Good morning and welcome to the Guardian's live blog on the phone-hacking scandal on the day when Rupert Murdoch is expected to arrive in London amid pressure from News Corp investors for him to get a grip on the crisis that now threatens to engulf his media empire.

To start, here's a roundup of the latest developments:

• Rupert Murdoch is flying in to the UK to take charge of the crisis enveloping his British media empire in the wake of phone-hacking allegations last week. The News Group chairman and CEO, who was at a conference in Idaho, is expected to focus his attentions on saving the bigger prize of his takeover of BSkyB.



• The last edition of the News of the World has hit the streets. News International has doubled the print run to five million copies, expecting it to be eagerly sought after as a collectors item



• The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has said Murdoch should drop the BSkyB bid and sack News International's embattled chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

• The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler will meet David Cameron tomorrow to discuss the government's response to phone hacking, Downing Street said. A spokesman said the Media Standards Trust charity – which had initially arranged talks with Nick Clegg, the deputy PM – had requested that the premier also now attend.



• Police investigations into the hacking scandal and alleged corrupt payments made to police officers are continuing. A 63-year-old man arrested on Friday evening in Surrey over alleged corrupt payments made to officers has been bailed.

If you want to comment on this issue please go to our open thread on Comment is free.

You can find yesterday's live blog here.

You can follow me on Twitter @BenQuinn75

Labour Leader Ed Miliband has called on Rupert Murdoch to drop his bid to take over BSkyB.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that the second thing that he should do is sack News International's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks.

"It beggars belief that that Rebekah Brooks is still in her post," he added.

Serious questions have been raised about David Cameron's judgement in appointing Andy Coulson as his director of communications at Downing Street, Sky News has been told by Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the Guardian.

He referred to how the Guardian had passed to a senior Cameron aide information about the News of the World's links to the detective, Jonathan Rees, which could not at the time be reported because Rees was awaiting trial for an axe murder. Rees had been hired to work for the News of the World when Coulson was editing the newspaper.

"That seemed to be an absolutely devastating fact and I told or got messages through to all three party leaders just to say, look you should be aware of all or part of the context of this, which is not writeable, but which will come out if Mr Cameron takes Coulson into Downing Street.

"There were no shortage of warnings an I know there were other Fleet Street figures who had warned Mr Cameron and he ignore them all, so that does raised questions about Mr Cameron's judgement, his stubborn insistence that he was going to take Coulson with him, but also the extent to which Coulson was vetted before he went into Dowing Street in order to see material at a very high level of security clearance."

"Who asked what questions? It does not seem a very thorough process to me."

It's probably fair to say that today's edition of the News of the World, its last, will be one of the most read in its history.

Roy Greenslade, professor of journalism at City University and a former editor of the Daily Mirror has been taking a close look and writes:

The final issue of the News of the World unashamedly appeals to the emotions of its audience while casting itself as a victim of circumstances beyond its own control. In the course of 48 pages celebrating its supposedly finest moments, it seeks to play the hero while attempting to disguise its villainy. Indeed, some of the villainy is given an heroic gloss Without wishing to dance on a dead newspaper's grave, especially while the body is still warm, it cannot be allowed to get away with perpetuating yet more myths amid the cheap sentimentality of its farewell. Put the handkerchiefs aside to consider the editorial that takes up all of page 3: "We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards.

Quite simply, we lost our way. Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry. There is no justification for this appalling wrong-doing.

No justification for the pain caused to victims, nor for the deep stain it has left on a great history." I know some of the staff. And I know many of them are not guilty of any wrong-doing. However, it's a bit rich to claim integrity while working for a paper that has engaged in the dark arts - entrapment, subterfuge, covert filming, the use of agents provocateur and phone hacking - for the best part of 20 years.

Energy secretary Chris Huhne has said the Liberal Democrats would look at the detail of the opposition motion on the BSkyB takeover before deciding which way to vote.

He also told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show that "very serious risks" had been run by the Prime Minister in hiring Mr Coulson, the Press Association reports.

Asked about this week's Commons vote, Huhne said: "There are two separate processes here - one is that Ofcom can at any time investigate whether the people running one of our broadcast organisations are fit and proper people - and that's not associated with the question of clearing the merger.

"I believe we should have a personal assurance from Rupert Murdoch that these illegal practices were confined to the News of the World."

Huhne's intervention on the BSkyB takeover came after Labour leader Ed Milband said that Rupert Murdoch's media empire must not be allowed to take over broadcaster while the police are still investigating phone hacking at the News of the World.

