Virginia Giuffre seeks testimony from Prince Andrew’s former assistant

Attorneys say they have ‘reason to believe’ that Robert Olney has ‘relevant information’ about duke’s relationship with Epstein

Prince Andrew’s longtime accuser Virginia Giuffre is seeking testimony from his former equerry, according to court papers in her sexual abuse lawsuit against the royal.

Giuffre’s attorneys said on Friday that they had “reason to believe” that Robert Olney, the Duke of York’s past assistant, has “relevant information about Prince Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein”.

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Woman jailed for death threats to Bradford MP Naz Shah

Sundas Alam’s threats led to Shah's children fleeing home and innocent family being arrested at gunpoint

A woman whose death threats led to an MP’s children fleeing their home in the middle of the night, and an innocent family being arrested at gunpoint, has been jailed for three and a half years.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah has described how she rang 999 about “an immediate firearms threat” in a disguised email sent by Sundas Alam in April last year that threatened her with a “bullet in her head”.

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Prince Andrew faces calls to pay for his own security

Growing clamour for royal to lose dukedom and taxpayer-funded Scotland Yard security detail

The Duke of York faces calls to pay for his own security and relinquish his dukedom after being stripped of his military affiliations and royal patronages in the fallout over the civil sexual assault case against him.

The calls come as his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, welcomed the New York court ruling that paved the way for her lawsuit against Prince Andrew to proceed to trial, as she pledged to “continue to expose the truth”.

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More UK infants in hospital amid Omicron wave but experts urge calm

Proportion of hospitalised children aged under one rises, though medics say most cases are very mild

The proportion of infants in hospital with Covid-19 in the UK has risen with the spread of Omicron, figures suggest, although researchers have urged calm, noting most cases are very mild.

The number of Covid-positive admissions, whatever the cause, is expected to rise when there is more infection around, but the latest figures suggest there has been a shift in the proportion of children in hospital with coronavirus who are infants.

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No 10 apologises to Queen over parties on eve of Prince Philip funeral

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson says ‘it’s deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning’

Downing Street was forced to issue an unprecedented public apology to the Queen on Friday over parties held in No 10 on the eve of her husband’s funeral, amid mounting fury from grassroots Tories.

Conservative MPs will hold crisis talks over the weekend about how to respond to allegations of a party culture in Westminster while the rest of the country was in lockdown.

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‘It’s shortsighted’: farmers lament veto of Jeremy Clarkson restaurant

Cotswolds food producers argue case illustrates disconnect between planners and farmers’ need to make living

He left the meeting in a right old huff, chuntering that it was a bad day for farming and dismissing one of the planning officials as a comedian, after his scheme to build a hilltop restaurant on his Oxfordshire farm was flatly turned down.

But Jeremy Clarkson, petrolhead turned farming reality TV show star, may be heartened by the concern and interest in his case that rippled through the Cotswolds this week.

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Harry Dunn hearing ‘vacated’ to enable ongoing discussions with Sacoolas

Crown Prosecution Service issues statement saying talks with alleged killer’s legal team to continue

Harry Dunn’s alleged killer, Anne Sacoolas, will no longer face a court hearing, to enable “ongoing discussions” with the Crown Prosecution Service to continue.

The CPS previously said in a statement that the 44-year-old’s case would be heard at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, but the hearing has now been vacated.

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Renewed calls for PM to resign over parties on eve of Philip funeral

Queen followed Covid rules at husband’s funeral, sitting alone in face mask away from rest of family

Further allegations of Downing Street parties taking place on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s socially distanced funeral have been met with widespread anger across the political spectrum, bookending a turbulent week for Boris Johnson, who is facing renewed calls to resign.

Prince Philip’s funeral took place in the private chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday 17 April, the day after two leaving dos were reportedly held at No 10 at a time when such mixing was banned. The Queen, in mourning black, wearing a face mask and sitting alone to maintain social distancing, became one of the defining images of the national lockdown.

Covid restrictions had a substantial impact on the proceedings, with the guest list trimmed from 800 to 30.

The Queen attended the funeral wearing a face mask and socially distanced from the rest of her family, who were seated in their respective household bubbles, at the service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Those in the funeral procession were required to put on face masks before entering the chapel.

Bottles of hand sanitiser featured alongside the traditional dressing of floral arrangements and family wreaths.

Original plans for military processions through London or Windsor were scrapped, with the royal family asking the public not to gather at the castle or other royal residences.

The choir was also limited to four singers, while the few guests were banned from singing in line with Covid regulations.

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Virginia Giuffre praises ruling to allow Prince Andrew lawsuit to go to trial

Giuffre says she will ‘continue to expose truth’ and ‘seek justice from those who hurt me and others’

Virginia Giuffre has praised a court ruling enabling her sexual assault civil lawsuit against the Duke of York to proceed to trial and said she will “continue to expose the truth”.

Giuffre wrote on Twitter she was “pleased” with the ruling, adding: “I’m glad I will have the chance to continue to expose the truth & I am deeply grateful to my extraordinary legal team.

