The Duchess of Sussex has been able to contact her estranged father in hospital via a letter, her spokesperson has confirmed.

Thomas Markle, who according to reports has had his left leg amputated while in the Philippines, had said he did not want to die while distanced from his daughter.

Mr Markle also expressed his desire to meet his two grandchildren and Prince Harry.

Meghan has been estranged from her father since her 2018 wedding when he was caught staging paparazzi photos in the run-up to the event.

In a statement, her spokesperson appeared to criticise her father’s ongoing relationship with tabloids and the media.

The duchess’s spokesperson said: “Given that a Daily Mail reporter has remained at her father’s bedside throughout, broadcasting each interaction and breaching clear ethical boundaries, it has been exceedingly difficult for the duchess to contact her father privately, despite her efforts over the past several days.

“With the support of reliable and trusted contacts, her correspondence is now safely in his hands.”

It is understood the royal contacted reporters at the Mail to provide any means of contacting her father – as well as the name of the hospital he is staying at but is said to have not received a response. She is understood to have called several hospitals in the country but was unable to locate her father.

Read more from Sky News:
Australian PM issues warning over under-16s social media ban
US plans to start checking all tourists’ social media

Her latest statement comes after The Mail On Sunday appeared to refute a statement from Meghan’s spokesperson last Friday that she had “reached out” to her father.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Daily Mail’s parent company DMG Media said the journalist in question and Mr Markle had a “close relationship” since 2018 and it was Mr Markle who contacted them when he was taken ill and asked for them to travel to the Philippines to be with him.

“Nothing has been published without his specific consent, and that of his son,” they said, adding that the journalist “confirmed to the Duchess of Sussex’s representative that Mr Markle does not have an active email address but that his phone number, which the duchess has previously used for him, remains unchanged”.

They said the reporter has “made clear that if she can do anything to facilitate contact between Mr Markle and his daughter to have a conversation, then she would be happy to do so”.

“Any suggestion we have ‘puppeteered’ Mr Markle is entirely false and strongly denied,” the spokesperson added.

The Duchess of Sussex gave up her HRH (Her Royal Highness) title along with husband Prince Harry when they stepped down as senior royals in March 2020.

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A severe winter storm is creating more hardship for Gaza’s forcibly displaced population, flooding tents as families try to cope without proper shelter, heat, or basic supplies due to Israel’s continued restrictions.

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Good morning.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to hold a wartime election within the next three months, if Ukraine’s parliament and foreign allies will allow it, after Donald Trump accused him of clinging on to power.

Though clearly irritated by Trump’s intervention, the Ukrainian president promised to explore avenues for holding a vote in the coming months. “Since this question is raised today by the president of the United States of America, our partners, I will answer very briefly: look, I am ready for elections.,” Zelenskyy said

Trump made the comments in a rambling interview with Politico published earlier yesterday. “They haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy any more,” he said.

• Why hasn’t there been an election? Zelenskyy’s five-year term expired in May last year, but the Ukrainian constitution prohibits elections during wartime, and even his political opponents have said repeatedly that the security and political considerations do not allow for holding a vote while the war continued.

Trump rails on affordability ‘hoax’ and immigrants in rally-style speech

Donald Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania had been billed as an opportunity to reclaim the economic narrative. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Donald Trump has sought to reboot his ailing US presidency at a rally-style event with a blitz of false claims about the economy and xenophobic attacks on immigrants.

After Republican election defeats and criticism that he is out of touch with the country’s affordability crisis, his speech in Pennsylvania yesterday was billed as an opportunity to reclaim the economic narrative.

However, the president swiftly reverted to his freewheeling campaign mode, frequently diverting from his teleprompter over more than 90 minutes to hurl insults and call affordability a “hoax”.

• What else did he talk about? There were familiar rally staples such as a mocking impression of Joe Biden, as well as a repeat of a racist falsehood about the Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Muslim woman born in Somalia: “We ought to get her the hell out! She married her brother … Therefore she’s here illegally.” The crowd chanted: “Send her back!” Omar has called the claims about her brother “ridiculous”.

Eileen Higgins becomes Miami’s first Democratic mayor in 30 years

In stunning upset victory, Higgins also becomes first woman in post and first non-Hispanic candidate since the 1990s. Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

The Democrat Eileen Higgins was elected mayor of Miami last night in a stunning victory that reversed a run of recent Republican successes in Florida.

The election of Higgins, 61, a former county commissioner, also added to a string of Democratic wins across the country that have served to highlight the growing level of resistance to Donald Trump during his second presidential term.

• What did she campaign on? Higgins focused much of her campaign on affordability and immigration. She presented the election to voters as a referendum on the president’s policies. Her messaging resonated in Miami, whose inhabitants are 57% foreign-born, according to the 2024 census.

In other news …

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral as the company prepares to list on the stock market. Photograph: Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

• SpaceX is preparing to list on the stock market next year in a move that could value the Elon Musk-led business at more than $1tn, according to reports.

• The single-shot pistols known as derringers have not been widely used since the Old West – but police allege that a robber wearing pyjama pants recently brandished one at an Oklahoma liquor store.

• At least one student was killed and another was critically wounded in a shooting at a residence hall at Kentucky State University yesterday. A suspect who is not a student at the school is in custody, officials said.

