Scandal, United Kingdom | featured news

A high-profile parliamentary panel investigating phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid released embarrassing new evidence Tuesday that the practice of intercepting voice mail had been widely discussed at the newspaper, contradicting assertions by its owners and editors.

British lawmakers said on Friday it was likely News Corp's James Murdoch would be recalled to clarify details about evidence on phone hacking he gave to a parliamentary committee, following claims his testimony was "mistaken."

News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch apologized for the phone-hacking scandal ignited by revelations about his News of the World newspaper in an advertisement to appear Saturday in British newspapers.

Rupert Murdoch on Thursday caved in to pressure from Britain's parliament to answer questions over alleged crimes at one of his newspapers and denied that News Corp was drawing up plans to separate its newspaper holdings.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown charged Tuesday that Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers hired “known criminals” to obtain information about him, and a senior police official said he was sure his own phone was hacked, as a mounting scandal threatened to further damage Murdoch’s media empire.

The last edition of the News of the World hit stands Sunday morning, as Britain's best-selling newspaper shuts down in the face of a scandal over illegal eavesdropping and bribery.

Closing Britain's highest-selling newspaper, the 168-year-old News of the World, with just three days' notice in the wake of its phone-hacking scandal may feel like a nuclear option. In practice, it makes perfect commercial sense for Rupert Mudoch's News Corporation.

The News of the World, the British tabloid newspaper beset with a widening phone-hacking scandal, will shut down as result of the imbroglio, a top executive of its parent company said Thursday. The News, a feisty, hugely profitable daily that has been continuously published for 168 years, will cease publishing on Sunday, said James Murdoch, the son of media baron Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns the newspaper.