11.00pm: The phone hacking scandal has finally made the front page of the Sun, leading with the closure of its sister title.
10.34pm: The Guardian's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, has told Newsnight that Murdoch's closure of the News of the World was "baffling".
I think it's baffling. No-one called for the News of the World to be closed. It seems perverse to be closing down the newspaper.
Rusbridger said it was clear that phone hacking was "systematic" at the paper. He said he spoke to a reporter from the tabloid yesterday who said that every time a journalist presented a story they were asked, "Where are the [phone] messages?"
The programme also heard from Sean Cassidy, whose son Ciaran died in the Russell Square explosion, says Cameron surely knew what was going on when he hired Coulson.
10.20pm: The closure of the News of the World could be a cunning ploy to legally shred any incriminating evidence linked to the phone hacking scandal, according to a prominent media lawyer.
Mark Stephens, head of media with Finers Stephens Innocent lawyer, said under British law the paper "may not be obliged to retain documents that could be relevant to civil and criminal claims against the newspaper—even in cases that are already underway."
If News of the World is to be liquidated, Stephens told Reuters, it "is a stroke of genius—perhaps evil genius."
All of the assets of the shuttered newspaper, including its records, will be transferred to a professional liquidator (such as a global accounting firm). The liquidator's obligation is to maximize the estate's assets and minimize its liabilities. So the liquidator could be well within its discretion to decide News of the World would be best served by defaulting on pending claims rather than defending them. That way, the paper could simply destroy its documents to avoid the cost of warehousing them—and to preclude any other time bombs contained in News of the World's records from exploding.
10.17pm: Pressure is mounting in America on Rupert Murdoch to prevent the phone hacking scandal from adversely affecting his financially crucial US media interests.
The Guardian reports that the News of the World's closure prompted "expressions of astonishment from analysts who saw it as a sign of how deeply it has affected the US heart of Murdoch's empire."
Martin Dunn, former editor of the Murdoch rival paper the New York Daily News, said the extent of illegal activity by the British tabloid had revived anxieties in US about Murdoch's style of journalism that had been rife when he first bought the New York Post in 1976.
10.13pm: Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has told Irish television that the closure of the News of the World won't fool anyone, writes Lisa O'Carroll.
Speaking on on Primetime on RTE, Prescott, whose phone was hacked, said:
Isn't it funny these guys, they always get rid of the Indians and not the chiefs, particularly Rebekah Brooks who was in charge and an editor of this paper.
This is another management exercise by Mr Murdoch, on the one hand he used to tell told us it was the work of one rogue reporter, despite we know there were several reporters involved in these criminal acts.
He's now wanting us to believe it was one rogue newspaper.
Cutting off the arms doesn't solve the problem. The problem is in the head and the body and hacking off and throwing people on the dole and suggesting what money will be saved will be given to charity is so typical of Murdoch operation.
10.10pm: David Cameron is to meet with Miliband next week to discuss the status and membership of the inquiries into the phone hacking scandal.
10.04pm: The Press Complaints Commission is a "toothless poodle" that should be replaced by a new self-regulatory watchdog, Ed Miliband will say tomorrow.
The Guardian reports that Miliband will say the PCC failed in its investigations into allegations about illegal phone hacking.
The Press Complaints Commission has totally failed. It failed to get to the bottom of the allegations about what happened at News International in 2009.
Its chair admits she was lied to but could do nothing about it. It was established to be a watchdog. But it has been exposed as a toothless poodle. It is time to put it out of its misery. The PCC has not worked. We need a new watchdog.
But the Labour leader will say he still believes in self-regulation.
A new body would need far greater independence of its board members from those it regulates, proper investigative powers and an ability to enforce corrections.
9.23pm: Scotland Yard has confirmed it was considering allegation that emails as well as mobile phones have been hacked.
It was understood that officers had not yet been decided whether the matter would fall under the new phone hacking investigation Operation Weeting.
9.21pm: There have been reports on Twitter and via email that the News of the World's Fabulous magazine will survive the paper's closure.
