Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 19 April 2023

1. Fox News settles lawsuit

Fox has reached a $787.5m (£633m) settlement with the voting equipment company Dominion, bringing an end to the dispute over whether the network and its parent company knowingly broadcast false allegations that Dominion was involved in a plot to steal the 2020 election. During the closely watched defamation lawsuit, Dominion argued its business was harmed by Fox spreading false claims the vote had been rigged against Donald Trump. The result means Rupert Murdoch is “paying the price for Trump’s election lies”, said CNN.

The court case that could bring down Fox News

2. Cleverly calls for China nuance

It would be counterproductive for Britain to “pull the shutters down” on China, the foreign secretary has told The Guardian. “I get why a number of my colleagues are hawkish”, said James Cleverly, but he insisted that “we’re not going to get them to completely redefine themselves” and “if we don’t engage, we lose that influence”. Influential Tory MPs are encouraging the government to take a harder line on Beijing and the head of the National Cyber Security Centre is expected to issue a warning over the “dramatic rise of China as a technology superpower”.

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Does Rishi Sunak have a China problem?

3. Starmer says NHS is ‘broken’

The NHS is “broken”, said Keir Starmer. Speaking to The Telegraph, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of presiding over a “cycle of decline” that could bring the NHS to an end. In a separate interview, with the i news site, Starmer said a Labour government would reintroduce Blair-style NHS targets to improve waiting times for patients. If Labour wins the next election he would want to “see a difference straight away” in NHS waiting times and patient care, he added.

What does Labour have planned for the NHS?

4. US warns Russia on nuclear tech

The US is warning Russia not to touch its sensitive nuclear technology at a nuclear power plant inside Ukraine, according to a letter the US Department of Energy sent to Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom. In the letter, seen by CNN, the Energy Department Office of Nonproliferation Policy tells Rosatom’s director general that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar “contains US-origin nuclear technical data that is export-controlled by the United States Government”. It adds that it is “unlawful” for any Russian citizens or entities to handle the US technology.

AUG 22: Russia’s plans for Zaporizhzhia plant spark nuclear safety fears

5. Soup diet ‘can reverse diabetes’

A landmark study has found that a “soup and shake” diet can permanently reverse type 2 diabetes. In the latest findings from the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial, patients who kept to an 800-calorie-a-day diet for three months, then kept the weight off, were free from symptoms five years later and no longer needed medication. “This result is wildly important,” said Professor Roy Taylor, of Newcastle University, who led the study. “I avoid saying ‘cure’ because it has not gone away completely,” he added.

NOV 18: What are the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes?

6. Sunak childcare allegations deepen

Rishi Sunak’s wife’s stake in a childcare firm is not mentioned in six ministerial registers, according to The Guardian. The paper tracks Companies House records, which reveal that Akshata Murty first took a stake in Koru Kids, one of six childcare companies that stand to benefit from last month’s budget, in 2019, when she held 20,000 shares in the firm. Downing Street said that the shareholding had been “transparently declared as a ministerial interest”. However, the six registers published since then make no mention of it.

7. Sacked CBI boss ‘destroyed’

The former boss of the CBI admitted that his reputation “has been totally destroyed” after he was sacked over complaints about his behaviour. Acknowledging that he had made some staff feel “very uncomfortable”, Tony Danker said: “I apologise for that.” However, he insisted that his name had been wrongly associated with separate claims, including rape, which allegedly occurred at the business group before he joined. The CBI said he was dismissed on strong legal grounds.

CBI boss Tony Danker sacked amid misconduct probe

8. Tory backlash against alert plan

The government has urged the public not to deactivate the new emergency alert system on their phones following a backlash from Conservative MPs. Mobile phones across Britain will produce a loud 10-second blast at 3pm on Sunday in a test of the new electronic warning, intended to notify the public of major emergencies. However, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, told The Telegraph that he had disabled the alert on his phone because he did not want to be “shouted at by the government”. A Whitehall source noted that Rees-Mogg was a Cabinet Office minister at the time the policy was signed off.

The UK’s new mobile emergency alert system: what is it and how does it work?

9. Activists may disrupt Marathon

A coalition of more than 200 environmental groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, have said it might disrupt the London Marathon on Sunday. Although spokesperson Marijn van de Geer insisted the activists were not aiming to directly inconvenience runners, he admitted the race might face “logistical disruption” as the activists stage an event centred on the “final stretch” of the marathon, where the 50,000 runners will be completing the 26.2 mile course. Tory MPs have called on police and judges to end the country's “growing wave of eco protests”, said the Daily Mail.

10. Greggs ready for legal ‘showdown’

Greggs is warming up for a “court showdown” with Westminster Council after the bakery was banned from selling late night snacks from its flagship Leicester Square store. The sausage roll chain was refused permission to keep its doors open from 11pm until 5am at the central London location after Westminster Council called the application “half baked” and police argued that the location would become a hotspot for “crime and disorder”. However, a three-day appeal hearing is set for next month, said the Evening Standard.