1. Truss ‘to freeze bills for two years’
Liz Truss is set to unveil plans to control energy price rises today, with typical household bills expected to be capped at around £2,500 a year. The Times said the new PM will announce a £150bn package to cap prices for up to two years. Truss is also expected to pledge to increase supplies of domestic oil and gas by reversing a ban on fracking put in place by Boris Johnson, with incentives to local communities to approve applications.
Will pumping more oil solve the energy crisis?
2. New malaria jab is ‘world-changing’
Scientists at the University of Oxford say they have developed a malaria vaccine with “world-changing” potential. They said they already have a deal to manufacture more than 100m doses a year and they expect it to enter use next year after trials showed up to 80% protection against the deadly disease. The charity Malaria No More said recent progress meant child mortality from malaria could end “in our lifetimes”. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria caused more than 640,000 deaths in 2020, nearly all in sub-Saharan Africa.
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April 2021: The Week Unwrapped on malaria vaccines
3. Second Canada suspect dead
A suspect in the Canadian stabbing that left ten dead and 18 others injured has died after he was captured by police. Sources said the death of Myles Sanderson, 32, was the result of self-inflicted wounds. He had been taken into custody on a highway in the province of Saskatchewan on Wednesday afternoon after a high-speed chase. His brother, Damien Sanderson, was also accused of playing a role in the attacks. Police found his body on Monday and are now investigating whether his brother killed him during the manhunt.
What happened in Canada stabbing ‘rampage’?
4. NK pledges ‘socialist fairyland’
North Korea’s parliament said it will turn the country into a “beautiful and civilised socialist fairyland,” state media reported. The North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly adopted laws on landscaping and rural development that it said will promote “a radical turn in the rural community and its policy on landscaping to achieve a rapid development of the Korean-style socialist rural community and spruce up the country into a beautiful and civilised socialist fairyland”. External monitors have warned of hardships in the country, including severe food shortages.
North Korea rejects aid-for-denuclearisation offer
5. Queen told to rest
Buckingham Palace said the Queen has postponed an online meeting of the Privy Council after being advised to rest by doctors. The statement added that after “a full day” on Tuesday the monarch, 96, had accepted the medics’ advice. A royal source told the Times there would be “no running commentary” on the Queen’s health but she is understood to be remaining at Balmoral and has not been advised to go to hospital. Photos taken on Tuesday showed she had a bruise on her right hand.
Inside Balmoral: the Queen’s Scottish holiday home
6. Truss blocks Bermuda cannabis reform
Liz Truss has been plunged into a constitutional crisis after the UK Government intervened to block the legalisation of cannabis in Bermuda. Officials in the self-governing British territory were told on Tuesday that the Cannabis Licensing Bill, which would legalise the use and sale of the drug, would not be permitted to become law. It is thought the decision was made by Truss herself, who was Foreign Secretary before she became PM. The Bermudan government said the development was due to the UK’s “archaic interpretation of the narcotic conventions”.
Where is cannabis legal?
7. Hateful tweets rise in extreme temperatures
Twitter users become more abusive during unusually hot or cold weather, an analysis of four billion tweets in the US has found. Researchers noted rises of up to 22% in racist, misogynist and homophobic tweets when temperatures rose above 42C, and increases of up to 12% in temperatures below -3C, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health. “People tend to show a more aggressive online behaviour when it’s either too cold or too hot outside,” said the lead author.
8. Older cars are risk to road users
Britain’s “ageing car fleet” is posing a risk to road users, according to the chief executive of Halfords, Graham Stapleton. “We believe the average age of cars will pass the nine-year mark very soon and could even creep above ten years,” he said, blaming the cost-of-living crisis. “There is no getting away from the fact that older cars are more likely to develop faults, are more costly to maintain, and are more polluting,” he said, and their increasing presence “represents a risk to road safety”.
9. White House warning on protocol
The White House has warned Liz Truss against dismantling the Northern Ireland protocol, which she has said needs fundamental reform. “There’s no formal linkage on trade talks between the US and the UK and the Northern Ireland protocol but efforts to undo the Northern Ireland protocol would not create a conducive environment,” said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre. She appeared to go out of her way to make the point, said The Guardian. “Northern Ireland was not mentioned in the question, but Jean-Pierre brought it up anyway,” the paper reported.
The Northern Ireland Protocol explained
10. ITV show drops bills game
This Morning has dropped “energy bills” and “household bills” from the prizes on their Spin to Win game following a public outcry. On the ITV show on Monday, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby introduced a newly revamped version of the game in which half of the prizes on offer on the wheel would see the show cover four months of energy bills. The game was described by critics as “dystopian”.
