Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 2 June 2022

1. Ministers could join PM rebellion

Tory sources have warned that cabinet ministers and parliamentary aides could vote to oust Boris Johnson in a confidence ballot that could be triggered as soon as next week. One source, a rebel MP, told the inews site: “There’s so much unhappiness. Some of it in the ministerial ranks, some of it in the PPS ranks.” The PM hopes to get a four-day reprieve from his leadership crisis over the Platinum Jubilee weekend.

2. Secret trials for Everard activists

Six people are being prosecuted by the Metropolitan police for allegedly breaching Covid restrictions during a vigil for Sarah Everard, who was murdered by a Met officer. Four of the group were listed under the Single Justice Procedure, a paper-based process not held in open court. Metro said reports of the closed hearing was “a shock to many” after the Met lost its bid to appeal a High Court ruling against its handling of the Clapham Common vigil in March 2021.

3. Heard to appeal Depp verdict

A US jury has found Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp in an article in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse. Jurors awarded Depp - who denied abusing Heard - $15m (£12m) in compensatory and punitive damages. Heard, who has decided to appeal, won one of three counter-claims and was awarded $2m in compensatory damages. Depp was spotted outside a pub in Newcastle after the verdict.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

4. Banker warns of ‘economic hurricane’

The world is facing an economic “hurricane” as the war in Ukraine combines with surging inflation, leading US banker Jamie Dimon has warned. The chief executive of JP Morgan had previously predicted an economic “storm,” but has now upgraded that warning, saying: “That hurricane is right out there down the road coming our way.” Dimon added: “I think it is OK to hope it will end up OK. I hope it. That is my goldilocks. Who the hell knows.”

5. Deaths in Oklahoma shooting

Five people were killed – including a gunman – in a shooting at a hospital campus in the US. Authorities say a man armed with a rifle and handgun opened fire inside a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police arrived at the scene at St Francis Hospital in three minutes - which they say ensured the death toll wasn’t higher. It was the 233rd mass shooting in the US in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

6. Drug lord dies in US jail

The former head of Colombia’s once-powerful drugs cartel has died in prison in the US. Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, who was nicknamed the Chess Player for his skill at staying one step ahead of rivals and the law, once controlled the vast majority of the world’s cocaine trade. However, he was arrested in Colombia and eventually extradited to the US in 2004. His family plans to repatriate his remains to Colombia, they said in a statement.

7. Heavy drinkers ‘happier’

Heavy drinkers are healthier and happier in later years, according to a new study. Researchers questioned hundreds of people aged over 60 attending hospital for routine surgery about their mood and quality of life, and compared this with the amount of alcohol they drank. Those drinking “potentially unhealthy” quantities were slimmer, happier and more mobile than their teetotal and low-drinking counterparts, the researchers found. However, experts say that the study was observational and could not determine cause and effect.

8. Cosby faces new assault claim

Bill Cosby is facing another allegation of sexual assault less than a year after his conviction was thrown out and he walked free from prison. The 85-year-old is facing a civil lawsuit over a claim he sexually assaulted Judy Huth, now 64, at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1975. Huth said that she was 16 she met Cosby at a park near Los Angeles where he was shooting a film. After giving her alcohol he took her to the Playboy Mansion, where he forced her to perform a sex act, she said. Cosby denies any assault took place.

9. Millions have long Covid in UK

Two million adults in the UK are suffering from long Covid, according to official data. The Office for National Statistics estimates that 3.1% of the population have lingering and often debilitating symptoms, including 376,000 people who have had symptoms for at least two years since first catching Covid-19. Fatigue was reported by more than half of people with long Covid, with other commonly reported symptoms including shortness of breath, a cough and muscle aches.

10. Musk ‘orders staff back to office’

Elon Musk has ordered senior staff at Tesla to return to the office for at least 40 hours a week or leave the company, according to reports. In a leaked email sent to executives titled “Remote work is no longer acceptble [sic]”, the colourful entrepreneur seemingly wrote: “Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers.”