Category Archives: National newspapers

Russia bans dozens of UK journalists, media figures and politicians

Posted on by

List of 54 Britons includes Guardian reporters and executives, a defence minister and the culture secretary

Russia has banned dozens of British journalists, media representatives and senior UK politicians from entering the country, including five Guardian journalists and executives, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

In a statement published on the foreign ministry’s website, Moscow said the sweeping action was a response to UK sanctions and the “spreading of false information about Russia”, as well as “London’s unrelenting military support for the Kyiv neo-Nazi regime”.

Continue reading...

Telegraph Media Group says it will soon reach 1m paying subscribers

Posted on by

Acquisition of Chelsea Magazine Company titles bumps up figures as newspaper group seeks new owner

The Telegraph’s parent company has insisted it will soon have a million paying subscribers – aided by the decision to buy Classic Boat magazine.

Telegraph Media Group is in the early stages of seeking a new owner after banks wrestled control of the newspaper from the Barclay family early this year.

Continue reading...

News UK hires lawyers to look at claims against former Sun columnist

Posted on by

Dan Wootton accused of offering Sun colleagues tens of thousands of pounds for sexual material

The Sun’s parent company has hired external lawyers to help investigate “very serious” allegations regarding Dan Wootton’s time at the tabloid, the Guardian has been told.

Wootton is facing allegations he used a pseudonym to secretly offer current and former Sun colleagues tens of thousands of pounds in return for sexual material

If you wish to contact the author of this article with further information, please email jim.waterson@theguardian.com or contact the Guardian securely.

Continue reading...

The Guardian bans all gambling advertising

Posted on by

Ban will apply worldwide to all of media group’s online and print outlets, including the Guardian, Observer, and Guardian Weekly

The Guardian has announced a global ban on gambling advertising, arguing it is unethical to take money from services that can lead to “addiction and financial ruin”.

Anna Bateson, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, said advertising – particularly online – could trap gamblers in an “addictive cycle” that caused financial distress, mental health issues and wider social problems.

Continue reading...

Why access to Tory party members is big incentive for owning Daily Telegraph

Posted on by

Newspaper retains considerable influence among those who will shape the direction of Conservatives

Whoever buys the Daily Telegraph is not just purchasing a historic and profitable newspaper – they are acquiring direct access to Tory party members who will control the future direction of the Conservatives.

Paul Goodman, the editor of ConservativeHome, said the newspaper retained “considerable” influence among the approximately 160,000 card-carrying members of the party’s rank and file who vote in leadership elections and MP selections.

Continue reading...

‘Former estate agents’: the strange life of the Barclay twins

Posted on by

Losing Telegraph newspapers will not turn remaining twin Frederick Barclay into a pauper, but it’s a bitter end to brothers’ empire-building

From humble beginnings growing up in a west London house so close to the railway line the window frames rattled when a train passed, the Barclay twins, Frederick and David, became an extraordinary, energetic and eccentric power couple.

They built an empire of glitzy hotels and made many millions in shipping and retail before plunging into the world of newspapers but – largely – eschewed the trappings of life in the London fast lane to live in strange isolation in a sprawling mansion on a small rocky island just off the French coast.

Continue reading...

Reporter blackmailed the Mirror as it tried to cover up phone hacking, court told

Posted on by

Investor Brian Basham alleges that Lee Harpin threatened to blow the whistle on voicemail interception

A leading Mirror journalist allegedly blackmailed the company as it attempted to cover up phone hacking, the high court was told on Tuesday.

Lee Harpin, who held a number of senior roles at the People and Sunday Mirror, was alleged to be a known phone hacker whose understanding of illegal behaviour at the newspaper group caused anxiety at board level.

Continue reading...

Prince Harry has no evidence he was hacked by the Mirror, court told

Posted on by

Mirror Group’s lawyers suggest newspaper’s stories about prince were instead leaked by royal press officers

Prince Harry has no evidence he was the victim of phone hacking by Mirror journalists, the high court has heard, with stories about his private life instead secretly leaked by royal press officers.

The Duke of Sussex alleges that dozens of news stories published in the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and People were obtained through phone hacking or other illegal behaviour. The articles – published between 1995 and 2011 – detail his relationship with his family, his relationship with ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, his military service and allegations of drug use.

Continue reading...

Mirror Group: phone-hacking trial initiated by Prince Harry and others continues – live

Posted on by

Piers Morgan accused of knowing about illegal phone hacking when he was editor of Daily Mirror on day one of trial

Lawyers are going through documents they say will give background on evidence the court is due to hear later. We’ll bring you details of that evidence as the court hears it.

Good morning, welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of phone hacking claims against Mirror Group Newspapers at the high court in London.

Continue reading...

Amid the Prince Harry circus lies a court battle with the highest stakes

Posted on by

The Daily Mail’s owner, the prince and Elton John could be on the road to one of the biggest media trials in British history

When the Duke of Sussex unexpectedly arrived at the high court on Monday morning he became the most senior royal to appear in a courtroom since Princess Anne admitted being in charge of an English bull terrier that was dangerously out of control in a public space.

Prince Harry was there to allege that Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Daily Mail, was similarly out of control.

