Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 2 Aug 2018

1. Zimbabwe: government crackdown condemned

The international community has called on political leaders in Zimbabwe to show restraint after violence broke out during the count of the first election to be held since Robert Mugabe was removed from office. Three people were killed yesterday when government troops cracked down on protests by the opposition MDC, using guns.

2. Bank of England poised to raise interest rates

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee is widely expected to say today it is raising the base rate of interest from 0.5% to 0.75%. If the predictions are correct, it will end a nine and a half-year period in which interest rates have been no higher than 0.5%. Some experts warn that the UK economy is not yet strong enough for a raise.

3. Refugee maths prize winner has medal stolen

A man who came to the UK as a refugee from Kurdish Iran won one of the most prestigious prizes in maths yesterday, the Fields Medal, only to have it stolen minutes later. Professor Caucher Birkar was given the award at a convention centre in Brazil. He left his briefcase on a table and the 14-carat gold medal – and his wallet – were taken.

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4. New Zealand PM Ardern back at work after birth

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is back at work, six weeks after becoming the second world leader ever to give birth in office. The 38-year-old had her daughter Neve on 21 June. She said she was “privileged” to have a partner who could help with childcare – and added she would take her baby to a UN meeting next month.

5. Paris harassment victim sets up website for others

A woman who was sexually harassed and then punched outside a Paris cafe, the assault captured on CCTV, has set up a website for other victims to report incidents. Marie Laguerre, 22, has created Nous Toutes Harcelement (We Are All Harassed) to collect anonymous accounts of such incidents. Her attacker has not yet been identified.

6. Not drinking alcohol ‘increases risk of dementia’

A study of 9,000 people in the UK has found that not drinking alcohol in middle age was associated with an increased risk of contracting dementia later in life – though the reason for the link is not known. Conversely, those who drank very heavily in middle age were found to have an increased risk. Moderate drinkers were less susceptible.

7. Super-Earth Kepler 452b ‘most likely for life’

A planet dubbed the ‘super-Earth’ because it is similar to our home world but one and a half times bigger has been identified as the ‘exoplanet’ most likely to host life because it has been found to have the right levels of ultraviolet light to kick start the process. Kepler 452b is one of 4,000 known planets orbiting a different star than our Sun.

8. Heatwave continues: 31C for London this weekend

While cooler, rainy weather has returned to the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, southern parts of the UK will still enjoy heatwave temperatures this weekend, the Met Office says. The thermometer could register as high as 31C in London over the weekend, after reaching 29C on Friday. It will remain hot well into next week.

9. Harry Kane fiver ‘worth £50,000’ spent in shop

A five pound note engraved with a tiny portrait of England football captain Harry Kane has gone into circulation in Wales. Micro-engraver Graham Short, who added Jane Austen to notes in 2016, spent the note in an off licence in Merthyr Tydfil – and saw it given in change to another customer. It is said the note could be worth £50,000.

10. Briefing: why the US midterm elections matter

The 2018 US midterm elections are less than 100 days away - and Donald Trump has reason to be nervous.

The stakes for the president “are extremely high, since a Democratic victory in either the House of Representatives or the Senate would give the party the power to open investigations into various aspects of his administration”, says the Financial Times.

Midterm elections 2018: why they are important for the world