Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 13 May 2019

1. Starmer: no deal without second referendum

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer has expressed doubts that any cross-party Brexit deal will pass through Parliament unless it includes an agreement to hold a second referendum on leaving the EU. The Labour MP also said he fears his party will lose the support of Remainers at this month’s EU elections.

2. Killing Eve wins big at television Baftas

The big winner at last night’s TV Bafta awards was Killing Eve, which won three awards: best leading actress, supporting actress and drama series. Star Jodie Comer - who plays Villanelle in the darkly comic thriller - was in tears as she collected her award, and paid tribute to writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who greeted her own success with the exclamation: “F***!”

3. May: I’ll end domestic abuse ‘postcode lottery’

Theresa May has vowed to end the “postcode lottery” faced by ex-partners and children of abusers, by creating a legal duty for councils in England to provide refuges for domestic abuse survivors. Survivor and refuge manager Charlotte Kneer described the decision as “absolutely momentous”.

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4. Puppy and kitten farms to be banned

New laws to end kitten and puppy “farming” will be laid out in Parliament today, Michael Gove has announced. The environment secretary said the legislation banning the sale of kittens and puppies from third parties would make sure pets had “the best possible start in life”. Animals must now be born in a safe environment and sold directly to buyers, rather than through pet shops or commercial dealers.

5. Electric vehicle sales stall following grant cuts

Demand for electric cars in the UK has been sluggish since the Government slashed grants for buyers, new figures show. Sales of cars powered solely by batteries were more than twice as high in France and Germany, while Norway sold three times as many EVs as Britain, despite having a far smaller population. The Times says the figures raise questions about whether the UK can reach targets for phasing out petrol and diesel.

6. Police take to lorry cabs to catch unsafe HGV drivers

Police have begun patrolling British motorways in unmarked HGV cabs, following a sharp increase in the number of lorry crashes. The cabs are high enough to enable officers to see into other lorries and film unsafe behaviour. One trucker was spotted travelling at speed with his mobile phone in one hand and a credit card in the other.

7. Danny Boyle ‘wanted to catch forgotten towns’

Film director Danny Boyle has spoken of his desire to capture the “forgotten” seaside towns on England’s coast in his new movie, Yesterday. The Beatles-themed film was written by Love Actually’s Richard Curtis and hits UK cinemas next month. Boyle said he was drawn to “amazing” seaside towns such as Lowestoft and Gorleston that were a “bit forgotten”.

8. Fruity stink triggers library evacuation

A university library in Australia was evacuated after the smell of a durian fruit was mistaken for a gas leak. Fire and rescue teams searched for an hour before finding a piece of the famously malodorous Asian fruit near an air conditioning intake. The durian is said by some to smell of rotting meat.

9. Robert De Niro stars in British bread advert

Hollywood legend Robert De Niro has filmed an advert for Lancashire-based bread producer Warburtons. The unlikely tie-up sees De Niro playing a blend of his Mafia roles and also features the firm’s chairman, Jonathan Warburton. The baker has previously used Sylvester Stallone in its ads.

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

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