Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 28 April 2023

1. King’s ancestor ‘exploited slaves’

Direct ancestors of King Charles III and the royal family owned slave plantations, according to research in The Guardian. A document found by a researcher reveals that a direct ancestor of the king was involved in buying at least 200 enslaved people from the Royal African Company in 1686. The document states that the “negroes” were exploited on tobacco plantations in Virginia. A palace spokesperson said they were unable to comment until after the coronation.

Slavery and the monarchy: time for a royal reckoning?

2. Anger as fewer EU laws scrapped

Brexiteer MPs are angry after ministers dramatically scaled back the number of EU laws to be scrapped by the end of the year as part of Rishi Sunak’s bonfire of Brussels rules and regulations. Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, is to publish a list of 800 laws that will be removed from the UK statute book in an attempt to get the legislation through the House of Lords. The Telegraph said the development is the “latest Brexit betrayal”. A Tory MP said Badenoch is “a lame minister who is having rings run around her by ‘Remainer’ officials”.

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The surprising consequences of the Brexit freedom bill

3. Worst famine since Live Aid in Africa

East Africa is “in the grip of the worst drought since the 1984 famine”, says The Mirror. One person is dying of hunger every 30 seconds in East Africa, says the paper, after climate change saw six consecutive years without a rainy season. Richard Blewitt, for the British Red Cross, said “the Africa food crisis is a catastrophic, deadly emergency on a scale we haven’t seen in recent history,” and “right now, more than 140 million people are struggling without the food they need to survive”.

Child hunger in Africa ‘due to lack of political will’

4. Russia resumes city bombings

Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities have been hit by a wave of missiles fired by Russia. A woman and a child of three were killed in the city of Dnipro, according to the mayor. Three people were reportedly killed in a cruise missile strike on a high-rise residential building in the city of Uman, in the central Cherkasy region. Although Russia regularly bombed Ukrainian cities and infrastructure last winter, “massive strikes had become less common in recent months”, said The Guardian.

Can Ukraine win war in the skies with Russia?

5. Report ‘to criticise BBC chair’

An official investigation has concluded that the chairman of the BBC breached the rules in failing to declare his involvement in an £800,000 loan to Boris Johnson prior to his appointment. Richard Sharp is set to face calls to quit as head of the corporation when the findings of the two-month long inquiry are published today. The report by Adam Heppinstall KC is expected to have found that Sharp broke the code on public appointments by failing to inform the committee that interviewed him.

Richard Sharp: ‘grim’ report that could spell the end for BBC chair

6. Weight-loss jab set for UK

A new weight loss jab that helps patients lose an average of two-and-a-half stone is set for approval in the UK. Tirzepatide was tested on 938 adults who were overweight or obese and had type 2 diabetes. Those on the highest dose lost 15.7% of their body weight on average, equating to 34lb (15.5kg). Manufactured by Eli Lilly, it helps people feel fuller for longer after eating and lose weight by imitating hormones. Another weight loss drug, Wegovy, was approved for use on the NHS last month.

Obesity drugs: is new ‘skinny jab’ a game changer or a quick-fix fad?

7. Met ‘hasn’t learnt lessons’

The inspector of constabulary has warned that Metropolitan police could be failing to spot serial killers and identify murders because they are not properly investigating unexpected deaths. The force has not learnt from a “calamitous litany of failures” in the case of serial killer Stephen Port and “history could repeat itself”, said Matt Parr. The Met Police’s Assistant Commissioner, Louisa Rolfe, said the force was “sincere in our desire to make real change to minimise the chance of a case like this ever happening again”.

Can the Metropolitan Police rebuild public trust?

8. Spain breaks heat record

Spain broke the temperature record for April yesterday, reaching 38.8C according to weather authorities. The record figure was reached in Cordoba airport in southern Spain, as a heatwave saw temperatures 10-15C warmer than expected for April. The conditions have been caused by a mass of very hot air from north Africa travelling across the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic islands. A recent EU report concluded that the climate crisis had “frightening” impacts in Europe last year.

What is the hottest UK temperature on record?

9. New concussion guide for sport

New grassroots guidance states that anyone with suspected concussion must be immediately removed from football, rugby and other sports and rest for at least 24 hours. The UK-wide guidelines also say that players should not return to competitive sport for at least 21 days. “We know that exercise is good for both mental and physical health,” said Prof James Calder, the surgeon who led the work for the government, “but we need to recognise that if you’ve got a head injury, it must be managed and you need to be protected, so that it doesn’t get worse”.

Head injuries and concussion: ‘how many warnings does football need?’

10. Tributes to ‘godfather’ Springer

Tributes have been paid to Jerry Springer after the TV presenter died aged 79. The BBC said the broadcaster, best known for The Jerry Springer Show, which ran for nearly three decades from 1991, was “era-defining” and “the godfather of reality TV”, while the New York Times said the “unapologetically brash” host was a “cultural phenomenon”. Springer’s family said he died “peacefully” on Thursday at home in Chicago.