The Know Daily - Wednesday 5th April 2023

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The Lionesses’ shorts will be switched from white to blue following players’ concerns about period leaks or getting their period mid-game. The Football Association has swapped the colours following what The Guardian described as an “unofficial campaign” led by senior squad members on the England women’s football team. “It’s very nice to have an all-white kit, but sometimes it’s not practical when it’s that time of the month,” striker Beth Mead told the paper. The new shorts, manufactured by Nike, will be worn at Wembley this Thursday.

🇺🇸 Donald in the dock

Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records during a historic court appearance in New York on Tuesday.

What do the charges relate to?
The criminal charges relate to Trump’s involvement in alleged hush money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The charges faced are all Class E felonies - the lowest category - and carry a maximum sentence of four years.

The 76-year-old has become the first former US president ever to be criminally charged.

How has Trump reacted?
He returned to Florida immediately after the hearing, where he gave a defiant speech to his supporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort. During his 25-minute address, the 2024 White House contender said he was the victim of a Democratic conspiracy. He also lashed out at prosecutors and the judge, claiming - without evidence - that the case against him was politically-motivated. America “is going to hell”, he said.

What happens next?
Prosecutors are now required to turn over the evidence they have gathered to Trump’s legal team, who have until 8 August to file any motions against the case. The next court hearing is set for 4 December, just two months before the Republican presidential primaries which determine who will become the party’s official candidate.

The former president is also facing more legal investigations, including a probe into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and a special counsel inquiry into his role in the 6 January riots at the Capitol.

Regardless of whether Trump is charged, no laws exist to prevent an indicted American from running for president - meaning that he will likely continue with his third campaign for the White House.

🥜 Fresh protocols for peanut allergy prevention

With around one in 50 children in the UK suffering from a peanut allergy - double the number seen a decade ago - researchers are now proposing a new prevention strategy for parents.

What’s the story?
Roughly 13,000 infants develop a peanut allergy each year and for some, the condition can be life-threatening. In the past 25 years, growing numbers of schools have imposed blanket bans on peanut products in response to rising rates of allergies among children.

Current NHS guidance advises parents to wait for around six months before introducing their children to crushed or ground peanuts and smooth/crunchy peanut butter. But new analysis by UK researchers suggests that giving all young babies - aged between four to six months - tiny tastes of certain peanut products could dramatically reduce their risk of developing an allergy to the popular legume.

Tell me more about the research.
For the analysis, which was published in the Journal Of Allergy And Clinical Immunology, researchers looked at two sets of data. One involved 640 babies considered at high risk of developing a peanut allergy, while the other tracked 1,300 babies who received an early introduction to milk, peanut, sesame, fish, egg and wheat products.

Analysing the data from the two studies, as well as from the Peanut Allergy Sensitisation investigation, led the researchers to conclude that exposing babies to smooth peanut butter could cut the risk of allergy by as much as 77%. (As whole or chopped peanuts pose a choking risk, they should not be given to children under five.)

Why is this such a big deal?
The data contradicts “decades of advice” concerning peanuts, said the BBC. Over the years, “shifting rules” have led many parents to become understandably fearful of giving children peanuts, leading some to stop their children from having any peanut products at all.

Study co-author Professor Graham Roberts, from the University of Southampton, said early introduction was a “simple, low-cost, safe intervention” that would “deliver vast benefits for future generations”. The review concluded that 10,000 of the 13,000 babies who develop peanut allergies in the UK each year might not if the NHS advised earlier introduction.

⚠️ Tick warning: Health officials are urging people to protect themselves from ticks following the confirmation of a tick-borne encephalitis case in Yorkshire. Avoid bites by tucking trousers into socks, wearing light-coloured clothes, using repellents, and regularly checking your body and clothes for the creatures.

🇫🇮 Nato expansion: In a major blow to Vladimir Putin, Finland officially became the 31st member of Nato on Tuesday, adding some 830 miles to the alliance’s frontier with Russia.

💔 Murdoch marriage: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, and former dental hygienist-turned-conservative radio host Ann Lesley Smith, 66, have called off their engagement just two weeks after they announced it.

👑 Royal titles: Buckingham Palace’s coronation invitation has confirmed that Camilla’s title is now officially Queen Camilla rather than queen consort, the title Queen Elizabeth II had intended for her daughter-in-law.

📺 Hogwarts’ new look: Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly close to signing off on a new Harry Potter series where each season would follow one of the seven books, “allow[ing] the writers to delve further” into the original stories.

Trivia answer: B) Frozen is one of the few much-loved Disney films without a live-action remake in the works; The Little Mermaid is out next month, while Lady and the Tramp came out in 2019 - watch the trailer here.

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