Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 30 Jun 2018

1. NHS to scrap 17 treatments deemed 'ineffective or risky'

A series of 17 treatments including tonsils removal, breast reductions and snoring surgery will be offered to far fewer patients from next year. NHS officials are to consider proposals to stop or reduce 17 routine procedures deemed to be "ineffective or risky". The health service hopes the measures will save £200m a year. "We have to spend taxpayers’ money wisely," said a spokesperson.

2. North Korea 'secretly increasing nuclear production'

Intelligence agencies in the US believe North Korea has increased production of fuel for nuclear weapons at secret sites in recent months. NBC news says it is believed that Kim Jong Un may try to conceal the sites during talks with the United States. The news is a blow for Donald Trump who tweeted earlier this month that "there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea".

3. Hillsborough detective Duckenfield to face trial this autumn

David Duckenfield, a retired chief superintendent, has been charged with manslaughter by gross negligence relating to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. Duckenfield, 73, was the match commander for South Yorkshire police at the FA Cup semi-final when Liverpool fans were crushed. He faces 95 charges of gross negligence manslaughter. Asked last year how he would plead, he said: "It wouldn’t be appropriate to speculate."

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. Surge in UK citizens acquiring nationality of UK countries

The BBC reports that there has been a surge in UK citizens acquiring the nationality of another EU country since the Brexit referendum. Last year, a total of 12,994 UK citizens obtained the nationality of one of the 17 member states the data covers, compared with 5,025 in 2016 and just 1,800 in 2015. The most common new nationality was German.

5. Roads melt and rails buckle as Britain bakes

Roads are melting and train lines are buckling as the heatwave continues in Britain. As temperatures continued to soar with 33C (91.4F) recorded in Porthmadog, Wales, the public are being urged to reduce the amount of water they use and the first hosepipe ban is set to come into force. A spokesman for the Met Office said: "I think for now temperatures have peaked."

6. Virgin will stop working with government on deportations

Virgin Atlantic has announced it will stop working with the Home Office on forcible deportations of people deemed to be illegal immigrants. The airline said the move was "in the best interest of our customers and people". Concern and controversy have grown over the ejection of Windrush generation migrants and LGBT asylum seekers.

7. Supermarket shelves may empty as CO2 crisis worsens

Britain faces a shortage of food supplies as part of the growing crisis sparked by the shortage of carbon dioxide. Chains have warned that some products are already unavailable and the situation may worsen. The shortage of CO2 has been caused by unexpected closure of factories. It is used for carbonating soft drinks, packaging meat and bakery items and in the slaughter process of pigs and chickens.

8. Trump wants war on Western world order say EU leaders

Donald Trump has declared that the European Union, Nato and the World Trade Organisation are bad for America, reports The Times. During a Brussels summit this week, EU leaders discussed fears that the US president’s policies could lead to the "worst-case scenario" of Nato breaking up. Donald Tusk said Trump posed a serious threat to western unity.

9. Tom Daley and Lance Black announce birth of their son

The diver Tom Daley and his US film-maker husband Dustin Lance Black have become parents. The couple revealed the news in The Times. Their announcement read: "BLACK-DALEY On 27th June 2018 to Thomas Robert Daley and Dustin Lance Black, a son, Robert Ray." The Olympian’s father, who died of cancer in 2011, was also called Robert.

10. Great White shark is spotted off Spanish coast

A great white shark has been spotted off Majorca in the first confirmed sighting in Spanish waters for more than four decades. The five-metre (16.4 ft) shark was tracked by an international conservation team in the Cabrera Archipelago National Park. This is the first confirmed incident since 1976, when a Majorca fisherman caught a specimen measuring more than six metres.