News Daily: 'Months' to rescue cave boys and LGBT+ survey
3 July 2018
Hello. Here's your morning briefing: Thailand - and indeed the world beyond - has been gripped by the story of the 12 young footballers and their coach trapped in a cave, and there was joy on Monday when they were found alive after nine days. However, it's now emerged they may have to stay underground for up to four months until flood waters recede, unless they can learn to dive. Given that would mean children as young as 11 making it through dangerous corridors of muddy, zero-visibility waters, it would be a very risky operation. The BBC's Howard Johnson, who's been watching events at the Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai, says rescuers will first battle through the still rising water to get food and other supplies to the group. Doctors will also go in to check their condition. Then work begins on a longer term plan for getting them out. What options are there? And what should you do if you find yourself trapped in a cave? More than 1,000 people have been involved in the operation, from all over the world, but the first voice the group heard was that of Briton John Volanthen. "How many of you are there?" he asks. "Thirteen? Brilliant". You can read more about him and the two others UK rescuers. More than two-thirds of LGBT+ people living in the UK are afraid to hold hands in public, according to the biggest ever survey carried out by the government. Some 40% had faced abuse in the previous year. The BBC's Jonathan Blake says for many, the slogan for this year's Pride month sums up their feelings: We've come a long way, but there's a still a long way to go. In response to the survey, the government has produced a 75-point plan, including banning what it calls "abhorrent" gay conversion therapy, appointing an LGBT+ health adviser and diversifying sex education in schools. Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning A new plan for post-Brexit customs will offer "the best of both worlds", according to a Downing Street source. Ministers will be asked to give it their backing on Friday after months of deadlock. However, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says questions are swirling in Westminster about whether the plan actually exists yet - not least because key ministers, including the Brexit secretary, don't appear to be involved in it. By Maija Unkuri, BBC News, Sakyla, Finland For the first time since Finland's military was opened up to women in 1995, the idea has been floated of temporarily excluding them as a way of cutting costs. "We have to find savings somewhere," said Defence Minister Jussi Niinisto. A couple of days later, after a heated debate, he rejected the idea and said he didn't even back it himself. But his short-lived proposal has shone a light on the separate roles of men and women, in a country where men have to serve up to a year of military or community service from the age of 18 while women can choose. Read the full article There's more talk of cabinet "schisms" and "infighting" over Brexit. An unnamed source tells the Times the mood in Downing Street is "a bit end of days". Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Guardian reports that the government is close to raising fuel duty, ending its eight-year freeze. It would help pay for Theresa May's promise to spend an additional PS20bn on the NHS by 2023, the paper says. A "CO2 bidding war" is predicted in the Daily Telegraph, as factories restart production of the gas used in food and drinks manufacture. Finally, as the heatwave goes on, the i says firefighters trying to extinguish a huge wildfire near Saddleworth Moor are appealing for donations of essential supplies. The Daily Star, though, has a different focus - fears of a potential crisp shortage caused by rising temperatures. Loneliness Childline reveals a 14% rise in calls Mair Presenter says he offered to take a pay cut Germany Political crisis over migrants is averted England Are they good enough to take their World Cup chance? The deadly trade killing Mexicans and Americans The invention of numbers 'My daring grandfather grabbed a bit of East Berlin' Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your phone 19:00 England play Colombia in the World Cup round of 16 Today Wimbledon day two, with Brits Heather Watson, Johanna Konta and Naomi Broady all in action 1971 Jim Morrison, lead singer of American rock group The Doors, is found dead in his Paris apartment aged 27 The secret language of air traffic control - and how you can listen in (Daily Telegraph) The rise of 'hidden homelessness' and how single mothers are worst hit (Huffington Post) A funeral for a vision of Europe (The Atlantic) Top UK schools suddenly have rare empty seats (Bloomberg)
A new plan for post-Brexit customs will offer "the best of both worlds", according to a Downing Street source. Ministers will be asked to give it their backing on Friday after months of deadlock. However, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says questions are swirling in Westminster about whether the plan actually exists yet - not least because key ministers, including the Brexit secretary, don't appear to be involved in it.
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When is a plan not a plan?