News of the World parent group hit with phone-tapping claims

Britain's Guardian newspaper has claimed the publisher of the News of the World, News Group Newspapers, paid out more than £1m (€1.2m) to settle cases that threatened to reveal evidence of the group's journalists' alleged involvement in telephone hacking.

MPs including former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell were among the targets of the alleged phone taps, The Guardian said.