James Murdoch a 'dead man walking' following shareholder vote

Forty-eight months ago, James Murdoch's eventual assumption of the top job at his father's News Corporation seemed only a year or two away. But even his close allies now concede that he is unlikely to take over when Rupert Murdoch, 80, steps aside, after it emerged that a majority of the company's non-family shareholders voted against his re-election to the board on Monday evening.

Chase Carey, the firm's president who runs its Fox television and cable channels, and who won the support of 78% of independent investors and is now described as being "lined up" to take over eventually, as James Murdoch contends with the personal fall out from the phone-hacking crisis that closed the News of the World and shareholder vote that saw him win the backing of only 42% of non-family investors.

The disparity in voting demonstrates the popularity of Carey, who is well known among the firm's Wall Street investors, while those close to the younger Murdoch say he will now have to spend "five years or whatever it takes" proving himself in the US before he can hope to run the business that his father built up when he inherited an Adelaide newspaper in the early 1950s.

Despite the vote result, Rupert Murdoch's 38-year-old son is determined to hang on at the company, and is in the process of relocating to New York. He was re-elected to the board with the help of the Murdoch family's 40% bloc vote, but now has to endure further questioning by MPs on 10 November and another vote at the end of that month, this time to re-elect him as director of BSkyB, where he is chairman.

The News Corp shareholder vote was also a rebuff to Murdoch's elder brother, Lachlan. Of non-family shareholders 64.5% voted against his reappointment, although unlike the former, Lachlan Murdoch is no longer an executive at News Corp, and is instead acting-chief executive of Australian broadcaster Channel 10.

Their sister Elisabeth Murdoch, who runs News Corp's UK TV production arm Shine, chose not to stand, a decision that at least means that she was spared a protest vote, although she remains a family outsider, having already fallen out with her father and siblings over the handling of the hacking crisis.

Friends say James Murdoch will need to appear before parliament as both contrite and in control of current events, in contrast to Les Hinton, his predecessor as chairman of News Corp's UK subsidiary News International, who when recalled on Monday repeatedly told MPs he "didn't remember" what had happened at the NoW when he was in charge and when phone hacking was alleged to have taken place in the period running up to 2006.

MPs want Murdoch to explain why his recollection of the circumstances surrounding the ￡725,000 settlement paid to Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, differ from Colin Myler, the final editor of the NoW, and Tom Crone, the paper's chief lawyer.

Murdoch says he cannot recall being shown the critical "for Neville email", which implied that phone hacking at the paper was not restricted to a single "rogue" reporter. Some insiders argue that he is now a "dead man walking" because he has to contend with a drip-drip of revelations about the scale of hacking in the period prior to the arrest of Clive Goodman, the former royal editor who was later jailed. Murdoch's position as a family member means that he is under no immediate pressure to leave, but the issues that News Corp has to face, including several potential criminal trials of former NoW staff, means he is at risk of slow-motion damage – what one insider described as a "tragic choreography".

The allegations stem from the period before he joined News Corp from BSkyB in December 2007. But the pressure on him has mounted because News International failed to launch a thorough internal investigation – and because the company did not begin turning over large volumes of information to the police until last winter, more than a year after the first allegations that phone hacking went wider than Goodman first surfaced in the Guardian in July 2009.

What frustrates News Corp is that for all the problems stemming from phone hacking, the firm has been performing well financially, with operating profits up 13% to $4.9bn (￡3bn) last year. But the strongest performing units, the Fox broadcast network and the Fox cable channels, are run by Carey, while Murdoch's units in Europe and Asia have either been the source of problems such as hacking, slower profit growth for Sky Italy or heavy investment, where €1.15bn has been spent buying a 49% stake in Sky Germany.

Murdoch also has to win the support of City investors to remain as a director of BSkyB. A year ago, he won 98% of the votes, and at the height of the phone hacking crisis won the backing of the satellite broadcaster's board after the abortive bid for BSkyB.

But some City investors are preparing to vote against him, such as Aviva, which opposed his appointment last year and is expected to do so again.

Some believe that News Corp's problems stem, in part, from its shareholder structure, which is designed to entrench the Murdoch family's control at a company that had a $29bn turnover last year.

