Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 7 September 2022

1. Truss ‘rejects unity cabinet’

Liz Truss handed top cabinet jobs to close allies in a major reshuffle hours after succeeding Boris Johnson as prime minister. The new PM has built a “cabinet of cronies”, said The Independent, with Kwasi Kwarteng assigned the role of chancellor, James Cleverly foreign secretary and Suella Braverman home secretary, replacing Priti Patel. Truss “rejected calls to appoint a unity cabinet to bring the party together after the bruising leadership contest”, said The Guardian.

Kwasi Kwarteng: free-market radical set to be chancellor

2. Coffey posting causes concern

The new health secretary’s record on abortion rights is “deeply concerning”, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service has warned. Suffolk Coastal MP Thérèse Coffey, who was appointed to the post by Liz Truss yesterday, has previously voted to revoke access to at-home abortion care and against extending abortion rights to women in Northern Ireland. Green campaigners have complained that the new business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has previously criticised “climate alarmism”, now has direct responsibility for energy and climate change.

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3. ‘Nuclear secrets’ found by FBI

The Washington Post reported that the FBI recovered a document describing a foreign government’s nuclear capabilities during its search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Some of the 11,000-plus documents seized from Trump’s estate are typically closely guarded and have “a designated control officer” to monitor their location, said the paper. The report did not identify the foreign government named in the document.

The FBI raid: what was Trump hiding in his basement?

4. Johnson in line for riches

Boris Johnson is in line for an £18,000 “golden goodbye” and an annual allowance of up to £115,000 after resigning. The former PM will receive severance pay of £18,860 – a quarter of his prime ministerial salary of £75,440 – “just for stepping down”, said the i news site, and will also be eligible for the public duty costs allowance, which allows ex-PMs to claim staffing, office and other expenses of up to £115,000 a year. Johnson is also expected to make millions from his memoirs, journalism and public speaking.

What is Boris Johnson planning to do next?

5. Sewage warning at beaches

Pollution warnings are in place for more than 100 British beaches after a charity reported that untreated sewage was being discharged into the sea. Discharges are allowed after heavy rainfall, to stop the sewage system from being overwhelmed, but Surfers Against Sewage told the BBC that the discharges came after just the “slightest hint” of rain. Green Party MP Caroline Lucas urged the government to “cut the crap” and return the “failing” water industry to public hands.

Is it dangerous to swim off Britain’s beaches?

6. Study finds living wage disparity

More minority ethnic than white workers are paid below the UK real living wage, the Living Wage Foundation has discovered. The campaign group’s report found that 33% of workers of Bangladeshi heritage, 29% of workers from Pakistani backgrounds and 25% of black workers earn below the real living wage, compared with 20% of white British workers. The research also highlighted a gender pay gap: in most ethnic groups, women are more likely than men to earn below the real living wage. The group surveyed 2,010 people.

7. Running reduces breast cancer risk

Going for a run three times a week significantly cuts the risk of developing breast cancer, according to new research. Experts found that women who did vigorous exercise, such as going for a jog at least three days a week, had a 38% lower risk of getting breast cancer, The Times reported. After examining data from 131,000 women, they found “strong evidence” that staying physically active reduced the chance of developing the disease and that being sedentary significantly increased the risk.

8. Saudis complain about Netflix

The Saudi media regulator and the six-member Gulf Cooperation have demanded that Netflix removes all content deemed to violate “Islamic and societal values and principles”, according to Saudi media and The Guardian. Illustrating the report, Saudi state TV showed blurred clips from the animated show Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, in which two teenage girls kiss, and footage from the French movie Cuties. It also accused the streaming service of “promoting homosexuality by focusing excessively on homosexuals”.

The Line: Mohammed bin Salman’s desert fantasy

9. Inhaled vaccine approved in China

China has become the first country to approve an inhaled Covid-19 vaccine. Known as Convidecia Air, the product delivers a vaccine dose through a puff of air from a nebulizer that is then inhaled by mouth. The manufacturer, CanSino Biologics, said that Beijing’s medicines regulator had approved the inhaled dose for emergency use as a booster vaccine. More than 70 Chinese cities have been under full or partial Covid lockdowns since late August, impacting more than 300m people.

When is the next round of Covid vaccine boosters?

10. Styles ‘did not spit at Pine’

Sources close to Harry Styles and Chris Pine have denied the Watermelon Sugar singer spat on his co-star at the world premiere of their film, Don’t Worry Darling, at the Venice film festival. Speculation erupted on the internet after video footage emerged which appeared to show Styles spitting into Pine’s lap as he took his seat at the event. A source close to Styles denied the allegation, as did Pine’s rep, who said: “This is a ridiculous story – a complete fabrication.”