James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has resigned as a director of the companies which publish British newspapers The Sun and The Times, according to regulatory filings.

The younger Murdoch still remains chairman of News International, which is under fire for a phone hacking scandal that led to the closing of its News of the World newspaper and a continuing inquiry in London.

Today in central London lawmakers continued the third day of a week-long trial targeting the ethical abuses some British tabloids display in attempting to gather material for their publications.  This week has seen the biggest inquiry into this breach of privacy.

Actors Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan, renowned author J.K Rowling and today the parents of kidnapped daughter Maddie McCann are all giving evidence accusing the press of extreme invasion of privacy.  Gerry and Kate McCann told how journalists hounded them, swarmed their house and followed them to Portugal when they returned to the place of their daughter’s kidnapping.

The McCanns told of false headlines being printed alluding to them being responsible for Maddies’ murder, all in the name of boosting circulation figures.  Gerry and Kate McCann said there’s major concern with newspapers printing false headlines such as “She’s Dead” hampering a meaningful search for their missing daughter.

Maddie was nearly 4 when she vanished from her family’s vacation apartment in Praia da Luz in the Portugal n May 3, 2007, while her parents dined with friends nearby.

–Timon Woodward