• A rights activist in Hungary has been placed under investigation after organising a peaceful Pride march, in a case that campaigners have described as “unprecedented and dangerous” for the EU.

Stat of the day: Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds

A protest against extreme wealth in London. The report found the top 1% was wealthier than the bottom 90% combined in almost every region of the world. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Fewer than 60,000 people – 0.001% of the world’s population – control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity, according to a report that argues global inequality has reached such extremes that urgent action has become essential.

Well actually: Is your relationship solid – or sinking? The bird theory thinks it knows

By providing language for what some people are feeling, trends like the bird theory can validate experiences, says the psychotherapist Landis Bejar. Photograph: Nicolas Lancret

What would you say if your partner told you they saw a bird today? Would you mumble noncommittally, or ask a follow-up question? You may be surprised to know that thousands of people on TikTok and Instagram would judge you if you chose the former. But does it really show how we think about romance?

Don’t miss this: The hidden life of Matthew Perry – ‘He would say about himself: I need to stop and get help’

‘He was engaged in trying to recover, always,’ said Matthew Perry’s manager Doug Chapin of more than 30 years. Photograph: Mike Marsland/WireImage

Matthew Perry’s manager, Doug Chapin, and publicist Lisa Kasteler-Calio had been working with the actor for more than 30 years. Here they discuss the man behind the headlines – and why they are continuing his mission to help others struggling with addiction with the Matthew Perry Foundation.

… or this: ‘Hating soccer is more American than apple pie’ – the 1994 World Cup nobody wanted the US to host

The 1994 World Cup arrived amid suspicion and slapstick. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Glitzy draws, OJ-era chaos, grass laid over synthetic turf and a host nation that barely cared – the 1994 World Cup arrived amid suspicion and slapstick. Yet it became a watershed that would alter US sport and global football politics alike. As the US prepares to co-host next year, Jonathan Wilson looks back on the World Cup nobody wanted the US to host.

Climate check: Synthetic chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2tn a year, report finds

Phthalates and bisphenols are commonly used as plastic additives, employed in food packaging and disposable gloves used in preparation. Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA

Scientists have issued an urgent warning that some of the synthetic chemicals that help underpin the current food system are driving increased rates of cancer and infertility while degrading the foundations of global agriculture, causing harm to the environment.

Last Thing: Margot Robbie in red latex, Kate Bush impersonators and a pint of Emily ale – my crash course in Brontëmania

Kate Bush’s hit re-enacted on the moors … this year’s ‘Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever’ on Penistone Hill, Yorkshire. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images

As Wuthering Heights gets a raunchy Hollywood remake for next Valentine’s Day, Hollie Richardson takes a pilgrimage through Haworth, the UK village where its author lived – and finds her spirit still electrifying the cobbled streets and windswept moors.

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Sporadic gunfire and explosions have been reported as M23 rebels advance towards a key city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in an offensive that has forced thousands to flee across the border into Burundi.

Residents and military sources said soldiers were fleeing the assault on Uvira, the last government-held city in the mineral-rich region.

US President Donald Trump brokered a peace deal last week between DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame to end the long-running conflict but fighting has continued.

Shops and schools have closed, with terrified residents staying indoors amid fears that rebels had taken control of some government buildings.

But South Kivu Governor Jean-Jacques Purusi dismissed reports that the rebels were in the city as “completely unfounded rumours”.

Residents told the BBC that Uvira was in lockdown on Wednesday, with some reporting gunfire in the city that is just 27 km (17 miles) from Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura.

A local rights official told AP news agency that there was a “risk of a massacre” if the remaining soldiers mounted strong resistance.

“It’s chaotic, nobody’s in charge. Uvira is done for,” a Burundian officer told AFP news agency.

“Three bombs have just exploded in the hills. It’s every man for himself,” a resident told AFP, while another added: “We are all under the beds in Uvira – that’s the reality.”

Military and security sources said the rebel fighters advanced from the north, near the Burundian border.

In an interview with UN-backed Radio Okapi, Purusi denied Uvira had fallen to the M23, saying the city remained under the control of government forces.

The US, European Union, and eight European nations have accused Rwanda of supporting the rebel offensive, and have called for an immediate halt to the fighting

In a joint statement, they voiced “profound concern” about the violence, and said it had a “destabilising potential for the whole region”.

They urged the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to “immediately halt offensive operations” in eastern DR Congo, and called on its troops to withdraw from the region.

But Rwanda has denied any involvement in the fighting, accusing DR Congo’s government and its ally, Burundi, of violating a ceasefire.

In a statement on X, the Rwandan foreign ministry said the ceasefire violation “cannot be placed on Rwanda” and said the Congolese and Burundian armies had “systematically” bombed villages close to Rwanda’s border.

UN experts say Rwanda’s army is in “de facto control of M23 operations”.

About 200,000 people have fled their homes in eastern DR Congo since the latest round of fighting started early this month, the UN says.

It said at least 74 people had been killed, mostly civilians, and 83 admitted to hospital with wounds.

A Burundian administrative source told AFP that he had recorded more than 8,000 daily arrivals over the past two days, and 30,000 arrivals in one week.

