4 Things You Need To Know (5/9/17)

Welcome to our daily update, where we summarise the key talking points from the last 24 hours.

1. Putin on North Korea

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that increased sanctions against North Korea would be “useless.”

“They’d rather eat grass than give up their nuclear programme,” he said.

Instead, Putin has proposed diplomacy as the way to resolve the current crisis.

However, North Korea don’t appear to be in a diplomatic mind, with their ambassador to the UN warning that their missile test “self-defence measures” are a “gift package addressed to the US.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has tweeted “I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.”

2. Public sector pay rise in Scotland

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she will scrap the 1% cap on public sector pay in Scotland.

“Our nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters deserve a fairer deal for the future,” she said.

Pay rises will look to be secured from next year. The move is likely to put pressure on Theresa May with the cap in England.

3. British soldiers arrested

The Ministry of Defence has said that four members of the British Army have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences as part of a banned neo-nazi group.

Police said the men were arrested “on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.”

They were part of the National Action group. It is illegal to be a member.

4. UK car sales

UK car sales have fallen for the fifth month in a row. August’s figures saw just 76,433 new car registrations. That’s down 6.4% from August 2016. Diesel cars have been particularly affected, with sales down 21.3%

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