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In this photo from 2009, David Cameron (left) attends a book launch for Charlie Brooks in London. Cameron, who has since become Britain's prime minister, went to Eton with Brooks, husband of Rebekah Brooks, the former News International executive toppled by Britain's phone-hacking scandal. The latest twist in that scandal involves Rebekah Brooks, Cameron and a retired police horse.

Vicki Barker

Vicki Barker was UPR's Moab correspondent from 2011 - 2012.

A native of Moab, she started working in radio as a teenager and earned a degree at Utah State University-Logan in broadcast performance and management. She worked as a news reporter and feature writer for radio and publications throughout the intermountain area and also worked in the national parks, in outdoor environmental education, and as an editor.

Vicki passed away in April 2012 and has left a void on UPR where her voice used to be.

  • Three weeks before the London Summer Olympics, we are going to see the seedier side of the city. Mystery writer Mark Billingham shows off some of the places that inspired his dark, twisted thrillers. (This piece initially aired August 10, 2009 on Morning Edition).
  • Britons are halfway through a four-day holiday celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne. On Sunday, the queen led a flotilla of a thousand boats on the Thames — described as the largest such river pageant in more than 300 years.
  • This week Britain's Advertising Standards Authority turned 50. To celebrate, it released a list of the 50 most-complained-about commercials in U.K. history. The one that generated the most viewer complaints was not about sex, violence or politics: It was a KFC ad in which the actors spoke with their mouths full.
  • An estimated 125 million people are expected to tune in to Saturday night's final contest in Eurovision 2012. This year's song contest has provoked controversy over its host country, Azerbaijan, whose president is accused of human rights abuses. Vicki Barker has the story.
  • The flame for the London Olympics, which was ignited by the rays of the sun in the 2,800-year-old Temple of Hera in Greece, arrives in the UK Saturday. It was carried from Olympia in a lantern that flew aboard a gold-painted plane. Vicki Barker has more on the flame's relay race to London.
  • Britain is a nation in shock, following Wednesday's announcement that its economy has slipped back into recession. It's the second time since the 2008 financial crisis, and it's raising new questions about the government's unpopular austerity measures.
  • The 32nd-annual London Marathon takes place on Sunday. It's London's last major sporting event until the summer Olympics. Vicki Barker spent some time with the race's most seasoned veterans, the so-called "Ever-Presents," who have run in all 31 previous marathons. Time is dwindling their numbers, but not their enthusiasm.
  • Saturday was the annual showdown between Cambridge and Oxford universities on the River Thames. Vicki Barker has the results from the historic boat race.
  • Britain is expected this week to announce plans to issue a bond that will take 100 years to mature — and maybe even a bond that never matures but just keeps paying out indefinitely. It's being billed as an attempt to lock in the benefits of Britain's "safe haven" status and the low borrowing rates that come with it. It also means government borrowing wouldn't have to be repaid until the next century.
  • The resignation of the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, comes at a time of tension within the Anglican Church over issues related to homosexuality as well as women bishops. Vicki Barker has reaction to the news.