The latest offensive comes nearly a year after the M23 rebels seized control of Goma and Bukavu, the other two main cities in eastern DR Congo.

The M23 is not part of the US-brokered peace deal, and is in separate talks with DR Congo’s government in mediation efforts led by Qatar.

In a national address on Monday, Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of “deliberate violations” of the peace accord.

“This is a proxy war aimed at challenging our sovereignty over a highly strategic area, rich in critical minerals and economic potential that is crucial to the future of our nation,” Tshisekedi said.

For its part, Rwanda accused the armies of DR Congo and Burundi of bombing villages near its border, forcing more than 1,000 civilians to flee into its territory.

Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict for more than 30 years, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Several peace deals going back to the 1990s have collapsed.

Numerous armed groups have competed with the central authorities for power and control of the potential fortune in this vast nation.

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“We are not at war, but we are no longer at peace either,” is how German Chancellor Friedrich Merz from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party sumarized the mood in Germany back in late September. 

Ever since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, there has been talk of hybrid warfareamong German security and politcal experts. Germany is being hit hard by a mix of military and intelligence operations, often accompanied by misleading propaganda. Classic methods include sabotage, espionage, and disinformation to fuel uncertainty among the general population.

More powers are urgently needed, says Sinan Selen, Director General of Germany’s domestic intelligence serviceImage: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/picture alliance

What is wrong with Germany’s early warning system?

The core task of the German domestic intelligence services, or Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), is to identify threats early enough to prevent attacks. Given the current level of threats, Director General of the BfV Sinan Selen says his agency needs more powers.

“We have forms of communication that we are no longer able to decrypt in parts. We have actors who operate under pseudonyms,” Selen said at the annual Constitution Protection Symposium in Berlin. “As an intelligence service, I must be able to penetrate these areas.”

BfV chief Selen is counting on changes to security laws to achieve this. The German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has already announced reforms, while support has also been voiced from the chancellor’s office, where Philipp Wolff coordinates the country’s three central intelligence agencies: the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), and the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD).

Wolff insists that increased online surveillance and the storage of IP addresses are necessary. He also wants security agencies to be able to exchange personal data more easily.

However, whether this will be possible remains uncertain. Opposition parties and civil society organizations have almost always challenged stricter security laws in Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court — and often successfully.

The use of controversial US software Palantir has stirred debate, also in GermanyImage: NurPhoto/IMAGO

France and the Netherlands as role models?

But Selen remains confident. Other European Union countries like France and the Netherlands are significantly further ahead, he said at the Berlin conference, refering to two countries with fewer legal restrictions on the surveillance of suspects and less stringent data protection laws.

Following President Donald Trump’s recent National Security Strategy, it is hard to tell how the BfV’s future intelligence links with the US will develop. However, Selen signaled a business-as-usual approach. “I would not draw the conclusion from such a strategy that we are breaking with America,” he said. “I also do not believe that our partners are breaking with us.”

At the same time, he emphasized the importance of continuously reviewing and developing alliances. In his view, Europe must become more independent from the US.

Selen is also considering developing the domestic intelligence services’ own IT programs for monitoring and analyzing digital communications.

Many countries use the controversial US software “Palantir” for this purpose, but German security authorities have been debating its use for some time. Selen voiced support for a national alternative. “We have industries, we have companies that can do this,” he said, adding that perhaps they need more support.

Russia’s hybrid warfare: the real threat to the West?

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Critical infrastructure at risk

For his part, intelligence coordinator Wolff says that the BfV and the other German security agencies are already effective. “The Russians know that too; they already take us seriously,” he said, adding that the national debate on how to tackle hybrid threats is being closely followed in Moscow.

His chief concern remains how to deal with a country that does not abide by any rules. Hybrid threats are playing an increasingly important role in this context, he said, adding that at the symposium had not outlined a definitive answer to this form of attempted influence and destabilization.

Carlo Masala, a military specialist at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, described Russia’s strategy toward the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as “increasingly bold.”

Viewed from a Russian perspective, Germany, in particular, was a target, he said. “We are the hub,” Masala said, referring to Germany’s central location in Europe and its strategic importance within NATO.

Experts such as Masala suspect that Russia is behind a rising number of acts of sabotage on railways, airports, and water and electricity supplies. However, critical infrastructure can also be paralyzed indirectly, Masala warned at the Constitution Protection Symposium. “There is a substation in Austria, and if it is knocked out, large parts of Germany will lose power,” he explained.

In early October, drones flying near Munich Airport in Bavaria also made headlines when they disrupted operations for an extended period of time. According to Masala, the objective was to cause fear and panic among the public. However, he suggested another possible motive was to demonstrate that the Bavarian state government is unable to take action against such attacks. The intelligence service can warn of such scenarios, he said, “but it cannot prevent them.”

Is Europe ready for a hybrid war? — To the Point

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This article was originally written in German.

While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.

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Scientists excavating the ancient Roman city of Pompeii have unearthed a construction site preserved exactly as it was when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, offering unprecedented insight into the durable, self-healing concrete that revolutionised Roman architecture.

The remarkable discovery reveals a building project abruptly halted by the volcanic catastrophe.

