The National Union of Journalists has confirmed that journalists at The Sun walked out in protest at the treatment of their News of the World colleagues.
An NUJ official told the Guardian "the whole subbing desk" walked out – "around 30-35 people".
The NUJ has published the following statement on its website:
In solidarity with colleagues at the News of the World, tonight Sub-Editors at The Sun newspaper have walked out of work in protest.
At the same time as the protest, inside the building, News of the World staff were being told about the redundancies.
The company has told staff they will receive a 90 day payment which covers the legally required consultation period for job cuts.
This exposes the cynical deceit of James Murdoch who earlier today said: "We will communicate next steps in detail and begin appropriate consultation."
My colleague David Batty has more on the Channel 4 news piece with Glenn Mulcaire, including a clarification on his statement that phone hacking victims were chosen "by committee".
Mulcaire secretly filmed by one of his hacking victims, admitted that the decision to order phone hacking was made "by committee". A statement sent to the programme by his lawyer clarified that Mulcaire did not mean there was a specific committee at the paper responsible for order phone hacks, rather that it was carried out on the orders of several individuals on the newsdesk, not a lone reporter.
The phone hacking victim who secretly filmed the former private investigator was a victim of sexual assault whose personal details were leaked to the press. She told the programme that journalists were aware of the detail of her personal statement about the assault she suffered. She said it was "traumatic" that the press "seemed to know everything about me."
C4 News also spoke to Steve Roberts, former head of the Met Police anti-corruption squad, who said he was aware of information being leaked by officers to the press. But there was a reluctance to take on the media over the issue.
Paul McMullan, former features executive, told the programme more details about how payments were made to police officers for information. He said money was passed on via officers' relatives rather than directly. He repeated his claim that senior figures at the paper, including Rebekah Brooks, were aware of the practice. "If it wasn't a significant amount it would be put on my expenses and that would be authorised by my boss - Rebekah Brooks."
The News of the World paywall has apparently been taken down. Every cloud...
Potentially more information implicating Rebekah Brooks, from ..er.. George Michael:
@GeorgeMichael Rebekah Brooks sat two feet from me in my own home and told me that it was never the public that came to them with information.....
@GeorgeMichael on celebrities, and that the Police always got there first. I think thats enough to be going on with. (Don't ask me how she got there)..
The Sun – News of the World stablemate – will become a seven-day newspaper, the BBC is reporting.
Earlier we heard that the sundaysun.co.uk and sundaysun.com domain names had been registered two days ago.
Colin Myler, editor of News of the World, has said this is the "saddest day of his professional life," according to Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News.
Amelia Hill broke the news of Andy Coulson's impending arrest. A second "former senior journalist" at the News of the World is also to be arrested within the next few days.
Coulson has been told by police that he will be arrested on Friday morning over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his editorship of the News of the World.
The Guardian understands that a second arrest is also to be made in the next few days of a former senior journalist at the paper.
Leaks from News International forced police to speed up their plans to arrest the two key suspects in the explosive phone-hacking scandal.
The Guardian knows the identity of the second suspect but is withholding the name in order to avoid prejudicing the ongoing police investigation.
Coulson, who resigned as David Cameron's director of communications in January, was contacted on Thursday by detectives and asked to present himself at a police station in central London on Friday, where he will be told that he will be formally questioned under suspicion of involvement in hacking.
Andy Coulson is to be arrested over phone hacking tomorrow.
Channel 4 News is screening a secretly filmed interview with Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for hacking phones.
Mulcaire said he was given the names of targets to hack "by committee".
This would appear to contradict News International consistent defence that the hacking was the result of one rogue reporter.
Mulcaire admitted some of his actions were morally questionable.
"It does bring you into areas that are grey," he said.
Mulcaire also said his family had suffered as a result of the hacking scandal.
David Wooding, associate editor at the News of the World, told Sky News one of his colleagues "was in tears" and other people "were standing around looking dazed", David Batty reports.
Wooding said the NOTW had "been taken off the face of the world" because, unlike the other News International titles, it "isn't blemish free".