A friend of one member of staff emailed us and said she was "told this afternoon she was losing her job - then told hours later Fabulous's future was safe".
This perhaps suggests that the magazine will become part of a replacement Sunday title.
9.14pm: There's been more reports of the anger in at Wapping when News of the World staff were informed the title was to be shut.
One member of staff described the reaction to Brooks announcement as "a seething fury", Sky News reports. Another told the broadcaster: "She has kept her job and sacrificed the jobs of 500 people to do so."
9.10pm: This rather bluntly named website rather sums up the mood of those disgusted by the latest phone hacking revelations - and, no doubt, many of those News of the World staff who have paid the price for the scandal rather than their boss Rebecca Brooks.
8.54pm: There's been more reaction from staff at the News of the World about the paper's closure.
Features editor Jules Stenson told Sky News that staff showed "quiet pride" rather than "mob anger" when the announcement was made.
There was shock, bewilderment, there were a few gasps, there were lots of tears from the staff. It's been reported that there was a lynch mob mentality which is completely untrue, there was none of that.
There was bewilderment, there was disappointment but there wasn't any kind of mob anger, quite the contrary. There was a lot of quiet pride from a team of brilliant journalists.
Dan Wootton, the paper's showbiz editor, said he and his colleagues were "devastated" and that some had been in tears. He also claimed many staff felt sympathy towards Brooks.
There is devastation and fear. It is grief for the newspaper, that is what it is. It's not anger, it's grief. We were devastated. There were tears, and I know from a personal level we had huge sympathy for Rebekah Brooks delivering that news.Wootton added that in recent years the paper had changed:
For the last four years we have delivered a quality newspaper, a newspaper that bears no resemblance to the newspaper that I have been reading about in the press this week.If you're a News of the World employee and have anything to say about these editors' accounts of the atmosphere at the paper today, please get in touch. You can find me on Twitter at @David_Batty.
8.50pm: More on the reports that subeditors at the Sun have walked out in protest at the sacking of colleagues on the News of the World. A source told the Guardian that some subs left their desk for 30 minutes but are now back at them.
A News International spokeswoman said "a few" Sun journalists had left work at the same time as their News of the World colleagues, when it was the end of the working day.
8.45pm: MediaMatters, which monitors the US media, suggests that Murdoch's US operations could be damaged by the fallout from the hacking scandal because of his decision to make Les Hinton publisher of the Wall Street Journal.
Eric Boehlert writes:
Prior to taking over Murdoch's American publishing jewel, Hinton ran the mogul's British newspapers, including News of the World. And Hinton ran the newspapers at a time when the tabloid was hacking mobile phones at an astonishing rate. But perhaps even more troubling is the fact that Hinton oversaw News Corp.'s initial internal investigation into the phone hacking scandal and came away convinced there was no evidence of widespread wrongdoing in the company, and that the hacking had been confined to just one reporter.
Hinton, a veteran journalist himself, was tasked with finding out the truth about phone hacking inside News Corp.'s tabloid. He came away with Pollyannaish findings, claiming Murdoch's operation was clean, except for one bad apple. (...) It's an investigation that, in light of recent developments, looks to have been incompetent at best, and a fraud at worst. In fact, it looks to have been part of a failed cover-up.
For the record, Hinton also authorised payments to the News of the World reporter at the heart of the hacking scandal, as well as for the private detective that reporter hired. Hinton authorized the payments after both men had been jailed.
8.35pm: This is David Batty and I'm taking over the live blog for the rest of the evening.
Paul McMullan, former features executive at the News of the World, has again laid into Rebekah Brooks - this time on Sky News. He accused Brooks and Andy Coulson of failing to take responsibility for the phone hacking scandal and sticking up for their staff. McMullan said Brooks should have stood up for the paper's reporters and defended their practices, which he described as a "grey area" necessary for exposing corruption.
"Instead she's said, 'No, I didn't know ... I just happened to be the editor'. She's trashed the reputation of the News of the World, she's closed the paper, she should be sacked."
8.19pm: The National Union of Journalists has confirmed that journalists at The Sun walked out in protest at the treatment of their News of the World colleagues.
