Guardian to ban advertising from fossil fuel firms

Move follows efforts to reduce carbon footprint and increase reporting on climate crisis

The Guardian will no longer accept advertising from oil and gas companies, becoming the first major global news organisation to institute an outright ban on taking money from companies that extract fossil fuels.

The move, which follows efforts to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and increase reporting on the climate emergency, was announced on Wednesday and will be implemented with immediate effect. The ban will apply to any business primarily involved in extracting fossil fuels, including many of the world’s largest polluters.

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Sunday People ‘hired detectives to target Milly Dowler family’

Papers lodged in high court civil case say family was put under unlawful surveillance

Private detectives were hired by the Sunday People newspaper to target the family of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002, it has been alleged.

The claims are made in legal papers lodged as part of a civil action being taken by a range of claimants, including Prince Harry.

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Meghan gets twice as many negative headlines as positive, analysis finds

Guardian analysis appears to support claim Duchess of Sussex receives more critical treatment than Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Sussex gets more than twice as many negative headlines as positive ones, according to Guardian analysis of articles published between May 2018 and mid January 2019.

The analysis – which appears to support Meghan’s argument that she has faced highly critical treatment in the British press – found that of the 843 articles in 14 print newspapers since mid-May 2018, 43% were negative. Just 20% of the articles were positive, with the remaining 36% remaining neutral.

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Meghan faces release of more texts in case against Mail on Sunday

Newspaper defence says it could release further messages between duchess and friend

The potential perils for Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in her high stakes legal battle against the Mail on Sunday have become clear after the newspaper filed a detailed legal defence hinting at the future release of royal text messages.

The case revolves around allegations of breach of copyright, invasion of privacy and misuse of personal data after the newspaper published excerpts from a letter she sent to her father complaining about how he was treating her.

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Mail on Sunday could call Thomas Markle in high court defence

Newspaper faces legal action from Duchess of Sussex for publishing excerpts from a letter to her father

Thomas Markle could be called to give evidence at the high court against his estranged daughter Meghan, as part of her ongoing legal action against the Mail on Sunday, after it emerged that the paper’s defence appears to rely on his account.

The Duchess of Sussex is suing the newspaper for breach of copyright, invasion of privacy, and misuse of personal data after it published excerpts from a letter she sent her father complaining about how he was treating her.

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Paul Burrell and James Hewitt among latest phone-hacking cases

Dozens of celebrities join Prince Harry in new cases against Sun and Mirror publishers

Princess Diana’s former lover James Hewitt and her butler Paul Burrell are among dozens of individuals who have joined Prince Harry in the latest round of phone-hacking claims against tabloid newspaper publishers.

Hewitt and Burrell recently filed their cases against the publisher of the Daily Mirror at the high court, according to court filings seen by the Guardian, joining the Duke of Sussex in alleging the publisher intercepted their voicemails. Their claims will focus attention on the extent to which British newspapers targeted the royal family and those around them in the hunt for stories during the 2000s.

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Rebekah Vardy ‘hires IT experts’ over Coleen Rooney leak claims

Vardy suggests someone else with access to her Instagram account could have leaked stories to the Sun

Rebekah Vardy has said she is calling in forensic computer experts to examine who had access to her Instagram account following an extraordinary dispute with fellow footballer’s wife Coleen Rooney over the leaking of private information to the Sun.

Vardy, who was on holiday in Dubai with her footballer husband, Jamie, when the story broke, has denied claims that she provided the stories to the newspaper – despite apparently being caught in an elaborate sting operation that involved Rooney posting fake updates to see which appeared in the media.

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‘Toxic’ Telegraph made me feel ‘nauseous’, says Graham Norton

BBC chat show presenter explains why he stopped writing advice column

Graham Norton has said he stopped writing for the Daily Telegraph because the newspaper’s recent “toxic” political stances increasingly made him feel “nauseous”.

The BBC One chat show presenter wrote the newspaper’s advice column for 12 years before stepping down without explanation at the end of 2018. Norton has now said he decided to leave the outlet after it defended the likes of US supreme court then-nominee Brett Kavanaugh and published articles by future prime minister Boris Johnson containing falsehoods.

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Prince Harry’s lawsuit against tabloids could backfire, commentators claim

Duke of Sussex’s legal action against Sun and Daily Mirror over alleged phone hacking takes attack on press up a level

Prince Harry’s move to take legal action against tabloids for alleged phone hacking is part of the royal’s ramped-up aggressive PR approach designed to send a message to the media, according to commentators.

It emerged on Friday night that the Duke of Sussex – who released a strongly worded attack on the British media for their treatment of his wife, Meghan, earlier this week – has issued legal proceedings against the owners of the Sun and the Daily Mirror.

