MUMBAI: Trace Sports, a channel dedicated to sports celebrities, will now air in Australia amid an aggressive regional expansion.

The move will enable Australian TV audience to view enthralling Trace Sports content amidst the fervor surrounding the biggest sporting event in the world.

While the world?s eyes are on London, subscribers to Sky News will have access to Trace Sports, giving viewers the opportunity to view exclusive programmes on the relationships, backgrounds, home lives, training and personal stories of champion athletes, as well as daily behind-the-scenes updates on all the action.

Until 12 August, viewers can watch Trace Sports? exclusive interviews and gripping profiles of Australian and International champion athletes such as Caroline Buchanan, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.

"We?re pleased to feature Trace Sports programming as a feature of our Programming dedicated to this year?s biggest sporting event on Sky News Multiview," said Sky News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos.

"These athletes spend a lifetime of hard work, discipline and perseverance. Trace Sports gives viewers un-paralleled intimate access to their lives beyond the completion," said Trace Sports MD James Ross.

MUMBAI: James Murdoch, the scion of media empire News Corporation, has distanced himself from the phone hacking scandal at UK publishing business News International by putting the blame on his subordinates who he alleged misled him on the goings-on at the now defunct News of the World tabloid.

Speaking under oath at Lord Justice Brian Leveson?s inquiry into media ethics, Murdoch alleged that the tabloid?s then-editor Colin Myler and the company?s former in-house lawyer Tom Crone misled him about the illegal activities at the tabloid.

According to Associated Press, Leveson asked Murdoch: "Can you think of a reason why Mr. Myler or Mr. Crone should keep this information from you? Was your relationship with them such that they may think: ?Well we needn?t bother him with that? or ?We better keep it from it because he?ll ask to cut out the cancer??"

"That must be it," Murdoch said. "I would say: ?Cut out the cancer,? and there was some desire to not do that."

The News Corp has been at the centre of scandal ever since it came to light that reporters at the News of the World hacked into the phones of hundreds of high-profile people, including a teenage murder victim.

The emergence of the scandal led News International to shut 168 year old News of the World on 7 July last year leading to a loss of 200 jobs.

For News Corp the implications of hacking scandal ran beyond News International as the move to up stake in UK broadcasting business BSkyB proved futile even after it got culture minister?s Jeremy Hunt to gobble up the remaining 61 per cent of Sky for ?8 billion.

Murdoch also denied the charge The Sun newspaper endorsed the Tories? election bid saying, "I would never have made that kind of a crass calculation," Murdoch said. "It just wouldn?t occur to me".

Rupert Murdoch, who is still chairman and chief executive of News International?s parent company News Corp, is scheduled to appear before the inquiry on Wednesday, AP reported.

Earlier, James Murdoch had to step down as the chairman of BSkyB, while continuing to remain on BSkyB?s board as a non-executive director. In February the Jr Murdoch stepped down as executive chairman of News International.

To firewall him from the likely impact of the scandal, News Corp had relocated him to New York headquarters as the deputy COO of the parent company.

Jr. Murdoch had last month further cut off all remaining ties with News International, the UK publishing business of News Corp, by resigning from the boards of Times Newspaper Holdings; News Corp Investments; and News International Publishers Limited.

The British media regulator Ofcom is already evaluating whether James Murdoch is ?fit and proper? to hold a broadcast licence on behalf of BSkyB. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee?s report into allegations of phone hacking by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, in a related development the judge Brian Leveson said British Sky Broadcasting?s Sky News channel breached criminal law by hacking into e-mails for a story, even though the investigation applied to a case on a man who faked his own death to collect insurance money.

"What you were doing wasn?t just invading somebody?s privacy, it was breaching the criminal law," Leveson said during testimony by Sky News chief John Ryley. "At the end of the day you committed a crime."

Media regulator Ofcom said on Monday it started a probe of Sky News over the e-mail hacking incident.

BSkyB said earlier this month executives at Sky News cleared a reporter to access e-mails as part of his investigations into criminal activity, including the 2008 case of a British couple who faked the husband?s death in a canoe accident to collect life and mortgage insurance.

