LONDON: An attorney for the publisher of The Sun tabloid Thursday accused Prince Harry of engaging in “shocking” and “extraordinary” obfuscation by destroying evidence it was seeking in his lawsuit claiming that the newspaper violated his privacy by unlawfully snooping on him.
Attorney Anthony Hudson said at High Court that the Duke of Sussex had deliberately destroyed text messages with the ghostwriter who penned his bestselling memoir, “Spare.”
A lawyer for Harry said News Group Newspapers was engaging in a “classic fishing expedition” by seeking documents they should have sought much sooner for a trial scheduled in January.
“NGN’s tactical and sluggish approach to disclosure wholly undermines the deliberately sensational assertion that the claimant (Harry) has not properly carried out the disclosure exercise,” his attorney, David Sherborne, said in court papers. “This is untrue. In fact, the claimant has already made clear that he has conducted extensive searches, going above and beyond his obligations.”
Hudson said Harry had created an “obstacle course” to getting documents it was seeking from his former lawyer and staff when Harry was a working member of the royal family.
“If the claimant wanted his documents from his former solicitors’ or from the royal household ... he would have got them,” Hudson said.
The hearing is the latest in Harry’s battles against Britain’s biggest tabloids over alleged phone hacking and hiring private investigators to use unlawful measures to dig up dirt on him.
Harry is one of dozens of claimants, which had included actor Hugh Grant, alleging that between 1994 and 2016, News Group journalists violated their privacy through widespread unlawful activity that included intercepting voicemails, tapping phones, bugging cars and using deception to access confidential information.
The litigation grew out of a phone hacking scandal that erupted at NGN’s News of the World in 2011.
The judge in the case recently ruled that Harry couldn’t expand his lawsuit to add allegations that Rupert Murdoch, who was executive of the company that included NGN, was part of an effort to conceal and destroy evidence of unlawful activity.
NGN issued an unreserved apology in 2011 to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World, which closed its doors after the scandal. NGN said it has settled 1,300 claims for its newspapers, though The Sun has never accepted liability.
Lawyer for British tabloid accuses Prince Harry of destroying documents sought in litigation
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Lawyer for British tabloid accuses Prince Harry of destroying documents sought in litigation
- A lawyer for Harry said News Group Newspapers was engaging in a “classic fishing expedition”
- The hearing is the latest in Harry’s battles against Britain’s biggest tabloids
UK Reform leader Farage speech interrupted by banner mocking Putin views
- Farage is seeking election as a lawmaker, or member of parliament (MP), in Clacton-on-Sea, which is nine miles from Walton on the Naze
LONDON: A speech being delivered by Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party, was interrupted late Saturday when a banner of Russian President Vladimir Putin descended from the ceiling at an election rally.
Campaign group Led by Donkeys, which opposes Farage’s views, said it was responsible for the stunt at the Columbine Center, at Walton on the Naze in southeast England, and posted a video of the unveiling on X.
That showed the banner slowly unfurling behind a speaking Farage, revealing a smiling Putin giving a thumbs-up sign, along with the words “I (heart emoji) Putin.”
Led By Donkeys said on X: “Nigel Farage says Putin is the world leader he ‘admires the most’ and blames the West for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
That was a reference to comments Farage made earlier this month when he said the eastward expansion of the European Union and NATO had provoked Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The remarks, made in an interview with the BBC, drew strong criticism across the British political spectrum ahead of a July 4 national election in which Farage’s party is predicted to win millions of votes.
On seeing the banner, Farage said: “Who put that up there,” adding: “Someone at the Columbine Center needs to get the sack.”
The audience then started chanting: “Rip it down.”
Reuters has sought comment from Reform UK.
Farage is seeking election as a lawmaker, or member of parliament (MP), in Clacton-on-Sea, which is nine miles from Walton on the Naze.
On Friday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was hurt and angry that a supporter of Reform UK had been recorded making a racial slur about him, saying it was too important for him not to speak out.
Putin calls for resuming production of intermediate missiles after scrapping of treaty with US
- The US withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations
- The last remaining arms-control pact between the US and Russia is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for resuming production of intermediate-range missiles that were banned under a now-scrapped treaty with the United States.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, or INF, which banned ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (310-3,410 miles), was regarded as an arms control landmark when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988.
The US withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations.
“We need to start production of these strike systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where — if necessary to ensure our safety — to place them,” Putin said at a meeting of Russia’s national security council.
Putin said Russia hadn’t produced such missiles since the 2019 treaty scrapping, but that “today it is known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for exercises, to Denmark. Quite recently it was announced that they are in the Philippines.”
Since withdrawing from the treaty, the US Army has moved forward with developing a conventional, ground-launched, midrange missile capability called the Typhon that would have been banned under the INF. The Typhon fires two Navy missiles, the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and Standard Missile-6.
The US Army ran the system through tests during an exercise in the Philippines this spring.