Researchers found rooms with unfinished walls, alongside piles of premixed dry materials and tools for weighing and measuring, all laid out for concrete preparation.

“Studying it truly felt as if I had traveled back in time and was standing beside the workers as they mixed and placed their concrete,” remarked Admir Masic, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of civil and environmental engineering and lead author of the study published in Nature Communications.

Roman concrete was an indispensable material, enabling the construction of monumental structures such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, public baths, aqueducts, and bridges – feats of engineering unparalleled at the time.

Its unique ability to harden underwater also made it crucial for building harbours and breakwaters.

The precise methods employed by the Romans have long been a subject of academic debate, with recent archaeological findings often challenging accounts from the 1st-century BC treatise by architect Vitruvius.

open image in gallery

(Getty/iStock)

The Pompeii discovery showed the Romans used a technique called “hot mixing” in which a material called quicklime – dry limestone that was previously heated – is combined directly with water and a blend of volcanic rock and ash, producing a chemical reaction that naturally heats the mixture.

That differs from the method described by Vitruvius, who wrote about a century earlier.

“Pompeii preserves buildings, materials and even work in progress in the precise state they were in when the eruption occurred. Unlike finished structures that have undergone centuries of repair or weathering, this site captures construction processes as they happened,” Masic said.

“For studying ancient technologies, there is simply no parallel,” Masic said. “Its exceptional preservation offers a true ‘snapshot’ of Roman building practice in action.”

The building under construction combined domestic rooms with a working bakery with ovens, grain-washing basins and storage. The evidence there indicated that the technique outlined by Vitruvius, known as slaked lime, was not used for building walls.

That method may have been outdated by the time of the project in Pompeii.

“Imagine what 100 years of difference could mean for the building technology. A good analogy could be the early telephones. In the 1920s-30s: rotary dialing, long-distance copper lines. In the 2020s: smartphones using packet-switched digital signals and wireless networks,” Masic said.

open image in gallery

(Getty/iStock)

The hot-mixing technique contributed to the self-healing properties of the concrete, chemically repairing cracks. The concrete contains white remnants of the lime used to make it, called “lime clasts,” which can dissolve and recrystallise, healing cracks that may form with the infiltration of water.

The Romans industrialised concrete, beginning in the 1st centuries BC and AD.

“This allowed builders to construct massive monolithic structures, complex vaults and domes, and harbors with concrete that cured underwater. Concrete fundamentally expanded what could be built and how cities and infrastructures were conceived,” Masic said.

The new understanding of Roman concrete may have relevance for modern architects.

“Modern concretes generally lack intrinsic self-healing capability, which is increasingly important as we seek longer-lasting, lower-maintenance infrastructure,” Masic said.

“So while the ancient process itself is not a direct replacement for modern standards, the principles revealed can inform the design of next-generation durable, low-carbon concretes.”

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NEED TO KNOW

• Hadi Ahmadi, 55, was kayaking with his 7-year-old son in California’s Lake Perris when the vessel capsized on Dec. 6
• Ahmadi, who kept his son afloat during the ordeal, was later pronounced dead
• “He was always my hero,” said Mojgan Manafi, Ahmadi’s wife

A California woman is mourning the loss of her husband, who drowned over the weekend while  saving his 7-year-old son’s life after their kayak capsized. 

“He was a very loving person,” Mojgan Manafi said of her spouse Hadi Ahmadi, 55, according to The Press Enterprise. “If he didn’t have anything, he was still willing to help people. He was such a great dad. He was such a great husband.”

According to a news release from California State Parks, tragedy struck on Saturday, Dec. 6, at Lake Perris State Recreation Area in Riverside County.

Authorities responded to reports of screaming and people in distress in the water near Moreno Beach, the department said, sharing that a father and son were kayaking when their vessel capsized. 

Neither individual was wearing a life jacket at the time, though there was a vest in the kayak, according to the department.

“State Park peace officers quickly arrived on scene via patrol vessel and immediately recovered the man, who was unconscious and partially submerged,” police wrote. “The 7-year-old boy was in distress but conscious and holding his father.”

“Investigators noted that the father heroically kept his son afloat throughout the ordeal, supporting him until rescue personnel arrived,” officials added.

First responders pulled both father and son out of the lake and administered CPR on the man, who was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Manafi, of Corona, told NBC affiliate KNBC that Ahmadi was excited about going kayaking with their son Arti that day.

“They loved it. They were laughing so loud,” Manafi said. “Arti was waving and yelling, ‘Mommy we are having so much fun.’ ”

Based on cellphone footage, while kayaking earlier in the day, Ahmadi was wearing a life jacket, KNBC reported. However, when they returned to the water again, neither father nor son had their life jackets on.

Ahmadi was born in Iran and had been married to Manfai for 10 years, according toThe Press Enterprise. 

Manfai, who told the outlet that her husband “was a very good swimmer” who regularly worked out, said that doctors believe he had a heart attack and drowned.

“He was always my hero, but now he showed more than being a hero because he saved my son,” an emotional Manafi told KNBC.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In its press statement, California State Parks said the incident is under investigation. The department also advised visitors recreating near or on the water to wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket at all times. 

“​​California State Parks extends its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones affected by this tragedy,” the department stated. 