He offered a robust defence of the current staff at the NotW, saying when he came to the paper 18 months ago it was a "clean outfit" and the people who caused the scandal "all left five years ago". But the associate editor also complained that current staff were carrying the can for the sins of their predecessors.
Wooding presented the problem largely in line with News International's rogue element defence, laying the blame squarely with Glenn Mulcaire whom he described as an unscrupulous private investigator. The editor also questioned whether the thousands of people whose names were discovered on lists compiled by Mulcaire had actually had their phones hacked. He said all those guilty of unscrupulous activity had been "thrown out" of the paper. "About three people who were there then are still there, the rest are gone."
Wooding later told Channel 4 News there were "a lot of wet eyes" at the paper.
Hacked Off, a group campaigning for a proper investigation and inquiry into the phone hacking scandal, has said James Murdoch's statement does not alter the need for a full inquiry and actually "raises further questions" about the conduct of executives at News International.
The announcement by News International that this Sunday's News of the World will be the last does not alter the need for a full public inquiry into phone hacking and related matters.
Indeed James Murdoch's statement raises further questions about the conduct of senior figures at the company. We feel that the closure of a 168-year-old title, with the consequent loss of jobs, is a destructive act which actually underlines the need to get to the truth.
Hacked Off will continue to press for a judge-led public inquiry, with full powers to establish:
· The extent of the use of illegal information-gathering methods by the press, directly and through intermediaries;
· The conduct of the Metropolitan Police Service in investigating these matters, and its relations with the press;
· The communication between press and politicians in relation to these matters;
· The conduct of the Press Complaints Commission and of the Information Commissioner, and of other relevant parties such as mobile telephone companies;
· The lessons to be learned from these events and actions to be taken to ensure they are not repeated.
Dan Sabbagh has been told by News Corporation sources that Rebekah Brooks did not offer to resign.
Earlier reports suggested News of the World journalists were told Brooks had offered to resign twice.
Benji Lanyado has been following the Labour MP Chris Bryant's comments to the BBC news channel. (Bryant is a suspected hacking victim himself).
"A cynical move," Bryant said.
Another attempt to evade responsibility, Everything today proves that there is another layer of despicable behavior there. People carrying the can are the writers.
If Rebekah Brooks had a single shred of decency in her she would resign. If she won't resign, James Murdoch shows a singular lack of judgement.
He added: "We will look back on this and say this was the biggest scandal in british journalism and policing in 50 years."
Tom Watson has said there is more evidence to come which will implicate more News International newspapers.
The Labour MP, who has been one of the key players in driving the phone hacking agenda, told Channel 4 news that there is more evidence against the Murdoch empire, which involves "the use of computer hacking", and will "cross over into other News International newspapers".
Worth reading this Adam Curtis blog charting the history of Rupert Murdoch's rise through the UK media, and how he seized control of the News of the World back in 1969:
The News of the World was a salacious rag, but it was run by Sir William Carr who was a member of an old establishment family. He had already received a hostile bid from the publisher Robert Maxwell. Carr hated Maxwell because he was not British (he was Czech).
Then Murdoch arrived. He wasn't British either, but he told Sir William he would buy the paper but they would run it jointly together.
Maxwell warned Sir William not to trust Murdoch. He told him - "You will be out before your feet touch the ground".
Sir William replied - "Bob, Rupert is a gentleman"
But Lady Carr began to worry. She took Rupert Murdoch out to lunch in Mayfair. She reported that he had little small talk, no sense of humour and that he had lit up a cigar before the first course.
The BBC got interested in Murdoch - and they put out a profile of him. It was shot with him at work and at home in Australia. It has a great interview with Murdoch's secretary about what a sensitive man he is - and how upset he gets when he has to fire someone.
Robert Maxwell would go on to become one of the greatest criminals in British business history. And then he would fall off a boat in the Atlantic and drown in 1991
But Robert Maxwell was right in his warning. Within three months Murdoch forced Sir William Carr out - and took over complete control.
