem unlikely, are nonetheless very real options facing those convicted in this scandal.

The focus of the Leveson Inquiry, while the arrests are going on, is focused on bribes and corruption withing the Police Force as the result of the News Of The World/News International scandal. Today's testimony will most likely lead to additional arrests in the coming days.

The inquiry and the scandal have no end in sight.

Here, as way of catching up if you've missed it, is today's slice of Drama as presented on The World At One and PM, both from BBC Radio 4.

More, I am sure, will be forthcoming.

Characterized as something of a tossup between an inept Mafia Don and a morally bankrupt enabler, James Murdoch went again before the Parliamentary committee investigating charges of phone hacking at the defunct News Of The World today. Not expecting any revelations, the committee pressed forward on contradictory testimony given by Murdoch previously with regards to settlement payments to phone hacking victims.

The biggest bone of contention centered around the now infamous "For Neville" e-mail which outlined widespread phone hacking within the News Of the World organization and whether Murdoch knew and didn't care or really didn't know and was therefore inept at running a company of that size. Murdoch rejected Labour MP Tom Watson's assertion that News Of the World had adopted a Mafia "Omerta" code of silence with regards to the practice.

The "stuck between a rock and a hard place" scenario had many wondering just how this testimony would go. But after 2 1/2 hours of grilling and testimony, the committee were left with probably more questions than answers and no doubt many more months of investigating to lie ahead with new revelations just around the corner.

At last count, there were some 300 million (yes, Million) e-mails Scotland yard was sifting through involving some 5,700 people who were believed to be hacked. At present, only 600 victims have been interviewed.

Needless to say - the legs on this story aren't getting any shorter. Although it isn't believed there will be any more public hearings after today.

Here is a wrapup of the days hearings via BBC Radio 4's PM Program which ran at 5:00 pm in London (9:00 am Los Angeles time).

As promised back in July the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee resumed hearings today with a new battery of allegations and counter-allegations over what James Murdoch knew and when did he know it.

Leaving off at the end of the last batch of hearings were questions surrounding the infamous "For Neville" email. They resumed today with former News Of The World Legal Manager Tom Crone stating emphatically that yes James Murdoch knew, since it was "the only way to settle the case", according to Crone.

So to get you up to speed on today's hearings, here is a recap of reports, starting with BBC Radio 4's Today Program, continuing with The World At One and finishing with PM (which just finished a few minutes ago, as of this posting - 10:15 am PDT).

This story continues galloping ahead with no intention of letting up or even stopping to take on water.

Stay tuned.

Amid speculations "the fuse is getting shorter", fresh allegations emerged today that uncovered documents prove the procedure of phone-hacking was widespread throughout News Of The World and knowledge of it was a routine topic of conversation among editorial staff and Newscorp/News International.

Centered around the controversy surrounding Clive Goodman, former Royals Reporter for News Of The World and his firing over phone-hacking, come new documents revealing there were two sets of the same e-mail from 2007 - the "official one" and the "real one", which included redacted portions carefully omitting reference to the subject of phone hacking routinely discussed at Editorial meetings and that Clive Goodman was not the isolated case and the "rogue reporter" as typified in testimony given by the Murdochs.

Although this comes as no surprise to anyone, the elements of proof coming out are offering substantiated horror rather than imagined speculation and that this scandal has legs and roots going very far back and not going away.

Curiously, there isn't much news to be had over here regarding our own set of investigations into the goings on at Newscorp/Fox. This could either mean a very large bomb is in the process of being constructed or the obstruction and cover-up are very much intertwined. Time will tell.

Here is the report today via BBC Radio 4's PM Program with Eddie Mair and an update via BBC Radio 4's Six O'clock News. Doubtless, more will be revealed in the coming hours/days.

The latest revelations in the ever-growing Phone Hacking scandal may have less to do with Rupert Murdoch than the Standard Operating Procedure so much used by the Murdoch Empire. This time it's via The Daily Mirror, whose editor at the time was CNN's Piers Morgan and who later became Editor at News Of the World and now Scotland Yard would like to have a word or two with him. As was disclosed by Heather Mills, the former Mrs. Macca on an episode of BBC2's Newsnight this past Wednesday, she was approached by a writer for the Daily Mirror and asked for a statement about a recent spat she had with then-boyfriend Paul. When the journalist gave her a verbatim rundown of a phone call the two had, Heather promptly blew a gasket and threatened legal action if the gist of the conversation was ever made public. When informed of this two days ago, Sir Paul expressed shock, horror and a bee-line visit to Scotland Yard when he finishes his latest tour.

