Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 2 November 2022

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1. North and South Korea fire missiles
2. Asylum ‘invasion’ remarks criticised
3. Netanyahu ‘set for victory’
4. Grieving relatives attack Hancock
5. Government ‘war games’ blackout
6. Police vetting failures exposed
7. Sleep issues can lead to glaucoma
8. Dover bomber investigated for child sex offences
9. Bolsonaro breaks election silence
10. Lions escape enclosure at zoo

published 2 November 2022

1. North and South Korea fire missiles

Tensions have risen after North and South Korea both fired missiles across their maritime border for the first time. Pyongyang fired at least 10 missiles from its east and west coasts, including one that landed close to South Korean territorial waters for the first time since the 1945 division of the peninsula, according to South Korean officials. Seoul said this was an “unacceptable” breach of its territory and fired three air-to-ground missiles in response, which officials said landed a similar distance past the Northern Limit Line.

Suella Braverman’s remarks about an “invasion” of asylum seekers were not signed off by Rishi Sunak, according to the inews site. The prime minister told his Cabinet that the UK will always be a “compassionate, welcoming country” while immigration minister Robert Jenrick said “invasion” was “not a phrase that I have used”. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that “no home secretary serious about public safety or national security would use the language Suella Braverman did the day after a petrol bomb attack on a Dover centre”.

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Exit polls in Israel suggest that Benjamin Netanyahu is on course for victory in Tuesday’s elections. The polls give his right-wing bloc a slim majority of seats over his opponents. “We are close to a big victory,” Netanyahu told his supporters in Jerusalem, but his main rival, current Prime Minister Yair Lapid, said “nothing” was yet decided. The Arab nationalist party Balad “could yet prevent Netanyahu from securing the elusive majority”, said Haaretz.

Matt Hancock is facing fresh anger from Covid-bereaved families after it was announced that he will appear on ITV gameshow I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! Grieving relatives accused him of “cashing in” on his legacy as health secretary that left Britain with one of the highest death tolls in Europe. The Daily Mirror described Hancock as “shameless”, The Telegraph predicted that “viewers will humiliate Hancock – but he’ll think it means he’s popular” and The Guardian said the “consensus” in Westminster is that Hancock is a “prat”.

Ministers have “war gamed” emergency plans to cope with energy blackouts lasting up to a week in the event of a national power outage, according to The Guardian. Documents marked “official sensitive” warn that in a “reasonable worst-case scenario” all sectors including transport, food and water supply, communications and energy could be “severely disrupted” for up to seven days. The government would prioritise food, water and shelter for young and elderly people, as well as carers.

A report has found that police recruits with links to serious organised crime and histories of predatory behaviour have cleared official vetting. Forces have accepted applicants with “convictions for robbery, indecent exposure and domestic abuse”, said The Times, with one recruit found to be a pimp. “It’s far too easy for the wrong people to get in,” said Inspector of Constabulary, Matt Parr. Martin Hewitt, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair, said “the confidence of the public and our staff is dependent on us fixing these problems with urgency, fully and for the long term”.

Sleep problems may increase the risk of glaucoma, a common eye condition that affects millions of people and can lead to blindness. After a decade-long study involving 400,000 people in the UK, a new report has found that sleeping too little or too much, snoring, daytime sleepiness and insomnia may all lead to glaucoma. “These findings underscore the need for sleep intervention for individuals at high risk of glaucoma,” said the international team of academics, led by researchers from Beijing, China.

A man who attacked an asylum seeker processing centre in Dover, in a suspected terrorist incident, had previously ranted about migrants in racist Facebook posts. Andrew Leak, 66, from High Wycombe, Bucks, was named by police as the man who launched three home-made bombs at the Tug Haven processing facility in Dover on Sunday. He was found dead inside a car which he had driven to the scene. A source told The Telegraph that Leak had previously been investigated for child sex offences, and threatened to kill himself while being questioned by police.

Jair Bolsonaro has spoken for the first time since being defeated in Sunday’s presidential election. The far-right president did not acknowledge the defeat or contest the result, saying only that “our dreams are more alive than ever”. In the past, he has remarked that “only God” could remove him from office but his chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, told the media that a “process of transition” of power would begin after left-winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly won the election.

Five lions caused alarm at an Australian zoo after escaping from their enclosure. The animals - one adult and four cubs - were spotted outside their exhibit at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo this morning. The zoo went into lockdown with a “code one” alert and it rushed guests of its “Roar and Snore” overnight stay programme to safety. All the lions were caught within minutes and no one was injured. “This is a significant incident and a full review is now under way,” the zoo’s executive director told the Sydney Morning Herald.

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