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Judge Rules against Prince Harry in Early Stage of Libel Case against Daily Mail Publisher

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the sitting volleyball finals at the 2023 Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for injured soldiers, in Duesseldorf, Germany September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the sitting volleyball finals at the 2023 Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for injured soldiers, in Duesseldorf, Germany September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo/File Photo
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Judge Rules against Prince Harry in Early Stage of Libel Case against Daily Mail Publisher

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the sitting volleyball finals at the 2023 Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for injured soldiers, in Duesseldorf, Germany September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the sitting volleyball finals at the 2023 Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for injured soldiers, in Duesseldorf, Germany September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo/File Photo

Prince Harry lost a preliminary round Friday in his libel case against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid over an article that said he tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the UK after giving up his status as a working member of the royal family.
A London judge said the Duke of Sussex failed to knock out Associated Newspaper Ltd.’s defense that its article reflected an honest opinion. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday to discuss the consequences of the ruling.
Justice Matthew Nicklin said in that ruling that “it is not fanciful that the Defendant will be successful, at trial.” He scheduled a hearing Tuesday in the High Court to discuss the consequences of the ruling.
The ruling comes just a day after another judge concluded three days of arguments — mostly behind closed doors — over whether the government unfairly stripped Harry of his security detail after he and his family moved to the US in 2020.
Harry, 39, the younger son of King Charles III, is challenging the government's decision to provide security to him on a case-by-case basis when he visits Britain. Harry has said hostility toward him and his wife on social media and relentless news media hounding threatens their safety.
The Mail on Sunday and Mail Online published an article in February 2022 about the issue headlined: “How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret ... then — just minutes after the story broke — his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute.”
Harry claims the article was “fundamentally inaccurate” and the newspaper libeled him when it suggested he lied in his initial public statements about his case challenging the government.
Associated Newspapers argued the article expressed an “honest opinion" and did not seriously harm Harry's reputation.
Nicklin previously ruled the article was defamatory but had not considered whether the story was accurate or in the public interest.
The government, meanwhile, has defended its decision to withdraw full protection for Harry because he stepped down from his role as a senior working member of the family. It said he was treated fairly and provided with security occasionally when he visits.
Another judge earlier this year shot down Harry's request to privately reimburse London’s police force to guard him when he comes to town. A government lawyer had argued officers shouldn’t be used as “private bodyguards for the wealthy.”
The dispute with the Mail is one of four lawsuits Harry has pending against publishers of British tabloids in his ongoing battle with the press.
His three other cases allege that journalists at the Mail, the Daily Mirror and the Sun used unlawful means, such as deception, phone hacking or hiring private investigators, to try to dig up dirt about him.

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Rain, Snow Offer Hope in Japan’s Worst Wildfire in 50 Years 

Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Rain, Snow Offer Hope in Japan’s Worst Wildfire in 50 Years 

Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato on March 5, 2025. (AFP)

Japan battled its worst wildfire in half a century on Wednesday in a region hit by record-low rainfall, as wet weather gave hope for some relief.

The blaze around the northern city of Ofunato in the Iwate region has raged for more than a week, killing one person and forcing nearly 4,000 residents to evacuate their homes.

It has engulfed about 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres) -- around half the size of Manhattan -- making it the largest wildfire since at least 1975, when 2,700 hectares burnt in Hokkaido.

"The fire was like nothing I've seen before. It was towering and spreading fast," said Mitsuo Otsubo, 85, who fled his home to stay with a relative.

"It didn't rain or snow at all this year... Thank goodness it rained today though. I can only hope it will help contain the situation," the seaweed and scallop farmer told AFP.

An 86-year-old woman, who declined to be identified, said she had seen "a huge amount of smoke rising up and then the fire".

"The wind was really strong and I was so stunned that my pulse became erratic," she said.

Columns of white smoke billowed from a mountain through the rain and snow on Wednesday, AFP reporters saw. More wet weather was forecast through Thursday.

"Firefighters have been working on the ground through the night," a city official told AFP on Wednesday.

"We are hoping that snow, which started to fall this morning, will help," he said.

- Hot soak -

At least 84 buildings are believed to have been damaged, although details are still being assessed, according to the fire agency.

Almost 4,000 people had complied with orders to evacuate by late Tuesday.

The owner of an "onsen" hot spring inn voluntarily opened his facility for free to evacuees.

"Not being able to bathe yourself on top of dealing with the chaos of life in a shelter definitely wears you down," 60-year-old Toyoshige Shida, of Ofunato Onsen, told AFP.

He said he built the inn after seeing how people suffered in the wake of a huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that killed at least 340 people in Ofunato alone.

- Dry weather -

Japan endured its hottest summer on record last year as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.

The number of wildfires in the country has declined since its 1970s peak.

However, there were about 1,300 in 2023, concentrated in the period from February to April when the air dries out and winds pick up.

Ofunato received just 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inches) of rainfall in February -- breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4 millimeters in 1967 and well below the average of 41 millimeters.

Greg Mullins, formerly fire and rescue commissioner for the Australian state of New South Wales, told AFP that the Japan fire and the recent Los Angeles wildfires were "highly unusual" because they were in winter.

"In both cases the fires were preceded by hot summers, which increased evaporation and drying of vegetation, followed by large rainfall deficits that parched the landscape," he said.

"This is a common by-product of climate change that is being seen worldwide," said Mullins, a founder of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group.

"As the planet warms further, we can expect to see fires in places where they have never before been a problem."

- 'High hopes' -

Around 2,000 firefighters, most deployed from other parts of Japan, including Tokyo, have been working from the air and on the ground.

"The fact that teams of firefighters are being reinforced every day, and that the fire has been going on for a week, shows the extent of the dry weather and the difficulties we are facing," Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami told reporters.

The topography of the mountainous coastal area, with steep slopes and narrow and winding roads, was hampering the fire-fighting operation.

Japanese baseball prodigy Roki Sasaki, who recently joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, has offered a 10-million-yen ($67,000) donation and 500 sets of bedding.

Sasaki attended high school in Ofunato after losing his father and grandparents in the 2011 tsunami.