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Phone hacking: News International chief Brooks quits Phone hacking: News International chief Brooks quits
(40 minutes later)
 
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, has resigned, the company has confirmed.Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, has resigned, the company has confirmed.
Her departure follows days of growing pressure for her to step down as the phone hacking crisis grew. Her departure follows days of growing pressure to step down as the phone hacking crisis grew.
In a statement, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".In a statement, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".
She was editor of the News of the World when murder victim Milly Dowler's phone was hacked. News Corporation is to take out national press adverts this weekend to apologise for what it described as "the wrongdoings at the News of the World".
Ms Brooks said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place". Rebekah Brooks was the paper's editor between 2000 and 2003, during which time murder victim Milly Dowler's phone was hacked.
Her statement went on: "I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate. She said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place".
Her statement went on: "I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.
"This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past.""This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past."
Ms Brooks, who had been with News International for 22 years, bowed to the international pressure piling up on the company. Ms Brooks, 43, href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13117456" title="Profile of Rebekah Brooks" >who had been with News International for 22 years, bowed to the international pressure piling up on the company.
In the US, the FBI is investigating reports that News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. She has been replaced by Tom Mockridge, who was in charge of News Corporation's Italian broadcasting arm.
The criminal probe follows calls from a growing number of senators and a senior Republican for an investigation. In other developments:
Meanwhile, News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James have agreed to answer UK MPs' questions on the hacking scandal next week.
  • The FBI is investigating reports that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks
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  • In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr Murdoch defended the company's handling of the crisis
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  • Mr Murdoch and his son James have agreed to stand in front of the Commons media select committee next Tuesday to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal
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  • Former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis, who went on to work for the police, was arrested on Thursday
    •
In a message to News International staff, News Corporation's chief executive in Europe, James Murdoch, hailed Ms Brooks as "one of the outstanding editors of her generation" who "can be proud of many accomplishments as an executive".
"We support her as she takes this step to clear her name," he said.
National apology
Mr Murdoch revealed that News Corporation was planning to use national press adverts this weekend to apologise to the nation for wrongdoing at the News of the World.
"We are also sending letters to our commercial partners with an update on the actions we are taking.
"The company has made mistakes. It is not only receiving appropriate scrutiny, but is also responding to unfair attacks by setting the record straight."
Mr Murdoch praised new chief executive Tom Mockridge as "a highly respected and accomplished media executive", who had shown "leadership and integrity" in creating the Sky Italia 24-hour TV news channel in Italy.
The leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said: "It is right that Rebekah Brooks has resigned. No-one should exercise power without responsibility."The leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said: "It is right that Rebekah Brooks has resigned. No-one should exercise power without responsibility."
John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said he believed her resignation had been "inevitable".
"I think many people expected it to come rather sooner, but I think her position was extremely difficult," he said.
"I think the most shocking revelation of all, perhaps, was the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone, which took place when she was the editor of the paper and there has obviously been a stream of revelations since then."