28-01-11 New probe into phone hacking

Scotland Yard has said it was reopening its investigation into phone hacking at the country's top-selling Sunday newspaper after it had received "significant new information" - the latest development in a scandal with repercussions reaching far beyond Britain's tabloid Press.The police force said it was reopening investigations into the Rupert Murdoch-owned title,which simultaneously announced that one of its senior editors,Ian Edmonson,had been fired following the discovery of "material evidence" which had subsequently been passed to police.The scandal first came to light after Clive Goodman,the News of The World royal reporter,and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were caught illegally spying on members of the royal household in a bid to dredge up stories about princes William and Harry.Editor Andy Coulson resigned when the pair were convicted in 2007,but both he and his paper have long claimed that the phone hacking was the work of two employees who had gone rogue - and that the paper's senior management had no idea what they were up to.That story found few buyers - in part because of revelations first published in the Guardian newspaper that claimed detectives on the hacking case had found thousands of phone numbers belonging to celebrities,sports players and politicians.A parliamentary report published in 2009 said it was inconceivable that no one else at the paper had any idea of what was going on.Even more pressure was brought to bear when the New York Times published an expose of the paper last year,quoting a former journalist accusing Coulson - who by that time had been hired as Prime Minister David Cameron's top spin doctor - of knowing all about the hacking.The scandal threatens ramifications far beyond the feral world of British tabloid journalism.It's dealt a blow to Cameron's inner circle.Coulson was one of Cameron's most trusted advisers,and was forced to step down last week citing mounting pressure over claims that he must've known about the spying.