Here's another quote from Milband's appearance on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show this morning: "He has got to understand that when the public have seen the disgusting revelations that we have seen this week, the idea that this organisation, which engaged in these terrible practices, should be allowed to take over BSkyB, to get that 100% stake, without the criminal investigation having been completed and on the basis of assurances from that self-same organisation - frankly that just won't wash with the public."

Rupert Murdoch has just landed at Luton airport, the BBC have reported.

More now from Ed Miliband's appearance this morning. He denied that his strategy director, Tom Baldwin, a former Times journalist, had been involved in wrongdoing.

Conservative party donor Lord Ashcroft has alleged Mr Baldwin asked a private investigator to obtain information about his bank account.

Miliband told Andrew Marr: "People are trying to make a comparison between Andy Coulson, who resigned from the News of the World over phone hacking of the Royal Family, and Tom Baldwin, who works for me.

"I think this is ridiculous, let me just explain why. Tom Baldwin was engaged in The Times newspaper including an investigation of Michael Ashcroft, about whom there was massive public interest."

Asked about the specific allegations, he said: "Tom Baldwin absolutely denies this.

"And I have to say that this is pretty desperate stuff because the prime minister must answer the real questions at the heart of this affair - about his error of judgment in hiring Andy Coulson and the mounting evidence there now is about the warnings that were given to him before he brought Andy Coulson into the heart of the government machine."

Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, has criticised Metropolitan police Assistant Commissioner John Yates for using an article in today's Sunday Telegraph to respond to concerns about his role in investigating hacking allegations.

Yates apologised in the Sunday Telegraph for failing to re-open the investigation into the News of the World phone hacking scandal in 2009.

However, Vaz has just told The Politics Show on BBC 1 that Yates has yet to respond to a letter sent by him asking the policeman to respond to the committee.

"I find it extraordinary that John Yates has not replied to the letter that I sent him but he did choose to give his version of events to the Sunday Telegraph," said Vaz.

"It does raise serous questions about his judgement," added the MP.

Vaz said he realised that Yates wanted to his get his version of events out before a session of the committee this week but he did not believe it was "good form" for him to respond first in a newspaper.

David Davies, the Conservative MP, also said that Yates should not have put out "what was effectively a press release for himself" before appearing in front of the committee.

Yates had always maintained there were very few victims in the hacking affair and told the home affairs committee last September that there was no evidence that MPs' phones had been tapped.

However, in the Sunday Telegraph today he admitted that his decision not to reopen an investigation into News International in 2009 had been "a pretty crap one", which he now deeply regretted.

My colleague Polly Curtis has been tracking the political fall-out from the hacking affair and its impact on Rupert Murdoch's bid to take over BSkyB:

The Liberal Democrats are indicating that they could back a Labour move in parliament to delay the Murdoch take-over of BSkyB pending the outcome of the police investigations into phone-hacking. Labour is preparing to table a motion to force the government to suspend the deal amid a furore over News International's journalistic practices pending the outcome of the police inquiry. Ed Milband said today that the bid could not go ahead based only on assurances given by News International, after it emerged that they had lied to the Press Complaint Commission. John Yates, assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, today also accuses News International of having covered-up the "industrial scale" of its use of hacking at the News of the World. Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy secretary, and the deputy leader of the party Simon Hughes both indicated that the party could chose to back the motion if it is not seen as too "partisan". If they join them it could mark a major challenge for the coalition - though there were some suggestions that the Tories could even join the move in the face of fierce public opposition to the merger. Philip Hammond, the transport secretary told Sky news : "If the motion is sensibly formed that would be one thing but if it called on the government to ignore the law that would not be possible."

Breaking: Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is to take legal advice on the potential implications of a successful Labour parliamentary motion calling for the suspension of the deal allowing Rupert Murdoch's takeover of BSkyB.

The Guardian understands that Hunt will seek the advice first thing tomorrow morning. Labour could reveal the details of the motion as soon as tomorrow and one senior source said that it would be written to ensure "as much cross-party support as possible".

The transport secretary, Philip Hammond, has conceded that the idea of the BSkyB takeover going through while criminal inquiries arising from the hacking affair were still in progress raised serious concerns.

But he insisted on Sky News' Murnaghan programme that the government was constrained by the law and that breaching its obligations would place it in the same category as phone hackers.

He accused Labour leader Ed Miliband of being "in danger of opposing for opposition's sake".

"He should know as well an anyone that the Government has to operate within the law - that there are proper processes that have to be followed," added Hammond.

