Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 4 Jul 2017

1. Hammond: 'We must hold nerve on austerity'

Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday said his policy on public-sector pay has not changed and the government must "hold its nerve" on austerity, despite cabinet ministers suggesting the cap on wage rises could be lifted. A government report yesterday found teachers' pay fell £3 an hour in real terms in ten years.

2. May 'holding back terror funding report'

Theresa May has been accused of suppressing a government report on the funding of extremists in the UK commissioned by David Cameron. A report in The Guardian claims the Prime Minister has refused to make the findings public despite the report being finished last year. Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas says the delay could be due to its focus on Saudi Arabia.

3. Chief medical officer calls for gene testing

England's chief medical officer has called for the NHS to routinely offer DNA tests to cancer patients in order to identify the best treatment. Professor Dame Sally Davies says "whole genome screening" should become as normal as blood tests or biopsies within five years so treatments can be tailored to the individual.

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4. Nearly 50,000 children 'are in gangs'

Around 46,000 children in England are thought to be in gangs, says a report from the children's commissioner, Anne Longfield. It also says around 580,000 children are vulnerable enough to need state help, living in families suffering from addictions or long-term unemployment. Longfield warned the figures were "just the tip of the iceberg".

5. Trump taunts Kim Jong-un after missile attack

Donald Trump responded to a new North Korean missile test by asking if Kim Jong-un had "anything better to do with his life?" A follow-up tweet said China, Pyongyang's closest ally, would "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" Experts said the missile was powerful enough to reach Alaska.

6. Subway to open 500 new branches

Sandwich chain Subway is to open 500 new stores in the UK and Ireland by 2020, bringing its total to 3,000. The chain says it hopes the shops, along with a new online ordering system, will create 5,000 jobs. Around 150 of the stores could open by the end of this year, it added. Closest rival Greggs has 1,698 stores.

7. Grenfell Tower inquiry chief 'to widen scope'

Sir Martin Moore-Bick is reportedly prepared to widen the scope of the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry to consider issues such as building regulations at the time the block was erected and why warnings from residents were ignored. Survivors of the blaze had threatened to boycott the investigation over its limited remit.

8. BBC to fight Netflix on children's viewing

The BBC is to invest an additional £34m in children's services over three years, with a significant part of the new money spent online. The broadcaster says it will reinvent itself "for a new generation" as it tries to beat off competition from the likes of Amazon and Netflix. By 2020, the broadcaster's annual budget for children will be £124.4m.

9. British jihadi Sally Jones 'wants to come home'

British jihadi Sally Jones wants to "come home", claims the wife of an Islamic State fighter who has escaped to a Syrian refugee camp. Jones is a "former punk rocker who became the leading female recruitment officer for IS", says Sky News. Her terrorist husband was killed in an air strike in 2015.

10. Briefing: Five unusual charities worth your money

An increasing number of charities are going beyond traditional models of fundraising and distribution to come up with creative ways to improve the lives of those in need, both at home and abroad.

Facing cuts to their government grants, more social initiatives are going "back to the drawing board" to make up the shortfall, says Huffington Post - and the results are "cause for optimism".

If you've got some money to put towards a good cause, and you'd like to support truly innovative philanthropy at the same time, here are five charities that break the mould.

Five unusual charities worth your money

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