Lawsuit of the week

Usama Malik, ex-chief financial officer at biotech company Immunomedics, and his former partner, Lauren Wood, who had also previously worked at the firm, have been charged with insider trading, says David Smagalla in The Wall Street Journal. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulator, and the New Jersey US attorney’s office claim Malik and Woods were living together in April 2020 when Malik learned that the US drugs regulator – the Food and Drug Administration – would allow Immunomedics to halt a clinical trial for a breast-cancer drug, after data showed that the drug was effective. A trading blackout barred him or anyone in his household from buying the company’s stock. But according to court papers, it is alleged that Malik passed the information to Wood, who bought around $64,000-worth of shares, realising a $213,000 profit three months later. In September 2020, Gilead Sciences agreed to buy Immunomedics for $21bn.

Good week for: Alexander McLeish

of Massachusetts, US, was recovering from open-heart surgery at home when he received a get-well card from a friend. Inside were some state lottery scratch cards in the form of a crossword game. McLeish scratched the letters off one to reveal his initials, and then the word “heart”. The card yielded a $1m prize at odds of a million to one. “Everything is moving forward in the right direction”, he told The Washington Post.

Belfast-based activists the have won the prestigious £25,000 Turner Prize 2021. Their art installation takes the form of an Irish drinking den, or síbín, adorned with banners advocating social justice. It feels “deeply traditional”, says the BBC’s David Sillito. “But [a deeper look]... reveals hidden political messages about sexuality and identity.” Four other collectives each won £10,000 runner-up prizes.

Bad week for:

Richard E. Grant (pictured) returned from a trip to South Africa just as new Covid-19 restriction s wer eim posed on the country, says The Mail on Sunday. The actor’s quarantine in a Holiday Inn at Gatwick cost him £228a night, yet the food was “grim”, he tweeted, posting pictures of a tuna and cucumber sandwich and a sausage casserole. A “non-quarantine” Holiday Inn nearby was charging just £89. “You do the maths, as I am confounded.”

Array Collective

US billionaire Michael Steinhardt,who ran a successful hedge fund in the 1970s and 1980s, has been obliged to surrender 180 stolen artefacts worth $70m in total, reports CNBC. He ha sa lso been banned for life from buying antiquities , following a four-year investigation by the New York district attorney. Prosecutors said the pieces had been looted and smuggled out of 11 countries. Steinhardt insists he was unaware of the items’ provenance, and no criminal charges have been filed.