Sunday Round Up: News of the World, Phone Hacking, Frankie Boyle, Facebook
This week's Sunday newspapers carry a lot of news about the investigation into the News of the World and practices of phone hacking, Frankie Boyle continues to offend and the founder of Facebook meeting the Oscar nominated actor who portrayed him onscreen.
According to The Sunday Express, the practice of phone hacking by tabloid newspapers could escalate to ‘thousands’ of instances. It is said that the names of thousands of politicians, celebrities and sports stars have been handed to police investigating the alleged practice by the News of the World.
The Sunday Herald carries the story that Tommy Sheridan’s solicitor Amir Khan claims that the News of the World attempted to hack his mobile phone. Kahn claims to have been contacted by Vodafone shortly before the court case began last year and warned to change the PIN code on his voicemail as there had been an attempt to access his messages.
Meanwhile, investors in Rupert Murdoch’s business News Corporation, which owns the News of the World, are apparently worried that the story could threaten the deal to buy out the remaining shares of BSkyB. The Observer says that Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, a major shareholder in the business, will be unhappy at the developments being made with the deal.
Legal firms have begun to commission adverts to target Polish migrant workers, attempting to persuade them to cash in on the ‘no win-no fee’ service. The Mail on Sunday says that ‘unscrupulous’ companies have begun to roll out full-page glossy adverts in Polish language publications promoting their injury claims services.
Comedian Franky Boyle’s Channel 4 sketch programme Tramadol Nights received more complaints than the next five shows combined, says the Sunday Mirror. The controversial comedian’s programme apparently garnered 689 complaints, compared with the 269 for the five most complained about programmes of November.
Finally, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the actor who played him in The Social Network, Jesse Eisenberg have come face-to-face on American comedy series Saturday Night Live. The Mail on Sunday’s website, The Mail Online is running the video of the pair experiencing ‘an awkward’ encounter between the two.