Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 10 May 2019

1. Trump goes ahead with China tariff increase

US President Donald Trump continued his trade war with China early this morning by raising tariffs on thousands of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%, after last-minute talks between the two nations failed. China said it “deeply” regretted Trump’s decision to escalate the trade conflict and added that it would announce countermeasures soon.

2. WikiLeaks source Manning released from jail

Chelsea Manning, who passed 700,000 confidential US files to the WikiLeaks website in 2010 when she was known as Bradley Manning, has been released after 62 days in jail in Kentucky. The former intelligence analyst was jailed for refusing to testify to an inquiry into WikiLeaks. She will appear before a grand jury on 16 May.

3. Rapist convicted after woman records him

A man of 23 was jailed for four years in Newcastle last month for raping his then girlfriend while she slept. Haydon Davis-Patton pleaded guilty after Jade Bailey-Reeks went to police with a phone recording she made days later in which he admitted the attack. The 21-year-old woman feared she would not be believed without evidence.

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4. Comic Freddie Starr found dead at 76

The stand-up comic Freddie Starr, at TV star from the 1970s to 1990s, has died at the age of 76 in his Costa Del Sol villa. The Liverpudlian always denied there was any truth to the famous Sun newspaper story ‘Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster’. He was arrested for historic sex offences in 2012, never charged, but lost a defamation claim.

5. Charities refuse Tommy Robinson salary offer

A coalition of charities has rejected a hypothetical offer by far-right politician Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the name Tommy Robinson, to donate his MEP salary to help the victims of grooming gangs in the north of England. The former BNP member, who founded Britain First, is standing in this month’s European elections.

6. New research centre to look at climate change

Scientists in Cambridge are setting up a new research centre to look at radical technological solutions to the crisis of man-made climate change. The centre will look at ideas including re-freezing the Earth’s poles and mechanically extracting C02 from the atmosphere. It is the first initiative of its kind in the worlds, the BBC says.

7. Fake heiress Anna Sorokin gets 12 years

A court case which has fascinated the US for its glimpse into the high life of New York City has concluded with fake heiress Anna Sorokin sentenced to up to 12 years in jail for defrauding hotels, restaurants, banks and a private jet company out of $200,000 (£154,000). During her trial, the 28-year-old German had tantrums over her outfits.

8. Penis extensions ‘don’t work’, doctors say

Analysis by doctors and psychologists at King’s College London found less than 20% of men who have had procedures to enlarge their penises are satisfied with the results. The team, which looked at 1,192 procedures costing up to £40,000 each, said they should “almost never be done” and left men scarred physically and emotionally.

9. Amazon billionaire unveils moon lander

Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and world’s richest individual, yesterday unveiled a mock-up of a lunar lander he says will be ready to reach the south pole of the Moon by 2024. The unmanned vehicle will be able to launch satellites to orbit the Moon and will be reusable. Bezos said it would provide infrastructure for future space missions.

10. Briefing: what WikiLeaks revealed

WikiLeaks has gained worldwide renown by publishing classified documents on everything from the film industry to national security since the whistle-blowing website was founded in 2006.

So what has it revealed? The Week rounds up some of the biggest stories.

What WikiLeaks revealed