Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 10 November 2021

1. Planet ‘set for deadly 2.4C warming’

The planet is headed for 2.4C of global warming despite pledges made at the climate summit Cop26, according to new analysis. The summit “has a massive credibility, action and commitment gap,” according to the Climate Action Tracker. The forecast came after the UK’s Met Office warned that a billion people could be affected by fatal heat and humidity if the global average temperature rises by 2C above pre-industrial levels.

An essential guide to Cop26

2. Cox and IDS face sleaze allegations

Conservative grandee Sir Geoffrey Cox has been referred to the Commons anti-sleaze watchdog after apparently using his parliamentary office to defend the British Virgin Islands government in a corruption case brought by the UK government. Meanwhile, as the sleaze scandal surrounding the government deepens, Iain Duncan Smith is under pressure over his £25,000-a-year second job advising a multimillion-pound hand sanitiser company after he chaired a government taskforce that recommended new rules benefiting the firm.

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A timeline of the Tory sleaze allegations

3. Care workers face sack under jab rule

Nearly 32,000 unvaccinated care home workers are facing the sack from tomorrow as a ban on staff who haven’t been vaccinated against Covid-19 comes into force. Care-home workers in England were given a deadline of 11 November to receive both jabs or be dismissed from their roles unless they are medically exempt. Meanwhile, reported The Times, requiring NHS staff to be double-jabbed against Covid-19 is likely to prompt 73,000 workers to leave frontline roles.

The pros and cons of compulsory vaccination

4. Judge rules against Trump

A US judge has ruled that a congressional committee can access some of Donald Trump’s White House records. The former US president had argued the materials were covered by executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some White House communications. However, the judge declared that “presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president”. In another blow to Trump, the ruling came on the day 10 Trump aides were issued with legal summonses to testify before lawmakers.

What is Donald Trump up to now?

5. Universal Credit ‘expands to middle class’

Single parents paying the higher rate of tax will be entitled to Universal Credit as part of a “major expansion of the welfare state’s reach into the middle classes,” reported The Telegraph. Rishi Sunak’s reforms will mean many workers on more than £50,000 can now claim the state support, with an extra 600,000 families entitled to receive Universal Credit, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Benefits vs. costs: is Universal Credit fit for purpose?

6. Poland blames Moscow for migrants

Poland has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind a migrant crisis at Belarus’s border with Poland. With around 2,000 migrants stuck at the border in freezing conditions, Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that although Belarus’s authoritarian leader is orchestrating the crisis, “it has its mastermind in Moscow”. Belarus denies that it is sending people over the border as revenge for EU sanctions.

What can be done to end the Belarus border crisis?

7. Harry ‘warned Twitter over coup’

The Duke of Sussex has said he warned Twitter boss Jack Dorsey about political unrest in the US just 24 hours before the 6 January riots. “I warned him his platform was allowing a coup to be staged,” Prince Harry said at the RE:WIRED tech forum in the US. “That email was sent the day before. And then it happened and I haven’t heard from him since,” the prince added. The riot saw a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters storm the Capitol building in Washington DC.

Capitol Hill rioters: ‘Congress members helped plan attack’

8. Huntswoman removed from Pony Club

A woman filmed by animal rights activists apparently attacking a horse has been removed from her position with the Pony Club after an outcry on social media over the footage. The woman, named in reports as Sarah Moulds, 37, a primary school teacher, has been axed after the video showed a horse being kicked in the torso, slapped repeatedly in the face, and dragged back to a trailer. The Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs group said it filmed the incident on Saturday.

9. Activist Malala gets married

Malala Yousafzai has tied the knot with her partner during an Islamic ceremony in Birmingham. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and Asser Malik took part in a nikkah ceremony, where bride and groom consent to be married. The 24-year-old girls’ education activist said it was “a precious day” in her life. She found refuge in the West Midlands after being shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012.

Malala: from child campaigner to Nobel Peace Prize winner

10. Mooning man aggressively arrested

A terminally ill man who bared his backside to a speed camera van says he was “gobsmacked” to be arrested at home. Darrell Meekcom, who was recently told he has multiple system atrophy, was forced to the ground during his arrest within hours of the prank. The wheelchair user said six officers arrived at his home and asked to be let in. When he refused, his garden gate was kicked in and the officers pushed him to the ground to handcuff him.