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The ugly row over Virginia Giuffre’s multimillion-dollar fortune has erupted into a bitter legal battle, pitting her sons against the lawyer and carer who claim she entrusted them with her last wishes. 

But the Daily Mail can reveal the increasingly personal fight is not about carving up her millions – but who should be cut off entirely.

Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked as a teenager by Jeffrey Epstein, took her own life at her Western Australia farmhouse in Neergabby, 20km north of Perth, on April 25. 

Since 2009, she had received more than $25million in settlements from former prince Andrew, who she was famously photographed with as a teenager, Epstein, and his sidekick Ghislaine Maxwell. 

In the months before her death, she reportedly drafted a will but did not formally complete it, triggering the legal battle over control of her estate. 

At the time of her death, she was separated from her husband of 23 years, Robert Giuffre, and estranged from her three children. 

The couple were in the midst of finalising a messy divorce and Ms Giuffre’s closest confidantes are adamant she did not want her ex-husband to get a cent. 

‘They were not on good terms and he had a restraining order out on her which prevented her from making contact with her children,’ said a close friend. 

‘There is no way she would want him to have any money at all.’

At the time of her death Ms Giuffre was separated from Robert, her husband of 23 years, (pictured together)

The couple were in the midst of a messy divorce, the close friend revealed. Robert Giuffre is pictured

The couple’s son, Christian Giuffre (pictured), is named in court papers as a defendant 

In the current complex legal war over her estate, her sons, Christian, 19, and Noah, 18, are facing her former lawyer Karrie Louden and long-time carer, Cheryl Myers. 

The teenagers are listed as first plaintiffs in the main case and defendants in the counterclaim, while Ms Louden and Ms Myers are named as defendants and subsequently as plaintiffs in the counterclaim.

Ms Giuffre’s sons claim their mother died without a will and they are entitled to inherit and administer her estate, with the consent of their father. 

Ms Louden and Ms Myers insist they do not seek anything for themselves but want to ensure Mr Giuffre is specifically excluded from inheriting anything. 

Their counterclaim, supported by Ms Giuffre’s US-based brothers, aims to see them appointed as joint executors of Ms Giuffre’s informal will instead.

In reply, Ms Giuffre’s sons have claimed the lawyer and carer should have known their mother’s mental state meant she was incapable of making a valid will in the months leading up to her death.

They also claim the counterclaim would allow Ms Louden and Ms Myers to benefit financially from the informal will after assisting Ms Giuffre to create it while she was not mentally fit. 

But Ms Myers insists Ms Giuffre had finally found peace in the rural life at her farmhouse after years of intense public scrutiny.

Virginia Giuffre (pictured) had finally found peace in rural life after years of public scrutiny

 Her carer Cheryl Myers (pictured) considered herself a ‘mother figure,’ to Ms Giuffre

She previously told the Daily Mail that Ms Giuffre treated her like a mother figure, and the troubled Epstein victim dreamed of turning the farm into a sanctuary.

She paid tribute to Ms Giuffre’s ‘kindness and generosity’ and added: ‘She was happy on the farm.

‘It was her lifelong dream that abused women and animals would have somewhere to feel safe like she did.

‘It is what she would have wanted – there is absolutely no doubt in my mind about that.’

Ms Myers revealed the family rift triggered by the divorce proceedings had taken a heavy toll on Ms Giuffre in her final months.

Her children were unable to visit during her last hospital stay, and she was prohibited from even texting them because of court orders restricting contact. 

It meant she had not seen or heard from them for months before her death, Ms Myers said.

‘She was a really good mother – she was an exceptional mother and she loved her children,’ Ms Myers said. ‘Of course she found that separation so hard to deal with.’  

Robert Giuffre had taken a restraining order out on his wife (pictured together in Cairns in 2019)

Joining Ms Myers in the legal challenge against Ms Giuffre’s sons is Ms Louden, a criminal barrister who first met Ms Giuffre as a client while representing her in a restraining order dispute with her husband. 

She and Ms Giuffre quickly became close friends, and Ms Louden echoed the claim that Ms Giuffre’s final wish was to launch a survivors’ refuge in Australia.

‘This has been a complete shock to all of us,’ she said outside the farmhouse in the days after Ms Giuffre’s sudden death.

‘She wanted to renovate this place and she had plans for the future.’ 

Ms Louden said she had spoken to Ms Giuffre just days earlier and was due to meet her shortly after. 

‘Physically, she has been very unwell for a long time, but she is a very strong person. She has obviously been through hell.’

She added that Ms Giuffre ‘was in a lot of pain’ but was still looking forward to what was ahead.

It was Ms Louden and Ms Myers who rehomed Ms Giuffre’s horses and packed up the farm in the wake of her death.

Court documents reveal they claim Ms Giuffre ‘created an informal will in writing’ on February 27, and followed up with verbal instructions on April 2 to Ms Louden, witnessed by Ms Myers, to prepare a formal will.

However her sons reject claims that these documents represent their mother’s final intentions.

‘Such instructions were preliminary instructions in contemplation of preparing a will, which was not prepared,’ one of the court documents states.

‘The deceased did not intend for such instructions to constitute her will.’

