Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 20 August 2023

1. Letby recriminations begin

Lucy Letby was offered a role at a specialist children’s hospital in Liverpool, after managers in Chester dismissed warnings about her as a “witch-hunt”, said The Sunday Times. As the fallout from Letby’s conviction for murdering babies gathers pace, a medical expert who gave evidence at the trial has urged police to investigate “grossly negligent” hospital bosses who failed to acts on warnings, said The Observer. The former chairman of the NHS trust where Letby worked believes the board was “misled” by hospital executives.

2. Small boats week ‘backfires’

The government’s attempts to “make capital” out of the issue of Channel crossings in a special “small boats week” appear to have backfired with the public, said The Observer. According to a poll for the paper, there is evidence that the effort to turn migration into a “wedge issue” had the opposite effect, raising its importance in the public’s mind, and strengthening Labour’s lead on immigration. Labour’s lead on immigration has risen from six points to eight points, with 29% backing Starmer’s party to deal with immigration best against 21% for the Conservatives.

3. Teenagers scramble for places

Nearly 50,000 teenagers in England are “scrambling” to find a university place after the greatest fall in A-level grades, said The Sunday Times. “Disappointment and thwarted aspiration will be widespread this weekend,” said Mark Corver, the former head of data at Ucas, as the largest number of teenagers in England ever go into clearing, the system that matches students with universities that have vacancies. Some universities were “bending over backwards” to admit students, said the paper, a decision “fuelled by financial problems”.

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4. Russia ‘strikes Ukraine theatre’

A six-year-old girl was among seven people killed when a Russian missile struck a theatre in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday morning, according to officials. There were 144 people wounded, including 15 children. Denise Brown, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, condemned it as a “heinous” attack and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces would give “a notable response” to the “terrorist attack”.

5. Lionesses hope to make history

The Lionesses hope to win the World Cup for the first time today, as well as becoming the first England team since 1966 to win a senior final on the world stage. As European champions England prepared to take on Spain in the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney this morning, the King called on them to “roar to victory”, Rishi Sunak said the Lionesses had made young girls “feel they belong on the pitch” and England men’s boss Gareth Southgate said “we hope you can bring that trophy back”.

6. Man charged over PSNI leak

A man has been charged with possessing documents or records likely to be useful to terrorists following a major police data breach 11 days ago. The 50-year-old, who was also charged with having articles for use in terrorism, is due in court in Coleraine on Monday. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) accidentally released details on 10,000 of its employees in response to a Freedom of Information request. The details were published online. A second man has been released on bail, said the Belfast Telegraph.

7. California braces for storm

Southern California is expecting its first tropical storm in 84 years, with fears of “historic” levels of rainfall. The extreme conditions set to “batter the state” will be the remnants of Hurricane Hilary. The authorities have closed the Joshua Tree and Mojave national parks, three Major League Baseball games have been cancelled, and SpaceX has delayed a rocket launch. National Weather Service forecasters have warned of “lashing winds, intense rain and harrowing conditions”, said the Los Angeles Times.

8. Men can continue Jackson claim

Two men who have long claimed that the late Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were children are now able to revive their since-dismissed lawsuits against his estate, according to a court document seen by CNN. Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who were featured in the documentary “Leaving Neverland”, have both “laid out in strikingly similar fashion” how Jackson’s alleged sexual abuse “gradually escalated over the course of a number of years”, said the broadcaster.

9. Drones add to wedding bills

The cost of the average British wedding has soared to an “eye-watering” £24,069 in 2023, said The Telegraph. Rising costs means the price of getting married has jumped from £18,400 a year ago, thanks to rising costs and couples requesting new features, including drone footage. The boom in demand for more elaborate weddings is good news for the economy, said the paper, but it is “enough to give the groom cold feet and have the mother of the bride reaching for the tissues before the couple even say ‘I do’”, it added.

10. Waitrose tempts cops with coffee

Waitrose and John Lewis are offering free hot drinks to on-duty police officers that visit their stores in a bid to cut shoplifting and violence against staff. The retailer hopes that “tempting” uniformed officers through their doors, after they have parked their branded vehicles outside, will deter thieves “just as drivers slow down on a motorway as soon as they spot a police car”, said The Sunday Times. The initiative has been dubbed “thanks a latte”.