Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 14 June 2023

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1. Trump threatens revenge
2. Man questioned after attacks
3. Johnson anger continues
4. Putin makes Ukraine claims
5. Students told to open their minds
6. More avoid ‘depressing news’
7. Labour rules out by-election pact
8. ‘Little debate’ on lockdown
9. Barrister asked client for drugs
10. ‘War of the Rosé’ for Brangelina

published 14 June 2023

1. Trump threatens revenge

Donald Trump has threatened revenge on Joe Biden and his “crime family” by appointing a special prosecutor to “go after” them following his court appearance on federal criminal charges. The former US president pleaded not guilty to charges of mishandling sensitive files at a federal court in Miami. He “had a scowl on his face” during the hearing, said CNN, and as he entered his plea, “his hair shone like a golden lightbulb”, said The Times. He “received a hero’s welcome” as he returned to his New Jersey golf club, said the New York Post.

Police are questioning a 31-year-old man after three people were stabbed to death and three more injured in an attack in Nottingham on Tuesday morning. Promising hockey player Grace Kumar, 19, has been named as one of the victims, along with fellow student Barnaby Webber, also 19. Although counter-terrorism police are involved in the investigation, no link to extremism has been confirmed. “We are still in the early stages of the investigation,” said Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell. “I need to determine exactly what the motives were behind this attack.”

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Boris Johnson has challenged the parliamentary committee to publish their “nonsense” after they delayed the release of a report that is expected to conclude that he misled MPs over lockdown-breaking parties. The Commons privileges committee investigation report was due to be published on Tuesday, then Wednesday, but now it is not expected until Thursday. “The privileges committee should publish their report and let the world judge their nonsense,” said Johnson. “They have no excuse for delay.”

Vladimir Putin has claimed Ukrainian losses are near “catastrophic” and that the counter-offensive had not succeeded in any area. “This is a massive counter-offensive, using strategic reserves that were prepared for this task,” Putin said. “They lost over 160, we lost 54 tanks, and some of them are subject to restoration and repair.” However, claimed CNN, some Russian accounts “admit Ukrainian forces are making some gains in heavy fighting”.

Students must learn how to change their minds to ensure free speech is protected, said the vice-chancellor of Oxford. Professor Irene Tracey said that the institution had experienced a recent “intense period” after Oxford Union invited Dr Kathleen Stock, author of a book defending the rights of women to single-sex spaces, to speak. Tracey said that when she was a student, “there was more ease in having debate and discussion and argument and disagreement”.

A global study has found that the number of people taking a strong interest in the news has dropped by around a quarter in the last six years. Some 48% of people around the world are very or extremely interested in the news - down from 63% in 2017. In the UK, the proportion is lower than the global average at 43%, found researchers from Oxford University’s Reuters Institute. The authors of the report said they found that audiences “cut back on depressing news and look to protect their mental health”.

A “bullish” Labour Party has ruled out an election deal in the upcoming by-elections and insisted there would “never be a pact” with the Lib Dems, said the i news site. By-elections are due in the seats of Boris Johnson, Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams and both opposition parties “sprung into immediate campaign mode at the weekend”, believing that this presents them with an opportunity to win seats. However, noted the BBC, Dorries has not yet officially resigned as an MP – “to the frustration of the Conservative Party” – putting a by-election to replace her on hold .

There was “very little debate” prior to the Covid pandemic on lockdowns and a failure to consider the “potentially massive impact” that restrictions on civil liberties would have, the Covid Inquiry has heard. As the inquiry held its first full hearing, chair Baroness Heather Hallett was told the nation was not prepared for the pandemic. It was “extraordinary” that lockdowns had received little thought, said Hugo Keith KC, the lead lawyer for the inquiry.

A barrister has been jailed for 14 months after trying to buy drugs from two men he represented over drug supply allegations. Henry Hendron asked to buy methamphetamine and GBL from Arno Smit and another man, messages found on his mobile phone revealed. The 42-year-old was arrested outside Belmarsh prison while visiting Smit as his lawyer, Woolwich crown court heard. “What is so serious is these offences have been committed by you in the context of you asking those you represent, or represented, to supply you with drugs,” Judge Mann told him.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are “at war” over a vineyard in a dispute that has been dubbed “the War of the Rosé”, said The Times. The “bitter, blockbuster feud” over the future of the French wine-producing estate has seen Pitt accuse his ex-wife of “secretly and spitefully” selling her share in the estate to the Russian billionaire behind the Stolichnaya vodka empire, added the paper. Jolie insists she was entitled to sell her stake and wants no part of an “alcohol-based business”.

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