Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 20 August 2022

1. Gove backs Rishi Sunak

Michael Gove has announced he will back Rishi Sunak to be the next Conservative Party leader. Writing for The Times, the former levelling up secretary said that Liz Truss’s refusal to offer more support over rising energy bills and to just focus on tax cuts marked a “holiday from reality”. He also announced that he will step down from frontline politics. “I do not expect to be in government again,” he wrote. “But it was the privilege of my life to spend 11 years in the cabinet under three prime ministers.”

2. Putin allows UN to visit plant

Vladimir Putin has said UN officials will be granted permission to visit and inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex. The Kremlin made the announcement after a call between the Russian president and French leader Emmanuel Macron. “Both leaders noted the importance” of sending the IAEA experts to the plant for an assessment of “the situation on the ground,” the Kremlin said. Meanwhile, Western officials said Ukraine’s strikes on Crimea are having significant psychological and operational effects on Moscow’s forces.

3. Energy rises hit high street

Cafes, restaurants and shops are facing closure as soaring energy bills hit the high street, said industry leaders. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses say they may be forced to shut down or downsize as a result of massive increases to energy bills this winter. The spiralling bills pose an “existential threat” to many firms who face a “bleak” autumn and winter, the Federation of Small Businesses warned. Experts said a wave of insolvencies and bankruptcies would deepen Britain’s looming recession.

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4. Truss backed NHS cuts

Liz Truss personally supported cuts to the NHS, arguing that the health service “cannot be put on a pedestal”. A newly resurfaced opinion piece was written by Truss to support a thinktank report she co-authored that called for patients to be charged for GP appointments and doctors’ pay to be slashed by 10%. Although the foreign secretary has tried to distance herself from the document, the emergence of the accompanying article is “likely to embarrass the Tory leadership frontrunner,” as it shows “she was actually fully supportive of the ideas set out in the 2009 report,” said The Guardian.

5. Militants attack Somali hotel

Officials said 10 people have been killed after al-Shabab militants stormed a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Police said attackers detonated two explosives outside the hotel before entering the building and opening fire. A website affiliated to al-Shabab said a group of militants had “forcibly entered” the hotel and were “carrying out random shooting”. Al-Shabab, which has been fighting to topple the Somali government for more than 10 years, wants to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law, said Al Jazeera.

6. Amazon Prime subscriptions plummeting

The number of UK Amazon Prime subscriptions fell by 590,000 in the second quarter of the year, according to Ofcom. The Telegraph noted that although the cost of living has also impacted Amazon’s rivals, the online shopping giant is among the worst hit. Sarah Simon, a Berenberg analyst, said cost-cutting consumers are targeting their Amazon Prime subscription because most people buy it for free shipping. “It would be logical that a product targeting shopping and consumer spending rather than video specifically would be worse than [Netflix and Disney+],” she explained.

7. Giggs has ‘fantastic temperament’

Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has told a court that Ryan Giggs has a “fantastic temperament” and never lost his temper despite often being on the “sharp end of my tongue”. Giggs denies assaulting Kate Greville at his home after she confronted him about his infidelity on November 1, 2020. The court heard that Greville wrote a “final goodbye” letter to Giggs, accusing him of having affairs with at least eight women days before he allegedly headbutted her. The trial continues.

8. Cineworld faces bankruptcy

Cineworld will file for bankruptcy after a collapse in audiences during the Covid crisis. The cinema chain has hired lawyers and consultants ahead of potential petitions in US and UK courts. Shares in the London-listed company shed as much as 80% of their value, tumbling to a new low of 1.8 pence before closing at 4.1 pence after the news was reported by the Wall Street Journal. Philippa Childs, head of the entertainment and media union Bectu, said the UK’s cinema sector “suffered an incredible blow due to Covid-19 and this latest news will be very unsettling for cinema workers”.

9. Pilots ‘fell asleep and missed landing’

Two pilots are believed to have fallen asleep and missed their landing during a flight from Sudan to Ethiopia, reported Aviation Herald. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 was en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa “when the pilots fell asleep,” said the report. Data suggests that the aircraft was cruising at 37,000 feet on autopilot when it failed to descend at its scheduled destination. “Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety – internationally,” said aviation analyst Alex Macheras.

10. Texan schools withdraw Bible

The Bible and an adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary have been withdrawn from Texan schools after parental complaints. After officials in Keller independent school district, near Fort Worth, said books previously cleared as suitable for pupils would have to be assessed again, at least one person objected to the Bible due to its “sexual content, violence including rape, murder, human sacrifice, misogyny, homophobia, discrimination, and other inappropriate content”. Meanwhile, reported the Dallas Morning News, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation was queried on the basis that it should be only be read with an adult.