An NUJ official told the Guardian "the whole subbing desk" walked out – "around 30-35 people".
The NUJ has published the following statement on its website:
In solidarity with colleagues at the News of the World, tonight Sub-Editors at The Sun newspaper have walked out of work in protest.
At the same time as the protest, inside the building, News of the World staff were being told about the redundancies.
The company has told staff they will receive a 90 day payment which covers the legally required consultation period for job cuts.
This exposes the cynical deceit of James Murdoch who earlier today said: "We will communicate next steps in detail and begin appropriate consultation."
8.13pm: My colleague David Batty has more on the Channel 4 news piece with Glenn Mulcaire, including a clarification on his statement that phone hacking victims were chosen "by committee".
Mulcaire secretly filmed by one of his hacking victims, admitted that the decision to order phone hacking was made "by committee". A statement sent to the programme by his lawyer clarified that Mulcaire did not mean there was a specific committee at the paper responsible for order phone hacks, rather that it was carried out on the orders of several individuals on the newsdesk, not a lone reporter.
The phone hacking victim who secretly filmed the former private investigator was a victim of sexual assault whose personal details were leaked to the press. She told the programme that journalists were aware of the detail of her personal statement about the assault she suffered. She said it was "traumatic" that the press "seemed to know everything about me."
C4 News also spoke to Steve Roberts, former head of the Met Police anti-corruption squad, who said he was aware of information being leaked by officers to the press. But there was a reluctance to take on the media over the issue.
Paul McMullan, former features executive, told the programme more details about how payments were made to police officers for information. He said money was passed on via officers' relatives rather than directly. He repeated his claim that senior figures at the paper, including Rebekah Brooks, were aware of the practice. "If it wasn't a significant amount it would be put on my expenses and that would be authorised by my boss - Rebekah Brooks."
8.06pm: The News of the World paywall has apparently been taken down. Every cloud...
8.05pm: Potentially more information implicating Rebekah Brooks, from ..er.. George Michael:
@GeorgeMichael Rebekah Brooks sat two feet from me in my own home and told me that it was never the public that came to them with information.....
@GeorgeMichael on celebrities, and that the Police always got there first. I think thats enough to be going on with. (Don't ask me how she got there)..
7.58pm: The Sun – News of the World stablemate – will become a seven-day newspaper, the BBC is reporting.
Earlier we heard that the sundaysun.co.uk and sundaysun.com domain names had been registered two days ago.
7.53pm: Colin Myler, editor of News of the World, has said this is the "saddest day of his professional life," according to Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News.
7.47pm: Amelia Hill broke the news of Andy Coulson's impending arrest. A second "former senior journalist" at the News of the World is also to be arrested within the next few days.
Coulson has been told by police that he will be arrested on Friday morning over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his editorship of the News of the World.
The Guardian understands that a second arrest is also to be made in the next few days of a former senior journalist at the paper.
Leaks from News International forced police to speed up their plans to arrest the two key suspects in the explosive phone-hacking scandal.
The Guardian knows the identity of the second suspect but is withholding the name in order to avoid prejudicing the ongoing police investigation.
Coulson, who resigned as David Cameron's director of communications in January, was contacted on Thursday by detectives and asked to present himself at a police station in central London on Friday, where he will be told that he will be formally questioned under suspicion of involvement in hacking.
7.44pm: Andy Coulson is to be arrested over phone hacking tomorrow.
7.43pm: Channel 4 News is screening a secretly filmed interview with Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for hacking phones.
Mulcaire said he was given the names of targets to hack "by committee".
This would appear to contradict News International consistent defence that the hacking was the result of one rogue reporter.
Mulcaire admitted some of his actions were morally questionable.
"It does bring you into areas that are grey," he said.
Mulcaire also said his family had suffered as a result of the hacking scandal.
7.39pm: David Wooding, associate editor at the News of the World, told Sky News one of his colleagues "was in tears" and other people "were standing around looking dazed", David Batty reports.
Wooding said the NOTW had "been taken off the face of the world" because, unlike the other News International titles, it "isn't blemish free".