The company has voting and a larger amount of non-voting shares, which means Rupert Murdoch controls 40% of the votes but a total economic interest of about 12%.

Prof Charles Elson at the University of Delaware, who specialises in corporate governance, said: "What you are saying is that you – the management – are brighter than the shareholders. That's the problem with dual-class shareholder structures; these kind of things are going to happen."

But James Murdoch still has some influential supporters. Rich Greenfield, a Wall Street analyst with BTIG, said: "If you don't like the Murdochs, you shouldn't invest in News Corp." He added that it was pointless to discuss whether James Murdoch should take over the company until such time as his father has signalled he intends to step down.

Revealed: What just TWO glasses of wine a day can do to your face in ten years

Despite the warnings, I never used to worry too much that my lifestyle might one day show on my face. After all, there was always make-up, moisturiser, even a touch of Botox as the years advanced. Surely my guilty habits couldn’t make that much difference to my looks, could they?
And what habits would those be? Well, like most women, I crave chocolate and have been known to scoff three bars of Galaxy in one go if I desperately need a sugar fix. I smoked in my 20s and, although I officially quit at 30, I still succumb to the odd puff after a night on the merlot.
Ah, the merlot: my biggest downfall. While I may have cut out the cigarettes, my taste for wine has not diminished. I like a glass of red every other night, and every couple of weeks I go out and get a little tipsy  — OK, very tipsy — with my friends.

But now, at the age of 42, a fascinating experiment has made me rethink the whole way I live. For I have seen the future of my face. Or, rather, I have been given a glimpse of how it would look in ten years if I continue to ply my body with alcohol and excess sugar, or take up smoking again. The results were not a pretty sight and will serve as a stark warning to women who regularly enjoy a couple of glasses of wine a night or the odd sugary doughnut, and think it won’t do them any harm.
The process was made possible by Auriole Prince, a forensic artist specialising in age progression. Using key information about a person’s lifestyle she can manipulate an image to predict how they will look in the future.

So I submitted my picture and talked to experts in ageing, dermatology and plastic surgery about the effects smoking, drinking and a poor diet can have on our looks — and how to minimise the damage.
ALCOHOL
(Based on two or more standard glasses of wine a night — twice the recommended level for women)
I was horrified by this bloated, flushed, red-eyed and tooth-stained monster, an illustration of what drinking could do to my face in only ten years from now. 

I’ve woken up sporting one or two of these aesthetic features after certain nights out in the past, but they have always subsided within a day or two. Imagining I could stay like that was frightening.
The cost of reversing all this damage was a wake-up call, too. Broken capillaries on the cheeks would require thousands of pounds in light treatment, the teeth-staining hundreds in whitening, not to mention liposuction on that double chin. 
The only way to ensure this image doesn’t become a reality would be to cut out alcohol altogether. But there are ways to cut down. Switch to a non-alcoholic wine. Eisberg (￡3.20 from supermarkets) is wine with the alcohol removed, so it’s closest to the real thing without the damage.
REDNESS: ‘Drinking causes enlargement of the blood vessels,’ says dermatologist Dr Nicholas Lowe of London’s Cranley Clinic. ‘This leads to flushing and, if you’re prone to rosacea, could exacerbate it.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: If cutting out booze altogether isn’t an option, try an instant fix such as Dr Nick Lowe’s Redness Relief Correcting Cream (￡15.31, Boots).
THREAD VEINS: ‘If you’re prone to flushed-looking skin, alcohol will only make it worse as excess drinking means your blood vessels lose tone, leaving you with permanent thread veins,’ says Dr Lowe.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Intense pulsed light (IPL) with a dermatologist will help the redness, but it will cost you: Five sessions with Dr Lowe at his Cranley Clinic cost around ￡2,000.
‘One to two sessions of the more intense yellow dye laser will help remove broken blood vessels,’ he says. ‘But be ready for two days of increased reddening.’
FOREHEAD LINES: Drinking dehydrates the skin, which can lead to sallowness, deepening of wrinkles and dryness.
DAMAGE CONTROL: You don’t have to sacrifice your night out. Just fill your glass with sparkling or natural mineral water in between your regular tipple.
FAINT ‘NECKLACE’ LINES: These go horizontally across the neck. Anti-ageing physician Dr Lynette Yong says: ‘These lines are hereditary — but drinking certainly makes them worse.’ 
DAMAGE CONTROL: Try a specialist moisturiser such as Clarins Advanced Extra-Firming Neck Cream (￡41 for 50ml, Debenhams).
CROW’S FEET: ‘Big drinkers are chronically deficient in vitamin A, which is essential to collagen and elastin formation,’ says plastic surgeon Dr Jonathan Staiano, of the Liberate Cosmetic Surgery Group.
DAMAGE CONTROL: A gentle hyaluronic acid filler such as Juvederm could help. Fillers start from ￡275, and you can find a practitioner at cosmeticdoctors.co.uk or juvedermultra.co.uk.
SMOKING
(Based on a 20-a-day habit)

