The closure of the News of the World on Sunday wasn't the end of Rupert Murdoch's media woes.

The homepage of the Guardian (above) shows the latest revelations in the phone-hacking scandal, which has widened to include other Murdoch-owned titles and additional targets, including former British prime minister Gordon Brown (and his family), the Royal Family (with Prince Charles' phone calls to now-wife Camilla believed to be hacked), and the news that News Corp. has withdrawn its plan to spin off Sky News as part of its $12 billion bid to assume control of BSkyB.

That BSkyB bid now faces a potential six-month review in the wake of fresh allegations including the attempted hacking of British 9/11 victims' cellphones to retrieve their final frantic messages, and the revelation by Scotland Yard that Murdoch's Sun reporters ferreted out details about Gordon Brown's disabled son from his medical records, among other crimes.Continue reading...

A big plug for Aston Martin today, as the newly wedded Duke and Duchess of Kent chose a Volante convertible (a loaner from Prince Charles) for their first drive as man and wife. The license plate? JU5T WED. The fuel? Wine. What we'd have loved to see them hop into instead? This.

See the royal ride in action below.Continue reading...

The Prince's Trust just released a lipstick, called "Trust", to raise money for the UK-based charity founded and headed by Prince Charles. No word whether his future daughter-in-law will wear the lipstick — created by Karen Alder, whose business got off the ground with the support of the charity — on April 29th, however. More details below.Continue reading...

In our recent look at Honda's digital marketing for the just-released 2011 CR-Z, we mentioned Honda UK's collaboration with Future Shorts to offer a grant to an up-and-coming director.

The resulting short film, by winning director Tom Haines, profiled Future Shorts founder Fabien Riggall's participation in the Brighton-to-London Eco Rally. Riggall drove Honda's new CR-Z hybrid in the event; he's also a "cultural engineer" in Honda's Dream Factory project to promote the CR-Z, which is Honda's first hybrid vehicle.

A comment posted by @creativefeed wanted to know more: "What was the point of the rally? How do people qualify to win? Is it just point A to B? Is fuel efficiency a factor in the winner? If this video is attempting to capture a niche audience (hybrid sports-car buyers), I feel like they could have made the video more about the car and performance and fuel consumption, and not just one giant montage and time-lapse rally race."

Artistic considerations aside, here's what we found out.Continue reading...

EBay changes its listing fees to increase sales. [Reuters]

Starting February, Chanel will raise handbag prices by $100. [Madison Avenue Spy]

Prince Charles stars in a new campaign to help Britain's wool industry. [WWD]

Toyota temporarily stops sale and construction of 8 models post-recall. [NY Times]

Thanks to General Motors, Saab enters Spyker's hands. [NY Times]

Book publishers continue to talk with Apple over Tablet e-books. [WSJ]Continue reading...