News Summary: Ex-tabloid boss faces charges in UK
News Summary: UK prosecutors charge ex-tabloid boss Brooks, others in phone hacking case
THE CHARGES: Former U.K. tabloid editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband and four close aides were charged Tuesday over alleged attempts to conceal evidence in Britain's phone hacking scandal.
CONTEXT: They are the first prosecutions since police reopened inquiries 18 months ago into wrongdoing by the country's scandal-hungry press.
IMPACT: Brooks was one of Rupert Murdoch's most trusted lieutenants for years and a close friend of the current U.K. prime minister, David Cameron. The prospect that courts will hear potentially explosive accusations against her and her husband could rock both Murdoch's worldwide media empire, News Corp., and Cameron's political career.
