Foreign

King Charles ‘sad, bewildered, frustrated’ by Prince Harry’s legal actions against UK institutions– Palace insider

Published

4 months ago

June 12, 2023

King Charles III is reportedly “sad and bewildered” by the legal crusade his son Prince Harry has launched against a British newspaper group and his continued attacks on the UK’s institutions.

The estranged Duke of Sussex is embroiled in a lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, accusing the media powerhouse of using illegal phone hacking techniques to publish dozens of stories about him between 1996 and 2011 that caused him “distress.”

His 55-page witness statement released in court last week included his opinion that the state of the press and government in England was “at rock bottom,” which violates the constitutional requirement for the royal family to be “above politics,” according to The Sunday Times.

Harry, 38, quit his royal duties three years ago and moved his family to California, citing the pressure of their public roles and alleged biases against his biracial divorcée American wife Meghan Markle.

He outlined his grievances in a memoir entitled “Spare” earlier this year, in which he wrote that he had begged his father not to marry Queen Consort Camilla, who he believed would be a “wicked stepmother.”

The prince — who is fifth in line to the throne — did not meet with Charles or his brother Prince William during his recent brief trip to the UK to testify in the case and had reportedly not been invited to his father’s 75th birthday parade later this week.

Now a source close to the palace told the Sunday Times that Harry’s rhetoric and behavior has rattled his father.

“The King brings Harry up every time I see him. I don’t think we’ve moved past sad and bewildered, but there’s a bit more frustration at his behavior because it just keeps going,” the source reportedly said.

According to the report, Harry did not consider suing the newspaper group until he ran into lawyer David Sherborne in 2018, who convinced him he had a case.

The palace insider reportedly said Harry had never broached concerns about phone hacking with courtiers when the articles in question were published and has not provided definitive evidence that journalists used the practice.

“I think he’s been sitting in the Californian sunshine for a long time, hanging out with James Corden [the actor and TV host] and has lost all the instincts on how to do this, how to conduct himself carefully, still as a member of the royal family,” a source close to the prince reportedly said.

“He’s lost the knack of what he can and can’t say and there is no one around him to say, ‘No, Harry, you can’t say that, take that bit out’. It’s embarrassing for him and for Britain, for a prince to be saying, ‘We’ve got a s**t government.’”

“I think he is seeking inner peace and this becomes the target … he thinks if he can bring the media to heel, it will cure his pain. Sadly, I don’t think it will. He’s still defending his mother,” the courtier told the paper.

“Nothing will take that pain away.”

Related Topics:King Charles Prince Harry United Kingdom UK

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Foreign

Coup attempt in Burkina Faso

Published

2 days ago

September 28, 2023

Alero Danjuma

The junta in Burkina Faso, which toppled a military regime to gain power, has announced that there was a coup attempt.

In a statement, the junta said an attempt by some army officers to seize power and plunge the country into chaos was thwarted.

“The dark intention of attacking the institutions of the Republic and plunging our country in chaos… investigations will help unmask the instigators of this plot.”

“Officers and other alleged actors involved in this attempt at destabilisation have been arrested and others are actively sought,” read the statement from Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, spokesman for the regime.

The military government said it would seek to shed all possible light on this plot, adding that it regretted “that officers whose oath is to defend their homeland have strayed into an undertaking of this nature”.

It said while four people had been detained, two were on the run.

The statement added that the regime launched investigation based on “credible allegations about a plot against state security implicating officers.”

“We regret that officers whose oath is to defend their homeland have strayed into an undertaking of this nature, which aims to hinder the Burkinabe people’s march for sovereignty and total liberation from the terrorist hordes trying to enslave them.”

The junta came to power after two military coups last year, triggered in part by a worsening insurgency by armed groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that has destabilised Burkina Faso and its neighbours.

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the junta leader, seized power on September 30, 2022, the country’s second coup in eight months.

From 2020 till date, there have been seven coups across Africa.

Foreign

Manufacturers sack 3,567 workers, unsold goods hit ₦‎272billion – MAN

Published

3 days ago

September 27, 2023

Olakunle Adeniyi

No fewer than 3,567 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector in the first half of 2023 according to figures obtained by The PUNCH from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

MAN disclosed this in its half yearly review of the economy, which was released on Tuesday.

According to the report, employment generation in the manufacturing sector declined to 6,428 in the first half of 2023.

This was 32.8 per cent reduction in employment generation capacity when compared with 9,559 jobs generated in the first half of 2022.

The report read partly, “In the same vein, a total of 3,567 jobs were lost in the first half of 2023, indicating 1,855 more jobs lost when compared with the 1,709 jobs lost in the corresponding half of 2022, and 850 more jobs lost when compared with 2708 jobs lost in the last half of 2022.”

MAN said the decline in the number of jobs created in the sector during the period further highlighted the unfriendly business environment, resulting from the hasty policies and residual effect of the currency redesign policy that led to the naira crunch.

The report also stated that the inventory of unsold finished products in the manufacturing sector increased to N271.9bn during the first half of 2023, compared to N187bn in the corresponding period of 2022.

This indicated a substantial rise of N84.88bn or 45.4 per cent over the timeframe. It also showed N11.64bn or 4.1 per cent decline when compared with the inventory value of N283.6bn recorded in the second half of 2022.

“This increase in inventory can be attributed to a weakened purchasing power of the consumers, brought about by diminishing real household income resulting from the ongoing escalation of inflationary pressures, compounded by the scarcity of naira in the first quarter of the year and the aftermath of the subsidy removal,” the report said.

It noted that subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policy towards the end of the first half left the economy on the brink of uncertainty, caused a ripple effect that further eroded investors’ confidence.

MAN stated that, “As a result, businesses and foreign investors are increasingly wary of committing capital, thereby hindering economic growth and prospects for recovery.

“The combined effect of these is the resultant higher inflationary pressure, which fuels the cost of production, reducing consumers’ purchasing power and having a greater impact on the manufacturers.”