Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Wednesday 26 Sep 2018

1. Corbyn: I will create 400,000 green jobs

Jeremy Corbyn will tell the Labour Party conference today that he will create 410,000 green jobs if elected, by committing to a 60% target for renewable energy in the UK by 2030. Making the closing speech to the annual gathering, he will say that Labour would double the number of rural windfarms and put solar panels on “every viable roof”.

2. US warns Iran it will have ‘hell to pay’

US national security adviser John Bolton yesterday warned Iran: “If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens, there will indeed be hell to pay.” Bolton has previously argued for military action on Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday criticised the Trump administration for its hostility.

3. Abramovich accused of money laundering

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, best known in the UK as the owner of Chelsea FC, is accused of money laundering and links to organised crime in a Swiss police report. The 51-year-old withdrew an application for Swiss citizenship after the report concluded he posed a threat to public safety and might damage the country’s reputation.

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4. Feminist poster removed over hate claims

A poster paid for by a feminist campaigner in Liverpool to coincide with the Labour Party conference has been taken down because it was said to be offensive to transgender people. The poster carried just six words: “Woman, women, noun: adult human female.” Campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull said its removal was “Orwellian”.

5. Bill Cosby jailed for 10 years for sex assaults

Once-beloved TV actor Bill Cosby was led out of a US court in handcuffs yesterday to start a three- to 10-year jail sentence for sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. Judge Steven O’Neill told the 81-year-old he was a “sexually violent predator” who must have monthly counselling for the rest of his life. More than 60 women have accused him.

6. Allied bombing raids ‘shook up space’ in 1942

Bombing raids on Germany during the second world war were so intense they disturbed the ionosphere, a layer of electrified particles between 31 and 620 miles above the surface of Earth which was significantly weakened by the shockwaves. Modern scientists discovered the impact by analysing data recorded in the 1940s.

7. Beluga whale in Thames ‘could be in trouble’

Wildlife experts say a beluga whale spotted in the Thames estuary may be in trouble. The animal, which usually makes its home in the High Arctic close to polar ice, seems to be on its own. It was spotted feeding around barges off Coalhouse Fort in Essex by ecologist Dave Andrews, who said he couldn’t believe his eyes on seeing it.

8. Survey: more than 50% of students cook drunk

A survey suggests that more than half UK students have cooked while drunk, one in seven have fallen asleep while waiting for their meal to cook and one quarter have put a metal knife or fork into a toaster. The charity Electrical Safety First, which surveyed 1,136 students, says it is asking young people “not to drink and fry” for safety reasons.

9. Royal Mail: please don’t post crisp packets

Royal Mail has asked people not to post crisp packets after a campaign group tried to start a wave of protest postings in an attempt to make Walkers crisps adopt more environmentally-friendly packaging. The national mail carrier said the packets can only be sorted by hand, not by machines, and therefore slow down the postal service.

10. Briefing: what would the UK be like under Labour?

The unveiling of Labour’s policies for a large-scale overhaul of the UK have been met with a mixture of optimism and derision outside of the party’s conference halls in Liverpool.

Here is what the party is proposing.

What would the UK be like under Jeremy Corbyn?