This horrendous image definitely made me think twice about enjoying the occasional cigarette.
The deep-set lines in my forehead, cheeks and around my mouth are terrifying — it makes me look as if I’ve had a very hard life.
Worse still, it’s not even an exaggeration. I know plenty of older ladies who have smoked for years and they look like this.
The greyness and flatness of my skin is what really stood out — something no amount of pricey make-up could fix. 
For those struggling to give up using will-power alone, try Nicorette Quickmist Mouthspray (￡17.99, from pharmacies) — said to double your chances of quitting.
The biggest problem with smoking is the habit you get into, so instead of reaching for a cigarette, try  going for a ten-minute walk. Recent research at Exeter University found ten minutes of physical activity could help reduce cravings.
Otherwise, Love Not Smoking?.?.?.?Do Something Different (Hay House, ￡8.99) is a six-week programme from behavioural modification experts Professors Karen Pine and Ben Fletcher, with an app from iTunes.
DEEP WRINKLES: ‘Smoking makes all lines worse by damaging the collagen and elastin in the skin that give it its plumpness,’ says Dr Yong.
DAMAGE CONTROL: ‘Vitamin C helps the re-formation of collagen,’ she says. ‘All my smoker patients are advised to apply Skinceuticals C-Ferrulic morning and night (￡129, stockists 05603 141 956). Hyaluronic acid fillers work on visible wrinkles and help re-grow collagen.’
TOOTH DAMAGE: ‘Smoking stains teeth,’ says Harley Street dental surgeon Dr Simon Darfoor. ‘It also leads to gum disease and tooth loss: 42 per cent of smokers over 60 have lost all their teeth.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: Colgate Total Whitening (￡1.55, nationwide) is more gentle than older abrasive smoker’s toothpastes, but still removes stains.
‘New cleaning systems, available at most dentists, can remove tooth staining without the need for scraping,’ says Dr Darfoor. ‘One called Air Flow uses bicarbonate of soda and a power-jet instrument that cleans deeper than manual scaling.’ Airflow starts at ￡85.

SAGGING EYELIDS AND CHEEKS: ‘With age, the muscles, fat and bones under the skin shrink and this can lead  to sagging,’ says Dr Yong. ‘Smoking deoxygenates the blood so you get less nutrients going to the skin, dramatically accelerating this sagging.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: Dermaroller micro-needling (genuinedermaroller.co.uk) uses tiny pin-pricks to help bring blood, and so nutrients, to the skin.
‘In theory it might help, but if you keep smoking after the age of 40 the sagging will get severe and surgery may be the only option,’ says Dr Yong.
DARK CIRCLES: ‘Reduced circulation makes skin sluggish and dark circles become more prominent,’ says Dr Yong.
DAMAGE CONTROL: Eat circulation-boosting food. Add garlic and grated ginger to stir-fries and sprinkle ground cayenne pepper and turmeric in curries.
HIGH SUGAR DIET
(Based on a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates, such as those found in white bread and pasta)