Ms Louden echoed Ms Giuffre’s final wishes of launching a refuge in Australia

In June, the sons applied to become administrators of her estate, along with their father and their 15-year-old sister, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Ms Giuffre’s family in the US fear Mr Giuffre, who had begun separation proceedings, could inherit a third of her estate, with the remainder shared between her children.

‘Virginia absolutely wanted to provide for her children, but also she wanted them to go to university and have careers, not just handouts,’ one friend told the Daily Mail.

‘Young people being handed millions of dollars doesn’t often end well and she would have wanted trusts with rules set up.’ 

Exactly how much remains of Ms Giuffre’s fortune is unclear, with some estimates placing the value of the estate at just $500,000. 

Former prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, paid her a reported $24.5million without any admission of liability in 2022.

He has consistently denied all of the allegations she made about being sex trafficked to the royal when she was 17.

Giuffre had previously received $770,000 in 2009 from Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

She also received an undisclosed sum from jailed sex trafficker and Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in 2017 following a defamation suit.

Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor has denied all of the allegations she made about being sex trafficked to the royal when she was 17 years old

Profits from Giuffre’s memoir ‘Nobody’s Girl’ are included in the estate.

WA Supreme Court Registrar Danielle Davies last month recommended that Robert Giuffre join his sons in civil proceedings to administer his late wife’s estate. 

‘My understanding is that Robert’s consent was attached to an application for a non-contentious grant (from the will),’ Ms Davies told the court.

‘He would consent to the grant being made to his sons, but now there’s defence and counterclaims, which would remove his entitlement.’

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Mum-of-five Celia Marsh, 42, collapsed in the street half an hour after eating what was supposed to be a ‘dairy free’ Pret a Manger sandwich – her family have now been given a £1.25million payout

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas News Reporter and Nev Ayling

09:49, 10 Dec 2025

Milk allergy sufferer Celia Marsh, 42, died after eating a Pret wrap that was labelled ‘dairy free’(Image: Supplied by Champion News)

The family of a mum who was killed by a “dairy-free” Pret a Manger sandwich have been handed £1.25m payout.

Dental nurse Celia Marsh, 42, collapsed and died after eating a Pret “vegan rainbow” flatbread sandwich while walking around Bath on a post-Christmas shopping trip with her husband and three of her daughters in December 2017. Mrs Marsh, who was allergic to milk, thought the sandwich contained a safe coconut yoghurt alternative – but was unaware that it was contaminated with milk protein.

She began to feel unwell shortly after eating the sandwich, and collapsed in the street. Despite the help of a passing first aider, the mother-of-five died in hospital shortly after being rushed there in an ambulance.

Pret A Manger settled for £1.25million with Mrs Marsh’s family out of court(Image: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Following an inquest into her death in 2022, the senior coroner for Avon, Maria Voisin, put the blame for her death on the contaminated sandwich, writing in her report: “A product which is marked ‘dairy-free’ should be free from dairy.”

Mrs Marsh’s husband, Andy, who described her as his “best friend,” then launched a High Court compensation claim on behalf of his family against the high street cafe chain and the product’s manufacturer, Planet Coconut Ltd. And this week, following out of court negotiations, Mr Marsh has now agreed to settle the claim, with lawyers yesterday revealing in the High Court that the family will receive a total of £1.25million.

Having been asked to approve one part of the settlement, the judge, Master Mark Gidden, was told that Pret will be responsible for 25% of the payout, with Planet Coconut’s insurers liable for the rest. In her report following the inquest, the coroner revealed that an investigation by the Bath and North East Somerset Trading Standards and others traced the dairy to a product in the wrap, which was “made by Planet Coconut and marketed as a dairy free coconut yoghurt alternative”.

The Pret super-veg rainbow flat bread was contaminated with traces of milk protein(Image: Pret)

She added: “The wrap contained a product which was marked as ‘dairy free coconut yoghurt alternative,’ but despite this it contained milk protein, which was the cause of Celia’s anaphylaxis. “The contamination arose because an ingredient in the yoghurt called HG1 had become cross-contaminated with milk protein during its manufacture. The manufacturer of the dairy free yoghurt had in its possession documents which flagged this risk but this risk was not passed on to its customers.”

Within 15 minutes of eating the sandwich, she had been hit with an acute allergic reaction, and within half an hour she had collapsed, the inquest heard. Mrs Marsh gave herself an adrenaline shot with the EpiPen she always carried and a passing first aider tried to help. An ambulance rushed her to hospital, but she was pronounced dead by 4pm the same day.

Following the inquest, her eldest daughter, Ashleigh Grice, said her mum had lived in “constant fear” and religiously checked all food labelling, often “triple checking” what she ate. Mr Marsh sued Pret and Planet Coconut over his wife’s death and after negotiations outside court, the parties yesterday had a settlement of the claim approved by the judge.

Family barrister, Hannah Noyce, told the judge that Pret and Planet Coconut had agreed a split of the liability for the payment, which she said totals £1.25million.

“Both defendants initially agreed apportionment of liability on the basis of 75/25 in favour of Pret, but Pret wasn’t prepared to agree terms that would make all defendants jointly and severally liable,” she said. They wanted specific sums to be agreed. It was agreed that Planet Coconut’s insurers be made party to the agreement and that they should be jointly and severally liable for Planet Coconut’s share.” The hearing, conducted via a video link at the High Court in London, was in order for Master Gidden to approve one specific part of the settlement, which he said he was “content” to do.

