Two British gossip papers - News of the World and The Sun - have been implicated in a scandal of gigantic proportions involving the paying of private detectives to tap into the phones of thousands of celebrities and public figures. A few of the big names that are said to have been a victims of the papers' illegal activities include Elle Macpherson, Gwyneth Paltrow, George Michael, and the now-deceased Jade Goody. Both papers are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., who also owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and other publications in the U.S.

News of the World is said to have gone to great lengths to conceal their activities, paying off three victims and ensuring that the evidence in each of the cases was sealed. They are said to have paid out more than 1 million pounds ($1.6 million), to settle. Thirty-one journalists are also accused of hiring a private investigator who also regularly conducted searches of police databases and paid off employees of various companies and groups for information, in addition to the illegal wiretapping.

The Daily Mail, which is not owned by Murdoch, is also under scrutiny. They are said to have hired the same investigator to do obtain information illegally for them as well.

Wimbledon is one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and is the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. Held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877, the tournament has also become known for its infamous rain delays. Wimbledon participants and viewers have grown to expect unpredictable weather, ranging from torrential downpours to on-again-off-again trickles. But beginning this year, the rain will no longer be a factor in game play.

When Wimbledon kicks off Monday, spectators will find a new waterproof feature on the Centre Court - a translucent retractable roof. Dedicated last month in front of crowd of nearly 15,000, many believe it was a long time coming. Others are sad to see the end of an era and a long-standing tradition. The outer courts will still be open to the elements, but it won't be the same with Centre Court fully protected.

Prior to the roof, grass-protecting tarpaulins needed to be deployed by teams of groundsmen at the slightest hint of rain, and then quickly removed when the rain ended. With the unpredictable nature of the rain in England, this start-stop process could go on and on and on.

WHO Declares First Global Flu Pandemic in 41 Years

For the past several years we've been subjected to the warning ads in various media - radio, television, and print - that the world is overdue for a flu pandemic and that one is sure to be coming soon. The day has finally arrived. On Thursday the World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.

Infections around the globe, including the United States, Europe, South America, and Australia, have now climbed to nearly 30,000 cases.

The announcement of the pandemic is official scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly making its rounds globally. Now that the WHO has upgraded the situation to pandemic levels, they will begin asking drugmakers to speed up the production of a swine flu vaccine. The declaration should also prompt governments to devote additional funds towards efforts to contain the virus.

Dr. Margaret Chan made the announcement Thursday following an emergency meeting with flu experts. Chan indicated that the WHO would be moving the world up to the agency's highest alert level - phase 6. Phase 6 means that a pandemic, or global epidemic, is already under way.

It has now emerged that two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on board the Air France flight which crashed late last month, killing all 228 on the flight. French secret servicemen were able to establish the connection while working through the list of passengers who boarded the ill-fated Airbus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 31.

Flight AF447 crashed in the mid-Atlantic while en route to Paris during a violent storm. Investigators are positive that there were computer malfunctions, however they have not yet ruled out terrorism.

Soon after news of the crash broke, agents for the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure were dispatched to Brazil.

As if Britney Spears' "Circus" tour wasn't already raunchy enough, the pop princess is about to step it up big time on the UK leg of her tour. She's reportedly planing to hire naked acrobats, topless burlesque performers and dancing dwarves to perform after each of her eight shows.

A source says:

"It's going to be crazy. Britney wanted to throw parties people will be talking about for years. I promise you, you've never seen anything so explicit in your life."

Britney will be performing eight shows in London between June 3 and 14, before moving on to Manchester, Ireland and France.

Her US shows were definitely R-Rated, but in Europe, anything goes and Britney is gonna go there.

It is 2009 and the French and English are still on each others nerves. The latest squabble is do to the fact that Queen Elizabeth was not invited to the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. The New York Times writes:

Queen Elizabeth is not amused.

Indeed, she is decidedly displeased, angry even, that she was not invited to join President Obama and France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, next week at commemorations of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, according to reports published in Britain’s mass-circulation tabloid newspapers on Wednesday. Pointedly, Buckingham Palace did not deny the reports.

The queen, who is 83, is the only living head of state who served in uniform during World War II. As Elizabeth Windsor, service number 230873, she volunteered as a subaltern in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, training as a driver and a mechanic. Eventually, she drove military trucks in support roles in England.

The celebration will be held on June 6th and French President Sarkozy stated:

After traces of cocaine were found in samples of Red Bull Cola, the drink may be banned in Germany. Samples of the drink were examined by German food authorities, and were found to contain 0.4 micrograms of cocaine per litre, which was said to have been caused by the method used to process cocoa leaves.

Six German states have already ordered retailers to stop selling the beverage. More are expected to follow suit this week.

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said that the cocaine levels found were too low to pose a health risk. A more detailed report is expected tomorrow.

Red Bull is currently available in 148 countries worldwide. It is banned in Denmark, Norway, Uruguay, and now German due to health fears.

Greece's Data Protection Authority (DPA) has banned Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) from gathering detailed, street-level images within the country for a planned expansion of its panoramic Street View mapping service until additional privacy safeguards are provided. DPA would like clarification from Google on how it will store and process the original images, and safeguard them from privacy abuse.

The decision was announced earlier this week, despite assurances by Google that it would blur faces and vehicle license plates when the images are displayed online. Google also said that they would promptly respond to removal requests.

DPA is also seeking clarification on how the U.S. internet company plans to inform the public that its camera-mounted vehicles are being used to take photographs.

"Simply marking the car is not considered an adequate form of notification. The authority has reserved judgment on the legality of the service pending the submission of additional information, and until that time will not allow (Google) to start gathering photographs," said a DPA statement.

John Demjanjuk, the retired auto worker from Ohio accused of being a Nazi death camp guard during World War II and helping to kill 29,000 Jews, has arrived in Germany. Demjanjuk fought off the deportation attempts for many years, and finally decided last week that he would no longer fight it. He arrived in Germany on Tuesday to face charges during what is likely to be Germany's last major Nazi trial.

Demjanjuk's plane was surrounded by police cars and ambulances as it arrived at a Munich airport. Following a medical examination, he was taken to Stadelheim jail, the same place Hitler was held after a failed coup attempt in 1922.

Demjanjuk is at the top of the Simon Wisenthal Center's list of the 10 most wanted suspected war criminals. Prosecutors in Munich will try him for assisting in the murders at the Sobibor death camp in 1943, in what is now Poland.

Demjanjuk, a native of Ukraine, has long denied any role in the Holocaust. A could could still decide that he is unfit for trial. Prosecutors are planning to charge him in the next few weeks. An investigating judge is to read the 21-page warrant to Demjanjuk later today, and a medical expert has been asked to assess his fitness to stand trial.