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Prince Harry launches phone-hacking case against Sun and Mirror owners

Royal continues fight with UK newspapers after attacking treatment of his wife, Meghan

Prince Harry has issued legal proceedings against the owners of the Sun and the Daily Mirror over alleged phone hacking, in an escalation of his all-out war with the British newspaper industry.

The decision follows Harry’s strongly worded attack on the British media’s treatment of his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

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Why is Meghan suing the Mail on Sunday?

Action comes after newspaper has published numerous embarrassing stories about her

The Mail on Sunday (MoS) published numerous embarrassing stories about Meghan in the run-up to her wedding to Prince Harry. Many of them required the cooperation of Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, who helped the newspaper produce numerous articles including staged paparazzi photos.

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Premier League appoints Guardian’s David Pemsel as chief executive

Clubs say Pemsel hired because of his ‘straightforward style and personal integrity’

The Premier League has appointed the Guardian’s David Pemsel as its new chief executive.

Confirmation of the appointment came at a Premier League meeting on Wednesday morning.

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Meghan sues Mail on Sunday as Harry launches attack on tabloid press

Prince compares wife’s treatment to Diana’s as proceedings over private letter are announced

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has taken the unusual decision to sue the publisher of the Mail on Sunday after the newspaper published a handwritten letter she had sent to her estranged father.

The decision came as Prince Harry launched an extraordinary and highly personal attack on the British tabloid press and its treatment of his wife, saying he could no longer be a “silent witness to her private suffering”.

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The Sun breached guidelines with Harry and Meghan story

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have received an apology from the paper after press regulator ruling

The Sun newspaper has apologised to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after the press regulator ruled it had breached accuracy guidelines in an article about an alleged staff parking ban at their home.

In a front page story headlined “NOT IN MEG BACK YARD” published in April, the newspaper claimed Prince Harry and Meghan had upset staff by imposing a ban on “low-paid staff” using a car park near Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

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Lebedev dinner with Mohammed bin Salman raises questions over Saudi links

Independent owner hosted Saudi leader in London last year

Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of the Independent and the Evening Standard, hosted a private dinner for the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, raising further questions about the media mogul’s links to the de facto ruler of the Middle Eastern kingdom.

Lebedev’s news outlets are being investigated due to public interest concerns over a mysterious Saudi investment made through a web of offshore bank accounts, with the UK government suggesting that the Independent and Evening Standard are now part-owned by the Saudi state. The culture secretary, Nicky Morgan, has until Friday to decide whether or not to appeal against a court ruling that the UK government missed a deadline to intervene in the deal.

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The murky life and death of Robert Maxwell – and how it shaped his daughter Ghislaine

Was it murder? Suicide? Or just an accident? Almost 30 years before Jeffrey Epstein’s demise, Ghislaine Maxwell was caught up in another shocking and scandal-ridden mystery

At one time, everyone knew where to find Ghislaine Maxwell. The former aide-de-camp of the disgraced, now deceased, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was a fixture in Manhattan’s most fashionable salons. With an impressive list of contacts, including Prince Andrew and Chelsea Clinton, she was a regular at fundraisers, book launches and society weddings.

The last place anyone would have expected to see her was a Los Angeles shopping mall, where the 57-year-old was photographed in a burger joint last week, just days after Epstein’s suicide in a New York jail, where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking underage girls.

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Owen Jones attacked outside London pub

Guardian columnist claims attack was ‘premeditated assault’

The Guardian columnist and activist Owen Jones has been physically assaulted in London while celebrating his 35th birthday with friends.

In an attack he called “a blatant premeditated assault”, Jones said he was kicked, punched and thrown to the ground by a group of men in the early hours of Saturday morning.

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Evening Standard and Independent unable to rebut concerns over Saudi ownership

News outlets unsure who employs Saudi investor after fears of state interference

The Evening Standard and the Independent say they are unsure who employs the Saudi Arabian businessman who bought a substantial stake in both news outlets, amid concerns that the Saudi government could exert editorial influence over them.

The Russian oligarch’s son Evgeny Lebedev, who controls both publications, sold 30% stakes in them to offshore companies fronted by a Saudi businessman, Sultan Mohamed Abuljadayel.

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Reporter who Boris Johnson conspired to have beaten up demands apology

Stuart Collier tells the Guardian the Tory frontrunner is not fit to be prime minister

A journalist who Boris Johnson secretly discussed helping a friend to have beaten up has demanded an apology from the Conservative leadership candidate as he stands on the brink of Downing Street.

Stuart Collier, the journalist who was at the centre of the incident nearly 30 years ago, said Johnson was not fit to be prime minister.

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Chinese government blocks Guardian website

Censorship comes after bans on Washington Post, NBC, HuffPost and Wikipedia

The Guardian’s website has been blocked in China, amid a crackdown by the country’s authorities on international news websites to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The Chinese government has regularly restricted coverage of the incident, where the military turned on protesters in Beijing who were taking part in nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations.

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