Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was arrested from her London house this afternoon on charges of phone hacking and corruption. News International is News Corp's British newspaper arm.Brooks, 43, is to appear before a parliamentary committee that is collecting evidence in a phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed the country and its media over the last fortnight.
She is the third former News Corp employee to be arrested. Earlier this month, the former editor of News of the World (NoTW), Andy Coulson, and former deputy editor of the paper, Neil Wallis, were arrested.
The scandal has so far led to 10 arrests in the UK. Those arrested earlier have been let off on bail after being questioned. Brooks, too, is likely to get bail later in the evening.
The culture, media and sport select committee chair John Whittingdale and other members raised doubts if Brooks would be able to appear before the committee on Tuesday.
Brooks is to appear before the committee along with News Corp head Rupert Murdoch and his son, James Murdoch.
Some sections of the media also questioned if Brooks' arrest was an attempt to take the spotlight off Met police chief Sir Paul Stephenson, who it emerged today accepted hospitality worth 㱲,000