US authorities extend News Corp investigation

Authorities in the US have reportedly widened the scope of their investigation into the activities of the newspaper division of media giant News Corp.

The initial focus was whether journalists at News International hacked into the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks on the US. The News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal now claims that government agencies are now examining claims against other News’ divisions.

The furore around the UK phone hacking investigation has had wide-reaching implications for the media company and forced News to drop its bid for the chunk of BSkyB it did not already own.