Continue reading...

Tributes paid after death of former Guardian writer Henry McDonald

Posted on by

Longtime Ireland correspondent McDonald, 57, lauded after untimely death following treatment for cancer

Political leaders in Northern Ireland have led tributes to the writer and former Guardian and Observer correspondent Henry McDonald, who has died at the age of 57.

Family, friends and media colleagues expressed shock and sadness on Sunday after McDonald died at the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast, where he was being treated for cancer.

Continue reading...

Sussexes dismiss Sun apology for Clarkson column as ‘PR stunt’

Posted on by

Paper’s apology followed piece in which columnist said he ‘hated’ Meghan

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has said an apology by the Sun over a column in which Jeremy Clarkson said he “hated” Meghan is “nothing more than a PR stunt”.

The column has become the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s (Ipso) most complained about article, with more than 20,000 people contacting it over the piece, according to Ipso.

Continue reading...

The Sun apologises for Jeremy Clarkson’s column on Meghan

Posted on by

Paper says that ‘as a publisher, we realise that with free expression comes responsibility’

The Sun has apologised for Jeremy Clarkson’s column, in which he said he “hated” the Duchess of Sussex, but has not stated whether any action has been taken against him.

Last week’s column has become the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s most complained about article, with more than 17,500 people contacting it over the piece as of Tuesday morning.

Continue reading...

Jeremy Clarkson condemned over Meghan column in the Sun

Posted on by

Outcry after presenter writes he is ‘dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets’

A Jeremy Clarkson column in the Sun about the Duchess of Sussex has provoked outcry online, with social media users labelling it “vile”, “horrific” and “abusive”.

In an article for the paper published on Friday, Clarkson wrote that he loathed Meghan “on a cellular level”. He said he was “dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her”.

Continue reading...

Daily Mail seeks to delay court allegations of high-profile breaches of privacy

Posted on by

Lawyers for group including Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence and Elton John filed claims two months ago

The Daily Mail has sought to delay the publication of potentially damaging court allegations about its journalism made by Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence, Elton John and others.

Lawyers acting for the group of high-profile individuals claim they have “compelling and highly distressing evidence” they have been the “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” by Associated Newspapers over many years.

The hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside people’s cars and homes.

The commissioning of individuals to surreptitiously listen in to, and record, people’s live, private telephone calls while they were taking place.

The payment of police officials, with allegedly corrupt links to private investigators, for sensitive inside information.

The impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception.

The accessing of bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation.

Continue reading...

Phone hacking: Mirror Group to pay damages to ex-partner of Kerry Katona

Posted on by

David Cunningham wins apology and ‘substantial’ damages over articles published in 2005 and 2006

A former partner of Kerry Katona has won an apology for phone hacking and “substantial” damages from the publisher of the Mirror.

David Cunningham, an engineer, brought a claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which also publishes the People and the Sunday Mirror, over 36 articles published in 2005 and 2006 while he was in a relationship with the former Atomic Kitten singer.

Continue reading...

The Sun always backs the winner: can the Murdoch papers warm to Keir Starmer?

Posted on by

Former DPP Starmer tried to send head of News UK Rebekah Brooks to prison for phone hacking 10 years ago

Ten years ago Keir Starmer attempted to send Rebekah Brooks to prison for phone hacking.

Now Starmer could cause another headache for the boss of Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire. She has to work out how her Tory-backing newspapers – which include the Sun and the Times – handle the growing popularity of the man who is favourite to become the next prime minister.

Continue reading...

Rightwing papers backpedal after helping Liz Truss reach No 10

Posted on by

Outgoing PM won Tory leadership after weeks of supportive stories in the Daily Mail and other outlets

Liz Truss’s hopes of becoming prime minister looked thin in early July. The then-foreign secretary was running a distant third in the Conservative leadership election, with Rishi Sunak and a surging Penny Mordaunt on track to make the final ballot that would be sent to Tory party members.

Supporters of Boris Johnson were not happy. They believed this outcome would pave the way for the coronation of Sunak, the same man who had dethroned Johnson by resigning as chancellor. Interested parties included Paul Dacre, the former Daily Mail editor who had been promised a peerage by Johnson, which he is still hoping to secure.

Continue reading...

Guardian and Observer photographer Eamonn McCabe dies aged 74

Posted on by

Tributes paid to one of the most celebrated newspaper photographers and picture editors of his generation

Eamonn McCabe, one of the most celebrated and admired newspaper photographers and picture editors of his generation, has died aged 74.

McCabe was a multi-award-winning sports photographer at the Observer from 1976 and later became a trailblazing picture editor of the Guardian at a key moment in its history. His third act was as a portrait photographer, with 29 examples of his work in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Continue reading...

Foreign Office official raised ‘stark’ criticisms of Rwanda plan, court hears

Posted on by

Guardian, BBC and Times seek release of documents about policy of sending asylum seekers abroad

A Foreign Office official raised concerns about plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, citing state surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture and killings by the country’s government, the high court has heard.

The court has been asked to consider an application by the foreign secretary to keep parts of certain government documents secret for fear the contents could damage international relations and threaten national security.

Continue reading...