He offered a robust defence of the current staff at the NotW, saying when he came to the paper 18 months ago it was a "clean outfit" and the people who caused the scandal "all left five years ago". But the associate editor also complained that current staff were carrying the can for the sins of their predecessors.
Wooding presented the problem largely in line with News International's rogue element defence, laying the blame squarely with Glenn Mulcaire whom he described as an unscrupulous private investigator. The editor also questioned whether the thousands of people whose names were discovered on lists compiled by Mulcaire had actually had their phones hacked. He said all those guilty of unscrupulous activity had been "thrown out" of the paper. "About three people who were there then are still there, the rest are gone."
Wooding later told BBC News that when he returned to the office this afternoon upon hearing of the paper's closure, "everyone was standing around looking dazed as if some nuclear bomb hit the place."
Blaming the previous regime he said: "We had no idea this was going on". He said while the current staff at the paper were blemish free it was" the News of the World brand that has been hit." Current staff had been thrown out because of the actions of unscrupulous people who had been thrown out.
7.35pm: Hacked Off, a group campaigning for a proper investigation and inquiry into the phone hacking scandal, has said James Murdoch's statement does not alter the need for a full inquiry and actually "raises further questions" about the conduct of executives at News International.
The announcement by News International that this Sunday's News of the World will be the last does not alter the need for a full public inquiry into phone hacking and related matters.
Indeed James Murdoch's statement raises further questions about the conduct of senior figures at the company. We feel that the closure of a 168-year-old title, with the consequent loss of jobs, is a destructive act which actually underlines the need to get to the truth.
Hacked Off will continue to press for a judge-led public inquiry, with full powers to establish:
· The extent of the use of illegal information-gathering methods by the press, directly and through intermediaries;
· The conduct of the Metropolitan Police Service in investigating these matters, and its relations with the press;
· The communication between press and politicians in relation to these matters;
· The conduct of the Press Complaints Commission and of the Information Commissioner, and of other relevant parties such as mobile telephone companies;
· The lessons to be learned from these events and actions to be taken to ensure they are not repeated.
7.32pm: Dan Sabbagh has been told by News Corporation sources that Rebekah Brooks did not offer to resign.
Earlier reports suggested News of the World journalists were told Brooks had offered to resign twice.
7.29pm: Benji Lanyado has been following the Labour MP Chris Bryant's comments to the BBC news channel. (Bryant is a suspected hacking victim himself).
"A cynical move," Bryant said.
Another attempt to evade responsibility, Everything today proves that there is another layer of despicable behavior there. People carrying the can are the writers.
If Rebekah Brooks had a single shred of decency in her she would resign. If she won't resign, James Murdoch shows a singular lack of judgement.
He added: "We will look back on this and say this was the biggest scandal in british journalism and policing in 50 years."
7.25pm: Tom Watson has said there is more evidence to come which will implicate more News International newspapers.
The Labour MP, who has been one of the key players in driving the phone hacking agenda, told Channel 4 news that there is more evidence against the Murdoch empire, which involves "the use of computer hacking", and will "cross over into other News International newspapers".
7.21pm: Worth reading this Adam Curtis blog charting the history of Rupert Murdoch's rise through the UK media, and how he seized control of the News of the World back in 1969:
The News of the World was a salacious rag, but it was run by Sir William Carr who was a member of an old establishment family. He had already received a hostile bid from the publisher Robert Maxwell. Carr hated Maxwell because he was not British (he was Czech).
Then Murdoch arrived. He wasn't British either, but he told Sir William he would buy the paper but they would run it jointly together.
Maxwell warned Sir William not to trust Murdoch. He told him - "You will be out before your feet touch the ground".
Sir William replied - "Bob, Rupert is a gentleman"
But Lady Carr began to worry. She took Rupert Murdoch out to lunch in Mayfair. She reported that he had little small talk, no sense of humour and that he had lit up a cigar before the first course.
