Rupert Murdoch, unfazed

　　by a foam pie attack in the British parliament, made a "humble" apology on Tuesday for crimes that have rocked his media empire and the government but refused to resign, saying the fault lay with staff who "betrayed" him。

　　Revelations of phone-hacking and payments to police by the News of the World have raised questions on his family's grip on News Corporation, on the probity

　　of the police and on the judgment of Prime Minister David Cameron, who returned early from Africa for an emergency parliament debate on Wednesday。

　　Calling it "the most humble day of my life", Murdoch defended his record and that of his son, and said he could not know everything that his 53,000 employees did. James, 38, sat beside him before parliament's media committee, interjecting

　　on occasion as his 80-year-old father hesitated to give answers on what he knew, and when, of criminality at the Sunday tabloid。

　　But as three hours of earnest, at times testy, proceedings drew to a close with lawmakers pressing the Murdochs to explain payments to some of those involved in the decade-old affair, the hearing briefly turned to violence and farce when a man rose from the public seating of the packed committee room。

　　As he tried to hit the elder Murdoch with a paper plate of white foam, the Australian-born mogul's 42-year-old wife Wendi Deng leapt in to slap the protester in a melee before he was seized by police. He was identified as a left-wing comedian。

　　After a short recess, Murdoch, now jacket-less, was told by one of the committee members he had shown "immense guts". Another lawmaker, long one of his most bitter critics, later jokingly complimented his wife on her "very good left hook"。

　　That televised cameo, and the emotionally worded statements from the Murdochs on their personal remorse

　　and will to clean up the mess at the News International newspaper unit, may temper some of the public and parliamentary fury aimed at a man who has been courted and feared by British leaders for decades。

　　"You couldn't make this stuff up. It could have turned the whole situation around for them," said Andrew Hawkins, chairman of polling company ComRes。

　　"The combination of his father's age and the custard pie attack will have elicited a tremendous amount of sympathy. I suspect that in the weeks to come we will probably look back at this moment and think it was pivotal for them."

　　鲁伯特•默多克本周二就“窃听门”事件出席英国议会听证会，向受害者谦卑地道歉，但拒绝辞职。他表示，罪责应归咎于“背叛”他的员工。这起窃听事件动摇了他旗下的传媒帝国和英国政府的地位。听证会上，还上演了一名男子将剃须膏扔向默多克的小插曲。

　　电话窃听丑闻以及《世界新闻报》买通警察一事曝光后，公众开始对默多克家族对新闻集团的掌控、英国警方的公正、以及英国首相大卫•卡梅伦的判断产生质疑。卡梅伦已从非洲提前赶回，参加本周三的议会紧急辩论。

　　默多克称“这是我人生中最谦卑的一天。”他力证自己和儿子无罪，表示手下有5.3万名员工，他不可能做到面面俱到。38岁的儿子詹姆斯坐在他身旁，对面是议会媒体委员会。当80岁的父亲面对有关《世界新闻报》窃听门的质询感到迟疑时，他不时插话。

　　听证会持续三个小时，气氛严肃，但也有时紧张。接近尾声时，立法人员要求默多克解释收买相关人员的行为，窃听事实已暗藏十年之久。此时一名男子在拥挤的委员会大厅的听证席起身袭击默多克，上演了一场充满暴力的闹剧。

　　当这名男子将一纸盘白色泡沫剃须膏泼向老默多克时，他42岁的妻子邓文迪飞身上前掌掴袭击者，现场一片混乱，之后该男子被警方制服。袭击者是一名左翼活动人士，也是一名喜剧演员。默多克出生于澳大利亚，是著名传媒大亨。

　　片刻休息之后，默多克脱掉外套继续接受质询。一名议员称他非常“无畏”。另一名立法人士随后打趣地称赞他的妻子“左勾拳很精彩”。而他一直是默多克最严厉的批评者之一。

　　电视直播了这段插曲以及整场听证会。默多克父子的发言十分感人，并表达了自责之意。他们表示将纠正旗下英国报业子公司犯下的错误。这些可能会缓和某些公众和议员对默多克的怨气。几十年来，英国的领导者都拉拢默多克，而且对他惧怕三分。

　　康雷斯民意调查公司董事长安德鲁•霍金斯说：“这不是捏造出来的，这有可能为他们打开局面。”

　　“默多克的高龄以及遭袭事件会引发巨大的同情效应。我猜想，未来几周我们很可能会回想这一瞬间，而且会认为这对他们至关重要。”