Top story: Prince Andrew civil case hearing looms
Hello, I’m Virginia Harrison and here is your first morning briefing for 2022.
A 2009 legal settlement between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender whom she accused of sexual abuse, has been released. The settlement was made public on Monday as part of Giuffre’s 2021 civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew, whom she accuses of sexually abusing her two decades ago when she was 17.
Lawyers for the prince contend that a release clause in the settlement restricts her ability to sue others connected to Epstein. The documents also showed she would be paid $500,000 as part of the settlement of her case against Epstein.
The prince – who vehemently denies the allegations made by Giuffre and is not mentioned in the 2009 settlement – has said that the deal shields him from any liability. Lawyers for the prince contend the settlement contains provisions that bar Giuffre from taking legal action against many Epstein associates.
Giuffre has long accused Epstein and his sometime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell – now a convicted sex trafficker – of forcing her into sex with the royal when she was 17.
It now falls to US district judge Lewis Kaplan in New York to determine whether the clause in the 2009 agreement blocks Giuffre’s lawsuit against Andrew. The litigation is in its early stages, and Kaplan has said it could go to trial between September and December of 2022 if no settlement is reached. A hearing over Andrew’s motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit is scheduled for Tuesday.
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Theranos verdict – Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, has been found guilty on four of 11 charges of fraud after a jury delivered a partial verdict following a dramatic day in which jurors said they remained deadlocked on three counts. The decision followed a high-profile, 15-week trial that chronicled the missteps of the now-defunct blood testing startup. As the verdict was read, Holmes bowed her head, remained seated and expressed no visible emotion. She faces 20 years in prison. The 37-year-old pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal. As Kari Paul writes, the verdict marks a milestone for Silicon Valley and its pervasive culture of “fake it ‘til you make it”. Read the full analysis here.
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‘A state of crisis’ – Multiple NHS trusts across England have declared “critical incidents” amid soaring staff absences caused by Covid-19, with health leaders saying many parts of the service are now “in a state of crisis”. Boris Johnson has ruled out the introduction of new curbs “for now”, but on Monday said he recognised that the pressure on the NHS and its hospitals was “going to be considerable in the course of the next couple of weeks, and maybe more”.
As so many deal with the impact of Covid, GP Gavin Francis writes on the overlooked art of recovery. Whether it’s our knees or skulls that need to heal from an injury, our lungs from a viral infection such as Covid-19 or our minds from a crisis of depression or anxiety, he writes that patients often need reminding that it’s worth giving adequate time, energy and respect to the process of healing.
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Truss and the £3,000 lunch – Labour has called on the government to explain why it claimed Liz Truss hosted a £3,000 lunch at a private members’ club because it was available at short notice, when leaked correspondence later showed that she had insisted on the venue. In a letter to the international trade minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Labour also asked why Truss, Trevelyan’s predecessor in the role, had overruled civil servants’ concerns about the cost of the members’ club, owned by a Tory donor. The correspondence, disclosed by the Sunday Times, showed that Truss, now the foreign secretary and a favourite to succeed Johnson, “refused to consider anywhere else” and asked that public funds should pay for the event with Joe Biden’s trade representative. The venue later agreed to reduce the bill to ￡1,400. Department for International Trade officials argue that the booking was made at short notice, just a day before the event, and that alternative venues might not have been cheaper.
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Eating disorders – A leading psychiatrist has warned the NHS can no longer treat every child with an eating disorder, as “worrying” figures reveal hospital admissions have risen 41% in a year. The dramatic surge in cases of people aged 17 and under during the pandemic has left already struggling community services overstretched with many unable to care for everyone who requires help, experts said. Dr Agnes Ayton, the chair of the eating disorders faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “We are at the point where we cannot afford to let this go on any longer.”
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‘Don’t surrender the BBC’ – The government’s politically motivated attacks on the BBC are part of a general abasement of British institutions in recent years, the broadcaster Melvyn Bragg has warned, as he called for the corporation to be protected. In an interview with the Radio Times, Bragg accused ministers of failing to recognise the value of the institution, which he said has earned the country’s support. His comments follow what some see as a sustained campaign by government ministers intent on waging a culture war, with the BBC as a key front. “Recently, it has sometimes seemed that, sadly, we are becoming a lesser country by the year,” Bragg said. “I hope the BBC is not allowed to become part of this surrender to a creeping deterioration. Indeed, I believe it could lead by example if we want to escape a situation where our great institutions are increasingly damaged for political purposes.”
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Today in Focus podcast: How to manage your time in 2022
We only have about 4,000 weeks of life on average, says the writer Oliver Burkeman, so make sure you are prioritising what really matters. Burkeman says by embracing the joy of missing out, you can begin to devote your precious time to the things that really matter to you, no matter how long they take.
Lunchtime read: When animals attack
Photograph: Blaz Accetto/Getty Images/EyeEm
Although, mercifully, still rare, there are signs that wild animal attacks on humans are increasing. How does it feel to fight off a predator in the wild? And what effect does it have on your life? Five people, who lived to tell the tale, explain.
Sport
Romelu Lukaku is in line to return to Chelsea’s squad after holding productive talks with Thomas Tuchel over the striker’s controversial interview. Tuchel is expected to restore Lukaku to his side when Chelsea host Tottenham in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday after the £97.5m forward expressed regret over going public with his unhappiness about life at Stamford Bridge. It comes as Tuchel’s team look vulnerable and the squad appears fragile. Eyes moist, red mohican sparkling in the lights, scalp painting glistening with sweat, Peter Wright won his second PDC world championship in one of its tensest and most absorbing finals.
Once again the Ashes circus arrives in Sydney as players and broadcasters desperately try to inject a little jeopardy into this long-moribund series. As Jonathan Liew writes, radical change is needed to stop the Ashes ending up a fading museum piece – a shorter series and the introduction of a multi-format contest would help prevent the increasing frequency of dead rubbers between mismatched sides which tarnish cricket’s showpiece. Ash Barty is embracing the hype as the world No 1 lines up for her best chance yet to break Australia’s most infamous sporting drought.
Business
Ministers have greater powers to block foreign takeovers of British firms after new rules came into effect giving them more scope to unpick deals that have the potential to harm national security. The National Security and Investment Act, which enhances existing powers, is described by the government as the “biggest shake-up of the UK’s national security regime for 20 years”. Elsewhere, the number of UK first-time homebuyers has hit its highest level in 19 years, according to a new estimate from the Yorkshire Building Society. To the markets and the FTSE is set to open lower after the holiday break, and the pound is buying $1.35 and €1.19.
The papers
The Covid emergency and the latest twist in Prince Andrew’s legal woes dominate today’s front pages.
The Guardian leads with “Critical incidents at several NHS trusts as Covid staff shortages hit”, while a picture of Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in the background accompanies “Epstein paid duke’s accuser $500,000”.
The Times has “We’re on the right path to tackle virus, says PM”, alongside a picture of a masked Boris Johnson, while the Daily Mail leads with “Covid chaos fear as million isolate”. The i has “NHS leaders warn PM over growing Covid staffing crisis” and the Telegraph warns “We can’t jab the whole planet every six months”. The broadsheet also carries the Prince Andrew story and the now recognisable shot of the Duke of York with a young Giuffre. The Mirror’s take on the story is “Secret deal to silence Andrew accuser”.
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