Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 11 August 2023

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1. Biden: China ‘time bomb’
2. Death toll rises in Hawaii
3. Greenpeace vs. Sunak
4. New revolution in physics
5. AI could deliver radiotherapy
6. Military shakeup in North Korea
7. Villiers held Shell shares
8. ‘Period poverty’ found in Africa
9. Ukraine troops trained in UK
10. Police criticised over teen arrest

published 11 August 2023

1. Biden: China ‘time bomb’

Joe Biden has described China as a “ticking time bomb in many cases” because of its economic challenges. Citing the country’s high unemployment and ageing workforce, the US president said “they have got some problems” and “that’s not good, because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things”. China’s economy “fell into deflation” in July, said The Guardian, and the nation may be “entering an era of much slower economic growth”.

The death toll from wildfires in Hawaii has risen to 53, said officials in Maui. There has been “widespread destruction”, especially in the historic town of Lahaina, with everything “just completely devastated”, said CNN. The fire that “rampaged through Lahaina” also delivered a “devastating blow to Hawaii’s historical and cultural resources”, said the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Governor Josh Green described the wildfires as the “largest natural disaster in Hawaii state history”.

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Rishi Sunak will “go down in history” as leading a government that failed the UK on the climate crisis while ministers pursued a dangerous culture war, said Greenpeace. The charity described government briefings against it in the aftermath of its oil protest at the PM’s home in Yorkshire as “really dark stuff”. It also accused Sunak’s government of adopting “more and more of a bunker mentality” in recent years and refusing to engage with experts. A government spokesperson said that Greenpeace’s “criminal activity” shows that they are “not a serious organisation”.

Scientists believe they could be closing in on a new fifth force of nature. The potential discovery came after an experiment confirmed the peculiar wobble of a subatomic particle called a muon, which suggested that experts “may be missing something in their current understanding of physics”, said The Telegraph, perhaps “some unknown particle or force”. More data will be needed to confirm the findings, but if they are verified, it could “mark the beginning of a revolution in physics”, said the BBC.

Radiotherapy patients in England are likely to have part of their treatment performed with the aid of artificial intelligence after its use was recommended for the first time. Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has given the green light to AI technologies for performing beam radiotherapy in lung, prostate and colorectal cancers. The institute said this could save radiographers hundreds of thousands of hours and help relieve “severe pressure” on the NHS. The health secretary, Steve Barclay, said the development was “hugely encouraging”.

Kim Jong Un has fired his top general and told his army to “gird for a war,” state media reported. The North Korean leader dismissed Pak Su Il as chief of the General Staff, with Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil appointed in his place. The North Korean leader “regularly revamps” the military, said CNN, and Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told the broadcaster that Kim may be trying to ensure that no one below him becomes too powerful.

Tory MP Theresa Villiers owned more than £70,000 worth of shares in oil giant Shell throughout her time as Environment Secretary, reported The Mirror. Last month, Villiers updated her register of MPs’ interests to reveal that she had owned large shareholdings in a series of firms for up to five years without declaring them. The Good Law Project said the news “raises serious questions about whether the government’s duty to protect our environment was completely compromised” but Villiers insisted she was not “influenced by these shareholdings”.

Women are being priced out of buying period products in Africa, found the BBC. Women on the minimum wage in Ghana have to spend one in every seven dollars they earn on sanitary pads, researchers discovered, and women across Africa are struggling with “period poverty”. The Center for Democratic Development in Ghana said many vulnerable girls and women are using cloth rags lined with plastic sheets, cement paper bags and dried plantain stems when menstruating.

Around 1,000 Ukrainian marines are to return home after more than six months of “intense” training by the Royal Marines and Army Commandos. The troops, who were trained in amphibious landings, will now head to the frontline. One of them told Sky News that the course from the Royal Marines was “far more intense that I expected”. Meanwhile, the war rages on and a Russian missile reportedly struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia last night, leaving one dead and 16 injured.

A police force has been criticised after a teenage girl, who is believed to have autism, was detained by seven officers after “saying a female officer looked like her nana, who is a lesbian”. West Yorkshire police said that a video posted online provides a “limited snapshot of the circumstances of this incident”. In the video, two officers can be seen in the home while the girl hides in a corner next to a cupboard. The girl’s mother says “she’s autistic”, to which the officer responds “I don’t care”, insisting that “she is going to be arrested”.

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