Descending to the depths: Five senior Scotland Yard investigators reported to have had cellphones hacked by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World ... The Sun, another Murdoch rag, allegedly stole medical records of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's infant son, who has cystic fibrosis ... Shareholders file suit against Murdoch's News Corp., accusing it of "complete failure" to properly oversee operations at NOTW ... Well, this had to happen: St. Martin's Press to publish book by psychiatrist entitled Inside the Mind of Casey Anthony. We really don't want to go there ... Just when we needed some good news: Scientists discover "superbug" strain of gonorrhea in Japan that resists all current antibiotics.
Tuesday, July 12
Widening the net: Senate Commerce Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) calls for FBI investigation of Rupert Murdoch news operations in US ... Suck it up, grandma: President Obama says he can't guarantee Social Security checks will go out Aug. 3 if debt ceiling dispute isn't ended by Aug. 2 ... Meanwhile Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY Jelly) floats plan to let Obama raise debt ceiling without Congress's okay ... Couch potatoes of the world, to arms! Netflix boosts cost of its cheapest movie rental plan 60 percent ... The more the merrier: Kody Brown, polygamist whose family stars in reality show "Sister Wives," being investigated by Utah law enforcement; he counters by filing lawsuit against anti-polygamy law ... Last chance? Lionsgate Studios to go ahead with "Last Stand" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It'll be The Impregnator's first movie project since love-child scandal.
Wednesday, July 13
Lines in the sand: President Obama reportedly walks out of tense meeting on debt ceiling, tells Republicans, "I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this" ... Moody's announces it's reviewing America's credit rating for possible downgrade because of "rising risk" of default ... Cracks in the empire: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. abandons bid to take over BSkyB as phone-hacking scandal escalates ... Former News of the World reporter says editors told her to "embellish" stories ... Murdoch tells Wall Street Journal (which he owns) his company has handled the scandal "extremely well in every way possible" and made only "minor mistakes" ... Uneasy credit: Nearly 200 folks in Bend report credit card numbers stolen; cops say it's a "hugely complicated case" ... The most unkind cut: Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, of Garden Grove, CA arrested for drugging husband and cutting off his penis with 10-inch carving knife. Charge is "aggravated mayhem." Seems appropriate.
Thursday, July 14
Worser and worser: FBI reportedly investigating whether Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. tried to hack phones of 9/11 victims in US ... Nick of time? Info found in Osama bin Laden's compound indicates he was planning attack on 10th anniversary of 9/11 ... About time: Democratic Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, Republican Legislature reach agreement to end two-week-old state government shutdown ... Meanwhile deadlock over raising US debt ceiling continues; Standard & Poor's puts chance of downgrading US credit rating at 50 percent ... Maybe next they'll get those darn kids off my lawn: Redmond enacts ordinance to stop ice cream vendors from ringing their bells too loudly.
Friday, July 15
Will anybody be left to turn out the lights? Rebekah Brooks, CEO of Rupert Murdoch's News International, and Les Hinton, CEO of Murdoch's Dow Jones & Co., both resign ... Jude Law sues Murdoch tabloid The Sun over phone hacking ... Pushing her luck? Casey Anthony, acquitted of murdering daughter, to appeal conviction for lying to cops ... Cracking the whip: Tea Party Patriots founder Jenny Beth Martin warns Tea Partiers will punish congressmen who vote to raise debt ceiling ... Available again: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony announce split after seven years of marriage ... Brioche in the oven: French First Lady Carla Bruni's expecting; first child for her and President Nikolas Sarkozy.
Saturday, July 16
Can we kiss and make up now? Rupert Murdoch apologizes in person to family of Milly Dowler for hacking murdered schoolgirl's voicemails, says he failed to live up to standards set by his father, newspaper mogul Sir Keith Murdoch ... Murdoch also apologizes to British nation in full-page ads in seven newspapers ... Off to a good start: President Obama's reelection campaign reports raising $46.3 million from April through June; has $37 million in cash stashed away ... Nabbed: Turkey charges 14 alleged Al Qaeda members with plotting to attack US Embassy in Istanbul during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit there ... So crazy it might be true: Five members of North Korea's women's World Cup soccer team test positive for steroids; North Korea says it was because they were treated with musk deer gland medicine after being struck by lightning.
Sunday, July 17
Is there any bottom to this cesspool? Former top Murdoch newspaper exec Rebekah Brooks arrested on phone-hacking and bribery charges ... Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, Britain's top cop, resigns ... Labour Party leader Ed Milliband calls on Parliament to "dismantle" Murdoch empire ... Blow some of that our way: Midwest sweating out worst heat wave in years; 115 degrees predicted in Dakotas ... Some kind of record? French magazine reports former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn bedded three women on same weekend he allegedly assaulted hotel maid in NYC ... Not quite Carmageddon: Closing of LA's 405 freeway fails to produce anticipated disaster as many drivers stay off highways.
