Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 30 Aug 2018

1. Energy drinks to be banned for children

Theresa May has opened a public consultation on plans to ban the sale of energy drinks to children, amid fears about the negative health impact of the sugar and caffeine-laden products. The ban would apply only in England, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may follow suit. British children are among the biggest consumers of the drinks in Europe.

2. Sturgeon’s ‘huge sadness’ as Salmond quits

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has spoken of her “huge sadness” after her predecessor, Alex Salmond, announced that he has resigned from the SNP. Salmond yesterday launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for legal action against the Scottish government over its handling of sexual assault allegations against him, which he denies.

3. French scallop fishermen ‘rammed by UK boats’

French scallop dredgers have disputed claims that they attacked their British counterparts as they tried legally to collect the shellfish near Normandy, insisting that the UK boats rammed the French vessels. Around 40 French boats are reported to have blockaded five British boats, but the French insist that the British were the aggressors.

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4. Aung San Suu Kyi ‘should have resigned’

Outgoing UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein has said that de facto Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi should have resigned over her failure to stop the military carrying out a brutal campaign against the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority group last year. A new report from the UN says the events amounted to genocide.

5. Jennifer Lawrence nude pictures hacker jailed

The Apple iCloud hacker who made public nude photos of actor Jennifer Lawrence and other famous people was yesterday sentenced to eight months in a US jail for his crimes. George Garofano, 26, hacked the accounts of 240 people, not all of them celebrities. Three other hackers have already received sentences of between nine and 18 months.

6. Argentina asks IMF for emergency release of $50bn bailout

Argentine President Mauricio Macri has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release a promised $50bn (£38bn) bailout loan immediately, ahead of schedule, as the country’s economic crisis worsens. There have been national protests against the loan, with critics blamed the IMF for Artentina’s 2001 economic collapse after the US-based organisation denied financial support.

7. Homeless man sues couple over fundraising

A homeless man in Philadelphia is suing a couple who started an online fundraising campaign for him, alleging they used the $400,000 (£307,000) donations as their own “piggy bank”. Johnny Bobbitt claims that Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico used to money to fund trips to Las Vegas and Florida and buy a BMW. Bobbitt lived with the couple but is now back on the streets.

8. DNA under claws may catch cat killer, say police

Police in Washington state hunting a sadistic cat killer hope to catch the culprit after DNA was found under the claws of one of his victims. At least a dozen cats have been killed and mutilated in the area, in a case similar to that of Britain’s so-called Croydon cat killer. If convicted, the US killer could face two years in jail for each cat they have killed.

9. Ed Sheeran secretly married

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has revealed to an interviewer that he secretly married his childhood friend Cherry Seaborn. The pair met in school but only became a couple in 2015, announcing their engagement earlier this year. Seaborn is a hockey player who helped England under-21s to a bronze medal in 2012.

10. Briefing: is Labour facing an imminent split?

Jeremy Corbyn and his allies fear an imminent schism in Labour may see dozens of MPs quitting the party to sit as independents until the next general election, according to reports.

Some in the Corbyn camp “are already gaming when the split might occur and how much damage it would inflict”, reports the Financial Times.

Could Labour split over Brexit?