News in 5 Minutes: Man arrested after Russell Square knife attack, Shadow chancellor challenges Owen Smith, and Owen Smith’s campaign website woes

04/08/2016
Maxine Blane

CommonSpace brings you the news so you don’t have to go looking for it

TODAY’S INSTALMENT (4 August) of the CommonSpace daily news roundup includes: Man arrested after Russell Square knife attack, Shadow chancellor challenges Owen Smith, and Owen Smith’s campaign website woes.

News: Man arrested after Russell Square knife attack leaves one dead and five wounded

Man arrested on suspicion of murder after knife attack in London’s Russell Square

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after one person died and another five people were wounded in a knife attack in London’s Russell Square, the BBC reports. A 19-year-old man has been arrested after police responded to calls about the attack on Wednesday night. A 60-year-old woman has died, and two other women and three men were injured during the attack. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has asked the public to remain “calm and vigilant”.

Protests as Olympic torch arrives in Rio before Olympic opening ceremony on 5 August

The Olympic torch has arrived in Rio ahead of Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony after a three month tour of Brazil. The torch arrived in the city by boat and was carried through the city centre by the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes. As the torch made it’s way to the north of the city, the procession was met by demonstrators protesting the high cost of hosting the games to Brazil. Riot police deployed tear gas and pepper spray to break up the crowd.

Jade Rabbit moon rover says goodbye as it powers down on the moon

China’s Jade Rabbit moon rover has sent a farewell message before powering down on the moon. The rover landed in December 2013 and far outlived its intended three-month lifespan, spending 31 months exploring the surface of the moon and gaining a cult social media following in China. Prematurely declared inoperational after technical difficulties in February 2014, the Jade Rabbit’s last official message said: “This time it really is goodnight”.

Politics: Shadow chancellor challenges Owen Smith after Labour split warnings

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has reacted to warnings about a Labour split from Owen Smith MP

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has spoken out ahead of the first Labour leadership debate, after comments from Owen Smith warning that the party could split if Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected as leader on 24 September. In response to Smith’s statement, McDonnell urged Smith to pledge support for Corbyn should he win, and felt that talk of division was unlikely to sway those voting in the leadership contest. “People don't want to be blackmailed in that way. That's not right,” he said.

Emergency interest rate cut will not be enough to prevent economic downturn, experts warn

An emergency interest rate cut scheduled for later today will not be enough to prevent economic downturn, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has warned. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research thinktank also warned that Britain faced a “marked” post-Brexit economic slow-down as they issued 50-50 odds of recession before Christmas earlier this week. The IPPR argued that PM Theresa May should increase government spending to help offset the economic aftermath of the Brexit vote.

Sports: Andy Murray to lead Team GB in Olympic opening ceremony

Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray will carry flag for Team GB at Rio Olympics

Tennis star Andy Murray will be “thrilled to bits” as he leads Team GB as their flag-bearer in the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics, said his mother Judy. The two-time Wimbledon champion was chosen as flag bearer from nominations made by each respective sporting federation represented by Team GB by a panel of British Olympic Association experts.

Culture: Thousands to attend Belladrum festival

Belladrum Tartan Heart festival will see thousands of visitors over the weekend

Thousands of visitors are expected at the 13th Belladrum Tartan Heart festival this weekend. The festival takes place in Beauly and organisers are expecting around 18,000 people to attend. Acts appearing at the festival include Madness, Super Furry Animals, The Darkness and more.

Weather: Walking on sunshine as we head into Friday

Sunny spells expected throughout today with highs of 19 degress celsius

We may not have seen the last of the sun this week after all, as today's forecast predicts intermittant sunny spells throughout the day. Don’t abandon your brolly just yet though, the clouds are scheduled to return on Friday.

And another thing: Owen Smith trials bold new policies

 

 

Policy pages on Owen Smith’s campaign website have gone viral on twitter

Visitors hoping to learn more about Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith’s policies have been left baffled by reams of Latin placeholder text. Twitter users were quick to point out the ‘under construction’ appearance of pages under various policy headings including ‘Environment’, ‘Health and Welfare’ and ‘Law Enforcement’. Other users noted that header images on these pages all appeared to show Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon. CommonSpace has been unable to get confirmation on whether or not she will be advising Smith on policy…

 

Pictures courtesy of  martinshuck, mookiefl, Twitter/Owen Smith,  Bob the Lomond, Iain Mullan, aneye4wonder (Ineta McPar, Twitter

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