While Ofcom could intervene "at any time" to look into whether it believed News Corps remained "fit and proper", culture secretary Jeremy Hunt had to make his judgment about the deal solely on the grounds of plurality.

Failing to do so would almost certainly result in the government being successfully challenges in court, Hammond suggested.

Rupert Murdoch has gone straight to Wapping after arriving at Luton airport earlier.

A twitter account, 'ExNOTWJournalist', has had all but three of its tweets deleted just after 10am and all of its 20,000 followers were dropped, the Telegraph are reporting.

While its authenticity remains unconfirmed, the account's profile says: "Journalist w/NOTW last 3 years.Fired, alongside some very good decent people,when NOTW axed to save the skin of Rebekah Brooks!Will no longer be silent!"

It had reportedly been threatening to release damning new information about News International in the form of a series of PDFs but the tweeter added that they had postponed the disclosures following legal advice.

Take a look yourself.

Some pictures (left) of Rupert Murdoch arriving at News International's headquarters in Wapping are coming in.

He was seated in the front passenger seat of a car with a copy of the last issue of the News of the World in his hands.

The events of the past week are like a nightmare scripted by Noam Chomsky and Slavoj Zizek, writes Paul Mason in a customarily thought-provoking blogpost.

Key parts of the political machinery of Britain are wavering, according to Newsnight's economics editor, who adds that the strength of the Murdoch media empire was that it occupied "the commanding heights a kind of journalism that dispenses power, intimidates and influences politicians and shapes political outcomes."

The other "rival power node" is the Daily Mail and General Trust, according to Mason, who says that a major shift is in the offing.

"For all the difficulties Mr Cameron had with the immediate question - of judgement over the employment of Andy Coulson; of what did he ask and when - it is clear that he intends to make a strategic break with the press barons," he writes.

"Likewise, Mr Miliband had already burned his bridges. If Britain's senior politicians are serious about that break then it will signal - without a single law being passed - a major change in the country's de-facto constitution."

Still struggling to get a handle on the myriad developments over the past week arising from the News of the World hacking affair?

Have a look at this video clip of the Guardian's editor, Alan Rusbridger, summarising a whirlwind week of arrests, political confessions and allegations of deleted emails.

Alex Forrest, political correspondent for ITV News (ITN), has tweeted on a development in relation to a scheduled meeting between David Cameron and the family of Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl whose mobile phone was hacked by the News of the World.

Downing St calls me to say meeting btw Dowler family and the PM put back until Wed. But they will meet Clegg tomorrow and Miliband Tues.

The twitter account @ExNOTWJourno appears to have been closed down entirely now.

Have staff who put together the News of the World's last ever crossword included some subtle hints for News International's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, the former editor who told them that the newspaper was to be shut down today?

The Independent's Whitehall Editor, Oliver Wright, has pointed out a few interesting elements in the quickie crossword on page 47. Its clues include:

Across

• Brook (6)

• lamented (8)

• Prestige (6)

• Stink (6)

• Catastrophe (8)

Down

• Digital protection

• Less bright

• Chair

• Pest

• Cease

• Criminal enterprise

A twitter account called 'ExNOTWJournalist' appears to have bitten the dust but another in the name of 'Mariex' has been tweeting for some time from @ExNOTWjourno2.

While its authenticity is unconfirmed, its profile is: "Journalist @ NOTW for last 5 years. Axed to save skin of Rebekah Brooks! Enough Is Enough Of This Horse Sh#t !"

The senior Metropolitan Police officer leading the News of the World phone hacking inquiry is to appear in front of the home affairs select committee, Sky News are reporting.

Deputy Assistant police commissioner Sue Akers is running the inquiry, code-named Operation Weeting.

Dismissed News of the World journalists who are unable to find replacement jobs and feel their professional reputations have been severely damaged could have legal grounds for suing News International, according one employment law source.

Owen Bowcott, who is the Guardian's acting legal affairs correspondent, writes about a Lords ruling that could have implications:

There is a precedent in a 1997 House of Lords judgment that covers the predicament of two former employees of the collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International who claimed they suffered the "stigma" of being associated with the ex-employer that put them at a "serious disadvantage" of finding new work. "In [Malik vs BCCI] the House of Lords upheld, in principle, the right of innocent ex-employees to sue a former employer for common law damages where revelations concerning the employer's corrupt practices had damaged their prospects of future employment in the industry," one employment expert suggested. "Corruption was assumed as a hypothesis for purposes of the decision". Loss of reputation, the 1997 judgment pointed out, is "inherently difficult to prove" but it added that there is an implied mutual obligation of trust and confidence between employer and employee. "Difficulties of proof cannot alter the legal principles which permit, in appropriate cases, such claims for financial loss caused by breach of contract being put forward for consideration," the House of Lords judgment concluded. The prospect of such claims might encourage the Murdoch empire to think hard about how many former NotW staff it wishes to re-employ.