There have been numerous phone hacking allegations associated with Morgan, who of course denies them all. But since he did disclose in a recent book a somewhat cavalier attitude towards the practice, it certainly prompts many questions and begs many answers.

And then there's the disclosure of letters written between Rupert Murdoch and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, taking on a friendlier-than-usual air between Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Salmond right up to June of this year. Maybe nothing, but a curious batch of coincidences surrounding a sudden shift in support from News Of The World of Mister Salmond in a recent election and the presence of News International printing plants springing up in Scotland shortly after. Fancy that.

And next week? Anybody's guess.

So far 11 and counting, the latest arrest in the Rupertgate Phone-hacking scandal. Now that the BBC newsreaders strike is over, it was reported on the PM Program that former Managing Editor of News Of The World Stuart Kuttner was arrested in connection with the phone-hacking and bribery scandal this morning. As was eluded in Rebekah Brooks' testimony, Kuttner was the one who signed off on checks and generally oversaw the goings on with the staff. By the time this thing is over I suspect the only ones not facing any jail time will be the janitors . . .but even then I could be wrong.

As of this posting (10:00 am PDT) Kuttner is still in custody while questioning continues.

Meanwhile, the man known as Jonny Marbles is facing six weeks in prison for his Barbasol Surprise during the Murdoch hearings. Murdoch Sr. didn't want to press charges and Marbles claims he missed his target anyway so . . .the court wasn't amused.

Since I reported yesterday on the alleged dumping of e-mails over at News International, questions are starting to arise about just how deleted are deleted e-mails. Eddie Mair asks an expert who surmises e-mail considered spam is gone into thin air, while e-mails considered "received" are stored. Although most everything can be retrieved, some of it is difficult to ascertain who got what and who sent what. In short, it may be tough to prove a lot of potentially damaging communications. I'm sure the folks over here at Newscorp are thrilled about that.

So up today are two clips - one is from PM (top player) dealing with the latest arrest and second (lower player) is a special, also hosted by Eddie Mair entitled "Beyond Hackgate"from this morning (recorded at 1:00am PDT) where questions are asked just how this scandal is going to affect the long-term workings of government. An interesting panel and one you may want to keep for future reference as this thing heats up over here.

In the meantime, the saga continues.

Less than 24 hours after the abrupt resignation of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson comes the equally abrupt, though somewhat anticipated resignation of Assistant Commissioner John Yates. The seeming labyrinth of corruption, collusion and bribery continues in what has become an unstoppable and irreparably damaging state of affairs, all stemming from the Murdoch story.

And hot on the heels of last week's inquiry appearance that left more questions than answers, John Yates decided there was just too much heat in the kitchen to keep going and so offered his resignation this afternoon.

Here are two clips - the first is a BBC Radio 4 Today Program interview from this morning with London Mayor Boris Johnson over the Stephenson resignation. And a few hours later, during the BBC Radio 4 program PM, comes the resignation as-it-happened with John Yates - the second clip.

Another day and another batch of casualties. All eyes and ears will be on the inquiry and testimony of the Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 6:30 am (PDT).

Like everything else having to do with this story, it will no doubt offer way too many surprises. Meanwhile, Newcorps stock continues to plummet.

Despite certain "news organizations" claims to the contrary, the story has no intention of going away.

More undoubtedly will follow.

Late Breaking - And if that weren't enough: It was just reported a few minutes ago (at 12:30 PDT) that initial whistle blower on the News Of The World Phone Hacking Scandal, Sean Hoare, who reported the scandal to the New York Times has been found dead.

Amid the breaking news this morning that Newscorp/News International/Rupert Murdoch are abandoning their takeover bid for BskyB, and with the growing firestorm surrounding the phone hacking scandal at the now-defunct News Of The World becoming something of a Perfect Storm, questions are now being raised if in fact Rupert Murdoch will survive this scandal and if he will abandon the UK as any place to continue his empire.

Bets are on he will, as he has done many times in the past. Whether his son James or his coveted, trusty assistant, confidant, whatever-she-is Rebekah Brooks will survive is another question. Odds are neither Rupert or James will be obliged to testify at the Home Affairs Select Committee Hearings, since neither are actual British Citizens (oh, that citizenship thing again), but Brooks will be since she is a British citizen, and it may make for very interesting theater on Tuesday (the day testimony is tentatively scheduled).

As of yesterday there were calls by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller to begin hearings on Newscorps' possible violations here while stockholders in Delaware are making their discomfort known. It has also been mentioned by various sources there is a wave of gripping fear overtaking Fox News at the moment.

