Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 20 Aug 2016

1. Donald Trump pitches directly to African-American voters

Donald Trump has made a direct appeal to black voters, asking them: "What do you have to lose?" The Republican presidential candidate told a nearly all-white audience in Michigan that black voters "are living in poverty" and their "schools are no good". He also predicted he would receive 95% of the African-American vote if he went to on to run for a second term in 2020.

2. Private landlords take £9.3bn in housing benefit

Record amounts of taxpayers' money are being paid to private landlords, new figures show. Analysis by the National Housing Federation reveals that the budget for placing social tenants in private rental accommodation has soared, doubling from £4.6bn in 2006, to £9.3bn last year. The data raises new concerns about government policy of shifting housing benefit recipients into the private sector.

3. Abortion provider Marie Stopes suspends services

A leading abortion provider has suspended terminations under general anaesthetic, and to under 18s, after inspections. The Care Quality Commission raised concerns about patient safety before Marie Stopes International suspended a number of services. Officials voiced fears about vulnerable women not being properly safeguarded, problems with training and the use of anaesthesia and sedation.

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

4. Parents sue private schools over disappointing grades

Parents are increasingly taking private schools to court over their children’s grades, say lawyers. Scott Craddock, 57, a retired truck driver, is trying to recover £125,000 in fees from Abbotsholme School in Rocester, Staffordshire, after his son left with one GCSE. He said that the establishment did not provide value for money and his son would have done better at a comprehensive.

5. 'Buzz and vibe' as London's Night Tube is launched

London mayor Sadiq Khan was among those to board the first Night Tube train in the early hours of Saturday morning. Khan chatted with passengers on the Victoria Line train, which departed from Brixton, south London, at 00.34 BST. He said: "You can feel the buzz, you can feel the vibe. People are really excited. What's important is we got the detail and the planning right."

6. RBS to start charging large UK clients to hold cash

Royal Bank of Scotland is to charge some corporate customers for holding their cash. In the first sign that the Bank of England’s decision to cut rates to historic lows is forcing banks to collect negative interest from deposit holders, the state-backed lender has written to some of its investment banking division clients to warn them it will apply negative interest rates from Monday.

7. Rip Off Britain presenter conned out of £120,000

Gloria Hunniford was cheated out of £120,000 by a fraudster who posed as her and then went on a shopping spree buying clothes and Rolex watches with accomplices, a court has been told. The 76-year-old broadcaster, who presents the BBC’s Rip Off Britain, found that her bank account had been drained days after the impostor posed as her at a Santander branch.

8. Teenage boys attacked by a trio of otters

Two teenagers have been attacked by three otters while swimming in Lake Shasta, in northern California. Chris Whitney, 13, and his pal Jacob Savage, 14, had been leaping off rocks at the lake when the animals began the assault. "So we had to swim back about 70 yards, back to our camp, and they just kept getting at our legs and our feet," Chris told local media.

9. Why British women are losing their love of red lipstick

British women are falling out of love with red lipstick, according to new research. A survey conducted by Avon found that over half of British women are "too shy" to wear red lipstick. Of the 2,000 women polled, 54% agreed that red was a tricky colour to wear. Some 43% also agreed that it would be unprofessional for their GP to wear it.

10. Olympics: Usain Bolt wins historic triple triple

Usain Bolt has completed an unprecedented Olympic 'triple triple'. The sprinter helped Jamaica land 4x100m relay gold, having already taken the 100m and 200m individual titles, to match his feats in 2008 and 2012. Team GB took bronze in the women's 4x100m relay medal, while Lutalo Muhammad won silver in the men's taekwondo -80kg. They now have 60 medals, five short of the 65 won in London.