Scandal-hit News of the World shuts down after 168 years

The News of the World, Britain's 168-year-old tabloid and top-selling Sunday newspaper, is being closed down, following a series of phone-tapping and 'pay-for-news' scandals.

The shock move comes after the paper was hit by allegations that it had tapped the phones of a murdered girl, relatives of dead soldiers, and hundreds of celebrities, politicians, and a few royals as well.

''Having consulted senior colleagues, I have decided … this Sunday will be the last edition of the News of the World,'' James Murdoch, chairman of News International, the British newspaper wing of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, said on Thursday.

''In addition, I have decided that all the revenues of the News of the World this weekend will go to good causes,'' Murdoch said. The last edition will carry no commercial advertising, he added.

The paper is known for its racy coverage of sex, scandals, and celebrities, but of late years it has also taken up undercover investigations.

Murdoch admitted that it had lied to parliament and the public over the long-running phone tapping scandal.