7 July 2011 Last updated at 21:01 GMT
News of the World to close amid hacking scandal
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James Murdoch: "These allegations are shocking and hugely regrettable"
This Sunday's edition of the News of the World will be its last, News International chairman James Murdoch has said, after days of increasingly damaging allegations against the paper.
The 168-year-old tabloid is accused of hacking into the mobile phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians.
On Thursday, the Met Police said it was seeking to contact 4,000 possible targets named in seized documents.
Its editor Colin Myler said it was "the saddest day of my professional career".
He added that "nothing should diminish everything this great newspaper has achieved".
The News of the World, which sells about 2.8million copies a week, is famed for its celebrity scoops and sex scandals, earning it the nickname, the News of the Screws.
Downing Street has said it had no role or involvement in the decision to close.
Mr Murdoch said no advertisements would run in this weekend's paper - instead any advertising space would be donated to charities and good causes, and proceeds from sales would also go to good causes.
News International has refused to comment on rumours that the Sun could now become a seven-day-a-week operation.
"What happens to the Sun is a matter for the future," a spokeswoman for News International said. The Sun, another News International tabloid, is currently published from Monday to Saturday.
The spokeswoman also refused to say whether the 200 or so employees at the paper would be made redundant, saying: "They will be invited to apply for other jobs in the company."
At the scene
The atmosphere outside News International's Wapping headquarters is one of shock and bewilderment.
Staff had no idea what was coming - they were told the previous day that the paper would be rebuilding its reputation. Rebekah Brooks was inside the building when the staff were informed that the paper was closing.
She was apparently in tears, as were many of the journalists. There was said to be a huge amount of anger that Rebekah Brooks has kept her job whilst theirs had been lost.
Most staff left this evening shaking their heads. One, their political editor, David Wooding spoke to reporters outside. He said he was baffled at the decision, describing the paper as a clean outfit and saying most staff were not working there when the hacking is alleged to have happened.
This evening, some of the Sun's journalists - the sister paper to the NoW - told the BBC they were walking out for a short period in solidarity with their colleagues.
The News of the World's political editor, David Wooding, who joined 18 months ago, said it was a fantastic paper.
"They cleared out all the bad people. They bought in a great new editor, Colin Myler, and his deputy, Victoria Newton, who had not been sullied by any of the things that had gone on in the past.
"And there's nobody there, there's hardly anybody there who was there in the old regime."
The Guardian says that Andy Coulson, formerly David Cameron's director of communications, will be arrested on Friday morning over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his time as editor of the News of the World.
The Guardian also says that a former senior journalist at the paper will also be arrested in the next few days.
There have been repeated calls for Rebekah Brooks - the former editor, now News International's chief executive - to resign. But in an interview Mr Murdoch stood by her again, saying he was satisfied with her conduct.
'Serious regret'In a statement made to staff, Mr Murdoch said the good things the News of the World did "have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong - indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company".
"The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself."
He went on: "In 2006, the police focused their investigations on two men. Both went to jail. But the News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.
"Wrongdoers turned a good newsroom bad and this was not fully understood or adequately pursued.
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Actor Hugh Grant: "I think this is a cynical management manoeuvre"
"As a result, the News of the World and News International wrongly maintained that these issues were confined to one reporter.
"We now have voluntarily given evidence to the police that I believe will prove that this was untrue and those who acted wrongly will have to face the consequences. This was not the only fault.
"The paper made statements to Parliament without being in the full possession of the facts. This was wrong.
"The company paid out-of-court settlements approved by me. I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so. This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret."
He said: "So, just as I acknowledge we have made mistakes, I hope you and everyone inside and outside the company will acknowledge that we are doing our utmost to fix them, atone for them, and make sure they never happen again.
"Having consulted senior colleagues, I have decided that we must take further decisive action with respect to the paper. This Sunday will be the last issue of the News of the World."
Analysis
Monday's revelation that a private investigator had hacked into the phone messages of Milly Dowler brought an entirely new dimension to the phone-hacking saga.
The targets were no longer celebrities and politicians but ordinary people already going through dreadful experiences.
This morning, as more advertisers pulled out, it became clear many people did not want to be associated with the News of the World.
But no one foresaw that James Murdoch would close it altogether.
The Murdoch family have once again shown their power to surprise and to take dramatic decisions. But on reflection, the decision may not have been as difficult as it first appears.
There is already a substitute Sunday paper waiting in the wings.
Earlier this month, News International announced a management restructure, making it easier for its papers to move to seven-day working. How long will it be before the Sun is published on Sundays?