Who was this bloated woman with the ashen, waxy skin staring back at me from this photo? And could a decade of junk food really destroy my face this much?
More than any of the other pictures this gave me the biggest fright. It was enough to make me rethink Galaxy bars for ever.
More than anyone, I know how difficult it is to give up the sweet treats, but if you want to cut down, try replacing sugar with Truvia — a powder sweetener made from stevia, a South American plant that has no calories or artificial ingredients.
LINES AND SAGGING: ‘A diet high in sugar and high-glycaemic carbohydrates such as bread, rice, potatoes, baked goods, pasta, desserts and soft drinks can lead to glycation in the skin,’ says Dr Nicholas Perricone, a dermatologist and leading authority on diet and ageing.
‘This is where sugar molecules attach to collagen fibres and cause them to lose their strength and flexibility so the skin becomes less elastic and more vulnerable to sun damage, lines and sagging.’
DAMAGE CONTROL:  Help your body repair the damage by boosting your diet with Omega 3.
James Duigan, celebrity trainer and author of Clean & Lean Diet, recommends a diet rich in oily fish, avocados, olive oil, nuts, sunflower and flaxseeds.
Or you could try a fish oil supplement taken daily with meals, such as Bodyism’s Omega Brilliance (￡40 for 60 capsules, bodyism.com).
WAXY, BLOATED FACE: ‘Too much sugar and white, refined carbs can give skin a soft, doughy look,’ says Dr Perricone.
‘The contoured cheekbones and crisp jawline become blurred because carbs create an inflammatory response that causes more inflexible skin, puffiness and a loss of radiance.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: ‘Alpha lipoic acid is one of the most potent proven anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory antioxidants available and will help you avoid that waxy look,’ says Dr Perricone. Take 50mg twice daily (Perricone Alpha Lipoic Acid, ￡25, perriconemd.co.uk).
PIMPLES: ‘A high-sugar diet makes you more prone to infection,’ says Dr Staiano. ‘So the more sugar you eat the more pimples you may have.’
DAMAGE CONTROL: If you find it impossible to cut sugar out of your diet, nutritionist Kim Pearson suggests taking the amino acid tyrosine in the morning to help prevent cravings. Take 500mg of Lambert’s L-Tyrosine (￡10.71, nutricentre.com) with your breakfast.
GREY, THIN SKIN: ‘Eating a low protein diet makes the epidermis, or outer layer of the skin, thin and crepey, leaving it looking grey and sallow,’ says Dr Staiano.
DAMAGE CONTROL:  Protein can’t be stored in the body, says Dr Perricone, so you need to top up your supply by having some at every meal. Star sources for skin, he says, include fish, shellfish, lean organic free-range poultry and eggs, grass-fed beef or lamb, and for veggies, legumes and quinoa (from health food stores).

.?.?.?AND MY VERDICT
Nothing prepared me for these images.
My husband Kevin was walking past the computer and caught a glimpse of the picture that showed the effects of a high sugar diet.
He said: ‘One word: divorce.’
I’m not sure he was joking.
I am grateful I gave up smoking 12 years ago, and since seeing these images, I’ve given up sugar and cut back on my drinking, even managing a night out on mineral water in a wine glass (no one noticed).
Yes, there is still the odd night out on the tiles, but I slap on vitamin C moisturised before bed, swallow pints of water and have vitamin pills at the ready
So how will you protect the future of  your face?

Fox breached ministerial code but did not gain financially, says official report

The former defence secretary Liam Fox will be found on Tuesday to have breached the ministerial code in what is expected to be a brief but damning report into his improper links with his close friend and adviser Adam Werritty.

But the report will not find that Fox benefited financially from Werritty's actions.

Fox resigned on Friday, knowing the impending report from the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and revelations about Werritty's funding made it impossible for him to cling to office.

The funding was arranged by Fox and some of the donors have expressed anger at the way in which the money was used. The report prepared by O'Donnell and handed to David Cameron on Monday, will be published on Tuesday morning.

It is intended to be a bare statement of facts and will not offer any policy recommendations, such as further revisions to the ministerial code.

It is likely to question whether Fox did enough to distance himself from Werritty after he was warned by the permanent secretary, Ursula Brennan, that it was wrong for Werritty to distribute business cards claiming to be an adviser to Fox.

The document may also suggest it was wrong to have allowed Werritty to be presented as a government official at some events the two attended.

The fact that the report finds Fox did not gain financially from his promotion of Werritty will come as a relief to the former minister and make it more likely he can return to government.

