Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 3 September 2022

1. Gazprom shuts down pipeline indefinitely

Russia’s crucial gas pipeline to Germany will not reopen as planned today, state energy firm Gazprom has said. The company claimed it had discovered an oil leak in a turbine on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, meaning it would be closed indefinitely. The move came hours after G7 countries agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil in a bid to stem the flow of funds to Moscow. The development raises fears that Europe, and Germany in particular, will be forced to significantly curtail power usage for households and businesses this year.

2. Police chief condemns Truss’ plans

A police chief has described Liz Truss’s plans for law and order as “unwise” and “meaningless”, accusing her of chasing “soundbite-friendly” but unrealistic targets. Writing for The Guardian, chief constable Richard Lewis, the lead on performance for the National Police Chiefs Council, said the Tory leadership hopeful’s “back to basics” rhetoric did not serve the public. He also urged ministers to stop describing the recruitment of 20,000 officers as an “uplift”, as it was replacing those lost since 2010.

3. Fears for Queen as she misses games

The Queen will miss today’s Braemar Gathering, the Highland Games event that she attends most years. The BBC said it is understood the decision has been taken for the comfort of Her Majesty who has been suffering from mobility problems since last year. The Mirror said fears for the health of the 96-year-old monarch have “deepened” as she has not been seen in public since July 21. However, Palace sources insisted Her Majesty remained “pin sharp”.

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4. Empty classified folders at Trump resort

Among the items the FBI retrieved from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort were 90 empty folders marked classified or for return to the White House staff secretary or a military aide, according an inventory from last month’s raid. The folders are “designed to intentionally obscure their contents and are often reused,” explained CNN. The Guardian said the “startling discovery” raised the prospect that “some of the US government’s most closely guarded secrets could remain unaccounted for,” even after the FBI went through Mar-a-Lago and retrieved vast amounts of materials from the property.

5. Bus fares capped at £2

Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 from January to March next year, the government has said. The plan could see some passengers save more than £3 per single bus ticket during the cost-of-living crisis, according to the Department for Transport but Labour said the plan “fails to match the scale of the crisis”. Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said the £2 cap his organisation had called for was “welcome news” for millions of people.

6. Apology for hanged man’s family

The family of a man who was wrongly convicted of murder have been given a police apology 70 years after he was executed. Mahmood Mattan, a British Somali and former seaman, was hanged in 1952 after he was convicted of murdering shopkeeper Lily Volpert in her store in Cardiff. South Wales Police apologised and said: “This is a case very much of its time - racism, bias and prejudice would have been prevalent throughout society, including the criminal justice system.” During his trial, even Mattan’s own defence barrister described him as a “semi-civilised savage”.

7. New Israeli rule condemned

A new rule dictating that foreigners must tell the Israeli defence ministry if they fall in love with a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank has been widely condemned. The rule also states that, if the couple marries, they will be required to leave after 27 months for a cooling-off period of at least six months. Palestinians and Israeli NGOs have accused Israel of “taking restrictions to a new level”. A longstanding Israeli ban on granting residency status to foreign spouses of Palestinians in the West Bank means that thousands of people live with an uncertain legal status.

8. Williams plays ‘final match’

Serena Williams brought down the curtain on her illustrious career after she lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic at the US Open. The 40-year old said she expected it to be her final match. During her 27-year professional career she won 23 major singles titles, “which will go down as the most by any player in the Open Era and just one shy of Margaret Court's all-time record,” said CNN. “I’m feeling really sorry just because I love Serena just as much as you guys do,” said Tomljanovic after her victory. “What she’s done for the sport of tennis is incredible.”

9. Poll names UK’s best attractions

Royal Yacht Britannia and Fountains Abbey have been voted the top UK attractions in a survey by the consumer body Which. Following the poll of nearly 3,000 members, the group said it was “easy to see why” the historic sites topped the survey at 88%. “Both Fountains Abbey and the Royal Yacht Britannia offer a unique day out with visitors telling us they enjoyed the opportunity to immerse themselves in a slice of history for the day,” said a spokesman. Behind the top two in third was the Roman Baths and Pump Room in Bath.

10. Activists glue themselves in Commons

Eight people have been arrested after Extinction Rebellion activists superglued themselves around the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons and padlocked their necks to the railings outside. Dozens of the group’s supporters the “took non-violent action” to demand a citizens’ assembly to discuss the climate crisis. A speech read out by activists in the chamber said: “We are in crisis. And what goes on in this chamber every day makes a joke out of us all.”