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Tuesday briefing: Start hiring for green power surge – report

Tuesday briefing: Start hiring for green power surge – report. Energy sector needs 100,000 people to meet climate targets … ‘compassion fatigue’, burnout and stress among doctors … and one man’s quiz addiction

Top story: Quarter of roles will be in the north

Good day to you. Warren Murray with you ahead of the sunrise on another day in the news.

Britain must recruit more than 100,000 people to fill green energy roles within a decade if the government hopes to meet its binding climate targets, National Grid has warned. Its report says that number is likely to reach 400,000 by 2050, when the government expects to have developed a clean energy system based on renewable electricity, green heating systems and electric vehicles. A quarter of the green jobs required will need to be based in the north of the country, according to National Grid.

It is estimated that more than 21,000 new recruits will be required to complete energy projects that include an offshore windfarm off the coast of Blyth and a new subsea power cable to Norway from the north-east of England. Research carried out by YouGov has found that people of all ages, from all regions across the UK, are “looking for a job with environmental purpose”. Meanwhile Sainsbury’s is announcing a £1bn plan to become a carbon-neutral business by 2040, 10 years ahead of the government’s target.

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Briton dies in US custody – A British man aged 39 died while being held in US immigration detention in Florida a week and a half ago, the Guardian has confirmed. The death was provisionally attributed to hanging. “Our staff are in contact with the US authorities following the death of a British man in Florida,” said a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London. It is the fifth death at a US immigration detention centre since October 2019. There were eight deaths in the year preceding that.

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Coronavirus death in Beijing – We are continuing live coverage this morning of the coronavirus outbreak in China, where the official death toll has risen to 106 and the first fatality has been reported in the capital, Beijing. Up to 200 British citizens trapped in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, will be offered repatriation to the UK, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said. Those who choose to return will be asked to isolate themselves, regardless of symptoms. More than 1,500 people have arrived in the UK on flights from Wuhan since 10 January and it has emerged that the government has been able to trace only a fraction of them. Economists have warned of a “significant” impact on Chinese growth and the global economy. In Wuhan itself, locked-down residents have been distracting themselves with indoor fishing, chanting battles and other impromptu pursuits. Michael Standaert writes from Sichuan: “The word ‘Jiāyóu’ echoed between Wuhan’s high-rise apartment blocks, as people took to their balconies to shout ‘keep going’ to their neighbours.”

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Doctors ‘burnt out’ – Almost a third of UK doctors may have burnout, stress and “compassion fatigue”, according to the biggest published survey of its kind. A&E doctors and GPs have the highest levels of exhaustion and stress, figures in the BMJ Open journal show. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association, said: “Years of systemic underfunding and serious workforce shortages mean NHS doctors are working longer hours in highly pressured, understaffed environments, and their wellbeing is suffering as a result.” Separate analysis by Cancer Research UK say the NHS is failing to detect about 1,100 cases of bowel cancer a year in England because diagnostic services are so short-staffed, with about one in 10 posts for radiographers, radiologists and endoscopists lying vacant.

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Middle East turmoil – A surge in violence in Yemen could scupper fragile peace efforts, says the UN’s special envoy for the country. On 18 January more than 130 Yemeni soldiers were killed at a training camp, in one of the civil war’s bloodiest single incidents. “We have to get the genie back in the bottle,” said Martin Griffiths, who is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN security council. In Libya, a blockade of oil ports involving the Libyan National Army (LNA) has cut oil production from 1.2m barrels a day to 260,000 barrels. The LNA is headed by Gen Khalifa Haftar who opposes the UN-recognised Government of National Accord based in Tripoli, yet, writes Patrick Wintour, is widely known to be backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and to a degree by France. The head of the national oil corporation has said countries meddling in the conflict are putting Libya on the road to “a disaster and a nightmare”.

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Reputation punctured – The 2020 edition of the Michelin guide, the “gastronomy bible”, has been launched amid controversy over a leak that revealed it downgraded Auberge du Pont de Collonges, the oldest three-star restaurant in the world. The new guide contains 3,439 restaurant listings in France and Monaco, 628 of them starred. Fresh three-star ratings went to Christopher Coutanceau’s seafood restaurant in La Rochelle, Japanese-born Kei Kobayashi’s Kei restaurant in Paris, and L’Oustau de Baumanière, a family restaurant at Les-baux-de-Provence that had lost its third star in 1954.

Today in Focus podcast: Iannucci on politics and satire

The creator of The Thick of It and Veep discusses why modern politics has moved beyond satire. And: Bryan Graham on Kobe Bryant.

Lunchtime read: Quiz me on anything!

Samanth Subramanian has taken part in quizzes all his life: in schools, in pubs and on TV shows. The biggest secret, he argues, is that curiosity, not knowledge, is the key to success.

Sport

America remains in shock over the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash on Sunday as investigators worked to determine the cause of the incident, which also killed seven others. Despite a late surge from Bournemouth, first-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah were enough to take Arsenal to a 2-1 home win in the FA Cup fourth round. Gary Lineker, the BBC presenter and former striker, has told the Guardian in an interview how VAR must change and why the licence fee should be voluntary.

Faf du Plessis has said there was no malicious intent when he shoulder-barged England’s Jos Buttler during an incident on the fourth and final day of the fourth Test that looks likely to land the South Africa captain with a disciplinary charge. A youthful French side have been warned to brace themselves for a crash course in Test-match reality on Sunday when England head to Paris for the opening round of the 2020 Six Nations Championship. World No 1 Ashleigh Barty withstood a fierce challenge from Petra Kvitová to become the first local woman to reach the Australian Open semi-finals in 36 years. And a US college has suspended one of its American football coaches after he named Adolf Hitler as a dream dinner guest.

Business

Economists have warned that the coronavirus outbreak poses a “significant” threat to Chinese growth as infections continue to spread. Investors translated those concerns into heavy losses on Asian markets overnight with South Korea, where a fourth case was confirmed, leading the way with a fall of 3%. The FTSE100 is expected to stabilise at the opening after losing more than 2% on Monday. The pound is buying $1.306 and €1.184.

The papers

The Duke of York receives a pasting across the front pages: “Prince Andrew accused of zero cooperation in Epstein inquiry” reports the Guardian. The Sun renders Andrew cuttingly as a missing-person poster that asks: “Have you seen this prince?”

“Andrew snubs FBI over Epstein sex quiz” – slightly odd language from the Mirror. “Zero help from duke” says the Metro while the Mail asks on behalf of the FBI: “Why won’t Andrew speak to us?”. And on it goes in the i – “FBI: Prince Andrew is ignoring us”.

The splash in the Times is “EU demands its judges keep control after Brexit” – Brussels wants the European court of justice to be able to enforce the terms of any trade, farming and fisheries deal. In a similar vein the FT says Britain and the EU may be headed into a “fish for financial services” deal and says “UK and EU face post-Brexit clash” over the City and the seas. The Express has as its hook “Boris: I won’t give up fishing rights”.

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