Media mogul Rupert Murduch shut the tabloid as allegations grew that reporters had hacked the voicemails of thousands of people, among them child murder victim Milly Dowler and the families of Britain's war dead.
"I feel regret," said his son, News International Chairman James Murdoch. "Clearly the practices of certain individuals did not live up to the standards and quality of journalism that we believe in and that I believe in and that this company believes in."
Press reports said Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron's former Communications Director, would be arrested today over the scandal. Coulson, an ex-News of the World editor, has always denied any knowledge of illegal telephone hacking at the tabloid, founded in 1843. This Sunday's edition will be the last.
There is speculation the affair could threaten Rupert Murdoch's hopes of buying out the 61 per cent of broadcaster BSkyB he does not already own. But analysts believe the chances of the deal being derailed are slim.
Critics believe tabloid closure is business decision
Some think it is a commercial decision by News International - to get rid of a brand tainted by the phone-hacking scandal, and create another new one in its place.
The former Labour deputy prime minister Lord Prescott believes the practices of the whole organisation - not only one newspaper - are questionable:
"Somehow they told us to begin with it was a rogue reporter. Now we know that's not true, and now it's a rogue paper, company... ‘News of the World! Get rid of it! Chop off the arm!'... As if there isn't something rotten in the body and in the head. And that's what Murdoch is about."
Andreas Whittam Smith, the founder editor of The Independent, described the axing of the paper as an "extraordinary event", and believes there is more to the decision than meets the eye.
"Whoever heard of a newspaper committing suicide? It just doesn't happen, it hasn't happened. They're giving up a lot of revenue, they're making a lot of people redundant - which they pay for - and they're closing down a famous brand," he said.
Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster predicted another newspaper would quickly appear:
"I suspect it will be in a matter of weeks, we'll see a Sunday paper coming out from the (News International) stable, possibly called ‘The Sun on Sunday' or ‘The Sunday Sun'," he said.
However the scandal has focused attention on press ethics, and the relationship between the media, the government, and the police - accused of failing to investigate the hacking properly, and of being too close to the media.
euronews correspondent Ali Sheikholeslami said from outside News International headquarters:
"An astonishing conclusion to the phone-hacking saga, and for News International. The scandal-ridden News of the World, the newspaper with more than 150 years of history, will be gone for ever. What remains is hard questions for journalism, and for its relationship with the police."
SOURCE: Euronews
