Hacking inquiry starts

A British judge has opened the inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal that has rocked the UK, warning he would compel witnesses to give evidence.

Lord Justice Brian Leveson, who was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron to lead the inquiry, said it would start by looking at media ethics and press regulation, with the first public hearings in September.

Cameron ordered the inquiry into the crisis that shut down the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World and dragged in police, politicians and the premier himself.

"The inquiry will focus primarily on the relationship between the press and the public, and the related issue of press regulation," Leveson said.