British tabloid News of the World is publishing its final edition Sunday, James Murdoch, son of News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, has announced.

With a circulation of 3.7 million, the 168-year-old publication is the bestselling Sunday paper in the UK, according to figures from market and media research firm TGI.

The close comes in the wake of series of phone-hacking scandals involving high-profile celebrities, including members of the Royal Family. The latest involved the phone of a missing 13-year-old British girl, later found dead.

Since the latest scandal was uncovered earlier this week, advertisers were quick to disassociate themselves from the plagued tabloid through a series of public announcements on Twitter and elsewhere, claiming that they would no longer be advertising with the publication.

Matters grew even worse Thursday morning after The Guardian published a story indicating that News of the World paid out £100,000 in bribes to police officers in the Greater London area.

In a statement on News of the World's website, Rupert Murdoch wrote that "recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the News of the World are deplorable and unacceptable. I have made clear that our company must fully and proactively cooperate with the police in all investigations and that is exactly what News International has been doing and will continue to do under Rebekah Brooks's leadership."

"We are committed to addressing these issues fully and have taken a number of important steps to prevent them from happening again," he added.

It is not yet clear if News Corp intends to move News of the World staffers to one of its other major UK newspapers, a portfolio that includes The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Shares of News Corp, which fell 3.6% yesterday, have jumped 1.5% in the hour following the announcement.

[via The Guardian]