(Newser)
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British prosecutors are adding new charges to the litany of accusations against former Rupert Murdoch executives. Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both at the center of the phone-hacking scandal, will be charged with bribing public officials in exchange for stories and information, the New York Times reports. Two other News International figures, ex-News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman and former Sun chief reporter John Kay, will also be charged, as will a Defense Ministry employee.
Goodman and Coulson's charges are tied to payments "in exchange for information, including a palace phone directory known as the 'Green Book' containing contact details for the Royal Family," said a prosecutor. Brooks and Kay are accused of paying Defense employee Bettina Jordan-Barber some $160,000 in exchange for information between 2004 and 2011. More than 50 people have now been arrested in investigations tied to the ongoing British newspaper scandal; Brooks and others face trial next year.