But the report will not touch on whether Fox misled any donors as to why they were to fund Werritty, and whether the lobbyist's jet-set lifestyle was endorsed by the donors.

Werritty is still subject to a separate police inquiry. Ministers were still pondering whether to make an oral Commons statement on the issue, but know they are likely to be forced to make a statement by the Speaker if they fail to volunteer one.

It is expected that Fox will make a personal statement expressing his regret at the way in which he remained too close to Werritty in office.Werritty met Fox more than 20 times in the Ministry of Defence and accompanied him abroad on 18 occasions, predominantly to attend social events.

No 10 stressed it would press ahead with a statutory code for lobbyists in the next parliamentary session, but privately ministers feel the connection between Fox's behaviour and the need for a lobbyist register is tenuous.

Ministers have refused to set out the terms of reference of the O'Donnell inquiry, simply saying it is to examine all the issues the public want answered.

But in advance of publication, Labour was claiming the report would ignore many of the questions the public expect to be answered, including the sources of Werritty's funding. The shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, said: "Now it seems all we are being offered is a selective internal report.

"David Cameron must provide full transparency over all of Liam Fox and Adam Werritty's activities.

"We need to know the full extent of Dr Fox's use of Adam Werritty as an 'unofficial adviser', how Mr Werritty was funded, and all his links and meetings with government.

"Unless this report examines what all ministers knew and when, including the prime minister; the activities of Atlantic Bridge and all Mr Werritty's organisations; all overseas visits Mr Werritty was part of; and the legality of donations Dr Fox was part of soliciting, it will be deemed inadequate. People must be able to judge for themselves how this has been allowed to happen on David Cameron's watch." Labour is also to ask Sir Philip Mawer, the official adviser on ministerial interests, whether he is happy about his exclusion from the controversy.

The Pentagon confirmed that Fox introduced Werritty to Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, during a meeting there in March 2010, just before the general election. The meeting was described as a "courtesy call".

In July 2010 Werritty and Fox had dinner with the US general now commanding the war in Afghanistan.

The pair met General John Allen, who was deputy commander of US Central Command and now leads the International Security Assistance Force, in Tampa, Florida.

Werritty and Fox went back to Tampa, the HQ of CentCom, which runs US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, in May this year. The MoD refused to describe the nature of the "official meetings" Fox held.

U.S. launches campaign to track down Libyan missiles

TRIPOLI — The United States is planning to dispatch dozens of former military personnel to Libya to help track down and destroy surface-to-air missiles from Moammar Gaddafi’s stockpiles that U.S. officials worry could be used by terrorists to take down passenger jets.

The weapons experts are part of a rapidly expanding $30 million program to secure Libya’s conventional weapons in the wake of the most violent conflict to occur in the Arab Spring, according to State Department officials who provided new details of the effort.
Fourteen contractors with military backgrounds have been sent to help Libyan officials, and the U.S. government is looking at sending dozens more. Thousands of pamphlets in Arabic, English and French will be delivered to neighboring countries so border guards can recognize the heat-seeking missiles, the officials said. It could grow to become one of the three biggest U.S. weapons-retrieval program in the world, along with those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We have not seen any .?.?. attacks with loose missiles coming out of Libya yet,” said Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs. But, he added, “We’re working as assiduously as we can to address the threat. It only takes one to make a real difference.”

Gaddafi was one of the world’s top purchasers of the shoulder-fired missiles, buying about 20,000 in the 1970s and 1980s, according to U.S. estimates. While the weapons are of limited effectiveness against modern military aircraft, the still pose a threat to commercial passenger planes.

Thousands of the missiles were destroyed in NATO bomb attacks on arms depots during the war and hundreds have been recovered by the new government. But an unknown number were carted off by Libyan rebel groups and civilians who swarmed into unguarded storage areas after Gaddafi’s forces were defeated.

Already, several missiles have been intercepted on the desert road from Libya to Egypt, according to Egyptian officials. Tunisia’s prime minister, Beji Caid Essebsi, said in a recent interview he was so worried about smuggled Libyan weapons that he planned to ask Washington to provide helicopters for border surveillance.