The BBC got interested in Murdoch - and they put out a profile of him. It was shot with him at work and at home in Australia. It has a great interview with Murdoch's secretary about what a sensitive man he is - and how upset he gets when he has to fire someone.
Robert Maxwell would go on to become one of the greatest criminals in British business history. And then he would fall off a boat in the Atlantic and drown in 1991
But Robert Maxwell was right in his warning. Within three months Murdoch forced Sir William Carr out - and took over complete control.
7.17pm: BSkyB's market value has fallen by the curious figure of £666m this week, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports.
Over in New York, News Corporation shares have been clawing back the losses suffered yesterday. At one stage they were trading at $18.23, up 1.6%, on optimism that Murdoch had somehow fixed his problems. More recently, though, they've been losing some ground. As things stand, News Corp is worth roughly $400m less than at the start of this remarkable week.
The news broke just after trading ended in London, so we won't see how BSkyB shares react until 8am on Friday. They closed at 812p in London, compared with 850p last Friday evening. That means that the value of BSkyB has fallen by £666m this week. Coincidence, I'm sure.....
The immediate reaction from financial analysts is that closing the News of the World is a classic Murdoch move, which might keep the BSkyB takeover deal on track. There's also been chatter on Wall Street that News Corp might be better off without those pesky newspapers.
Louise Cooper, market analyst at BGC Partners, is one of the first to react: "Mr Murdoch was clearly not willing to jeopardise his bid for Sky - talk of the media regulator looking at whether News International was a "fit and proper" owner must have been a wake up call and clearly not a risk he wanted to take given the scale of the rest of his UK media business. The financial impact of the paper's closure will be small to the group, far less than the value wiped off the News International's share price by the scandal."
Stephen Adam of Aegon Asset Management, a BSkyB shareholder, has said the closure is "a reflection of News Corp's desire to progress the BSkyB bid". But Reuters have also spoken to an unnamed banker who predicts further scalps at the company, including Rebekah Brooks.
"People are out for blood," he said.
We also received an interesting research note from Nomura earlier. This line, about the UK newspaper division, is worth mentioning - "Perhaps ironic is the fact that the least valued division of the corporation by investors is creating the most negative headlines".
7.13pm: Krishnan Guru-Murthy tells Channel 4 news that there was a "lynch mob mentality" after News of the World were told the news.
Rebekah Brooks was reportedly escorted from the building by security staff.
7.10pm: James Murdoch has said that Rebekah Brooks's leadership is "crucial", my colleague Benji Lanyado reports.
"Brooks' leadership of the company is the right thing," Murdoch Jr said.
"She is doing the right thing. Her leadership is crucial right now."
@frasereC4 Exclusive: #NOTW phone hacking private investigator Glenn Mulcaire tells Channel 4 News he lost his "moral compass"
6.59pm: Peter Walker has been compiling some of the reaction from News of the World journalists to the news that the paper will close.
"Just lost my job on the News of the World. Absolutely devastated that a talented group of people are suffering right now," tweeted Tina Campanella, a news reporter at the paper, roughly half an hour after it emerged this afternoon that this Sunday's edition of her paper would be the last.
Tom Latchem, the TV editor summed it up thus: "Thanks for all your kind words all – we will all survive, nobody died. Viva NOTW!!" Another senior staff member, Rachel Richardson, editor of the Fabulous magazine supplement, wrote: "Feeling pretty numb right now but wanted to say long live @Fabulousmag. The best mag team in Fleet Street. Fact."
Others rounded on the Twitter hordes rejoicing at the paper's demise. Ian Hyland, a columnist, entered into a somewhat bruising tweet exchange with the comedian Rufus Hound. It ended with Hyland labelling his opponent a "right tit".
Outsiders piled in to make similar points, one freelance journalist noting: "My mate with 4 kids, not a hacker, honest journo, now lost his job, shame on the bosses at #NOTW." He added, in a sentiment not publicly expressed by the paper's staff but surely shared by many: "But at least Rebekah Brooks has still got her job, Jesus!!!!"
6.52pm: Rebekah Brooks "offered her resignation twice", but it was turned down both times, News of the World staff were reportedly told today.