Police have been handed internal News International memos from 2007 which appear to acknowledge that the practice of phone hacking was more widespread than previously thought.

That's just a snippet from a story coming up soon from the Guardian's Dan Sabbagh and Sam Jones.

The family of Milly Dowler will press for "stronger, clearer and faster action" over phone hacking in meetings this week with ministers, the Press Association reports.

Bob and Sally Dowler are suing the News of the World over claims that their murdered daughter's phone was targeted by the newspaper when she went missing in 2002.

Her mother and sister Gemma will be among victims and campaigners meeting Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tomorrow in an effort to secure a sufficiently comprehensive inquiry.

Talks will be held later in the week with Prime Minister David Cameron, Downing Street said after being forced to withdraw an earlier announcement that the premier would be involved tomorrow as well.

In a fresh statement this morning, a Number 10 spokesman said: "At the request of Milly Dowler's family the meeting with the PM will take place later in the week."

It is thought the Trust, which led the Hacked Off campaign for a public inquiry, is keen to be able to address its concerns separately with the three main party leaders.

News International found emails in 2007 that appeared to indicate payments were being made to the police for information, BBC business editor Robert Peston has blogged.

He writes that this evidence of alleged criminal behaviour was not handed to the Metropolitan Police for investigation until 20 June of this year.

The emails are in the possession of a firm of solicitors, Harbottle & Lewis, according to Peston, who says that they were retrieved from Harbottle & Lewis by Will Lewis (left), general manager of News International.

Lewis, a former editor-in-chief at Telegraph Media Group, is involved in the internal investigation at News International into what occurred at the News of the World.

Peston writes that the emails appear to show Andy Coulson, who edited the newspaper between 2003 and 2007, authorised payments to the police for help with stories.

They also appear to show that phone hacking went beyond the activities of a single rogue reporter, which was the newspaper's claim at the time.

One of Scotland's leading QCs has told BBC Scotland's Politics Show that he could not comment on reports that he has been approached to represent Andy Coulson.

Paul McBride QC was approached by Coulson, the former Downing Street director of communications and one-time News of the World editor, the Press Association reported earlier.

Scottish police have been asked to look at evidence given by witnesses in the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial last year. McBride represented Gail Sheridan, the wife of the former Scottish Socialist Party leader, in the trial.

She was acquitted of lying to the courts in the successful defamation action taken by her husband against the News of the World in 2006.

Sheridan was jailed for three years in January after being found guilty of perjury. Coulson testified, along with the editor of the Scottish News of the World Bob Bird and reporter Douglas Wight.

Coulson, then Downing Street director of communications, told the trial in December that he had no knowledge of illegal activities by reporters while he was editor of the newspaper.

McBride said today: "It should be noted that there are no criminal allegations made against Mr Coulson in Scotland.

"The Crown Office have indicated there will be a preliminary assessment of the evidence of a number of witnesses.

"The report will be compiled and looked at by the fiscal, but there are no allegations made in respect of perjury or any other crime in Scotland at the moment in respect of Mr Coulson."

He added: "Of course, if someone is prosecuted in Scotland they would require representation either by a solicitor or by counsel, that is the case."

Rupert Murdoch is thought to be heading for a meeting with Rebekah Brooks, News International's chief executive, after earlier leaving his company's British headquarters at Wapping.

A Guardian story can be read here on police being handed internal News International memos from 2007 that appear to acknowledge that the practice of phone hacking was more widespread than previously thought.

The memos - which were written in the wake of the jailing of the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman and the newspaper's £100,000-a-year private investigator Glenn Mulcaire - allegedly show that the pair were not the only News International employees implicated in phone hacking. The memos have now been passed to police investigating the matter.

Didn't make it to the shops to buy a souvenir copy of the final editon of the News of the World?

A hopeful soul has put one on ebay, seeking what might be a rather unrealistic (for now) price of £5.99.

They have billed it as "The Sunday paper that brought scandel(sic) and shame", adding that it is in "new unread condition".

The BBC's business editor, Robert Peston, tweets:

BSkyB has given me statement on how its governance is adequate that means board has no intention of asking James Murdoch to quit as chairman

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates will give evidence to the home affairs select committee on Tuesday, a spokesperson for its chairman has confirmed.