Unlike in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has no troops in Libya who can secure the weapons. President Obama has refused to deploy U.S. military forces to Libya to avoid raising hackles both in the Middle East and in the U.S. Congress. Some lawmakers — notably House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) — have called for using U.S. soldiers to secure the shoulder-fired missiles and Libya’s chemical weapons stocks.

But that task is in the hands of an overstretched Libyan transitional government, which has shown willingness but limited capacity.

“We need help,” Atia al-Mansouri, a military consultant to the governing Transitional National Council, said Thursday. Various rebel groups had hauled away the weapons, he said, “and they are a little more powerful than the army.”

Shoulder-fired missiles have emerged as a global threat, with more than 40 civilian aircraft hit by the weapons since the 1970s. After al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists tried to shoot down an airliner in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002, the U.S. government stepped up its efforts to track and dismantle the missiles, known technically as MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems).

Sobbing wife who shot 11 times (but was found not guilty of murder) turns herself in to court on weapons charges

The wife who killed her husband by shooting him in cold blood was seen sobbing and popping pills as she turned herself into authorities Wednesday.
Though she was found not guilty of the murder of her husband Raymond after claiming self defence, Barbara Sheehan was charged with the unlawful possession of a weapon.
The charge is the far lesser of the two she faced after she admitted to killing her husband Raymond, though she said it was in self defence. 
Sheehan turned herself into a court in Queens, New York, this afternoon, though she did not seem quite at ease as she was photographed sobbing popping some pills on her way into the building.
Her lawyer Michael Dowd said that the pills were prescribed to the school secretary to help her bad heart and anxiety.
'Barbara has high blood pressure and anxiety disorder. Health issues from the 17 years and the three years awaiting for this trial to end,' Mr Dowd said. 'We have ordered to have medical attention for her immediately.'
The storied trial of Sheehan grabbed headlines because of the gory and dramatic nature of the case, where she and her two grown children painted her husband Raymond as an aggressive abuser and she as the victim.
She was acquitted of Raymond's murder, though now, if minimum sentencing requirements for the weapons charge are followed, she will face a minimum of two and a half years in prison.
Her legal team is hoping for an extension to meet her $1million bail payment, and are also looking into appeal procedures for the weapons charge.
Wednesday's proceedings were some of the final steps to closing a long case.
Sheehan says she shot her 49-year-old husband of 24 years, Raymond, 11 times after suffering decades of physical and verbal abuse.
He allegedly pointed a 9mm Glock at her and she shot him with a .38-calibre revolver.
She says he threatened to kill her and he meant it. But prosecutors said she was not abused and was angry over her husband's infidelities.
In the end, she was acquitted of the murder charges. At that time, her supporters cheered as the verdict was read, with many dressed in purple to support domestic violence victims. But Sheehan will be jailed for between two and a half to 15 years for the weapon charge.
Authorities say she fired 11 times while her husband, a former New York City police sergeant, was shaving in the bathroom.
Court documents said Sheehan told police the night of the incident: ‘I shot him! I shot him! I think he's dead. He's in the bathroom.’
Legal experts said the case is a test of the battered-woman defence.
This is when the history of abuse is explored to explain a woman's mental state at the time she is accused of committing a crime.
The issue is self-defence, which under New York state law justifies the use of lethal force in response to an immediate threat to life.
Under the battered-woman defence, lethal force can sometimes be justified even if the threat may not appear immediate.
Sheehan testified her husband smashed her head against a cinder-block wall when they were on holiday in 2007, reported the New York Times.
On the day of the killing in February 2008 he allegedly threw boiling pasta sauce at her and punched her in the face.
‘She acted out of defence,’ her daughter Jennifer Joyce said. ‘There were no other options. He was pointing a gun to her head.’
Prosecutors said there were other reasons Sheehan killed her husband. She was allegedly furious over his infidelity and sexual habits such as wearing nappies and women's clothes.
They also said she would benefit from life insurance policies - but Sheehan's son Ray disputed this.
‘I don't think people understand how bad it was at home,’ he said.
‘I don't think they understand how my father threatened to kill us and how if we told anybody about what he was doing that he'd kill us too.