The end of the INF was a milestone in the deterioration of relations between the US and Russia.
The last remaining arms-control pact between Washington and Moscow is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It’s set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on anchoring a successor deal has worried arms control advocates.
Putin’s statement comes amid rising tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and concern about possible nuclear attacks.
In June, Putin spoke to executives from international news organizations about Moscow’s use of nuclear weapons.
“We have a nuclear doctrine, look what it says,” he said. “If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible for us to use all means at our disposal. This should not be taken lightly, superficially.”
Russia says Ukraine shells Kursk region after deadly drone attack
- A video posted on Smirnov’s Telegram channel showed him at a destroyed house amid piles of rubble and building materials
KYIV: The governor of southern Russia’s Kursk region said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had shelled parts of the region throughout the day after an overnight drone attack on a village killed five people, including two children.
Governor Alexei Smirnov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the five fatalities occurred in a house in the village of Gorodishche, east of the regional center of Kursk. Two family members were being treated in hospital.
A video posted on Smirnov’s Telegram channel showed him at a destroyed house amid piles of rubble and building materials.
Smirnov said Ukrainian forces had shelled eight villages near the border intermittently throughout the day. Two residents from the village of Guyevo were reported to have been injured.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported shelling of the region.
North Korea blames South Korea, US and Japan ties as Asian version of NATO
- On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale joint military drills involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defenses against missiles, submarines and air attacks
SEOUL: North Korea criticized the trilateral “Freedom Edge” military exercise by South Korea, Japan and the United States held this month, state media said on Sunday, saying such drills show the relationship among three countries has developed into “the Asian version of NATO.”
On Thursday, the three countries began large-scale joint military drills involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defenses against missiles, submarines and air attacks.
The “Freedom Edge” exercise was devised at the three-way summit at Camp David last year to strengthen military cooperation amid tensions on the Korean peninsula stemming from North Korea’s weapons testing.
Pyongyang will not ignore the strengthening of a military bloc led by the US and its allies and will protect regional peace with an aggressive and overwhelming response, North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement, according to KCNA news agency.
The ministry also said Washington was continuing its effort to link up South Korea and Japan to NATO, adding South Korea’s attempts to supply weapons to Ukraine is one example of that effort.
South Korea said it would review the possibility of supplying arms directly to Ukraine, in protest against a recent mutual defense pact signed between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
South Korea and the United States have accused the North of supplying weapons to Russia that are being used in the Ukraine war. Both Russia and North Korea deny any such transactions.
North Korea has long condemned joint drills between the United States and South Korea as a rehearsal for invasion and proof of hostile policies by Washington and Seoul.
Last year, the three countries staged joint naval missile defense and anti-submarine exercises to improve responses to North Korean threats.
Afghan women’s rights an internal issue, Taliban government says before talks in Qatar
- The Taliban government imposed restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021, prompting the UN to call it ‘gender apartheid’
- The UN launched the talks in Qatar in May 2023 to increase international coordination on engagement with the Taliban authorities
KABUL: Taliban authorities said on Saturday that demands over women’s rights were “Afghanistan’s issues” to solve, ahead of United Nations-led engagement talks where the exclusion of Afghan women has sparked outcry.
The Taliban government, which has imposed restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021 that the UN has described as “gender apartheid,” will send its first delegation to the third round of talks starting in Qatar on Sunday.
Civil society representatives, including from women’s rights groups, will attend meetings with the international envoys and UN officials on Tuesday, after the official talks.
Rights groups have condemned the exclusion of Afghan women from the main meetings and the lack of human rights issues on the agenda.
The Taliban authorities “acknowledge the issues about women,” government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in Kabul on the eve of the latest talks.
“But these issues are Afghanistan’s issues,” said Mujahid, who will lead the delegation.
“We are working to find a logical path toward solutions inside Afghanistan so that, God forbid, our country doesn’t again fall into conflict and discord.”
He said the Taliban government would represent all of Afghanistan at the meetings and, given their authority, should be the only Afghans at the table.
“If Afghans participate through several channels, it means we are still scattered, our nation is still not unified,” he said.
The talks were launched by the UN in May 2023 and aim to increase international coordination on engagement with the Taliban authorities, who ousted a Western-backed government when they swept to power.
The Taliban government has not been officially recognized by any state and the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers, with women’s rights issues a sticking point for many countries.
Taliban authorities were not invited to the first talks in Doha last year and refused to attend the second conference, demanding that they be the sole Afghan representatives to the exclusion of invited civil society groups.
That condition has been met for the third round.
Mujahid reiterated that the Taliban government sought positive relations with all countries.
However, he added that “no major or key discussions” would take place in Doha and that the meeting was an opportunity to exchange views, particularly with Western countries.
The agenda will include combating narcotics and economic issues, key topics for authorities in the impoverished country.
“We have hurdles blocking economic development, which should be removed,” Mujahid said.
“If the economy were fine, then all other issues could be solved.”
