Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 14 April 2023

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1. Arrest over US intelligence leaks
2. Biden censures UK on Stormont
3. Hearing aids dementia link
4. Nurses ‘to reject pay offer’
5. Warning ahead of Grand National
6. Tories criticise Braverman rhetoric
7. North Korea threatens ‘horror’
8. UK approves hands-free car
9. Sunak says women don’t have penises
10. Tributes to Mary Quant

published 14 April 2023

1. Arrest over US intelligence leaks

A 21-year-old US Air National Guardsman has been arrested over the recent leak of classified military intelligence. Jack Teixeira, who allegedly shared the files in an online gaming chatroom, is set to be charged with removing or transmitting classified national defence information, which is a crime under the National Espionage Act. His arrest “raises fresh questions about America’s ability to safeguard its most sensitive secrets”, said Sky News. The Pentagon “regularly issues security clearances to troops as young as 18,” said the New York Post.

Joe Biden seemingly scolded Rishi Sunak for not working closely with Ireland to break the Brexit deadlock at Stormont. In a speech to both houses of the Irish parliament yesterday the US president said: “I think the United Kingdom should be working closer with Ireland in this endeavour.” The Telegraph said Biden also “provoked fresh wrath from the DUP” by posing for a “smiling selfie” with the former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

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Hearing aids could help cut the risk of dementia, a decade-long study has found. The landmark looked at 438,000 people in the UK, who had an average age of 56, and followed them for 12 years. A quarter reported some level of hearing loss as they grew older and were 42% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia. Using hearing aids completely eliminated the extra risk of dementia linked to going deaf. Researchers said this made them a “powerful tool” in the global fight against the syndrome.

The NHS could face a fresh wave of nursing strikes as union members look set to reject the government’s pay deal. Later today, the Royal College of Nursing will announce the results of a ballot and The Times has predicted that it will show members have not accepted the offer. However, said The Guardian, officials said the result of the three-week ballot is “too close to call”. Meanwhile, junior doctors are currently in the middle of a 96-hour strike, which ends on Saturday morning.

Problem gamblers are being encouraged to take preventative steps ahead of the annual Grand National horse race tomorrow, said the BBC. According to the Betting and Gaming Council, around 13 million adults in the UK will place bets, totalling around £250m. New analysis has found that the fiscal cost of harmful gambling to the UK is £1.4bn per year, linked to higher welfare payments and increased healthcare needs. Gambling disorder is “marked by a repeated pattern of behaviour where an individual feels they've lost control, continues to gamble despite negative consequences and sees gambling as more important than anything else”, added the broadcaster.

Senior Tories have hit out at Suella Braverman’s “racist rhetoric”. A former senior minister from Boris Johnson’s government told The Guardian they believed the Home Secretary was a “real racist bigot” and the “Conservative reputation on discrimination has dropped to a new low” under her watch. While Tory peer Baroness Warsi told the BBC that what she describes as Suella Braverman's "racist rhetoric" is putting British Asian families at risk.The criticism reflects “widespread anger” felt by many Tory MPs and peers about Braverman’s frequent use of “racially charged language”, said The Guardian. A spokesperson for Braverman said she would “not shy away from hard truths”.

North Korea said the new intercontinental ballistic missile it tested yesterday was solid-fuelled, which analysts said could allow it to launch long-range nuclear strikes more quickly. The launch of the Hwasong-18 missile triggered a brief evacuation order on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido before it fell into the waters east of the Korean Peninsula. Leader Kim Jong Un said the test would make enemies “experience a clearer security crisis” and “constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror into them”.

The UK has become the first European country to approve a hands-free driving car for use on motorways. Ministers have granted Ford permission to launch its BlueCruise system that allows “hands-off, eyes-on driving” on the 2,300-mile motorway network in England, Scotland and Wales. The car is equipped with sensors that monitor the driver’s eyes to ensure they are on the road, noted The Times. It is hoped that driverless technology will improve road safety.

Rishi Sunak has said that no women have a penis as he vowed that female-only spaces must be “protected”. After Keir Starmer said last week that some women did have male genitalia, the PM said he takes a “different view” to the Labour leader. In an interview with the ConservativeHome website, Sunak said it was right to show “compassion and understanding”’ to those questioning their gender identity, but this should not mean protections are lifted for women-only spaces.

Twiggy Lawson has paid tribute to designer Mary Quant, who has died aged 93. The model said Quant had “such an influence on young girls in the late 50s early 60s”. Writing on Twitter, Vanessa Friedman, the fashion director of the International New York Times, said: “RIP Mary Quant, who freed the female leg.” Dame Mary was credited with popularising the miniskirts that helped define the 1960s. “Only the Beatles are more closely tied to the legend that is London’s swinging 60s than Mary Quant,” said The Guardian.

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