The Fourcast

The Duke of York has reached a settlement with his accuser Virginia Giuffre over her civil sex assault case in the United States.

The Prince has always denied the allegations and did not admit any liability. But the settlement left many questions for other victims of Andrew’s former friend, the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Our Investigations Editor Job Rabkin breaks down the Prince Andrew settlement and asks whether this really is the end of the story.

Sources: BBC Newsnight, NBCNews

Sir Keir Starmer is approaching two years as Labour leader.

He has sought to rebuild the party after the divisions of Brexit, the chaos of Corbyn and the disaster of the 2019 election. Labour would need to gain more than 100 seats to claim an outright majority next time the British public goes to the polls.

So are his plans for change working or is he simply benefitting from Partygate scandals under Boris Johnson?

Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman talks about her recent sit down with Sir Keir Starmer and her assessment on whether the former lawyer has the passion and vision to make Labour a party of government once again.

There was a catalogue of police mistakes, police crimes, and a belief the Met was rotten. Then the inquiries, reports, and apology after apology.

And yet still the head of the Metropolitan Police Service, Dame Cressida Dick, stayed in place. Until last week.

Today, Simon Israel, our former Senior Home Affairs correspondent, looks back at the tenure of Dame Cressida Dick and the long journey to change the culture in the Met Police and discusses whether the canteen culture that has been revealed over the past few years, can really be weeded out.

Boris Johnson has announced that all Covid rules could be scrapped next week in England, but with daily Covid cases still high and millions of people still unvaccinated, how should scientists and the government talk to those who are hesitant to get the coronavirus jab? 

On today’s episode we speak to David Halpern, Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team, about why some people have not yet had the Covid vaccine. 

We also ask him what more the government could do to ensure as many people as possible get the jab, and why people in some countries have adhered to Covid rules better than in others.

The government says the new Online Safety Bill will make the UK ‘the safest place in the world to be online’ but critics argue that it’s not clear or robust enough to stop abusers.

Minnie Stephenson has been speaking to victims and finding out why so few abusers face prosecution.

For weeks and weeks, there has been tension on the border between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides accusing the other of aggression.

But after all this time, talk and tanks, what’s the truth: is war coming ?

Paraic O’Brien explains the views from the border, and tries to figure out the facts from the fiction as world leaders continue to figure out a way through this geopolitical drama.

In the summer of 2021 desperate people in Kabul tried to board the last flights out of the Afghan capital as the Taliban took control.

At that time, a man called Pen Farthing was fighting to get the staff from his animal charity and 150 animals on a plane out.

After a public campaign for help from the public and the government, a plane suddenly left Kabul taking the animals and Pen Farthing to safety.

But how did they manage to get out when so many were left behind? And was the Prime Minister involved?

Sources: Sky News, Metro, LBC, GMB

Rape is being used as a deliberate weapon in the civil war in Ethiopia. 

Thousands have been killed in massacres, thousands more have fled and countless women and girls have been violently raped. 

Today, we speak to our Africa correspondent Jamal Osman about the stories he’s uncovered from this ongoing civil war that gets so little coverage - and we talk to Donatella Rovera, a senior investigator at Amnesty International, about whether justice will ever come to those whose lives have been scarred forever. 

Warning: this episode contains distressing content and accounts of rape. 

If you’ve been affected by the detail in this podcast, you can seek help by going to channel 4.com/support

Our political editor Gary Gibbon looks back at the week that was in Westminster.

Sources: BBC News, ITV News

With inflation rates in the UK at a 30 year high, energy bills set to increase at a record rate in April, how is the government responding to the cost of living crisis? 

And why could Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine mean we have to pay higher gas bills in the UK?

On today’s Fourcast, we speak to our Business and Global Trade Correspondent, Paul McNamara, about why the UK’s cost of living is soaring, meaning many people are having to choose between heating or eating.

Sources: DW News, Bloomberg, BBC News