Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 17 September 2022

1. Queue at ‘total capacity’

The queue to view the Queen’s coffin is at near total capacity and people should stop joining the line, said officials. Mourners in London have been “braving a chilly night and waiting times of at least 24 hours to pay their last respects,” said the BBC. A man has been arrested after he approached the coffin from a queue of mourners in Westminster Hall. In a separate incident, there has been an arrest after two women were sexually assaulted in the queue.

2. Biden warns Putin on nukes

Joe Biden has warned Vladimir Putin not to use chemical or tactical nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. Speaking to CBS News, the US president said such action would “change the face of war unlike anything since World War Two”. Considering Putin’s plight after a successful period for Ukrainian forces, The Times said that: “some analysts and former military chiefs believe that he could even go nuclear in response to setbacks on the battlefield”.

3. Chancellor to ‘bend fiscal rules’

Kwasi Kwarteng will bend the government’s own fiscal rules to announce £30bn of tax cuts, said The Times. The chancellor will scrap the increase in national insurance contributions and freeze corporation tax in a fiscal statement on Friday. Economists said that the tax cuts mean that the government is likely to be in breach of the present fiscal rules that require that debt falls as a proportion of national income in 2024-25, the last year of this parliament. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “They may well change the rules.”

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4. Labour MP criticises monarchy

A Labour MP has argued that the notion of the royal family as symbols of duty or sacrifice to the nation is “a lie” and is at the centre of a profoundly unequal UK. Writing for The Guardian, Clive Lewis said the “fundamental truth” about the monarchy was its role as a national distraction. Guidance circulated to Labour MPs earlier this week by Sir Keir Starmer told them to make no comment to the media beyond giving tributes to the Queen.

5. Climate crisis activists jailed

Dozens of climate change protesters were sent to jail this week after refusing to co-operate with court. The Just Stop Oil campaigners had broken an injunction to take part in a blockade of the Kingsbury oil terminal near Tamworth in Staffordshire on Wednesday. When they appeared at the Queen Elizabeth court in Birmingham and the Royal Courts of Justice in London, they stood on chairs, turned their backs to the judge and read out statements about the climate crisis. Earlier this week, the group claimed King Charles would support their sit-in.

6. ‘Jimmy Savile of trolling’ jailed

A former BBC local radio presenter has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for stalking broadcasters including Jeremy Vine, who was subjected to an “avalanche of hatred”. Vine said that Alex Belfield was the “the Jimmy Savile of trolling” after he repeatedly posted or sent abusive messages, videos and emails. Belfield, 42, was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court of four stalking charges, committed between 2012 and last year. One victim was left feeling suicidal by a “tsunami of hate”, the trial heard. The judge told Belfield: “Your offences are so serious, only a custodial sentence can be justified.”

7. Iranian woman dies in custody

There have been protests in Iran after a 22-year-old woman died following her detention by morality police. Mahsa Amini fell into a coma after being arrested by officers enforcing strict hijab rules. Police said she was taken to hospital after she allegedly had a heart attack. However, reported pro-reform news websites, an uncle of Amini said she had no history of heart disease. Witnesses reported that Amini was beaten in the police van, an allegation the police have denied.

8. French train theft suspects arrested

A gang of suspects who allegedly stole items worth €300,000 (£260,000) from first-class passengers on French trains has been captured. The BBC said it is believed that the thieves stole luggage from passengers after sitting beside them on high-speed trains crossing the country. They would nab items during station stops after the “unsuspecting owners got off the train to stretch their legs or have a smoke,” said the BBC. The men face up to seven years in prison if convicted of robbery.

9. Kaba probe to examine race theory

The police watchdog is to explore whether race was a factor in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by an officer. Chris Kaba was shot on 5 September after a chase that ended in south London. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is conducting an investigation into the shooting but Kaba’s family criticised how long the investigation may take to reach conclusions. Kaba family’s solicitor, Daniel Machover, said: “Six to nine months for this investigation is unacceptably long.”

10. More deaths in bull festivals

Two people have been killed by bulls in Spain this week, taking the total number of such deaths during summer festivals to 12. A butcher at a bullring in Murcia was about to kill an apparently immobilised 74st animal when it sprang up and fatally gored him. Then, at a bull-running event near Valencia an 80-year-old man suffered a broken rib and punctured lung and died the next day. Studies in Spain show that the popularity of bullfighting itself has long been declining, said The Times, but “taurine fiestas” continue to attract big crowds, and are money-raisers for the host.