Newspaper headlines: Prince Andrew agrees settlement with Virginia Giuffre
- Published
Prince Andrew's out-of-court settlement is the main story for most papers.
According to the Telegraph, he will pay his accuser Virginia Giuffre more than £12m using money from the Queen.
The Guardian says the deal spares him the humiliation of giving evidence in a trial, and protects the Royal Family from further reputational damage.
The Mail describes the settlement as a grovelling climb-down because it comes just weeks after he vowed to fight Ms Giuffre's sex abuse claims.
"His final disgrace", is the Sun's headline.
It says the Duke of York "caved in" after 72 hours of secret negotiations to avoid overshadowing the Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
According to the Mirror, the Queen and Prince Charles ordered him to settle the case. The papers are clear that the duke won't be able to resume his public duties.
In the Mail's words, the settlement slams the door on a royal return for ever.
The Sun says he faces a lifetime exile from royal duties while the Express headlines with "Andrew cuts sex case deal ... but there's no way back". Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations against him.
The Ukraine crisis is the main news for the Times and the Financial Times.
According to the Financial Times, President Putin has said he is prepared to hold talks on intermediate nuclear missiles and confidence-building measures if the US and Nato agree to discuss Moscow's grievances - including its chief demand that the alliance should promise never to admit Ukraine.
The paper adds that the comments were Mr Putin's strongest indication that Russia is ready to de-escalate tensions.
The Times is sceptical about Russia's announcement that it is pulling back some of its forces from the Ukrainian border. It says Russian concessions are always tactical.
The paper maintains that if the units being withdrawn - because they have finished their training exercise - leave in place all the heavy equipment needed for an invasion, they might as well have stayed where they were.
Replacements could be back within hours, it adds.
Statins - which reduce the risk of heart attack and strokes - cause far fewer side-effects than people believe, according to a study that is widely reported.
The Guardian says previous studies have estimated that the prevalence of statin intolerance may be as high as 50%, but the new research drawing on data from more than four million people worldwide suggests that it is likely to be below 10%.
The Telegraph says the researchers from Poland found that reported side-effects from statins were over-estimated and over-diagnosed.
The i newspaper reports concern among scientists about the end of free Covid lateral flow tests - expected to be announced by the government next week.
It reports that the end of free tests will compromise the UK's capacity to detect new coronavirus variants and put lives at risk.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, tells the paper that maintaining free access to tests for all those with symptoms is key to controlling the infection.