MUMBAI: BSkyB-owned satellite news broadcaster Sky News has admitted to having hacked email ids of a criminal suspect on two occasions in 2008 over what it claims was done for the purpose of ?public interest?.

The shocking revelations come from John Ryley, head of Sky News, whose parent company BSkyB is partly owned by News Corp, which is already under investigation from UK authorities on phone hacking scandal surrounding now defunct ?News of the World?.

Ryley through a statement revealed that the channel had authorised its North of England correspondent, Gerard Tubb, to access emails of John Darwin, the ?canoe man? who faked his own death in 2002. The material thus gathered helped in the prosecution of accused, he claimed.

?On two occasions, we have authorised a journalist to access the email of individuals suspected of criminal activity. In the 2008 case of Anne Darwin, Sky News met with Cleveland Police and provided them with emails offering new information relevant to Mrs Darwin?s defence. Material provided by Sky News was used in the successful prosecution and the police made clear after the trial that this information was pivotal to the case,? Ryley said in a statement.

Ryley said such decisions were taken only in certain cases where public interest is at stake. He cited examples wherein Sky News journalist have done the unimaginable to drive home the point.

?We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest. We do not take such decisions lightly or frequently. They require finely balanced judgement based on individual circumstances and must always be subjected to the proper editorial controls,? Ryley added.

?In a separate investigation, a Sky News journalist bought an Uzi machine gun in 2004 to highlight the easy availability of illegal weapons in the UK. On another occasion, our reporter penetrated airside security at Heathrow in 2003 to highlight failings in the system. These investigations serve the public interest and are a legitimate part of responsible journalism.?

He also stressed that none of journalist were found to indulge in illegal activities following a review of email accounts and internal audit of payment records of its employees.

?Separate to the actions described above, as part of our ongoing commitment to acting responsibly and in light of the current, heightened interest in editorial practices, Sky commissioned both an external review of email records at Sky News and an internal audit of payment records,? Ryley asserted.

?While the email review is nearing its conclusion, no grounds for concern have been found. If evidence of impropriety was found, we would investigate immediately. We believe these pro-active steps, undertaken at our own initiative, form part of the good governance procedures to be expected of a responsible news organisation.?

Ryley said Sky News was committed highest standards of journalism, ?Sky News is committed to the highest editorial standards. Like other news organisations, we are acutely aware of the tensions that can arise between the law and responsible investigative journalism.?

The John Darwin disappearance case was an investigation into the faked death of former British teacher and prison officer John Darwin, who turned up alive in December 2007, five years after he was thought to have died in a canoeing accident. John , along with his wife Anne Darwin, was later convicted of fraud.

MUMBAI: Under fire over the phone hacking scandal, James Murdoch is likely to step down as the chairman of News Corp?s British sports broadcasting business unit, BSkyB, according to a report by Sky News.

Quoting unidentified sources, the news broadcaster said Murdoch was due to attend a board meeting on Tuesday and is expected to stand down from his position as chairman with immediate effect.

BSkyB?s senior non-executive director Nick Ferguson is tipped to replace Jr Murdoch, who will continue to remain on BSkyB?s board as a non-executive director.

It was only in February that the Jr Murdoch stepped down as executive chairman of News International that is being probed by UK authorities for phone hacking surrounding its now defunct News of the World paper. Jr. Murdoch, though, has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing by the News of the World staff, a claim that hasn?t cut much ice.

To firewall him from the likely impact of the scandal, News Corp had relocated him to New York headquarters as the deputy COO of the parent company.

Jr. Murdoch had last month further cut off all remaining ties with News International, the UK publishing business of News Corp, by resigning from the boards of Times Newspaper Holdings; News Corp Investments; and News International Publishers Limited.

More importantly, the decision to step down from BSkyB comes ahead of Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee?s report into allegations of phone hacking by the end of the month. James is also expected to appear before the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics with his father Rupert Murdoch at the end of the month.

The British media regulator Ofcom is already evaluating whether James Murdoch is ?fit and proper? to hold a broadcast license on behalf of BSkyB.