Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 30 August 2022

1. Truss ‘running scared’ of scrutiny

Liz Truss has been accused of “running scared” after she pulled out of an interview with the BBC. Just weeks ago, the foreign secretary agreed to a prime time interview with Nick Robinson on BBC One. However, she has now cancelled. Rishi Sunak, her Tory leadership rival, has already been quizzed by Robinson. “Ms Truss’s team say she can no longer spare the time to appear on Our Next Prime Minister,” said the BBC. “We regret that it has not been possible to do an in-depth interview with both candidates despite having reached agreement to do so.”

Who would serve in a Liz Truss cabinet?

2. ‘$10bn of damage’ in Pakistan

The planning minister in Pakistan said early estimates showed that devastating floods have caused at least $10bn (£8.5bn) of damage. Pakistan received a $1.1bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund yesterday, intended to help the cash-strapped economy avoid defaulting on its debts. All four of the country’s provinces have been hit by unusually heavy rains, with more than 30m people affected.

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In pictures: the most extreme weather events in 2021

3. Ukraine makes progress in the south

Ukraine has broken through Russia’s first line of defence in the occupied Kherson region. Officials said military operations to retake Russian-held areas of the south are underway, with a source telling CNN that Ukraine’s troops had taken back four villages near the city of Kherson. The BBC said the development appears to form part of a “long-awaited counter-offensive” being launched by Kyiv in an attempt to retake the country’s south.

How will the Ukraine war end?

4. Fatal stabbing at Carnival

A murder investigation is underway after a man was stabbed to death at the Notting Hill Carnival. The Metropolitan Police said that at about 8pm on Monday evening officers became aware of a stabbing in Ladbroke Grove, under the Westway flyover. Officers pulled the victim through crowds and provided emergency first aid until paramedics arrived, police said. He was taken to a west London hospital where he was pronounced dead.

5. Tories warn of school crisis

Leading Tories have urged the next PM to address rising cost pressures on schools as a matter of urgency. Many schools in England are already overwhelmed by energy price rises in excess of 200% plus the additional cost of unfunded pay rises and mounting inflation. With the new academic year just days away, school leaders are warning of redundancies, bigger class sizes and cuts to the curriculum. Justine Greening, education secretary under Theresa May, said schools were facing an “education double-hit” after the Covid crisis.

6. Truss to approve more drilling in North Sea

Liz Truss will approve a series of oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea, The Times reported. The North Sea still contains gas and oil equivalent to about 15bn barrels, according to the latest estimates from Offshore Energies UK. Britain’s total energy consumption equates to about a billion barrels of oil a year. Meanwhile, the i news site said that the public will be forced to wait longer for clarity on Truss’s cost-of-living support measures because her team has not had enough “information and data” from the Treasury to draw up plans.

How would Truss and Sunak tackle soaring energy bills?

7. Indonesia probes fruit picker claim

Indonesia is to investigate claims that fruit pickers were charged thousands to work in the UK. A presidential taskforce is examining the recruitment of fruit pickers who said they took on debts of up to £5,000 to secure jobs in Kent. The Indonesia Migrant Workers Protection Bureau, a presidential taskforce, has dispatched four officers to investigate claims that labourers harvesting berries on a Kent farm that supplies leading UK supermarkets had reported facing thousands of pounds in charges to unlicensed brokers in Bali to get work for a single season in the UK.

8. Zahawi flies to US for talks

Nadhim Zahawi is travelling to the US for talks on how to tackle the spiralling cost of living. During what could be his final week as chancellor, Zahawi will meet US bankers and officials to seek “international solutions” to soaring costs. However, Labour said Zahawi was “jetting off to an international chinwag” and going on “another junket at the taxpayers’ expense”. The government has been accused of not doing enough to help people cope with the crisis.

9. Pumpkin warning as Halloween approaches

The UK is facing a shortage of pumpkins as growers warn that poor weather has reduced their harvest by as much as a third. The Telegraph reported that supermarkets are already selling more “wonky” fruit and vegetables in an effort to keep shelves stocked, but pumpkin growers warned that this may be harder with their crops, as they operate in a “time-limited market so people tend to grow their acreage to what they think demand will be”. Experts said there will be a shortage of pumpkins for Halloween.

10. Tea linked to lower risk of death

Drinking tea could be associated with a lower risk of mortality, a study has found. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that compared with those who do not drink tea, people who consumed two or more cups each day had between a 9% and 13% lower risk of death. Last year, The Guardian reported that drinking coffee or tea may be linked with a lower risk of stroke and dementia, according to the largest study of its kind.