عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Prince Harry Drops Libel Case Against Daily Mail

(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
TT
TT

Prince Harry Drops Libel Case Against Daily Mail

(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
(FILES) Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 7, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Prince Harry dropped his libel lawsuit Friday against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid following a punishing ruling in which a judge suggested he might lose at trial.
Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex notified the High Court in London that he would not continue the suit against Associated Newspapers Ltd., one of several cases he had pending in his high-profile battle with the British press.
No reason was given, but it came the day he was due to hand over documents in the case and after a punishing ruling last month in which a judge ordered Harry to pay the publisher nearly 50,000 pounds (more than $60,000) in legal fees after he failed to achieve victory without going to trial.
The action will leave him on the hook to pay the publisher's legal fees, which the Daily Mail reported to be 250,000 pounds ($316,000). A spokesperson for the duke said it was premature to speculate about costs.
Harry, 39, the estranged younger son of King Charles III, has broken ranks with the royal family in his willingness to go to court and it has become the main forum in his efforts to hold the news media accountable for hounding him throughout his life.
Associated Newspapers is one of three tabloid publishers he has sued over claims they used unlawful means, such as deception, phone hacking or hiring private investigators, to try to dig up dirt on him. That case against Associated and another against the publisher of The Sun are headed for trial.
In the sole case that has gone to trial, Harry scored a big victory last month against the publishers of the Daily Mirror when a judge ruled that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers, and executives at the papers covered it up. He was awarded 140,000 pounds ($177,000).
The libel case involved a Mail on Sunday article that said Harry tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the United Kingdom after walking away from his role as a working member of the royal family.
Harry's lawyers claimed the article attacked his honesty and integrity by purporting to reveal that court documents “contradicted public statements he had previously made about his willingness to pay for police protection for himself and his family" while in the UK. He said the article would undermine his charity work.
The publisher argued the article expressed an honest opinion and caused no serious harm to his reputation.
In March, Harry sought summary judgment — to win the case without going to trial — and tried to knock out the Mail's defense but a judge didn't buy it.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Powerful Winter Storm That Dumped Snow in US South Maintains Its Icy Grip

Atlanta Resident Harry Crowell throws a snowball as Atlanta residents receive a snowstorm on January 10, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images/AFP)
Atlanta Resident Harry Crowell throws a snowball as Atlanta residents receive a snowstorm on January 10, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Powerful Winter Storm That Dumped Snow in US South Maintains Its Icy Grip

Atlanta Resident Harry Crowell throws a snowball as Atlanta residents receive a snowstorm on January 10, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images/AFP)
Atlanta Resident Harry Crowell throws a snowball as Atlanta residents receive a snowstorm on January 10, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images/AFP)

A winter storm that dropped heavy snow and glazed roads throughout the US South was maintaining its icy grip on much of the region into the weekend.

Power outage numbers around Atlanta crept up Friday night as meteorologists warned of accumulating freezing rain. More than 110,000 customers were without electricity, mostly in the Atlanta area.

“As our crews anticipated based on the forecast, additional freezing rain and falling trees have caused power outages as the sun has gone down,” Georgia Power said via social media.

“Conditions overnight remain challenging with icy roads and winds, but as long as it is safe — we will be working,” the utility said.

Georgia transportation officials urged people to stay off the roads until midday Saturday, and snow and ice was also forecast to continue in the Carolinas, Virginia and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.

Earlier this week the storm brought heavy snow and slicked roads across much of Texas and Oklahoma before moving east. Arkansas and North Carolina mobilized National Guard troops for tasks such as helping stranded motorists, and governors in multiple states declared states of emergency.

School was canceled for millions of children from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina, giving them a rare snow day.

The storm piled up more than a year’s worth of snowfall on some cities.

As much as a foot (about 31 centimeters) fell in parts of Arkansas, and there were reports of nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) in Little Rock, which averages 3.8 inches (9.7 centimeters) a year.

More than 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) fell at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee since late Thursday. The city usually sees 2.7 inches (6.9 centimeters) a year. City officials in Memphis were also concerned that wet roads would freeze overnight.

The wintry mix of sleet, snow and ice has made travel treacherous in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Sleet and snow that fell in South Carolina and North Carolina was changing to freezing rain.

For kids home from school Friday, the wet snow also packed into a pretty good snowball.

In Atlanta, Mikayla Johnson, 12, was making snow angels and snow figures.

“My first thought was, ‘Wow!’” said Mikayla, who was outdoors with her father, Nate. “We haven’t had snow since I was, like, 4 — good snow, at least. So I was really happy.”

The storm dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas.

Snow began falling in metro Atlanta before dawn Friday, leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled and hundreds more delayed at the world's busiest airport, according to flight tracking software FlightAware.

Four passengers were injured after a Delta plane bound for Minneapolis aborted takeoff that morning, according to the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. One passenger was hospitalized, while three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The incident contributed to further delays, although Delta said it was unclear whether the weather had anything to do with the flight aborting its takeoff. The airline said there was an indication of an engine issue.

Other airports with significant delays and cancellations included those in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville, Tennessee.

The storm could continue to affect air traffic, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday night.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving if possible.

The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the US, Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.

The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.

As much as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow was forecast in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

Officials urged drivers to give plows space after a semitrailer hit a Tennessee Department of Transportation truck in Smith County.

Parts of South Carolina were seeing their first wintry weather in three years. The state Department of Transportation treated interstates and other major highways from Columbia northward, but vehicles were slipping off icy Interstate 95 south of the city.

A public outdoor inauguration ceremony Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina, for Gov. Josh Stein and other elected officials was canceled. The storm’s trajectory overlapped with much of the western North Carolina area impacted by Hurricane Helene last year.

In Richmond, Virginia. Mayor Danny Avula said officials brought in extra resources to monitor the city’s water treatment facility, which suffered a multiday outage following a snowstorm earlier in the week, including a new backup battery and additional water filters.