MPs on the committee will also question former Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, who was in charge of the original phone hacking inquiry.

Others coming before the committee will include Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is in charge of the current probe, Operation Weeting, and former Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, of Scotland Yard's specialist operations division.

A spokeswoman for Vaz said Yates had agreed to be questioned by the committee, hours after the Labour MP criticised the policeman's decision to give an interview to the Sunday Telegraph.

Despite fresh allegations that thousands of public figures had been targeted by phone hackers, Yates ruled in July 2009 that there was no new evidence.

Some headlines from around the world on the end of the News of the World and the crisis at News International:

• Emphatic Farewell for British Paper Caught Up in Hacking Scandal - New York Times



• Murdoch closes News of the World. Pressure mounts for him not to buy BSkyB - El Pais

• It's a wrap for the News of the World - Le Monde

• News of the World: We have lost our way. Murdoch in London to stem the scandal - La Republica

• Murdoch makes mercy dash for empire - Sydney Morning Herald

Neal Mann from Sky News tweets:

Interesting, looks like as he arrived in a Range Rover at his flat Rupert Murdoch wound down his window to give the cameras a clean shot

It's a little early to determine how well the last News of the World has gone down.

Although Twitter is brimming with reports and pictures of piles of unsold copies, my colleague Sam Jones also points out that there are were plenty of twitpics of the opposite — not least what were said by 'samedy' to have been sold-out shelves in a newsagent in David Cameron's constituency of Witney.

The much-mooted boycott seemed not to have taken hold as people rushed out to buy souvenir copies and newsagents upped their orders to cope with the demand.

An anti-Murdoch protest is scheduled to take place outside Wapping this evening, though turnout appears to be low for now.

Harriet Prest tweets:

In wapping. Possible anti Murdoch protest expected. Although only 5 protestors here so far #NOTW



Here's a summary of developments today so far:



• Police have been handed internal News International memos from 2007 that appear to acknowledge that the practice of phone hacking was more widespread than previously thought and that police were paid for helping with stories.

The memos - which were written in the wake of the jailing of the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman and the newspaper's £100,000-a-year private investigator Glenn Mulcaire - allegedly show that the pair were not the only News International employees implicated in phone hacking.

• Rupert Murdoch has arrived in the UK to take charge of the crisis enveloping his media empire. He went straight from Luton airport to his company's British headquarters at Wapping.

Murdoch's bid to take control of BskyB is coming under intense political pressure. The Liberal Democrats have indicated they could back a Labour move in parliament to delay the deal until after the police investigations into phone hacking

• Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner John Yates has expressed his "extreme regret" for the decision not to reopen the police investigation into phone hacking two years ago.

Despite fresh allegations emerging that thousands of public figures had been targeted, the senior detective ruled in July 2009 that there was no new evidence. Yates will appear before the home affairs select committee on Tuesday, it was confirmed today.

• The crisis engulfing David Cameron over phone hacking has been deepening after Paddy Ashdown revealed that he had warned No 10 only days after the general election of "terrible damage" to the coalition if he employed Andy Coulson in Downing Street.

The former Liberal Democrat leader, who had been extensively briefed on details that had not been made public for legal reasons, was so convinced that the truth would eventually emerge that he contacted the prime minister's office.

Good evening, this is David Batty taking over the live blog for this evening.

You can follow me on Twitter @David_Batty

News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has arrived at Rupert Murdoch's London flat

Brooks arrived at around 5.35pm at Murdoch's west London residence, where he had gone after visiting Wapping, PA reports.

Check out the fourth photo in slideshow on this blog about the final Irish edition of the News of the World.

The doctored photo of Rebekah Brooks on the wall at the News of the World offices shows the head of the News International chief executive crudely pasted on a photo of Hitler, complete with a biro moustache.

(Update: The Anti Room blog has since removed this picture at the request of the author.)

A reader has also drawn our attention to the Guardian chart of endangered species on the wall in the eighth photo in the slideshow, which seems rather appropriate in the circumstances.

The post by freelance photographer and picture editor Kate Horgan also describes the shock closure of the Sunday tabloid as "drastic exercise in damage limitation to protect the tarnished image of his News International media empire."

Charlie Brooker takes aim at the rose-tinted history of the News of the World presented in the tarnished tabloid's final edition today.

