Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 4 Sep 2018

1. Heart-age tests show 80% of adults at risk of early death

Four out of five adults have hearts that are more damaged than they should be for their age, increasing their risk of early death, a new Public Health England study has found. Doctors said the findings from the online “heart age” test, completed by 1.9 million people, were “really alarming” and show the urgent need for people to stop smoking, eat better and exercise more.

2. UK losing foreign students, universities warn

The UK is losing international students and “missing out” on the fees they would pay by refusing to allow them to stay and work after graduation, Universities UK is warning. This right to work in Britain was withdrawn following claims that foreign students were overstaying their visas - a move that the universities representative group says is driving students to go to countries such as Australia instead.

3. New Zealand PM queried over flight to see baby

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has provoked controversy by arranging for an air force Boeing 757 to fly her to a summit separately from her deputy, at an estimated additional cost of NZ$50,000 to NZ$100,000 (£25,000 to £50,000), so that she could spend more time with her 11-week-old daughter. Ardern, only the second world leader to give birth in office in modern times, is flying to the Pacific island of Nauru tomorrow to attend the Pacific Islands Forum, while her deputy flew out on Monday.

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4. Former Trump aide Bannon dropped from festival

Former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon has been dropped from a literary event run by The New Yorker magazine following scathing rebukes and high-profile dropouts from the festival’s line-up. Editor David Remnick had said that Bannon, the former boss of the far-right Breitbart website, was to be asked “difficult questions”, but other guests and members of the public were unconvinced.

5. Labour expected to adopt anti-Semitism definition

Labour’s ruling committee is expected to decide at a meeting today that the party will fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, having previously omitted one example over fears it would stifle debate. Labour will also issue a clarification emphasising the right to non-racist free speech on Israel.

6. BBC newsreader ‘only has days to live’

BBC Radio 5 Live newsreader Rachael Bland has revealed on social media that she has been told by doctors she has “only got days” left to live, after being diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. The 40-year-old mother of one wrote in The Sunday Telegraph that she is “not scared of dying” and only fears “for those I leave behind”.

7. Tories block membership for UKIP backer Banks

The Conservatives have refused to allow former UKIP backer Arron Banks and his associate Andy Wigmore from joining the party, blocking membership applications from the pair. Banks had called on UKIP members to join the Conservatives in a bid to ensure that Theresa May’s version of Brexit is abandoned in favour of something more drastic.

8. Abu Dhabi delays display of Leonardo picture

The Abu Dhabi offshoot of the Louvre art gallery has delayed the display of the world’s most expensive painting, Salvator Mundi, without explanation. Believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci, the painting sold for $450m (£350m) in New York last year, despite questions over its attribution.

9. Tube train alarms passengers with open doors

Transport for London has apologised after a train on the Jubilee line of the London Underground train hurtled along the track with its doors open. Witness Rory Brown said that “at least ten different doors along one side” stayed open as the train travelled between stations near Finchley Road. TfL took the train out of service following the incident on Saturday afternoon.

10. Briefing: what happened to Sinead McNamara?

Greek authorities have launched an investigation into the death of an Australian social media influencer whose body was found on a Mexican billionaire’s superyacht.

Instagram model Sinead McNamara, 20, was discovered unconscious on Thursday on the boat, which was docked on the Greek island of Kefalonia.

What happened to Australian model Sinead McNamara?