Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 6 October 2022

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1. Poland asks for US nukes
2. North Korea warning
3. Truss ‘lurching to right’
4. Nurses in historic strike ballot
5. Chess player ‘won’t back down’
6. Putin signs annexation papers
7. Poll finds ‘positive story’ on bisexuality
8. Hong Kong to give away flight tickets
9. Instagram ‘harms new mothers’
10. Tourist smashes Vatican sculptures

published 6 October 2022

1. Poland asks for US nukes

Poland has asked if it can host American nuclear weapons on its territory, amid growing fears that Vladimir Putin could use nuclear arms in Ukraine. The request from the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, is seen as “symbolic” said The Guardian, as moving nuclear warheads closer to Moscow would make them more “vulnerable and less militarily useful”. A White House spokesman played down the request saying: “We’re not aware of this issue being raised and would refer you to the government of Poland.”

North Korea has fired another two ballistic missiles meaning it has completed six launches in less than two weeks. Pyongyang has described its recent blitz as “just counteraction measures” to joint US and South Korean military drills. In response, a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group is moving into waters off the Korean Peninsula, South Korean security officials say. Washington has said that if North Korea continues “down this road” it will “increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions”.

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The Conservatives are “lurching to the right” and face a landslide defeat at the next election unless Liz Truss changes course, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries has warned. Dorries, who made numerous interventions in support of Truss during this Summer's leadership contest, said the PM had made some “big mistakes” in her first weeks in office and does not have a mandate for her radical agenda. Her warning comes as Tory rebels are increasingly confident of forcing Truss to backtrack on benefits cuts.

The Royal College of Nursing is consulting all of its UK members for strike action for the first time in its 106-year history. The ballot is in protest at the government’s decision in July to award most NHS staff a 5% pay rise. Although ministers say the rise will lead to frontline personnel receiving a salary increase of at least £1,400, the RCN said nurses should get a rise of 5% above inflation – which is currently 10.1%. A recent study by the Health Foundation thinktank found NHS nurses’ average basic earnings fell by 5% in real terms between 2011 and 2021.

A leading chess player accused of cheating has insisted he is “not going to back down”. After an investigation by Chess.com claimed it was “likely” Hans Niemann cheated in more than 100 games online, he said his victory yesterday in the opening round of the US Chess Championship was “a message to everyone”. In a post-match interview described as “terse” by The Guardian, he also said: “Chess speaks for itself, that’s all I can say.” The 19-year-old American rising star had already been accused of cheating by world champion Magnus Carlsen.

Vladimir Putin has signed the final papers to annex four regions of Ukraine. The papers state that the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are “accepted into the Russian Federation”. The Russian president also signed a decree to formalise Russia’s seizure of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. But Putin appeared to concede the gravity of Moscow’s recent military reversals in Ukraine when he said: “We are working on the assumption that the situation in the new territories will stabilise.”

More people identify as bisexual than gay or lesbian, a new study has found. The poll, by LGBT charity Stonewall, said bisexuality is the most common identity after being heterosexual. Asked which label they identify as, 84% of all respondents said they are straight, compared with 5% bisexual, and 4% gay or lesbian. Those from Generation Z - aged 16 to 26 - were least likely to identify as straight. Stonewall said the findings revealed a “positive story” but said more needed to be done to help bisexual people feel safe.

Hong Kong will give away 500,000 airline tickets, worth HK$2bn (£224.3m), as it tries to revive its Covid-hit tourism industry. Although the city removed several of its Covid regulations in recent weeks, major airlines are struggling to get demand back to pre-pandemic levels. “The airport authority will finalise the arrangement with airline companies,” said Dane Cheng, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board. “Once the government announces it will remove all Covid-19 restrictions for inbound travellers, we’ll roll out the advertising campaigns for the free air tickets.”

Instagram risks damaging the mental health of new mothers by bombarding them with unrealistic ideas of how their bodies should look, according to a report in Healthcare. The study, the first to examine in detail some of the millions of images posted on Instagram of women who have recently given birth, found that features such as stretch marks, a soft stomach, cellulite and scars from caesarean sections were shown in just 5% of the pictures. Instead, the study noted it was common for new mothers to suggest their bodies had “bounced back” after giving birth.

A tourist has smashed two ancient Roman sculptures in the Vatican. The man had demanded to see the pope, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, and reportedly hurled one Roman bust to the floor, when he was told he could not. As he was chased by a member of staff, the man, believed to be American, knocked down another statue. The two works of art have been taken to the Vatican in-house workshop to be assessed. According to la Repubblica, one bust has lost its nose. The man was eventually caught and arrested.

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