Brooks back to business at News Corp

Brooks, who was embroiled in one of the biggest scandals to hit Britain in recent years, stepped down in 2011 as the hacking crisis engulfed News Corp. She was given a 16-million-pound (22 million euros) payoff for tendering her resignation.

After being cleared of criminal charges at protracted legal proceedings that ended just over a year ago, News Corp announced Wednesday that Brooks will resume duties as CEO of its British newspaper arm, now known as News UK.

"Rebekah will lead a great team at News UK into the digital future, while maximizing the influence and reach of our newspapers, which remain the most informative and successful in Britain and beyond," read a statement by Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp.

"Her expertise, excellence and leadership will be crucial as we work to extend our relationship with readers and advertisers, and develop our digital platforms to take full advantage of our brilliant journalism," the statement went on.

Investigation, perhaps charges, pending

The company, however, is not out of legal hot water just yet. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said last week that it was considering bringing "corporate charges" - the prosecution of a company for wrongdoing - over the News of the World scandal.

The newspaper remains at the center of a police investigation into phone hacking called Operation Weeting.

"We have received a full file of evidence for consideration of corporate liability charges relating to the Operation Weeting phone hacking investigation," CPS said.

glb/msh (Reuters, AFP)