Inside is an account of the paper's history so rose-tinted you can smell the petals, focusing on its scoops and ignoring ghastly low points like the 1988 story about the actor David Scarboro (who played EastEnders' Mark Fowler before Todd Carty), in which it printed images of the psychiatric unit where he was receiving treatment. He later killed himself.

Noting that there's only a brief mention about the paper "losing its way" among the tributes from readers and C-list celebs, Brooker concedes:

Still, if the edition's overall tone is more sentimental than apologetic, it's hardly surprising, given that it was assembled by a team who – whatever you think of them – didn't hack a murdered schoolgirl's phone. Regardless, they lose their jobs; the woman who was editor at the time keeps hers. Thank you Rebekah. And goodbye to your staff.

More details have emerged about Rebekah Brooks' meeting with Murdoch this afternoon.

Brooks met with Murdoch for around an hour at his Mayfair residence before walking to a nearby hotel for a meal, where they were joined by his son James, the chairman of News International, PA reports.

These photos of the clues and answers for the News of the World's suggest staff were making a thinly veiled comment on Rebekah Brooks and the scandal that closed down the paper (see also the 1.18pm post).

The answers in the cryptic crossword include: deplored, stench, disaster, racket and menace.

Its clues included "Woman stares wildly at calamity", possibly a reference to Brooks.

Whether one of the answers – "tart" – was aimed at her too is open to speculation.

Here's Channel 4 News' report on Rupert Murdoch's arrival in the UK today, his meeting with Rebekah Brooks and the growing scope of the phone hacking scandal.

Murdoch told reporters outside his London home that New International's embattled chief executive Rebekah Brooks was his first priority. Mr Murdoch was seen leaving his home with his arm around Ms Brooks just a few hours after this arrival in the UK. When asked what his first priority was, Mr Murdoch said: "This one", gesturing towards Ms Brooks.

Tomorrow's Mirror leads with claims that News of the World reporters hacked the phones of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The front page features a photo of Rupert Murdoch in a what looks like a panama hat, although the story headline describes the media baron as "The Wapping Cowboy".

Monday's Independent leads with a report that News International knew that phone hacking at the News of the World was widespread in 2007.

The lead story says Murdoch's bid to take control of BSKyB "appeared to be dead in the water (...) after proof emerged that executives at his British newspaper empire mounted a cover-up of the full scale of the alleged criminal wrongdoing at the News of the World."

Tomorrow's Daily Telegraph also leads on the story of an alleged cover up of the phone hacking scandal by News International. It is one of a number of paper's to feature a photo of Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks baring strained grins.

The company's executives are under pressure to appear before MPs to answer allegations that they suppressed evidence of widespread illegal activity, including hacking and payments to police officers.

The Guardian and the Financial Times both focus on the role of Les Hinton, Murdoch's long-time lieutenant and chief executive of Dow Jones, in the phone hacking scandal.

The Guardian's lead story, which notes that Hinton is regarded as Murdoch's closest adviser, says he faces questions over whether he saw a 2007 internal News International report, which found evidence that phone hacking was more widespread than admitted by the company, before he testified to a parliamentary committee that the practice was limited to a single reporter.

The FT reports that Hinton is being blamed for failing to get to grips with the hacking scandal when he was in chairman of News International. The paper says he could become the most senior casualty of the crisis, deflecting blame from James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks.

Tomorrow's Times leads with a report that Rebekah Brooks is to be formally interviewed as a witness by detectives investigating the phone hacking scandal.

The Sunday Telegraph also had a report about this.

Were closing this blog but live coverage of the phone hacking scandal will continue later this morning.

In the meantime here's a roundup of the latest developments:

• Rupert Murdoch has arrived in London amid the worsening impact of the phone hacking scandal on his global media empire. When asked what his first priority was, Murdoch gestured towards Rebekah Brooks and said, "This one."

• Les Hinton, Murdoch's long-time lieutenant and closest adviser, is facing questions over whether he saw a 2007 internal News International report, which found evidence that phone hacking was more widespread than the company admitted. Hinton, the former chairman of News International and now the chairman of Dow Jones, is under pressure over allegations that he misled a parliamentary committee when he testified that the practice was limited to a single reporter.

• Police investigations into the hacking scandal and alleged corrupt payments made to police officers are continuing. There are reports that Brooks is to be formally interviewed as a witness by detectives.

• There are reports that News of the World journalists hacked the phones of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Mirror quotes an unnamed New York police officer as the source of the story, which, if it stands up, could prove highly damaging to Murdoch's US interests.

• The final edition of the News of the World went on sale with staff paying tribute to the paper's history in the paper.

Thanks for reading.