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UK economy back to pre-pandemic levels in November

GDP expanded by 0.9% before impact of Omicron as Christmas shopping began early

The UK economy surpassed its pre-pandemic level for the first time in November after growing by 0.9% over the month, partly driven by an unexpected surge in early Christmas shopping.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said a jump in restaurant bookings and a rapid turnaround in construction output were also behind the growth that took the size of the economy 0.7% above its level before March 2020.

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Behind the scenes of Munich: The Edge of War – in pictures

Guardian photographer Sarah Lee describes her experience as a stills photographer on the set of the joint British-German Netflix production starring Jeremy Irons

Munich, based on the Robert Harris novel, is a German-British TV production that was filmed in Germany and subsequently in England in late 2020. I was invited to join the crew as an on-set stills photographer for the UK leg of shooting.

We started in Liverpool, which was doubling for 1930s London. The historic Liver Building, which stood in for Gotham city in the forthcoming Batman movie, made a very convincing Whitehall. The production later moved south to Amersham in Buckinghamshire where we shot in historic houses used as sets for Chequers and Downing Street.

Liverpool doubled for 1930s London – with the historic Liver Building making an impressive substitute for Whitehall

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Covid live: Germany recommends boosters for 12-17-year-olds; Hungary offers fourth jab and cuts quarantine

Germany one of first countries in the world to recommend boosters for teenagers; Hungary to make fourth Covid jab available to people who ask for it

Daily coronavirus cases in Japan have exceeded 13,000 for the first time in more than four months, as the country confronts a sixth wave of infections driven by the Omicron variant.

It reported 13,244 new cases on Wednesday, including 2,198 in Tokyo and 1,711 in Osaka. The number of new infections in the Japanese capital was more than double that recorded the previous day and a fivefold increase from the same day the previous week.

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Remote Scottish island of Canna seeks ‘right fit’ to take over guesthouse

Those shortlisted for job managing Tighard guesthouse warned that living on Canna can be testing

It is one of the most inaccessible guesthouses in Britain, on a tiny Hebridean island that is home to 15 people and a two-hour sail from the mainland. Undaunted, more than 100 people have inquired about running the place.

Interest about taking over Tighard guesthouse on Canna, an island south-west of Skye just 4.5 miles long and one mile wide, came from across the world. The island’s owners, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), are now whittling those down to a shortlist of 10 applicants.

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Chinese national trying to improperly influence politicians, says MI5

Warning circulated to MPs and peers about woman targeting parliamentarians

A security warning from MI5 has been circulated to MPs and peers claiming that a female Chinese national has been seeking to improperly influence parliamentarians.

The “interference alert” names an individual “knowingly engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist party” with MI5’s logo at the top.

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Boris Johnson unlikely to be seen in public for a week, says Downing St

Period stuck inside No 10 comes at arguably fortuitous time for PM facing intense scrutiny over ‘partygate’

Boris Johnson is unlikely to be seen in public for the next week after a member of his immediate family tested positive for Covid, Downing Street has said.

While self-isolation for contacts of coronavirus cases is no longer mandatory, Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister would heed guidance to limit outside contacts as much as possible for seven days after the test.

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Covid isolation to be cut to five full days in England, says Sajid Javid

Health secretary confirms reduction in self-isolation period, in decision that could help address staff shortages

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, has confirmed that the minimum time people with Covid in England have to spend in self-isolation is to be cut to five full days.

From Monday, people would be able to leave isolation on day six if they tested negative on days five and six, Javid told the Commons.

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Boris Johnson does not believe he broke Covid rules at party, says minister

Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis defends PM as he pulls out of public engagement in Lancashire

The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, has insisted the prime minister was “very, very sincere” when he apologised for attending an alcohol-fuelled gathering in the Downing Street garden, but did not believe he had broken the rules.

Boris Johnson told MPs on Wednesday he thought he was at a “work event” when he dropped into what his own principal private secretary had called “socially distanced drinks”.

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Virginia Giuffre ‘unlikely to accept purely financial settlement’ with Prince Andrew

Giuffre wants vindication of herself and her claims, says her lawyer David Boies

The Duke of York’s accuser Virginia Giuffre would be unlikely to accept a “purely financial settlement” to end her sexual assault civil lawsuit against the royal, her lawyer has said.

David Boies was speaking after a US judge rejected Prince Andrew’s motion to have the civil case against him dismissed, paving the way for a possible civil trial in the autumn.

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Senior backbench MP joins Scottish Tory leader in calling for Johnson to resign over No 10 lockdown party – live

William Wragg says Boris Johnson is damaging reputation of party as Douglas Ross calls for him to stand down after prime minister admits attending party

Another journalist who is very well plugged in to the thinking of Tory MPs is the Conservative Home editor Paul Goodman, a former MP himself. In what might be a rather ominous development for Johnson, Goodman devotes his main ConHome article this morning to discussing the process by which the Conservative party might go about replacing him (although he does not describe Johnson’s resignation as inevitable).

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said Boris Johnson should resign. He told BBC Breakfast:

Boris Johnson is now incapable of leading our country through this public health crisis - I actually think he is a threat to the health of the nation, because no-one will do anything he says because he has now shown to have been deceitful, so Boris Johnson must now resign ...

He said to parliament and to the country before Christmas when he was apologising that he didn’t know about the parties, and now we know he was at at least one of those parties.

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