BSkyB's market value has fallen by the curious figure of £666m this week, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports.
Over in New York, News Corporation shares have been clawing back the losses suffered yesterday. At one stage they were trading at $18.23, up 1.6%, on optimism that Murdoch had somehow fixed his problems. More recently, though, they've been losing some ground. As things stand, News Corp is worth roughly $400m less than at the start of this remarkable week.
The news broke just after trading ended in London, so we won't see how BSkyB shares react until 8am on Friday. They closed at 812p in London, compared with 850p last Friday evening. That means that the value of BSkyB has fallen by £666m this week. Coincidence, I'm sure.....
The immediate reaction from financial analysts is that closing the News of the World is a classic Murdoch move, which might keep the BSkyB takeover deal on track. There's also been chatter on Wall Street that News Corp might be better off without those pesky newspapers.
Louise Cooper, market analyst at BGC Partners, is one of the first to react: "Mr Murdoch was clearly not willing to jeopardise his bid for Sky - talk of the media regulator looking at whether News International was a "fit and proper" owner must have been a wake up call and clearly not a risk he wanted to take given the scale of the rest of his UK media business. The financial impact of the paper's closure will be small to the group, far less than the value wiped off the News International's share price by the scandal."
Stephen Adam of Aegon Asset Management, a BSkyB shareholder, has said the closure is "a reflection of News Corp's desire to progress the BSkyB bid". But Reuters have also spoken to an unnamed banker who predicts further scalps at the company, including Rebekah Brooks.
"People are out for blood," he said.
We also received an interesting research note from Nomura earlier. This line, about the UK newspaper division, is worth mentioning - "Perhaps ironic is the fact that the least valued division of the corporation by investors is creating the most negative headlines".
Krishnan Guru-Murthy tells Channel 4 news that there was a "lynch mob mentality" after News of the World were told the news.
Rebekah Brooks was reportedly escorted from the building by security staff.
James Murdoch has said that Rebekah Brooks's leadership is "crucial", my colleague Benji Lanyado reports.
"Brooks' leadership of the company is the right thing," Murdoch Jr said.
"She is doing the right thing. Her leadership is crucial right now."
@frasereC4 Exclusive: #NOTW phone hacking private investigator Glenn Mulcaire tells Channel 4 News he lost his "moral compass"
Peter Walker has been compiling some of the reaction from News of the World journalists to the news that the paper will close.
"Just lost my job on the News of the World. Absolutely devastated that a talented group of people are suffering right now," tweeted Tina Campanella, a news reporter at the paper, roughly half an hour after it emerged this afternoon that this Sunday's edition of her paper would be the last.
Tom Latchem, the TV editor summed it up thus: "Thanks for all your kind words all – we will all survive, nobody died. Viva NOTW!!" Another senior staff member, Rachel Richardson, editor of the Fabulous magazine supplement, wrote: "Feeling pretty numb right now but wanted to say long live @Fabulousmag. The best mag team in Fleet Street. Fact."
Others rounded on the Twitter hordes rejoicing at the paper's demise. Ian Hyland, a columnist, entered into a somewhat bruising tweet exchange with the comedian Rufus Hound. It ended with Hyland labelling his opponent a "right tit".
Outsiders piled in to make similar points, one freelance journalist noting: "My mate with 4 kids, not a hacker, honest journo, now lost his job, shame on the bosses at #NOTW." He added, in a sentiment not publicly expressed by the paper's staff but surely shared by many: "But at least Rebekah Brooks has still got her job, Jesus!!!!"
Rebekah Brooks "offered her resignation twice", but it was turned down both times, News of the World staff were reportedly told today.
Journalist Neal Mann, a prolific news tweeter under the @fieldproducer moniker, posts:
@fieldproducer Source tells me News Of The World journalists were told Rebecca Brooks offered her resignation twice and she was turned down both times
@fieldproducer I'm told all journalists at the News of the World cheered when a staff member said they would accept her resignation #NOTW
Nick Davies, the Guardian journalist who broke the phone hacking story, talks of how the scandal has escalated in this video.
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