Journalist Neal Mann, a prolific news tweeter under the @fieldproducer moniker, posts:
@fieldproducer Source tells me News Of The World journalists were told Rebecca Brooks offered her resignation twice and she was turned down both times
@fieldproducer I'm told all journalists at the News of the World cheered when a staff member said they would accept her resignation #NOTW
6.49pm: Nick Davies, the Guardian journalist who broke the phone hacking story, talks of how the scandal has escalated in this video.
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6.47pm: Milly Dowler's family's solicitor Mark Lewis said the closure "won't make any difference at all to anybody's civil claims".
"Any crimes, any phone hacking, any other activities that were done weren't done by the News of the World, they were done by people working for it," he told Sky News.
It's sad that other people have been sacrificed, will lose their jobs, but the people who are responsible are still there.
They're going to be subject to criminal inquiries and, if appropriate, prosecutions, but the management of News International stays the same.
There are questions asked about Rebekah Brooks. She was editor of the News of the World at the time the Milly Dowler situation was happening.
She is still in her post. So she might be crying at other people losing their jobs, but perhaps she ought to lose her job and let them have theirs.
Yet another prominent figure in the phone hacking story to say that the closure does not resolve the problem.
6.44pm: So it must be an incredibly chaotic evening for culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has been under huge pressure to halt News Corporation's bid to take full control over BSkyB. In addition he now has the closure of the country's best selling newspaper on his hands, as well as senior government figures insisting this is not enough and Rebekah Brooks must step aside.
Oh, and there's a Harry Potter premiere too:
@Jeremy_Hunt World Premiere of #HarryPotter outside @DCMS tonight. Congrats to @wbpictures & @jk_rowling for over 10 years of British films at their best
(Thanks to colleague Benji Lanyado for the link).
6.40pm: Reports that the NUJ is to strike on 15 July and 29 July – according to BBC journalist Nick Lawrence.
More as we get it.
6.39pm: Bit of a common theme developing in reaction to the News of the World closure – that it does not resolve the problem.
Liberal Democrat media spokesman Don Foster has said the demise of the News of the World was not the end of the matter.
"This is a commercial decision that will affect many staff who had nothing to do with the phone hacking scandal," he said.
"We need to find out the full extent of the phone hacking scandal and of the alleged police corruption and see those responsible for these vile actions prosecuted before we can close this dark chapter in British media history."
The comments echo those of John Prescott and Ed Miliband.
6.34pm: Unconfirmed, but the BBC is reporting that a "small group of Sun reporters" have walked out of their office in a show of solidarity with their Sunday colleagues.
6.35pm: Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, one of the alleged victims of phone hacking, has said that closing the paper would not resolve the problems at News International.
"Cutting off the arm doesn't mean to say you've solved it. There is still the body and the head and the same culture and that's why there has be a public inquiry into it," Prescott said.
I cannot accept for a moment that at the top of the company, Mr Murdoch - certainly Rebekah Brooks - didn't know what was going on.
Now some poor suckers on the News of the World are now going to be put on the dole simply because they've decided to make a cost-cutting exercise which they said they were going to do a week or so ago.
6.33pm: Henry McDonald writes that the son of Northern Ireland's former First Minister Ian Paisley has welcomed the closure of the News of the World.
Ian Paisley Junior said the shut down of the tabloid was a "major indication of guilt" and should prompt a full public inquiry into the phone hacking saga.
"This is absolutely outstanding news," the North Antrim Democratic Unionist told Ulster Television tonight.
He also claimed that he too may been the victim of the News of the World's phone hackers.
"It indicates to me a major indication of guilt and fact that News International could not sustain the overturning of a stone and all that would have crawled out from underneath it.
"If anything sustains the call for a full public inquiry into what was taking place it must be this admission. There is clearly now room to look into why such a drastic action was required because clearly what was going on there was completely untoward and unacceptable," Paisley junior said.
Henry adds that the Irish edition of the News of the World will also close – "despite having a healthy circulation both in the Republic and Northern Ireland".
"In recent years the Sunday tabloid had de