Following Mrs Marsh’s death, the coroner published a special “prevention of future deaths” report, calling for the establishment of a system of recording cases of severe allergic reactions to provide an “early warning” of “products with undeclared allergen content”. The report also recommended a system of checks to ensure food is correctly labelled “free from” and “vegan,” leading to the Food Standards Agency updating its labelling guidance.

The Mirror has approached Pret A Manger for comment.

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Mulanje and Lilongwe, Malawi — Ireen Makata sits in her white nursing uniform on a weathered bench at a health post in Malawi’s southern Mulanje district.

The facility is one of 13 in the district, located within a seminomadic, predominantly agricultural community 65km (40 miles) east of Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital, near the Mulanje mountain range.

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The beige-painted facility stands out from the dozens of huts around it made of red bricks, with straw roofs. To the right of the main entrance is a supply room with diminishing medical supplies. On the other side is an ambulance that Makata says is now rarely used.

Health posts like this were set up to serve remote communities and alleviate pressure on district hospitals. They were crucial in providing communities with basic healthcare, antenatal care, family planning and vaccines.

The clinic in Mulanje used to see dozens of women a day, providing maternal care, including helping women give birth, dispensing medicines and, when needed, transport to the hospital. But now, since funds were cut, it is open only around once every two weeks, stretching its supplies for as long as it can and unable to regularly transport visiting healthcare workers.

Health posts like this are facing closure – 20 have already shuttered in the country – due to the Trump administration cutting United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding in February. This is forcing the country’s health system to withdraw critical services, placing further stress on hospitals, and leaving thousands of women and children without needed care in a region burdened by poverty and long distances to hospitals.

Makata, a nursing officer specialising in maternal and newborn care, usually based at the district hospital, says she used to visit the post two or three times a week. Now she rarely comes and no longer sees most of the patients she used to care for.

“Most of the women who relied on this post now find the distance to access a district hospital too far,” she tells Al Jazeera.

It would take a large chunk of a day, travelling on the bumpy dirt roads of Mulanje district, to reach one. That long visit “takes them away from their day-to-day activities, which bring income or food to their table,” she explains.

Many cannot afford to do that and now go without care.

“They are failing to get the ideal treatment for antenatal care services, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy,” Makata says.

Ireen Makata, a nursing officer and safe motherhood coordinator at Musa Community Health Post in Mulanje [Imran-Ullah Khan/Al Jazeera]

‘Baby and mother in jeopardy’

USAID funding was all-encompassing. It funded remote medical outposts, covering everything from the training of new staff and the provision of drugs and supplies for pregnant women to petrol for ambulances.

The US government provided close to 32 percent of Malawi’s total health budget before the cuts.

USAID funded the health posts through a programme called MOMENTUM in 14 of Malawi’s 28 districts, starting in 2022, helping strengthen existing clinics and set up new ones. As of 2024, there were 249 posts. The programme also provided medical outreach to communities and equipment. About $80m was being invested in the programme by Washington.

Early this year, US President Donald Trump issued stop-work orders on USAID-funded programmes as part of an executive order to pause and re-evaluate foreign aid.

With that move, MOMENTUM was shelved, and the two dozen mobile posts were shuttered as a result. Medical trainees were left in limbo, and life-saving equipment was sold off in fire sales by Washington.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) still provides technical and financial support to several remote districts for maternal and newborn health, but the available resources are not enough to cover the sites funded by MOMENTUM. There are fears that the UNFPA sites will run out of resources and supplies in the coming months.

In the wake of Trump’s funding cuts, health experts in Malawi have raised urgent concerns that new mothers and children will face the greatest impact, with many lives potentially lost as a result.

Makata has set up a WhatsApp group for women to contact her with concerns and questions, but she is frustrated that she cannot work as she used to.

“We would go to where people resided and give them permanent and long-term care,” she says, referring to the posts. “It’s not easy for me to see this. We can’t help those who need the services the most.”

Massitive Matekenya, a community leader for the Musa community in Mulanje district, dressed in a black blazer and oversized chequered-green tie, is at the vacant Mulanje health post.

These days, he says, it is hard to put on a brave face for the people he represents.

“Women in our community are now giving birth on the way to the district hospital since it’s such a long distance away,” says Matekenya. “That puts baby and mother in jeopardy with the potential of the mother bleeding out.”

Matekenya struggles to boost morale as he is constantly faced with community anger over the fact that medical outreach has ended.

He says a 40-year-old woman from his community recently died from malaria. “She had no quick referral to the nearest health facility due to issues of transport,” Matekenya says, noting that the community reached out to a politician but that his assistance came too late.

“I’m worried,” he says. “With family planning services not being offered any more, we are expecting to see a spike in pregnancies, and we are anticipating a possible rise in maternal deaths.”

Female patients recovering or awaiting treatment for obstetric fistula at the Bwaila Fistula Centre in Lilongwe [Imran-Ullah Khan/Al Jazeera]

Impact on fistula care

In a health clinic in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, a woman dressed in black with a golden brooch shuffles from hall to hall. Margaret Moyo is tending to her daily responsibilities as head coordinator at the Bwaila Fistula Centre.

