Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 28 Aug 2019

1. Epstein victim urges Prince Andrew to ‘come clean’

A woman who says she was kept as a “sex slave” by the convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein yesterday urged Prince Andrew to “come clean”. Virginia Giuffre says she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times. The Prince denies the claims. He was photographed holding Giuffre round the waist when she was 17.

What is Prince Andrew’s relationship to Jeffrey Epstein?

2. Johnson accuses Corbyn of ‘sabotage’ over Brexit

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accused Jeremy Corbyn, and other MPs who are supporting the Labour leader’s attempts to block a no-deal Brexit, of “sabotage”. Corbyn met other opposition politicians yesterday and agreed on a legal strategy to try to prevent no-deal. They decided to postpone a no-confidence vote on Johnson.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Opposition MPs agree strategy to block no-deal Brexit

3. Bury expelled from EFL as takeover bid collapses

Bury FC have been expelled from the English Football League and become the first club to be thrown out since Maidstone in 1992, after a proposed takeover by C&N Sporting Risk collapsed. The club’s expulsion means League One will continue with just 23 teams until the end of the season. Bury had been in the Football League for 125 years.

‘Not just a club, it’s a community’: Bury expelled from the EFL - how fans reacted

4. Home Office Brexit advert banned from radio

A radio advertisement placed by the Home Office has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority on the basis it is “misleading”. The advert told UK residents from other EU countries how to apply to remain after Brexit. It said only a passport was needed, when the reality is most applicants are asked for further documents.

5. KFC sells plant-based ‘chicken’ nuggets in test

A week’s worth of ‘chicken’ nuggets and wings sold out in a few hours at a branch of global fast food chain KFC in Smyrna, Georgia, yesterday. The products were plant-based, the first time KFC has tried selling a meat-substitute product. The ‘chicken’ used was made to a secret recipe by Beyond Meat, which also makes burgers.

6. Drinking red wine ‘good for your gut and figure’

UK researchers say they have evidence that suggests drinking a glass of red wine a fortnight might help digestion – and help maintain a slim figure. A study of twins found red wine drinkers were less likely to be overweight and more likely to have a healthy mix of bacteria in their stomachs than those who favoured other alcoholic drinks.

7. UK surgeons reattach carpenter’s severed hand

Doctors have described a “complex” series of surgeries totalling 17 hours which were used to save a carpenter’s hand after he severed it using an electric saw. Anthony Lelliot, 46, underwent the procedures at St George’s Hospital in south London. At one stage, he spent two weeks with his hand attached to his groin as skin grew back.

8. New Zealand bans swimming with bottlenose dolphins

New Zealand has banned tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins in the north of the country after a study found numbers had collapsed. The Department of Conservation said humans had been “loving the dolphins too much” and that frequent tourist trips were “having a significant impact on the population’s … behaviour”.

9. Nick Cave on PJ Harvey: ‘I almost dropped my syringe’

They were two of the most celebrated names in indie music in the nineties but, until now, exactly why PJ Harvey and Nick Cave ended their relationship was a mystery. Now Cave has said his drug abuse was the problem, telling fans online how, when “Polly” phoned him to break up, he was “so surprised I almost dropped my syringe”.

10. Fact Check: how bad is America’s opioid crisis?

Drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson has been hit with a $572m (£468m) fine for helping fuel Oklahoma’s opioid crisis, after lawyers argued that the firm's years-long marketing campaign minimised the risk of opioid painkillers.

Fact Check: how bad is America’s opioid crisis?