As was indicated last week when the bomb was dropped over the closing of News Of The World, the story is changing constantly and quickly. At the rate this is going, it may change again by Friday.

But for the moment, here is BBC Radio 4's PM Program with the latest as of this morning (afternoon in the UK).

Stay tuned.

Technical note: there is a portion of a 1989 interview with Murdoch missing. It was missing on the PM broadcast.

With almost daily revelations surfacing on the News Of The World/News International/Newscorp/Rupert Murdoch scandal, there is still very little being said in our own mainstream media regarding what could very well become the potential takedown of a government. No big surprise there.

As these revelations now involve the former Communications Director for Prime Minister David Cameron, Andy Coulson who was, prior to his appointment, editor of News Of The World and who has subsequently resigned his post with Cameron in January, questions continue to rise over how much Coulson knew and how far reaching actually is this scandal. It's been said to have taken on Nixonian proportions, and that may well be true. That now it is revealed Police bribes and sand bagging have been ongoing since 2009 and earlier suggest the scandal is far more prevalent than previously thought. That this scandal is being paid scant attention here in the U.S. begs to entertain a more sinister atmosphere (not merely the breezy smokescreen that it's the code of ethics among members of the Fourth Estate not to discuss such matters) and that this is a scandal very much about to break on our own shores involving people who have taken the lead of fact-free and loosely procured sources in the name of journalistic integrity, fairly expose the root of what has been a problem ever since our introduction to the ways of The News Of The World and the tabloid atmosphere so much a part of the Murdoch empire.

So as a manner of getting you up to speed and keeping this story from being buried, I am posting three clips that have come out as of today (July 6th). First up is a piece first broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 Today program featuring interviews with Director of Corporate Affairs for News International, Simon Greenberg, Former Managing Editor of The Times Professor George Brock and BBC Business Editor Robert Preston who offers this assessment:

Robert Preston (BBC Business Editor): “George Brock has said that this a hugely damaging set of revelations about a very important bit of Rupert Murdoch’s empire. What is quite striking is that the initial disclosures about the hacking into celebrity’s voice mails didn’t appear to do much damage to the News Of The World circulation or indeed its advertising. But, we’re seeing advertisers saying they’re questioning whether or not to continue advertising and it will be very interesting to see whether or not the News Of The World’s circulation starts to suffer. News Of The World are a hugely important part of this empire because of the series of disclosures that there, to quote a number of commentators, there were no depths to which some journalists would stoop in terms of invading the privacy of vulnerable people.”

Next up is a BBC Radio 4 Profile on former Communications Director Andy Coulson whose resignation from the Cameron government in January sparked further revelations over the extent of Phone Hacking at News Of The World and this reaction from David Cameron:

David Cameron: “He did a very good job as Director of Communications both for the government and for the country. He ran the Downing Street Press Office in a very professional and straight forward and correct way, and I think has done some very good work. But I understand why he wants to go with the things that happened at The News Of The World, the stories about that. Obviously he resigned at the time and I’ve always felt he’s been punished for the same offense twice, but I quite understand his position and I wish him well for the future.”

Suspicions are now raised, since the revelations of Police bribes, triggering a Scotland Yard investigation that perhaps David Cameron may have known more than he let on and that this new call for further investigations could be a deflection of sorts of many potential key players, not the least being Rupert Murdoch whose attempt at trying to buy a 100% stake in the Sky Channel may well be the tipping point. At the moment it would seem the attempted lid placed on the scandal has done nothing but fly off at least once a day. How far it will go would be mere speculation at this point.

The last clip is an interview done earlier today with Graham Foulkes whose son David was one of the victims of the bombings in London on July 7th 2005 and whose phone was one of those hacked by News Of The World reporters.

The revelations don't appear to be over by any stretch. My suspicion is it's only a matter of time before revelations about Newscorps activities in the U.S. are discovered. My hunch, and only a hunch not based on anything other than speculation based on reports I'm hearing today, is that this may very well have the potential to bring down the Cameron Government - or at least do serious damage to credibility some weeks or months down the road.

Asked if this is causing cracks in Rupert Murdoch's empire the answer at the moment is no. But strains are appearing. It's interesting the New York Times are being assailed as whistle blowers in all this, blaming a feud with The Wall Street Journal (another Murdoch paper) for setting off the firestorm. I guess it doesn't occur to anyone that, when you have achieved a certain level of perceived impunity it sets up the misconception you have become bullet proof. Scandals are almost always the product of the assumption you're above everything.

Sound familiar? Stay tuned.