He reiterated that the company was fully co-operating with the two ongoing police investigations.
He added: "While we may never be able to make up for distress that has been caused, the right thing to do is for every penny of the circulation revenue we receive this weekend to go to organisations that improve life in Britain and are devoted to treating others with dignity."
The BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, said that Rupert Murdoch has sacrificed the News of the World - or, at least, its title - instead of the chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks.
"Team Murdoch must have realised that it would be referred to again and again over the next few months in connection with the alleged phone-hacking of a murdered girl, grieving parents and war widows," he said.
"The question now is whether this will make the government's dilemma about the takeover of BSkyB easier or harder."
Mark Pritchard, secretary of the influential Conservative backbench 1922 committee and vice-chairman of the parliamentary media group, has told the BBC he wants the government to delay a decision on the BskyB takeover.
"The government should take the political and moral lead - and announce a delay to the BSkyB decision until all outstanding legal impediments have been removed," he said.
Labour MP Tom Watson told Sky News it was "a victory for decent people up and down the land, and I say good riddance to the News of the World".
But Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said: "All they're going to do is rebrand it."
And former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, who alleged his phone was hacked, thought the decision was simply a gimmick.
In April, the News of the World admitted intercepting the voicemail messages of prominent people to find stories.
It came after years of rumours that the practice was widespread and amid intense pressure from those who believed they had been victims.
Royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for hacking in January 2007 after it was found they targeted Prince William's aides.
Detectives recovered files from Mulcaire's home which referred to a long list of public figures and celebrities.
The scandal widened this week when it emerged that a phone belonging to the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler had also been hacked into, and some messages deleted.
Leading brands, including Sainsbury's, Ford and O2, pulled their newspaper advertising and shares in BSkyB fell on fears that the scandal could hinder parent company News Corp's bid for the broadcaster.
On Wednesday, the government promised an inquiry in the hacking allegations, but the nature of it is undecided.
這些說法引發眾怒後，國會今天召開緊急會議，討論世界新聞報的行徑。這家報紙是傳媒大亨梅鐸（Rupert Murdoch）新聞國際公司（News International）旗下最暢銷的週日報刊。
英國首相卡麥隆（David Cameron）今天要求對這件手機竊聽醜聞展開正式調查，包括世界新聞報的作為，以及警方最初的調查為何未發現如今爆出的這些事情。
他告訴國會：「我們的確需要調查，盡可能調查出實情為何。」他又說：「國會還有全國每個人，都會對他們在電視螢幕上所見所聞的這些事感到驚駭厭惡。」
倫敦都會區警察局則表示，他們正在調查得自新聞國際公司的證據，這些證據顯示，有些警員違法收取涉案報紙的金錢，以提供情資為回報。
最新披露的內情讓世界新聞報的兩名前任編輯承受更大壓力。這兩人分別是到今年稍早還為卡麥隆工作的柯爾遜（Andy Coulson），以及新聞國際現任執行長麗貝卡．布魯克斯（Rebekah Brooks）。
這些內幕在此時曝光，也可能重創梅鐸的新聞集團（News Corp），因為英國政府本週將決定，是否批准新聞集團受爭議的併購行動，接手衛星電視廣播機構「英國天空廣播公司」（BSkyB）
世界新聞報的王室消息版編輯與私人調查員穆爾凱爾（Glenn Mulcaire）2007年因為竊聽手機入獄以來，竊聽疑雲就一直籠罩這家報紙，英國警方1月也針對新的指控再次展開調查。
不過，外界本來以為世界新聞報只竊聽政商名流的手機，本週卻赫然傳出消息，一些案件中死者的家屬也成為竊聽的對象，包括2005年7月7日恐怖攻擊事件罹難者的家屬。
其中一位親屬佛克斯（Graham Foulks）說，當年自殺炸彈客攻擊倫敦大眾運輸系統後，他等著當局證實兒子大衛（David）是52名罹難者之一，在那週期間他覺得自己的手機可能遭到竊聽。
威爾斯（Holly Wells）與柴普曼（Jessica Chapman）這兩名10歲孩童的父母，也可能是遭竊聽的對象。他們兩人2002年在英格蘭東部的索漢姆（Soham）失蹤，幾週後發現遭人謀殺。
世界新聞報昨天遭人踢爆，在少女杜勒（Milly Dowler）2002年失蹤之後幾天，侵入她的語音信箱。杜勒的遺體在6個月後尋獲。
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