Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 4 September 2022

1. Police fear disorder during winter crisis

Police forces expect a surge in crime, a breakdown in public order and corruption in their ranks this winter, reported The Sunday Times. A leaked national strategy paper, drawn up by police chiefs this summer, has revealed they are increasingly concerned that “economic turmoil and financial instability” has “potential to drive increases in particular crime types,” including shoplifting, burglary and vehicle theft, as well as online fraud and blackmail, and crimes that “rely on exploiting financial vulnerability”.

2. Zelenska spells out war’s impact

The first lady of Ukraine said that although the economic impact of the war in Ukraine is tough on its allies, while Britons “count pennies”, Ukrainians “count casualties”. Speaking to the BBC, Olena Zelenska said: “The prices are going up in Ukraine as well. But in addition our people get killed.” The first lady, who has been married to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since 2003, said that she rarely saw her husband, but they talk every day.

3. Tories fear Truss will worsen divisions

Leading Conservatives are warning Liz Truss that she will lead a deeply divided Tory party to defeat at the next election if she packs her cabinet with Boris Johnson loyalists. Senior Tories fear that Truss, who is expected to be named party leader and prime minister next week, plans to fill her administration with a blend of Johnson loyalists and rightwingers such as John Redwood and Iain Duncan Smith, inflaming tension with the moderate wing of the party.

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4. Queen ‘on tenterhooks’ for criticism

Harry and Meghan keep criticising the royal family because it’s good for business, royal sources have claimed. “Everyone hoped they would go off to be financially independent, pursue their philanthropic endeavours and be happy,” a royal source told The Sunday Times, “but the star power of them requires an association with the royal family, and the fuel on those flames is the family discord”. A source also said tensions between the royals and Harry and Meghan mean the Queen is “on tenterhooks all the time, waiting to see what the next nuclear bomb will be”.

5. Nasa postpones rocket launch again

NASA has called off the launch of its Artemis 1 rocket after a leak developed, the second time a launch has failed to go ahead. Controllers could not get the Space Launch System vehicle to lift off and engineers now want to inspect the rocket away from the launch pad. The 100m-tall vehicle’s objective is to “hurl a human-rated capsule, called Orion, in the direction of the Moon,” said the BBC. However, the next attempt at a launch is not expected until late September.

6. Trump: Biden ‘enemy of state’

Joe Biden is an “enemy of the state,” said Donald Trump. Speaking at his first rally since the FBI searched his Florida resort for sensitive files, the former president accused Biden of weaponising the FBI against him. Trump said the raid was “one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history”. The former president is currently embroiled in a legal tussle with federal authorities over a cache of classified documents that the FBI seized last month.

7. Six-hour queues at Calais

Travellers headed for the UK have faced delays of up to six hours as they queued at the Port of Calais. Ferry operators DFDS and P&O Ferries apologised for the long wait times at UK border controls yesterday. Last week, a band stuck in lengthy queues at the French border staged an impromptu gig for drivers stuck in the same traffic jam. The Bristol Street Music musicians performed outside their van in Calais, with the drummer playing on the vehicle’s roof.

8. Argentine suspect ‘has Nazi tattoos’

Police have told CNN that the suspect in an apparent assassination bid against Argentine vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was arrested last year for “improper use of a weapon”. A spokesperson said Fernando Sabag Montiel was arrested in 2021 for carrying a large knife in public, adding that he has at least one tattoo with Nazi symbols. Authorities believe Sabag Montiel approached Fernández de Kirchner with a loaded gun outside her home in Buenos Aires on Thursday in what appears to be a failed assassination attempt.

9. Man threatens to fly into Walmart store

A man who stole a small aeroplane and threatened to fly it into a Walmart shop has been charged with “grand larceny and making terroristic threats,” reported the BBC. Cory Wayne Patterson was arrested after landing in a field, having circled near Tupelo, Mississippi, for hours. His threat had sparked an evacuation of the Walmart building and other nearby shops as officers warned of a “dangerous situation”.

10. Campaigners block dairy aisles

Vegan activists have staged sit-down protests in dairy aisles of high-end supermarkets across the country. Animal Rebellion, which has threatened to disrupt the supply of dairy throughout the month, is calling for a transition to completely plant-based food production, claiming the government is turning a blind eye to “climate, ecological and moral crises”. Ahead of the protest, Dairy UK, said the activism could “cause totally unnecessary disruption for businesses and consumers”.