Apple SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller talked to the New York Times yesterday to explain why applications with scantily clad women would be removed. Sports Illustrated and Playboy were exempt from the removal because “The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.” Apple is doing this in order to prepare for the launch of the iPad. Apple wants bigger media companies to embrace the iPad. [NYT]

By acquiring a 9.09% stake in Rotana Media, Rupert Murdoch continues to build News Corporation empire. Rotana Media is a pan-Middle East media group that sold about $70 million worth of stake to News Corp. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the multi-billionaire owner of Rotana has done deals with Murdoch in the past too. Talal is a 7% owner in News Corporation’s class B stock making him the single largest shareholder outside of the Murdoch family. [paidContent]

Over one third of Congress members are using Twitter according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. Many of the members of Congress spent time on Twitter during President Obama’s first major televised speeches too. Over 200 of 535 members are on Twitter and most of them are Congress representatives. There are a less number of Senators on the micro-blogging service. There also seems to be a larger number of Republican representation than Democratic. TweetCongress.org does a good job of maintaining the list, stream, hash tags, photos, videos, and analytics of Congress members that use Twitter. I highly recommend checking them out too. [LAT]

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has bought a majority ownership in Rocksteady Studios. Rocksteady is the developer of the video game “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” Rockstead was founded in 2004 and is rumored to have sold 68% of the overall company to Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers bought another gaming company called TT Games in 2007. TT Games was known for developing video games involving LEGOs, such as “LEGO Star Wars.” Warner Brothers also owns Snowblind Studios, the creator the of “The Lord of the Rings” video games. Midway Games’ assets were purchased by Warner Brothers recently too. [Variety]

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will be celebrating a major milestone today. The company will announce that over 10 billion songs will be sold on their iTunes software. The consumer responsible for the 10 billionth downloaded song will receive a $10,000 gift card where they can buy more apps, songs, podcasts, books, movies, or TV shows from iTunes. [Apple]

Ever since the company emerged from bankruptcy court this past July, General Motors invested $1.4 billion in over a dozen plants and recalled 5,500 union workers. GM also announced today that they are recalling 1,200 laid off hourly workers and is adding a third shift of production to its Lordstown, Ohio facility. New hires will receive $14 per hour and less extensive benefits. About 18 suppliers in the area has invested over $500 million into the Lordstown plant. The third shift in the plant will work on building the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. [Detroit News]

Ngmoco has raised $25 million in Series C and has acquired Freeverse. Freeverse is another top iPhone application company that sells top games such as Skee-Ball, Flick Fishing, and Flick Bowling. Ngmoco has designed games such as TouchPets and Eliminate. The investors behind Ngmoco’s new round of funding include Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners, and Maples Investments. Ngmoco now has a total of $40.6 million in funding. [TechCrunch]

Intel Corporation is rumored to be working with several venture capital firms to set up a $2 billion investment fund that is reserved specifically for U.S. based businesses. [WSJ]