(Newser)
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A big arrest in the News International phone hacking scandal: Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's organization, was arrested early this morning. Five men were also detained as part of Operation Weeting, including Brooks' husband Charlie, the BBC reports, and searches are being conducted at related addresses. The six are suspected of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, police say. Forty-four people have now been arrested in connection with Operation Weeting and two other linked investigations.
Brooks, also a former editor of News of the World and the Sun, was arrested at home with her husband. She has been arrested once before in the phone hacking probe, last July, but was released on bail; she has also been arrested in relation to the connected corruption investigation. The others have never been arrested before; they include: a 39-year-old from Hampshire, a 46-year-old from west London, a 38-year-old from Hertfordshire, and a 48-year-old from east London.
