Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 31 July 2023

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1. Sunak to commit to North Sea drills
2. Zelenskyy warns Moscow
3. Democrat may run against Biden
4. Cost of Grenfell nearly 1.2bn
5. Dozens die in Pakistan blast
6. Apple Watches dialling 999
7. African leaders issue coup ultimatum
8. Former May chief to run in Suffolk
9. Etsy move dismays small businesses
10. Row over New Zealand road signs

published 31 July 2023

1. Sunak to commit to North Sea drills

Rishi Sunak is expected to commit to pressing on with oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea. During a visit to Scotland today, the prime minister is set to announce that the government will issue 100 licences to companies that want to extract oil and gas from the North Sea, as he “seeks to open up dividing lines with Labour”, said The Times. Keir Starmer’s party is opposed to issuing new oil and gas licences, over concerns about the impact on the environment and question marks over over its financial value.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned war is coming back to Russia after drone attacks on Moscow. The Ukrainian president said attacks on Russian territory were an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process” of the war between the two countries. Drone attacks like these are an opportunity for Zelenskyy to “address the Russian population”, said the BBC, “the majority of whom appear to believe Moscow’s invasion is just and righteous”. A Ukrainian air force spokesman said that “there’s already a certain mood in Russia: that something is flying in, and loudly”.

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A Democrat congressman is considering challenging Joe Biden for the party’s White House nomination. Dean Phillips, who represents suburban Minneapolis, said the president is too old for a second term. The centrist said he had been overwhelmed with “encouragement” since he told colleagues he might run. Age is “emerging as one of the key political issues in the US”, said The Telegraph. Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate, has called for politicians over 75 to face competency tests. Donald Trump will be 78 at the next election and Biden would be 86 by the end of a second term.

The financial cost of the Grenfell Tower disaster has reached nearly £1.2bn. The figure is nearly 4,000 times the amount that was saved by replacing fire-retardant cladding with a cheaper combustible alternative during the fateful refurbishment, said The Guardian. “The human cost of preventable tragedies is always paramount”, Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said, but the “staggering sum” shows how “failing to enact change when it is called for has a significant cost to the public purse because death is expensive”. The fire, in June 2017, killed 72 people.

At least 44 people were killed in an explosion at a rally in Pakistan. The blast, on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Bajour district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also left nearly 200 people, including children, injured. The explosion was at a site where the Islamist party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was holding a meeting. The authorities believe the explosion was a suicide attack. “Panic-stricken people” gathered as ambulances arrived to move the injured to hospitals, said Pakistan Today.

Apple Watches have contributed to a rise in accidental 999 calls, said the National Police Chiefs’ Council. The group said recent software updates to smart devices were having “a significant impact” on the volume of emergency calls being recorded by forces. Some users are accidentally dialling 999 during gym workouts because lifting weights, running and doing yoga have been found to activate the SOS feature on the devices, following an upgrade to detect traumatic events such as car crashes.

African neighbours have told leaders of a coup in Niger to restore the country’s elected president to power. West African leaders have given the junta seven days to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum, who is being held captive. However, the junta vowed to “defend their homeland” from military action, saying it would resist any “plan of aggression against Niger” by regional or Western powers. Bazoum was overthrown by “the very people who were supposed to protect and uphold his office”, said the BBC, the “presidential guards who stood watch outside his palace”.

Theresa May’s former adviser has been chosen by the Tories to fight for Matt Hancock’s seat at the next general election. Nick Timothy, who quit as May’s joint chief of staff after the Tories lost their majority in the 2017 election, has been confirmed as the party’s candidate for West Suffolk. Timothy failed in a bid to run as a Tory candidate in the 2019 general election, when he attempted to get the Tory ticket for the Meriden seat in Solihull in the West Midlands.

Etsy has come under fire from sellers for putting 75% of their takings on hold for 45 days. The online marketplace emailed small business owners, telling them it was putting into place its “reserve system”. A ceramics seller told the BBC that Etsy was holding £899 of her money, meaning she cannot afford to buy materials to keep producing. “This is ruining my business,” she said. Etsy said payment reserves were used to “keep the marketplace safe” and cover potential refunds.

Plans for bilingual road signs in New Zealand have sparked a “divisive, racially charged debate” ahead of the country’s general election, said CNN. New Zealand hosted a public consultation on whether to include the te reo Maori language on road signs. Supporters said the move would promote “cultural understanding and social cohesion” with the Maori community, which makes up almost a fifth of New Zealand’s population of 5.15 million. But the National Party said the signs could confuse people “travelling at speed”. Prime minister Chris Hipkins accused those opposing the move of “outright dog whistle” politics.

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