Obstetric fistula occurs when a hole between the birth canal and bladder or rectum is formed during an obstructed and extended labour. Women who do not receive medical treatment can be left incontinent.

Beyond the physical pain, women suffering from obstetric fistula also face social stigma due to the constant leaking and are often ostracised from their communities.

The Bwaila Fistula Centre receives more than 400 patients a year from all over the country, as well as from districts in neighbouring Mozambique. It has 45 beds, one doctor and 14 specialised nurses, and some 30 patients were at the centre when Al Jazeera visited in August.

With fewer resources, individuals will not be seen as often during pregnancy, which could lead to undetected maternal health issues, including more cases of fistula, Moyo argues. She is also concerned that conversations around prevention and education will take a backseat.

“The focus should be on training midwives, access to care and education to delay pregnancy in younger women since they are often most at risk of fistula,” says Moyo.

Before the USAID cuts, Malawi’s government had already forecast a $23m shortfall for reproductive, maternal, and newborn health funding for 2025 owing to drops in foreign aid.

Margaret Moyo, head coordinator at the Bwaila Fistula Centre in Lilongwe [Imran-Ullah Khan/Al Jazeera]

‘I am able to help them’

For the past five years, Moyo has been running what she calls an “ambassador” programme at her facility. Patients who undergo successful fistula repair and are reintegrated into their communities are trained and sent out into their communities.

So far, 120 fistula survivors have become patient ambassadors who educate through community outreach to bring in new patients for treatment.

One such ambassador is Alefa Jeffrey. Wearing a grey “Freedom from Fistula Foundation” T-shirt, the 36-year-old mother of four crosses her arms and gazes towards the floor as she talks about being ostracised after she gave birth and developed a fistula.

“I wasn’t allowed to go to church because the other girls made fun of me and said I smelled bad because I was leaking urine and stool,” she says. “My family told me to go to a traditional healer, but he wasn’t able to help.”

Jeffrey could deal with the physical pain, but she was tormented by the negative interactions with friends and family.

“I got used to dealing with fistula, but it was what people were saying that was giving me the most pain,” recounts Jeffrey, who says she even contemplated suicide.

But she also started looking for answers, asking the traditional healer and then eventually meeting an ambassador who came to her community to speak to women.

Having successfully undergone treatment, involving surgery and follow-up patient and educational care, Jeffrey now advocates for fistula education.

She has set up a WhatsApp group for people to chat with her for information about the condition. She has also brought in 39 mothers from her community to the clinic.

“I’m an expert now. I’m able to convince people to come, which isn’t easy,” says Jeffrey. “Some women have lived with a fistula for so long they don’t believe they can be repaired, and they have already given up, but I am able to help them.”

Patients await treatment for various ailments at the Nsanje District Hospital [Imran-Ullah Khan/Al Jazeera]

Lessons from the past: ‘We didn’t panic’

Although health experts are worried about the future of a system without USAID in a country where more than 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, government leaders say they have been there before.

Back in 2017, during his first presidency, Trump halted funding for the UNFPA and several groups that provided family planning. Malawi’s government approached NGOs and other countries to alleviate the gaps in funding.

Through community and grassroots innovations, they believe they can weather the storm again.

“We didn’t panic when we heard about the USAID cuts,” says Dr Samson Mndolo, Malawi’s secretary of health. “Instead, we looked at how to be more efficient and get more services for our money.

“We looked at areas where we could maximise resources, so for example if an officer goes to a community to do immunisations, they can now provide family planning services in the same trip too.”

Sitting in his office in the Lilongwe City Council building behind an organised desk, Mndolo discusses the challenges.

“As soon as the stop-work orders came out, we lost close to 5,000 health workers. The majority of these are what we call HIV diagnostic assistants,” he says, referring to the fallout from the USAID cuts. “We are looking now to push towards a health system that is more community-based and not necessarily hospital-based.” In such a system, doctors and health workers from central hospitals would be dispatched more to remote communities, and regular community outreach would become part of their remit, requiring them to perform a wider array of services.

Mndolo and his colleagues are setting up online initiatives and WhatsApp chat groups to field questions from remote patients. He remains optimistic about Malawi’s health system and says the worst thing the country can do now is to lose hope.

“Each crisis is an opportunity. This gives us a chance to strengthen the system and retrain our workforce and digital health systems,” he says.

“We are not naive. This will take some time, but once we get a hold of that as a nation, we can be better with time; that is the opportunity that is there for us.”

Despite such reassurance, those in remote communities say they feel isolated.

Tendai Kausi, a 22-year-old mother from the Musa community in the Mulanje district, still goes to the remote health post for help with her four-year-old son, Saxton. But because of the cuts and closures, many women from her community do not, and she has seen new mothers carry pregnancies in their isolated villages – far from healthcare and without routine checks.

“This is not good for the development of our country,” she says.

“My child will be affected because the services here will not get better,” Kausi says. “I feel very sad for my community.”

Patients at the Bwaila Fistula Centre [Imran-Ullah Khan/Al Jazeera]



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